Sheridan County Newspapers & Publications
Echoes of the Past
Mar 17, 2004
columns by Helen Selee
100 Years Ago - 1904
Joseph Kocer, of Pine Ridge reservation, was discharged by C.H. Nelson, US Commissioner, at his hearing on the charge of grand larceny yesterday. Mr. Kocer had been arrested on the complaint of Charles Marrival, who alleged that Mr. Kocer had stolen a steer belonging to him and had shipped it to the eastern market where it was sold. Yesterday afternoon without entering into any evidence, Hon. P.H. O’Rourk of Gordon, one of Mr. Kocer’s attorneys, moved that the case be dismissed on the ground of the insufficiency of evidence. The motion was granted and Mr. Kocer has returned to his home. Mr. Kocer is a well known stock man of the Pine Ridge reservation and one of the most reputable citizens of Gordon, Nebr.W.G. Wilkinson is without a doubt one of the most successful poultry men in these parts. During the past year he sold eggs to the amount of $118, while the sale of chickens and butter reached the handsome sum of $165.
A surprise party for Mr. and Mrs. David Moffatt was given in the Lemen home on Friday evening and an enjoyable time was spent in playing games and indulging in light refreshments.
If you have an idea that Rupert Bard is not a lightening calculator, propound to him the problem, viz: how long will it take a man to get full of prunes if he eats one every time he visit’s The Fair store.
Frank Coates is contemplating putting in what is called the air pressure system to force water around over his premises.
The people who have in the past wanted to work with or without a team to get square with the editor on newspaper or professional accounts, can now have the opportunity for a few weeks, as we have considerable work we want done. But don’t wait for always if you want to do it.
John Crowder returned on Friday morning of last week from his trip south. Thos. Huntington stopped off in Omaha and arrived here Monday morning.
It makes the doctor weep for the people and smile for himself to see the quantities of old rotten onions, cabbage, potatoes, dead cats, dead chickens, manure, etc. that fill all the alleys.
The Alliance Herald will issue a mammoth special edition next week, March 25th, and if any community is ready to encourage and support such an enterprise, it is the business men of Alliance, and if any shop is prepared to do such a thing in proper style, it is Tom O’Keefe’s printery.
Earl Ireland came down from Belle Fourche on Friday morning of last week. He had been working in a store but we understand he will not return.
Mrs. A.B. McDowell, knowing of the editor’s weakness for buttermilk, left a bucket of the x x x x brand at our home Monday. Good fresh buttermilk, with a goodly number of little hunks of butter swimming around on the top, is one of the great elixirs of life. It is better than any brand of booze on the market and it will not effect the heart, make hard knots on the liver, nor make one act like a simpleton.
Elsewhere may be found the advertisement of the Arlington nursery for which Roy Crowder is agent. This is a northern Nebraska nursery and it looks reasonable that their stock will be very suitable for growth in this locality.
Any country town can well afford to provide a rest room for the farmers’ wives and children when they come to town. ---Fremont Tribune
A baby boy was born to Mr. and Mrs. Fred Margrave on the 14th.
Prof. Raubach and Del Wilson succeeded in nailing a pair of fine fat geese in Russell’s cornfield Tuesday morning.
There are not just a few men who want no better proof of their business ability than to start out in the morning with an old plug of a horse and return at night with a better kind of a plug, $3 in cash and an old harness. Every little town has one or more of this sort. Their wives generally take in washing to support the family.
J.C. Jordan took a force of carpenters to Rushville Monday morning for the purpose of improving and enlarging his buildings. The force included W.D. McElroy, Baldwin Buckley, Guy Clark, J. Wilson, Walter Joice and Wm. Coffey.
W.W. Parsons and wife completed their visit with friends in Ainsworth and on Friday morning departed for Hastings, their future home.
A good meal for farmers and ranchers can be obtained at the Central Hotel for 20 cents.
David Clark and his family moved out onto their ranch last Monday.
Jas. Davis was down to Merriman the first of the week and disposed of 100 tons of hay to Ben Roberts.
All persons knowing themselves indebted to E.H. Lemen for horse service, which was due March 1st, 1904, will please call and settle.
