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About The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 1953)
nD PUBLISHED SEMI-WEEKLY Monday - Thursday Consolidated With the Nehawka Enterprise and Efmwood Leader-Echo Delivered Twice Weekly to More Than 3000 Cass County Families VOLUME 73 FOURTEEN PAGES PLATTSMOUTH, CASS COUNTY, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 26, 1953 FIVE CENTS PER COPY NUMBER 1 Campfire Girls Are Advanced mum do ememf my; CCirini ET3 CASS COUNTY'S GREATEST NEWSPAPER ME COOITQ A A ax llfT 5 Enforcement of a city ordinance, passed in 1941 and successful for a number of years, is going to be enforced in Plattsmouth. The law, provides a fee for, operation of amusement coin devices in the city. Brought before the council Monday night by Coun cilman Clark Finney, who asked that a $25 fee be made on all such devices, the issue was temporarily placed in the hands of City Clerk Albert Olson and City Attorney Har old Lebens. Clerk Olson has been instruct Mrs. M Wondra, Resident Here 65 Years, Dies Mrs. Mary Wondra, resident of Plattsmouth for nearly 65 years, died at her home here Tuesday morning following a three month illness. She was 73 years old. Born on September 8, 1880, the daughter of John and Frances Bukacek, she was a native of Europe. She came to the United States with her parents in 1889, the same year that they settled here. She was married at Platts mouth in 1903 to Frank Wondra, who died on September 5, 1936. Surviving are four sons, James, Charles, John and Kenneth, all of Plattsmouth, a daughter, Mrs. Kay (Tiliie) Cavender of Oma ha; a brother, Frank Bukacek of Plattsmouth, and six grand children. Funeral services will be held Friday afternoon at two o'clock at Sattler Funeral chapel with Kev. Harold Mitchell officiating. Visiting hours will be held from 5 to 7 o'clock Thursday evening, November 26. Burial will be at Oak Hill cemetery. Sever, Paving Payments Totaling $43,000 Okayed Payments on Sanitary Sewer District No. 8. known as the South Park Sewer, and the Washington Avenue paving job were authorized by the City Council Monday night. Councilmen approved payment in the amount of $16,569 to Sesto Construction company on the sewer project, now virtually com plete except for some backfill and other incidental work. Total cost of the sewer to date, according. to the contractors lat est estimate, is $47,725.99. Final estimate has not been presented as yet. - , In authorizing payment of $26,107.57 to the National Con struction Company for the Wash ington paving councilmen were advised that $9,496.21 would be refunded by the State Depart ment of Roads and Irrigation which shares half the construc tion cost of the center 24 feet of highway. Included in the total cost was some additional work on sewer along the avenue. Coupons Redeemable At Biles Book Store, 4th & Main Coupons with redeemable value at Biles Book and Gift Store can be turned in at Frank BiKs' store at the corner of 4th and Main street where the gifts and toys are on display. Lack of facilities made it im practical this year for Biles to maintain the gift supplies at his paint and wallpaper store. The coupons, published in the Journal Monday, may be turn ed in for assorted greeting cards. Blles is also presenting $1 worth of Christmas decorations witn each $5 purchase at the Book and Gift store until December 1. David Friest, student at Iowa State Teachers College in Ames, Iowa, will spend Thanksgiving with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. T. I. Ffiest. v a eta- ygrKi m ox. r ed to collect the $10 fee now im posed on all such amusement machines, while Attorney Leb ens has been instructed to pre pare a revised ordinance to up the ante to $25 a year instead of $10 and to make other altera tions to the 1941 law to bring it up to date in complance with the wishes of the council. Under the 1941 law. all juke boxes, pin ball machines and other amusement devices are to be tagged by the city after the ten dollar fee is paid. If the fee is not paid on the machines, the owner is subject to -a fine of from $10 to $100. A section of the city's occupa tion tax law, the special assess ment against the machines has not been enforced for several years. Most officials seemed to recall that the last enforcement was before slot machines were banned in the state. In requesting the tax and law revision, Councilman Finney pointed out that an estimated 30 machines are in operation m the community at this time. At $10 each, under the present law, that would mean- $300. Under Finney's $25 fee proposal, it would mean $750 to the city. Under the ordinance the tax is against the owner of the ma chines. Most of the machines are placed in places of business, such as taverns and cafes, under an agreement between the ma chine owner and the place of business. The ordinance does not apply to coin operated machines from which merchandise is obtained. It thus excludes cigarette ma chines, gum dispensers