very thing Getting in Fine Shape for the Big Automobile Parade Thursday, August 31
Neb Stato Historical Soc
ourna
VOL. XXXIV.
PLATTSMOUTIL NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 1916.
No. 11.
n if
CITY COUNCIL
HOLD A GOOD
LIVE MEETING
Talk Over Paving Bids. But Postpone
Lett in? Contract for An
other Week.
From Tuesday's Dar.r.
The citv council spent an hour and
n haif in a very strenuous session
l:it evening in trying to settle the
question of who was to put down the
paving on Washington avenue and at
the close of the session were no far
ther than before as it was impossible
for the council to agree on the class
of paving1 or who to reward the pav
ing contract to.
The streets, alleys and bridges com
mittee reported in favor of using the
"wire cut three inch brick block, class
(". with asphalt filler, and the reward
ing of the contract to the Monarch
Engineering company of Falls City,
the lowest bidders on this class of
work.
Before the matter was taken up
Mayor Sattler stated that it would be
beft to listen to the petition from a
number of the residents in the pro
posed paving district, asking that the
contract be awarded to J. II. Mc
Maken. This brought on some dis
cussion as to the merits of the report
and the petition and at the request
of the mayor the tabulations of the
different figures on the paving on
the basis of a straight curb was read
as follows:
Brick Block. Class A.
?Ionarch Engineering Co.
E. W. Geiger Con?t. Co..
George Parks. Co
J. J. Parks & Co
,.?2S,SU.ll
, 23,595.07
. 28,650.04
, 2U.000.1'G
J. II. McMaken ' 2l.U63.-2rt
E. W. Geiger Co., lowest bidder.
Brick Block, Class B
Monarch Engineering Co.. .S27.391.43
E. W. Geiger Const. Co 27.-f55.14
George Parks Co 2t".&93.40
J. J. Parks & Co 27,644.33
J. H. McMaken .. 2S.129.S2
George Parks & Co.. lowest bidder.
Three Inch Wire Cut Brick Block.
Class C
Monarch Engineering Co. .S26.713.ll
E. W. Geiger Con. Co 27.125.9S
George Parks Co 26.993.40
J. J. Parks & Co 27.531.27
J. II. McMaken 2S.072.71
Monarch Engineering Co., lowest
bidder.
Three Inch Wire Cut Brick Block,
Class I
Monarch Engineering Co. .?26,034.79
E. W. Geiger Con. Co 2J.108.50
George Parks Co 25.297.61
J. J. Parks & Co 26,061.5S
J. II. McMaken 27.2S1.33
George Parks & Co., lowest bidder.
Councilman Bestor moved the adop
tion of the report of the committee
and reward of the contract to the
Monarch Engineering Co., for the
Class "C" paving. The asphalt filler
insured a smoother and better street
certain to gather in the use of sand
filler and presented a solid and water
proof surface to the paving'. The com
mittee had visited Auburn and Falls
City where the wire cut brick was in
use and found it in the best of shape.
Councilman Mauzy, one of the
members of the committee was in fa
vor of the three inch wire cut brick
which they had inspected very thor
oughly and found to be giving the
best of satisfactions where in use.
Councilman Bajeck stated he had
been very favorably impressed with
the brick he had saw in the paving
at Falls City and Auburn and this
had decided the members of the com
mittee to recommend the use ol the
three inch wire cut brick and the
asphrU filler.
Mr. Jackson, representing the brick
dealers association, was present and
pave- a short address along the line of
the support c! the three it ch wire cut
brick in p: Terence to that of the
brick bio-?.-. He cited i number of
cities where 'he wire cut bri k had
tecii used snd amoi? thc:-e were
several strertr at Lincoln where the
brick was in use.