Horace G. Burt, who abruptly resigned the presidency of the Union Pacific Railroad with its salary of $25,000 a year and went to the Orient ten days later, says a San Francisco paper, has been given a year’s employment as an expert by the Russian authorities on communications and railways. They want him to make a report on needed improvements for the Trans-Siberian Road and the new Oren burg & Tashkent Railway. It is said that his remuneration will be $100,000.
Miss Maude Burns has returned to Gordon to work in the millinery department of Mrs. McDowell’s store.
Commissioner Loer, of Alliance, has a pair of white calves--twins--whose mother is all black. Mr. Loer is of the opinion that this unusual occurrence presages the election of a democratic president next fall.
There is not the least doubt but that Congressman Kinkaid will receive a unanimous re-nomination for Congress in the Big Sixth convention which meets on the 16th at Alliance. He deserves it more than any man who has attempted to represent this district in the past.
Miss Helen Dale is now the assistant cashier in the Stockmen’s Bank in Rushville.
If John Rockefeller is trying to burn the kerosene of these latter days, it is no wonder he is bald-headed and has stomach trouble.
Has it ever occurred to some of you fathers who drink booze and “can let it alone if I wanted to” that you may be setting an example for your boy who may become a chronic guzzler?????
A letter from Grover Cleveland denying that he entertained a Negro at luncheon in the White House was read in the House of Representatives and precipitated an acrimonious debate on the race question.
75 Years Ago - 1929
At the last meeting of the City Council an agreement was reached with the Nebraska Elec. Power Co., and as a result Gordon will soon have a white-way street lighting system. Forty light standards will be erected on Main Street between First and Third, and on Second between Elm and Oak. There will be four lights at each intersection, with four more within the block on each side of the pavement. This will give Gordon one of the best lighted business sections of any city in this part of the state.The House of Representatives at Lincoln passed the Bowring 4-cent gas tax bill and the matter goes to the Senate where sentiment seems to favor the measure. According to the bill drawn by Representative Arthur Bowring of Merriman, 2 cents will go to the state as at present; 1 cent will go to the counties in the ratio of cars licensed in the county; the other cent will be given to the department of public works to be spent half for paving where necessary and the remainder for graveling where necessary to close up gaps.
J.W. Pace of Chadron, owner of the Empress Theatre in Gordon, announces that the Pace Theatre at Chadron will open on Sunday, March 24th with their new talking pictures, equipment for which is being installed at a cost of many thousands of dollars. One of the latest feature plays will be put on for the first three days of that week and a cordial invitation is extended to Gordon folks to attend.
Going out to the pasture near the home in hope of finding his mittens which he lost while playing the day before, little six-year-old Willie Reeves, son of Mr. and Mrs. Willie Reeves of near Albany, became lost in the raging snow storm that came up suddenly Monday and which has continued for 48 hours without abatement. When his absence was noted, search was made but he could not be found. The alarm was spread and nearly 200 friends from the country and from Gordon and Rushville rushed to the Reeves home and combed the country for miles around as well as they could in the heavy fall of snow, but to no avail. The only report of his being seen was when Mr. W. Whitman saw someone walking along a trail not far from his home. He did not know who it was, but upon hearing of the boy being lost, at once gave the information. Dozens of men took up the trail, but the blinding snow made the search of doubtful value, and at the fall of night, weary and disheartened the friends were forced to report that nothing could be found of the boy.
Fires were built and the hunt continued throughout the night, but still nothing has been heard up to Thursday morning. Cars from town attempting to take food supplies to the searchers, have become stalled in the towering drifts of snow, and the only way one can get about is on horseback. With forecasts of clearing weather, the search will be resumed with increased vigor in the hopes that the boy may have found his way to some Indian home on the reservation, which is just north of the Reeves home.
Roscoe L. Wilhite of Rushville died at his home Tuesday, and if the storm abates, it is planned to hold funeral services at the home on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. with burial in Gordon cemetery. Judge Wilhite has been very active in the business and legal affairs of this section of the state and has gained a statewide prominence as an attorney. The cause of death was acute indigestion. An obituary will be published next week.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Shuster announce the birth of a daughter on Friday, March 8th.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Mielke announce the birth of a little daughter on Sunday, March 10th.