and sim ilar devices from which the user actually receives merchandise in return. Finney's suggestion drew un animous support from the other three councilmen following a brief discussion under which the old ordinance was considered and changes authorized. Tax Sale of 16 Properties Nets $1 Sale of 16 county properties at tax vsale here Tuesday brought $1,328, according to Sheriff Tom Solomon, who conducted the sale for the county. Biggest chunk of that $1,300 came from, the city of Platts mouth which paid $1,082 for eight pieces of property sold at the auction. The city bid $1,025 on one house and lot on the west end of the city. Most of the others were purchased for as little as $1. At the sale H. L. Gayer gave $105 for a Rock Bluff property and E. P. Snod grass purchased six other Rock Bluff lots for $90. Ray Becker gave $40 for another Rock Bluff plot. The other sale was to Warren Fink for $2 on a lot at Louis ville. Subscribe to The Journal acnooi safety Problem For Safety for Plattsmouth school children a?ain marked the resn- iar semi-monthly meeting of the Plattsmouth City Council Mon day night. Attention of councilmen was centered on school cross traffic at St. John's school, along with that of First Ward. .Presented to the city's legisla tive body by Councilman B. H. G. Eiting, the city fathers au thorized erection of a removable stop sign at the 6th street in tersection adjacent to St. John's school and authorized Mr. Eit ins? along- with other city offi- ! cials to seek cooperation of the school in placing the sign ana enforcing student participation. The roll-out sign, to be pur chased by the city, will be placed in the center of the street each morning, noon and after school each day to control traffic and enable safe crossing of the busy intersection by the elementary graders. The roll-out sign at St. John's corner will be used in addition to the permanent stop signs in stalled a block north where many - 7 nU Arh - -' " f W '$&M Receiving advancement during a Campfire Grand Council here recently were ten members of the Campfire group led by Mrs. Verne Hutton. Pictured are back rowT Mrs., Hutton, Joan Stein bach, Sharon Daniels, Ruth Mann and Margaret England. Front row Carol Dreamer, Roberta jew Chevrolet Trucks Displayed At Cass Motors The 1954 Chevrolet truck will go on display Saturday at Cass County Motor Company show room at 6th street and First avenue. Engineering and styling changes in the new line is mark ed by new economies and op erating efficiency with the Hydra-maticr transmission a fea ture of the 1954 models. While retaining distinctive front and appearance, the new models have been given a styl ing treatment along the lines of passenger cars. Deluxe cab features are mark ed by chrome ornaments, bright moldings, arm- rests and deluxe upholstery. New models will nave the 235 cubic inch engine, succeeding the 228, which provides greater gas mileage. Pickup bodies have been redesigned to get increased load capacity, lower loading heieht and grain-tight, sand tisrht tail gates. Directional signals will be a factory option and automatic transmission will also be avail able. Ex-Weeping Water Youth Is Awarded Study Scholarship WEEPING WATER (Special) George A. Olive of Princeton, N. J., and son of Mrs. B. A. Olive of Weeping Water is one of five in the electrical engineer ing field to receive study schol arships from Radio Corporation of America. All five are em polyed by RCA in some capacity or other. Mr. Olive is a gradu ate of the University of Nebras ka (1949) and is employed in the research department of RCA. With the scholarship he will resume his work in graduate studies at Princeton University. Journal Want Ads Pay! &gain Council school youngsters from First Ward school cross the street. In discussing the school traf fic problem, Councilmen gener ally agreed that the permanent stop signs on North 6th has done a lot to control speeding on the street. , During the discussion, council men were advised that "no park ing" signs ordered for 4th ave nue on the Hillcrest approach have been received and will be erected by the street department. Councilman Eiting also sug gested that the city might con sider a radar-speed recorder for checking speeding on avenue ap proaches to the city. Speeding on Chicago avenue seems to be of particular concern to the group. The city's legislative body al so briefly considered a report from the League of Nebraska Municipalities on bicycle ordi-' nances in the state. They failed to get the desired information, however. Law And Order Column Warns Of Shoplifting Here Sheriff Tom Solomon has a word of advice to business owners, managers and em ployees in his Law and Or der Column published in to day's Plattsmouth Journal. In his column, the Sher iff calls attention to the great possibility of increas ed shoplifting during the Christmas buying period. He tells the different types of shoplifters,, and offers sug gestions on how to pick them out among the