George Parks, city commissioner cf
Omaha, and one of the bidders, dis
agreeded with Mr. Jackson and
pointed out the advantages of the
brick block or four inch brick as giv
inga greater wearing surface. It was
best for the heavy travel he stated
mul should stand the test better than
the three inch. He had several cars
of the three inch wire cut brick re
jected on a job he had done at Kear
ney, Neb. 0
John Crook of Falls City, stated
that the three inch brick had stood
the test when tried out and in Okla
homa there was places where it had
been in use for six years and was in
good shape.
On the motion of Bestor to accept
the report of the streets, alleys and
bridges committee, Mauzy, Patterson,
Bajeck voted aye; Weaver, Luschin
sky, Shea, Johnson and Harris voted
no and Buttery passed. The motion
was then declared lost.
The final estimate of the engineer
on the paving in district No. 1 1 was
read and the total sum of work placed
at $7,75S.2S. The work was found to
be first class in every way. On motion
of Luschinsky warrants were ordered
drawn for the amount in favor of the
contractor, J. H. McMaken. This is
for the paving on Third, Fourth and
Fifth streets.
The council then drifted back to let
ting of the contract for the paving of
Washington avenue and Councilman
Harris moved that the contract for
the work be let to J. H. McMaken
for Class "A" brick block paving.
This then developed the fact that the
E. W. Geiger Co., was the lowest
on the job and several of the council-
men as well as the mayor questioned
the legality of letting the bid to one
of the higher bidders and whether or
not it would stick.
The motion of Harris was lost when
put a vote, Harris and Shea .voting
for and Mauzy, Bajeck, Bestor, John
son and Luschinsky, against, with
Patterson, Buttery and Weaver, pas
sing. It was finally decided to adjourn
until next Monday when the bids will
again be threshed over.
WILL SCALE THE
COURT HOUSE WALL
TO TOP OF CUPOLA
From Tuesflarp Daily.
"Dare Devil'" Deri ill, who will be
one of the atti actions during the
'"Home Coming'' week, was in the city
yesterday afternoon sizing up the
court house which he will scale on
Thursday, August 31. This daring and
death defying climber has been tour
ing the south and is just coming
north to put on a number of exhibi
tions. He is one of the most success
ful of the climbers in the United
States and his feats have been wit
nessed by thousands of people in
every city in which he has appeared.
Dare Devil" Derrill has scaled the
sides of the Jefferson County Nation
al bank at Birmingham, Ala., a twen
ty story structure as well as the fif
teen story American National bank
at Pensecola, Fla. While at Gallatin,
Mo., a few weeks ago, Mr. Derrill had
a very narrow escape fiom death
while attempting to scale a three
f.tory biu'ding, and one of tho oldest
buildings in the city, when reaching
the top of the building he found the
cornice on the building to be old and
unable to bear his weight r.nd it was
rccessary to descend and the loo,-e
store work of tin eld structure cau-e-"l
him to loos -2 his hold and sl-p
Ivck several fee; ar.d almost fall to
the brick paving which wot ! have
cri.ed certain d;ah.
Ihis climbing act will be a real
I'm '. .ei in ev -v w:.j ana one that
should prove a great drawing card
and "Dare Devil" Derrill will put on
a real exhibition of this nature. With
him are the two other members of
his company who have a trick house
act that will be given as a free attrac
tion of the festival week.
RAIN COMES TO CASS COUNTY
From Tuesday's Daily.
At last the prayers and wishes of
the residents of this part of the west
was answered early this morning
when a real sure enough rain storm
made its appearance and brought re
lief to the threatened corn crop that
has been very badly in need of rain
for the last week. The pastures and all
vegatation will be very much bene
fited by the rain and its value to the
people of the county cannot be over
estimated. The rain was general in
eastern Nebraska from Falls City
north.
THREE BODIES
TAKEN FROM
MISSOURI RIVER
Mrs. Gertrude Letner and Harold
Larson Recovered at Nebraska
City, and Mrs. Swift at
Rockport, Mo.
From "Wednesdays Dally.