Miss Gertrude Downing and Mr. Bert Schrader were married at Rushville on Thursday, March 7th, by Judge Hutton. Mrs. Schrader is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Downing, who live south of Gordon. She has been employed in Gordon for several years and has made many friends here. Mr. Schrader is the mail carrier on the Hinchley route. Immediately after the ceremony they left to visit Mr. Schrader’s mother in Sterling, Colorado, and are now living in an apartment at the home of Mrs. Clara Rash. They have the best wishes of a large circle of friends.
Miss Lorene Barker entertained a few little friends in honor of her 4th birthday on Monday afternoon.
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Matheson have rented the Sam Perrin house in the west part of Gordon.
We are all glad to hear that Oscar Coon is getting better. He has certainly had a time with his hand.
The Spindler Brothers gave some fine songs and guitar music Sunday evening at the H. Jelineks and had a lunch at a late hour.
C.S. Jelinek had to go to Chadron as little Dorothy is losing her hearing. They operated on her Sunday morning. She stood the operation pretty well, having her tonsils and adenoids removed, but the doctor doesn’t know yet if he can save her hearing. We certainly hope he can. They will remain there for several days.
Mr. and Mrs. Eric Martin arrived here by motor car from Tulsa, Okla., on Wednesday of last week, and will live at the home of the parents, Mr. and Mrs. R.E. Johnson. Eric will be associated with his father in the Gordon Implement Store. These young people will be welcomed here by their business associates and also in the social and religious life of our city.
Lloyd Decker recently took the examination for entrance to the Army Air school at Berkley, Calif., but was rejected because of a defect in his nostrils. Upon being informed of the cause of the failure, Mr. Decker at once left for Hot Springs, S.D., where he submitted to an operation. He has been informed by Congressman Bob Simmons that the Chief of the Air Corps will allow him another examination just as soon as he is able to take it. Should he be successful, he will receive training in California and then be sent to San Antonio, Texas, for final training as a combat pilot. The air course is said to be the hardest of all, and only the pick of the army can finish it successfully.
50 Years Ago - 1954
A blizzard, with all the earmarks of a “49-er” changed the generally mild weather of the past several weeks into the long-expected channel of the winter’s worst storm. The only drawback was that the storm only lasted one day. It began to snow Thursday afternoon and continued throughout the night and all day Friday, dumping seven inches of wet snow over the area. High winds piled the snow into huge drifts, leaving 50 per cent of the ground bare and the other 50 per cent high drifts. Highway 20 was blocked until Sunday noon while nearly every east-west highway in the county had to be “dug out” with snow plows.Thomas Ray Gardner, son of Mr. and Mrs. Myron Gardner of Blackpipe, SD, was born Oct. 6, 1953 at Gordon and died at Gordon on March 11, 1954 at the age of five months and five days. Funeral services were held Sunday March 14 at the Gates Funeral Home with the Rev. Ben Wallace in charge. Burial was in the Gordon cemetery. Surviving are his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Myron Gardner. One sister preceded him in death.
Several families in the Pleasant Hill community are still having the mumps and the chicken pox visit them. Those who have had the chicken pox or are now suffering with them are: Lanell Kling, Linda Turnbull, Alvin Perry and Gary Sandage, Larry Turnbull, Arlana Sandage and Patty Peters. Those suffering with the mumps have been Linda Turnbull, Patty and Terry Peters, Wendell, Darlene and Melvin Forster, and Lanell Kling has them right now.
Ramona Brice, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Brice, became the bride of Herbert Grover, son of Mrs. Carl Grover, in a ceremony performed in Rapid City, S.D. March 8. Mr. Grover is employed at the Brewer Service Station and the couple is at home at 212 S. Elm Street.
Wayne Drake, son of Mr. and Mrs. Emory Drake of Gordon and Miss Irma Beatriz Herrera were married March 2, 1954, in the chapel at Moffatt Field air base near San Francisco, Calif.