crowds in which they usually op erate. The next few weeks he ad vises store clerk to take particular care in watching for shoplifters. Drawing Line on mployee Use Is City's Headache Plattsmouth City Councilmen Monday night authorized the street department to provide one man and one truck to aid the Plattsmouth Chamber of Com merce in its street decorating program for the Christmas holi days. But authorization followed a rather lengthy discussion in which councilmen considered the "pros and cons" of city employ ees devoting too much time to such activities, where benefits are not, in fact, city-wide. Authorization came however, when Street Cbmmisisoner How ard Hirz explained that weather and road conditions make a dif ference as to the availability of the men. Recent rains have kept department empolyees off the unimproved streets and has thus enabled them to take more time for such activities. But . with good weather and road condi tions, Hirz explained the men should be on the roads. Mindful of the department's role in the King Korn Karnival and other community activities, the council was faced with the problem of where to "draw the line" if any. Criticism is often the result, officials noted. Street decorations were being erected Tuesday by Chamber ui Commerce members with cooper ation from the city. Three Groups Join Band Crusade Three other groups today were added to the list of civic or ganizations that will participate in the special community wide program to aid the Plattsmouth high school band in raising funds for a trip to Oklahoma. Latest to join the "Crusade are Rebekah Lodge, American Leg ion Auxiliary and Catholic Dau ghters. Their committees are: Rebekah Lodge Mrs. Jessie Klinger, Mrs. Mary Nelson and Mrs. Elizabeth Vincent. Lesion Auxiliary Mrs. Sop hia Wolever, Mrs. Ruth Krings, and Mrs. Verna Perry.. Catholic Daughters Com mittee will .be selected later. Subscribe to The Journal Dreamer, Noveta Humiston, Sharon Harms.. Nancy Hirz .Patty Liddick, and Lura Davenport. All but Miss Mann, who had previously earned the advancement, ' were recognized during the council fire at the high school gymnasium. Journal Photo. Child Wanders From Home as Trouble Hits Twice WEEPING WATER (Special) Twenty month old Ricky Cooper,- son of Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Cooper, gave his parents a scare last week, when his mother dis covered that he had disappear ed from her sight. Calling her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Cooper, and also notifying her 'i'dpa rents, Mr. and Mrs.' E. M.lRuby, they all started to hunt for little Ricir.. Good fortune prompted Clif ford Cooper to notice that the cows in an adjoining field had stopped their grazing and were intent on something in the dis tance. He followed in the di rection of their stares and found to his relief that young master Rickey had wandered through the field and out on to the main traveled road 'z mue away. Trot ting along side were the two family dogs. Within the next few days, Ricky had the misfortune to topple against a container of bottled gas, which in turn fell on him, completely knocking the little lellow out. His mother apr plied first aid remedies and managed to bring the youngster back to consciousness. Student Reports, Films Are Rotary Club Highlights Student reports, a , special film, and anouncement for next week's program marked the weekly meeting of the Platts mouth Rotary Club - Tuesday noon. Michael ' Shellenbarger, junior and Ray Adkins, senior, pre sented their reports to Rotar ians. The two school boys were guests of the club during No vember meeting. The noon program was pre sented by John Schreiner,' who showed a film depicting the manufacture of antibiotics. ! Schreiner's guests at the meet- ing were Dr R. F. Brendel and Emil Weyrich. Next week's program will fea ture an address by Cecil Means, agricultural representative of the Omaha Chamber of Com merce, who will speak on "Urban and Rural Relations." C. C. Gir ardot will be program chairman for the next meeting. Another guest at the Tuesday noon session was W. H.. Gould, official of the Burlington rail road, a guest of George Jaeger. Visiting Rotarians were Ken Evans of Malvern, Iowa, Orson Perkins of Omaha, Ad Newens and John Williams of Nebraska City; Paul Cheyney, A. F. Stan diford, Bill Rathke and James Walker of Glenwood, Iowa. REQUEST OKAYED Plattsmouth City Council Mon day night approved the request of Russell Nielsen to cut curb for a driveway to his new home on South Sixth street. Burton Gleason, who attends the Iowa State Teachers College at Ames, Iowa, will be a guest of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Gleason for the Thanksgiving holiday. KICK Boosters Give '54 Show Financial, ' Spiritual Push Twenty-five King Korn Karnival boosters put the 1954 Centennial year off to a big start Tuesday night, both spiritually and finan cially. They are the 25 attending the annual meeting. All have paid their one dollar