The bodies of three of the victims
of the LaPiatte automobile tragedy
of Sunday were recovered yesterday
afternoon and last night from the
waters -of the Missouri river where
they have been resting since the ac
cident early Sunday morning. The
bodies of Mrs. Gertrude Letner and
Harold Larson were recovered at Ne
braska City yesterday afternoon, that
of Mrs. Letner being found floating
down the river near the railroad
bridge where the watchers were gath
ered to try and recover the bodies
that of Larson was discovered a
short distance below Nebraska City
by residents of that locality. The
third body, thought to be that of Mrs.
May Swift was landed near Rockport,
Mo., last evening, and held pending
the arrival of the husband from Oma
ha to identify the body. This is close
to seventy miles down the river from
where the accident occurred and the
bodies have apparently been floating
down the river since Sunday night to
have reached the points where they
were picked up. There is remaining
the bodies of Willis Letner and his
sister-in-law, Miss Grace Snyder, to
be recovered when the members of
the ill fated automobile party will
have all been accounted for.
The hope of finding had been al
most abandoned yesterday when the
message was received in Omaha from
Nebraska City announcing that one
of the bodies, that of a woman had
been landed at that point. Thomas
Swift, the heart broken survivor of
the automobile accident made all
haste to the scene of the discovery
hoping that it might be that of his
wife and was accompanied by Thomas
Quinlan of the Brandeis store, where
Mrs. Swift had been employed. On
their arrival it was found that the
second body was found and Mr. Swift
identified them as that of Mrs. Let
ner and Mr. Larson.
Mr. Swift returned to Omaha, and
last night the message from Rock
port, Mo., was received announcing of
the finding of the body supposed to
be that of Mrs. May Swift and from
the description as well as the fact of
the victim having a wrist watch, such
as Mrs. Swift was accustomed to
wearing, it was thought that the
body must certainly be that of this
unfortunate lady.
In the meantime the search for the
two remaining bodies is being carried
on with great vigor and every effort
will be made to try and locate them
as soon as possible. Paul Wohlfarth
of this city with his motor boat made
a trip down the river as far as Ne
braska City this morning to learn if
any of the bodies had been washed
ashore or stranded on sand bars down
the river. He was accompanied by the
sheriff of Sarpy county.
MOURNING THE LOSS OF
SEVENTEEN-FINE CHICKENS
J. M. Young, residing on Chicago
avenue, is mourning the loss of
seventeen of his fine full blooded
Buff Orphington chickens, which ap
parently have been the victims of a
weasel or skunk, judging from the
appearances of the bodies of the
chickens as found by Mr. Young this
morning when opening up his chicken
coop. The bodies of the chickens were
all lying in a pile with their throats
cut and several had their heads eaten
off. The coop where the fowls are
kept has been made as tight as pos
sible against the animals but they
dug under the screen door and pro
ceeded with their vork of destruction
The chickens were getting to be of
good size and Mr. Young states they
were worth $15 to him as they were
of the best Orphington throughbreds.
When baby suffers with croup, ap
ply and give Dr. Thomas's Eclectric
Oil at once. Safe for children. A little
goes a long way. 25c and 50c. At all
drug stores. .
THE BROADWAY GIRLS
ARE PLEASING EVERYONE
From "Wednesday's Dally.
The crowd at the Airdome last
evening was well pleased with the
performance given by the "Broadway
Girls" company and Mr. Harry Ches
hire, the ballad singer as well as Mr.
Bert DeVaile, the female imperson
ator, received repeated encores and
gracefully responded. The show
throughout is very pleasing and al
lows of the introduction of a num
ber of clever specialites and num
bers. The program will be completely
changed this evening with new songs
and jokes and the amusement loving
public can find in the show a most
delightful recreation.
BIG TIME PLANNED
AT UNION NEXT WEEK
From Wednesday's Dally.