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Michaelson are the parents of a son, born March 15, 1954.
Mr. and Mrs. Roy Ross, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ross, Mrs. Richard Triplett, Jessie Ross and Cy and Kit Krotz had dinner Sunday, March 14, with their mother and great-grandmother, Mrs. Bessie Ross, honoring her ninety-first birthday.
Miss Carmen Gates who is attending Stephens college in Columbia, Mo., has recently pledged Sigma Gamma Gamma, national music sorority. Miss Gates, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Folsom Gates of Gordon is majoring in organ. Her instructor is Nesta Williams. She is also studying voice and has for her instructor Mrs. Hetzler, mother of singer Jane Frohman.
25 Years Ago - 1979
The hour extension for weekend bar closing bill was defeated in a special election on Tuesday by a tally of 212 to 161 votes.The Gordon high school FHA chapter presented a check for $207.20 to the Gordon Memorial hospital for the purchase of an optholmoscope-otoscope for use in the emergency room. The money was some of the marathon fund that was earned in 1978.
The Gordon police department and the Gordon high school art department are sponsoring a contest for the purpose of selection of an official city seal. Currently no such design exists. Community participation is invited. Designs are being accepted at this time through March 30. Designs should be in color and at least 8x10 inches and should reflect the community history, heritage and cultural characters of Gordon. Details can be obtained from Chief D.R. Lane.
The Methodist Church in Hay Springs was the scene for the wedding of Marcia Davis and Maurice Turnbull on Jan. 20th. Parents of the couple are Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Davis and Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Turnbull Sr., all of Hay Springs. Special guests were their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Merton Davis of Hay Springs and Mr. and Mrs. Paul Eichenberger of Gordon.
Airman Devin H. Salisbury, son of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth V. Salisbury of Gordon, has completed Air Force basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas. Airman Salisbury will now receive specialized training in the supply field at Lowry AFB, Colo. A 1975 graduate of Gordon high school, the airman holds a BA degree in social science from Chadron State College.
Mr. and Mrs. Byron R. Greenamyre are the parents of a son, Bradley Ryan, born on March 5. He weighed eight pounds, three ounces, and has a sister at home, Amy Annette.
Mr. and Mrs. Gregg Greenamyre are the parents of a daughter, Jennifer Jo, born Feb. 27 in Gordon. She weighed seven pounds six and a quarter ounces.
Mr. and Mrs. Duane Ruse, Mrs. Elizabeth Lahaye and Mrs. Laura Forster spent Sunday in Lewellen. Mrs. Lahaye was a dinner guest at the home of her son Ray and family while the Ruses and Mrs. Forster visited the Dean Lehman home. Before returning home they visited Mr. and Mrs. Chuck Wilder at Oshkosh.
Mr. and Mrs. Willard Keller, Mr. and Mrs. Ray Keller and Mr. and Mrs. Frances Birmingham hosted a birthday party for Mrs. Maude Keller Wednesday evening, March 7 at the Willard Keller home. Mr. and Mrs. Ted Reike of Bridge-port were also guests. They returned to their home Thursday after spending the night at the home of Maude Keller.
GHS wrestlers and their coaches were entertained at a banquet hosted by the boys’ parents and held Feb. 28th in Marian’s Party Room. Six seniors received wrestler statues: Ryan Hodgson, Shelley Anderson, Keith Krzyzanowski, Tom Wallace, Wally Janis and Morgan Mathis. Coach Bill Paul and Coach Randy Pollard also received the statues. Other guests present were: Mrs. Bill Paul, Mrs. Rand Pollard, the wrestler cheerleaders: Daneen Benson, Janie Metzger, Verleen Thayer, Lori Albro and the student manager, David Matula.
Navy Seaman recruit Shari L. Bradshaw, daughter of Vern and Laura Fitzgerald of Lakeside, has completed recruit training at the naval training center, Orlando, Fla. She joined the navy in December.
This page was last
updated on
Tuesday, 10-Mar-2009 20:00:14 MDT
submitted by Helen Selee
© 2004 Sheridan Co. NEGenWeb