membership for 1954. In revealing names of the 25, Korn Klub officials added the simple question, "Werte You There?" Members for 1954 are John Soennichsen, Bruce Gold, Joe Zastera, Bill Knorr, B. II. G. Eiting, Glen Wetenkamp, Charles Dean, Lester Dalton, N. W. McKee, Orville V. Niel " sen ,Boyd Lytle, Harry Cane, Carl Chriswiser, Herman Meisinger, C. C. Girardot, Walter II. Smith, Dr. W. V. Ryan, Fred Feldhousen, Dr. O .Sandin, Francis M. Casey, Wm. Spradlin, Sterling Ing werson, Ed Ernst, Leslie Niel and Mrs. O. V. Nielsen. One hundred letters in ad dition to a public appeal were sent out prior to the meeting. Heal Problems al Fire Station in Committee's Lap Providing heat for the south stall of the Plattsmouth Fir Qnin f ... , , waa put i i me nanas or uuuuumwi, JarK rinney ana ma me ana water committee Monday night by the city coun cil. Finney's committee was au thorized to make arrangements for heating the stall immediate ly to prevent any possible chance of freezing water stored in the L1 trucks. Brought up by Councilman Sam Arn, assistant fire chief, the ( heating problem prompted a j discussion calling attention to heating problems for the entire building. While the only action taken was on the fire eneine rstall, councilmen briefly review - ed the heating problem which involves the Fire Department's training room, the council chem- bers, office of police magistrate and the city jail. , Tentative nlanx nntlinpH hv councilmen win be to place a small forced-air heater in the south fire station stall and to study needs of the building as a whole. Meanwhile the Fire Department has been consider ing purchase of its own unit for the Fire Department training room, first floor of the building. Dr. and Mrs. R. F. Brendel and son will spend Thanksgiving i with Mrs. Margaret Brendel in : Murray. Suit Bs Threatened As Highway 50 Letting Near Relocation of Highwav No. 50 between U. S. 23 and Nebraska No. 1, and construction of a new i spur to Weeping Water are in cluded in the work up for bid ding at a state highway depart ment letting December 17. But residents of the Weeping Water community, who have been fighting the proposed re location, have threatened suit to prevent the highway depart ment 'from altering the route, which now runs through Weep inc Wratfr to Louisville. Appeals to Governor Crosby several months ago failed to al ter the state's view, however a recent opinion by the Attorney General has renewed the pro tests. The Attorney General has ruled that certain limitations may be placed on the highway department in relocating high ways. It particularly refers to those not in the state system. The highway through. Weeping Water is part of the state's highway system. Though some proposals were drooped from the December 17 letting after the Attorney Gen eral opinion., the Highway 50 job remained. The new route of No. fif) will ; be two miles west of the present roaa. Almost 524.0CO cubic yards of earth are to be excavated in building the new highway. A typical cross section of the new No. 50, will have a 32-foot wide EnltStoidls King Korn Karnival Klub members Tuesday night adopted a Centennial theme for the 1954 Karnival and elected N. V. McKee to head the organization during Pkttsmouth's 100th year, as 2G new members set out poli cies for the board to follow in setting up the next King Korn Karnival. One by one Klub members added their votes to a Kar nival built around the Centennial theme in recognizing the city's 100th year. But how the Centennial is to bo brought into the 1954 event was left in the hands of Mr. McKee and his'new board. Elected along with McKee, Tentative Plans For Watershed Session Told Tentative plans .for the an nual meeting of the Cass Weep ing Water Creek Watersheds Association were outlined at a board meeting at Weeping Wa ter Tuesday night. Directors voted to forsake the regular first Tuesday in January date because of heavy activity during the period and to select a later date for the meeting. That date will depend somewhat on availability of speakers as well as building accommoda tions. Steps were taken however to plan the annual meeting as spe cial committees were appointed within the board. Those com mittees are: Building arrangements Lloyd Ranney, cnanman, and Joe Ben der. Food William Blum, chair man; Ed Stander, Herman Schweppe, and Kenneth Roe- ber. . Entertainment -f Hugo Mei- i "0V., J v... v , anci Clarence Engelkemeier. f Nominations 5 Herman Schweppe, chairman; Paul Fau quet, L-yle Choat, William Blum and Lloyd Ranney. Secretary Paul Fauquet was named to obtain a speaker and handle other miscellaneous ar rangements. Simultaneously, Ronald R. Furse, publisher of the Platts mouth Journal announced that the Journal will again present a placque and certificates of award 'to the outstanding soil conservationalist and partici pants in a single watershed dis- , trct It will mark the third straight year that such awards have been presented by the Journal. ' j i l i j J I 