The bills for the Old Settlers' re
union which will be held at Union on
Friday and Saturday, August 11 and
12, have just been turned out by the
Journal office and will distributed
throughout the county to advertise
this big event. "Old Settlers" is an
event that is looked forward to each
year by the old residents of the coun
ty with the greatest of pleaure and
the good people of Union see that the
comfort and best interests of their
visitors are looked after in a most
satisfactory manner. The Hugo shows
will be at Union during the reunion
and a fine band of this organization
will furnish the music for the event.
The picnic will be held in Barnum
grove southwest of the town and here
the exercises will be held. A number
of good speakers and special enter
tainment features have been secured.
The committee have made arrange
ments wherebv the fast train for the
north due at 7:15 in the evening will
stop for the passengers for Platts
mouth and Omaha. This will be a
great accommodation to the visitors
from this citv who will make the
trip to the reunion and permit a
arge number to be in attendance.
THE STOCK SHOW FEATURE
OF HOME COMING FESTIVAL
From "Wednesdays Dally.
The stock show feature of the fall
festival and "Home Coming" cele
bration is being pushed by the com
mittee in charge headed by Dr. O.
Sandin, and the event promises to be
one filled with much interest to the
farmers of the county and of the
neighboring territory that will be
here for the festival event. The stock
show will be held in the large feed
yard near the Amick garage on Vine
street and here the committee will
have every arrangement made for the
exhibition of cattle, horses and hogs
as well as a section for the fine poul
try of the county. A large tent will
be provided for the hog exhibition
where the animals can be cared for
and be kept out of the, heat of the
sun and accommodations for eighty
of the fine porkers of the county will
be arranged for by the committee.
The stalls for the cattle and horses
will be provided that will allow of
placing twenty-six horses and twen-
tv-six cattle in them for exhibition
purposes. With the hundreds of fine
horses, cattle and hogs that are
raised on the farms of Cass county
there should not be any trouble in
securing a fine exhibition on these
products of the farms. There are no
finer cattle raised in the state than
those which the progressive Cass
county farms produce and the owners
should take a pride in seeing that
they are placed on public exhibition.
The poutry owners are also asked to
take part with an exhibition and by
notifying the committee, reservations
will be made for them. Cash prizes
will be given by the committee to the
animals and poultry exhibited at this
big event and the further announce
ment should be watched with interest.
There was never a thing so good
that it could not be improved. Times
are good now everybody is prosper
ing but if you were shown a way
to make times better for you 'it
would , interest you just the same.
Now wouldn't it? Go to Chase Coun
ty with Rosencrans on August 13.
GOOD MAN TO
REPRESENT US
N LEGISLATURE
The Democratic Candidate for Repre
sentative is a Man of Promin
ence and Ability.
From "Wednesday's Dally.
John Murtey, of Alvo, whom the
democrats have nominated for a
member of the legislature from Cass
county, is a gentleman and scholar
and will make a typical member of
that body. His ability is of the high
est quality, being a genuine good bus
iness man, well versed in any mat
ters in which the people are interest
ed, possesses the faculty of making
friends, and will wield a great in
fluence among the members. He
bears a commanding appearance and
will always be found at his post of
duty, ever ready to support measures
that is caluated to benefit the
masses of the people of the state of
Nebraska. The democrats certainly
made no mistake in placing John
Murtey before the voters of Cass
county for that very important po
sition. Mr. Murtey is an enterprising
and energetic business man, and al
wavs bore the confidence of the com
munity in which he resided. We do
not believe the democrats could have
made a better selection for this very
mportant position, and with the
united effort on the part of the dem
ocrats he will surely be elected by a
arge majority. He lived for several
years in Clay county, and the paper
ubiished at Clay Center has the fol-
owing to say in reference to this
gentleman:
Word reaches us that our former
fellow townsman and friend, John
Murtey has filed as a candidate for
the lower house of the state legisla
ture down in Cass county. We believe
that if the people of Cass county are
as well acquainted with Mr. Murtey
as the people of Clay county he will
represent that county in the next
egislature.
Mr. Murtey located here in 1893
engaging in the lumber and coal bus
iness. He built up a fine business and
ater sold it at a nice premium and lo
cated in Verona, this county, where
he was very successful.
Some five or six years ago he sold
out and located at Alvo, Cass county.
Mr. Murtey is vice president of the
Commercial State bank of this city
and this business connection brings
im to our city quite frequently. He
always receives a cordial welcome.
If every legislature' could be made
up with hard headed conservative,
clear thinking farmers and business
men like John Murtey, we would have
ewer foolish laws on the statute
books.
He was always an independent in
the grain and coal business, allowing
no association to dictate the price he
should buy or sell at. He always
boosted for any enterprise and at the
present time holds quite a block of
stock in the Center Opera house. Sev
eral young men in this locality, vho
now own good farms are thankful to
John Murtey for financial assistance
and advice that started the men the
road to prosperity.
He owns 480 acres of good farm
land in Clay county and he knows the
needed legislation for the farmers.
Here is congratulations to the peo
ple of Cass county that they have an
opportunity of sending a man to the
legislature that is a farmer, a ship
per and a broad minded man of af
fairs. William Hiner was among' those
going to Omaha this afternoon to vis
it his cousin, Albert Rouse, at the St.
Joseph hospital where he is recover
ing from the injuries received in the
explosion of a boiler at Gretna a few
days ago.
A COUPLE OF DRUNKS TAKEN
UP BEFORE JUDGE ARCHER
Last evening Chief of Police Ear
clay received a call to go down to
the spring near Happy Hollow, where
two drunks were reported as holding
a small sized celebration, and accord
ingly the chief hastened to the scene
and gathered in the two men who
were far advanced in their orgies and
unable to get around with any degree
of safety. They were locked up in
the city jail and this morning one of
the men, who claimed to be employed
in the quarries at Cedar Creek, was
released and allowed to go on his way
and at once hastened to catch a train
for his home to resume work. The
other man was held in the hope that
he might be able to secure work and
settle his account with the citv.
MORE MACHINERY
FOR FOUNDRY AND
MACHINE SHOP
The Western Machinery and Foun
dry company of this city has just re
ceived a car of pig iron that will be
used in the new foundry just installed
by Mr. Sharp in the machine shops
and plant.! The foundry which is be
ing prepared for handling the work
that is piling up, will be one of the
main features of the plant as there
is a constant demand for all kinds of
work that requires a foundry and
makes it necessary to have one of suf
ficient capacity to handle all orders.
Mr. Sharp has orders from several
large manufacturing plants for work
that can be handled in fine shape in
this city and he will see that the work
ir, turned out in first class shape.
Several pieces of machinery from
the plant of the Duff Engineering
company of Nebraska City ha3 been
moved up here and installed in the
Western Machine company plant and
will add to the efficiency of the com
pany in handling their business. With
these improvements in the equipment
of the plant it has become one that
the city can feel proud of and will
now be in a position to go after the
business that they were compelled to
:ass up before on account of lack of
oom and machinery to handle it.
ARMER HAS TROUBLE
IN THE HARVEST FIELD
From out in the vicinity of Mur-
dock and Alvo comes the report of a
slight altercation between one of the
farmers in that section and a young
man, and which has been brought to
the attention oi the county attorney
for investigation and action. It
would seem from what has come to
the attention jof the county attorney
that the two parties to the contro-
ersv were loading oats a few days
ago and the farmer was engaged in
itching oats onto the wagon while
the young lad was engaged in
traiehtening out the load. While the
farmer was pitching the oats he ran
nto a water jug and tossed this onto
the wagon, and this is the cause of
the difficulty between the two men.
he younger one of the two began to
lonkev around with the jug with the
result that some of the water was
ei
ther spilled or thrown on the man
w
ho was pitching the bundles and
th
is moved him to anger and in a few
m
inutes there was something doing,
as
he reached up with the pitchfork
handle and proceeded to land several
good hard raps on the anatomy of the
ad who was straightening out the
load. This led to considerable argu
ment and discussion between the par
ties interested and as the boy who
claims he was struck by the pitchfork
a minor, it was decided to bring the
matter to the attention of the county
attorney and try andhave him see
at the affair was straightened out.
he case is now being looked into in
order to establish the merits of the
ffair before a complaint is filed
against either one of the parties.