4-1 y o Mother Uies Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Ladd de parted for Oelwein, Iowa, early Wednesday morning after re ceiving word that his mother, Mrs. Sophia Ladd had died about 2 o'clock early Wednesday, November 25. Mrs. Ladd, a frequent visitor to Plattsmouth at her son's home, had been ill for several months. She had many friends here from her frequent visits in the community. grade, shoulders that drop 2 feet vertically and 11 feet of hori zontal distance. Two new bridges are to be built on the new route, both to have concrete floors 26 feet wide. A three-span concrete slab bridge, 140 feet long will be built over the north branch of Weeping Water creek. About a mile north, a 50-foot long deck steel girder bridge will replace a 24-foot span. In addition three existing bridges on the north-south county road are to be replaced by concrete box culverts. The 1.8 miles spur will extend i west from the west city limits of Weeping Water. The spur will cross the railroad tracks near the town and follow the tracks to the new highway location. No. 50 between U. S. 34 and i No. 1, in 1951 cost $111 more per ! mile and in 1952 it cost $230 more per mile to maintain than the average mile of gravel sur faced state highway in south eastern Nebraska. The condition . of the road is rated low enough to be put in the emergency cate- gory by the highway depart- i ment. S State Engineer L. N. Ress said that the steep slopes in Weep in Water and the rock hills north of town would make the cost of rebuilding the hi5hwav along its present route run to a fantastic figure. who was the nominating com mittee's selection for Korn Klub president during 1954, were Joe Zastera, vice president; Harold Lebens, secretary; and John Soennichsen, member of the board of directors. Selection of a treasurer was left in the hands of the board, which was also increased with an improved change in the Korn Klub's by-laws. That change authorized the president and manager of the Chamber of Commerce to serve on the board of directors, increasing it to five members. The board at the pres ent would thus include Soenn ichsen, artisan; Don Born, farm er; Dr. L. A. Amato, profession al man! and Vic Schreiner and Charles Dean, president and manager of the Chamber. New officers will be named- by the Chamber in January. The new president, N. W. Mc Kee, has been a resident of Plattsmouth for seven years. He formerly resided at Lincoln and on the west coast for many years. McKee, business manager for Plattsmouth Motors, is a charter member of the Platts mouth Lions Club, president of the Lions, and a director of the Plattsmouth Lions Club Recre ation Corporation, and a strong backer of the corporations new community center building. Favorable comments by Fred Feldhousen, Joe Zastera. B. H. C. Eiting, and Walter Smith for the Centennial theme prompted the motion bv Francis Casey that Centennial arrangements be placed in the hands of the new board. A "hike warm" view of the King Korn Karnival, and a cold view toward a separate Centen nial were the comments of Bruce Gold, who also sought the group's action in eliminating the carnival concessions from Main reet. Charles Dean said he had been told by several merchants that they also are discontent with the carnival set uo. Dean suggested that it be moved a block east to 4th street, while Gold wanted it completely out of the business district. C. C. Girardot started the ball rolling as Korn Klub members gave a standing ovation to John Soennichsen, retiring president. Soennichsen added his thanks to committeemen and women for the splendid cooperation. Soenniehsen's top praise went to Elmer Gorhenour and the street denartment crew. - Report of Treasurer Cecil Karr, read by Orville Neilsen, lifted income at the 1953 karni val of $4,415.45 while expenses were $3,863.93, leaving a balance of $551.52 for the year. Windows Broken By Kid Vandals Sixty-six windows were shat tered and some furniture dam aged at the home of Miss Jose phine Rys at 1G07 Third Avenue shortly before noon Tuesday morning, Sheriff Tom Solomon reports. The damage, investigation shows, was caused by two chil dren, three and four years old. The kids smashed the windows by throwing rocks from a nearby driveway. Later they entered the house and caused some fur niture damage. Miss Rvs found the damage upon arriving home from the Burlington shops where she is employed. Tarents of the two children are making repairs and restitu tion, Solomon said. Store Opening At Elmwood Is Slated Friday Gifts will be awarded at Clar ence Rueter of Elmwood marks the grand opening of his Gam bles Store at Elmwood this week end The opening has been set for November 27 and 28. Rueterr native of the Elmwood community and an ex-farmer, recently remodeled a former garage building for the appli ance and hardware store. He has been in the electric' busi ness for the past seven years. Rueter is married to the for mer Ruth McCrory, also of the Elmwood area.