Misses Gertrude Sturm of Nehaw
a, Lillian Johnson of Omaha and
Helen Tulley of Anselmo, Neb., are
guests of Miss Marie Robertson in
this city for a few days. The ladie3
are members of the Delta Delta Delta
soririty at the University of Nebraska.
CELEBRATES
SEVENTY-SIXTH
ANNIVERSARY
Col. Thrasher Having a Good Time
and Says He Will Be At Home
Soon to Knjcy Life, at 7(1
Years of Age.
The many friends of Colonel J. II.
Thrasher will be peased to earn from
the following letter that he is having
a most pleasant time in the wot
where he is visiting his daughter,
Mrs. Arthur Keffler at Missoula.
Montana, end taking in the sights of
that wonderful sce.Tc portion of the
feitul west:
Missoula, Montana, July 3".
Col. M. A. Bates, n.-.ttsmouth.
Dear Colonel:
Missoula is certain';.- a beautiful
place, with the bu.;;iie.-1 houses and
streets all kept up to date and ir.
splendid shape.
We drove to Deer L-.--.ge and i. :"..!.,
.bcut 120 miles thro.ih the mo.-r
beautiful country thr.t vould be imaj'
ined and the scenery wds perfect in
its rugged beauty. The industry
thiough the country was wonderful,
the lumber mills especially and trout
fishing was fine. I am certainly hav
ing the time of my life, but still I
vould like to be back to old Nebraska
right now. She beats them ail. As
next Wednesday is my birthday, Ag
nes says I must stay over with her as
she is going to have a swell dinner
for me. I will be 76 years old. We
are going to take a 100 mile drive to
morrow to Medicine Springs right up
the mountains.
I have met a good many old sol
diers here and they are all for Presi
dent Wilson, but one. I can tell you
that Wilson stands high in this coun
try. The Elks home here in Missoula
is a very beautiful one and they have
a lodge of fiOO members. I spend some
of my time there. I have the rheuma
tism in my knees but have not laid
up with it. This country is not good
for rheumatism.
On returning home I expect to go
by the way of Yellowstone park, and
will reach Plattsmouth the 15th of
August. Regards to r.ll my friends.
Yours truly.
J. H. Thrasher.
COMMISSIONERS
LOOK OVER BRIDGES
NEEDING REPAIR
The county commissioners yester
day afternoon drove down in the vi
cinity of Murray where they looked
over a bridge that was in need of re
pair as well as several jobs of road
work that was demanding their at
tention. The members of the board
had intended to go out to Eight Mile
Grove precinct today to look over the
bridge work and the roads but the
rain inteifered with their plains some
what and they adjourned and depart
ed homeward.
The bridge and road work problem.-.
is one of the biggest propositions
that the county commissioners have
to handle and the large amount of
money that is necessary to carry on
the work makes it hard to keep the
roads of the county up in the way
that they would like to have them,
but the amount of work that can be
done is limited by the funds that are
available for the use of the county.
Every person in the county feels that
they have the right to have their road
kept in first class condition all the
time, and as a matter of fact it
should be but the amount of money
at the disposal of the county will not
permit the grading and dragging of
all the roads when it is needed.
EAGLE TICNIC
The ninth annual picnic will bo
held at Eagle Wednesday and Thurs
day, August 9 and 10, with a program
consisting of music by the Havelock
Military band, speaking by Keith Ne
ville and others, base ball games, au
tomobile parade, tug-of-war, . and
sports of all kinds. Liberal prizes are
offered. Plan to attend. 8-3-3twkly
Head the want ads in the Journal,