130 Years Ago
Nov. 4, 1892
A law suit was tried to a jury before Justice Atchinson in which Carl Stevens was plaintiff and Dave Sense defendant. The trouble was caused by Mr. Sense tying up a mule belonging to Mr. Stevens that was trespassing on his premises and the animal was choked to death by the rope. The jury failed to agree and the case was continued. Attorneys Mitchell and Noleman looked after the legal points in the case.
125 Years Ago
Nov. 5, 1897
Eli A. Barnes, of Grand Island, was here to test the merits of Box Butte county potatoes. He decided that they were of superlative excellence, and purchased a car-load of Geo. C. Bell. Mr. Barnes is president of Nebraska State Board of Agriculture.
120 Years Ago
Nov. 11, 1902
The coming appearance of Ed. Redmond in our city Thursday night as “Davey Crockett” is exciting a great deal of comment, and it is evident already that the opera house will be filled to its capacity. Seats are now on sale at the usual place. Moore’s orchestra will be in attendance, rendering the following program, among which are some of the latest hits: “Hearts and Flowers” Tobani. March, “Clorinda” Haines. Waltz, “When Knighthood was in Flower” Gustin. Waltzes, “Viola” Gustin. March, “A Message from Mars” Ascher.
115 Years Ago
Nov. 8, 1907
Fatal accidents have been few on this division of the Burlington the past few months, but the grim reaper of death descended upon the unfortunate person of N. R. Massie at Hecla. Train No. 46, in charge of Conductor Cruikshank, was going at a lively rate into Hecla with a car afire, intending to stop at the water tank and extinguish the blaze. Brakeman Massie was out on top of the train giving signals and was struck by the waterspout, which was in some unaccountable manner hanging over the track. He was knocked between the cars and the balance of the train passed over his body severing it in three places. Death was instaneous and his body was horribly mutilated. He had several scalp wounds and his neck was dislocated. The body was brought to Alliance on 43 and taken to the Darling undertaking establishment.
110 Years Ago
Nov. 8, 1912
Sheriff George Douglas of Billings, Mont., arrived in Alliance with a prisoner that he had arrested at his home in Julesburg, Colo. The man is wanted for forgery in Billings, where his brother is already under arrest for horse stealing. When the sheriff arrived here, his prisoner was groaning as if in great pain. Dr. Bellwood was summoned and though the man gave evidence of being in great distress, the doctor could find nothing radically wrong. He took the sheriff to one side and informed him that the man was not sick so far as he could see and that he’d better keep a close watch on the fellow, because he was evidently feigning illness.
105 Years Ago
Nov. 9, 1917
Owing to the rapid development of a diphtheria epidemic Central school building was closed for the balance of the week and the rooms will be sealed and fumigated under the supervision of the city health officer. Emerson school was closed by Health Officer H. H. Bellwood after a case of scarlet fever was found in one of the rooms. The entire building will be sealed and fumigated as a precautionary measure against the spread of the disease. Arthur Martin, aged twenty, died this morning from an attack of typhoid fever. The young man came from Bradley, Ill., about a month ago to work for the Burlington.
100 Years Ago
Nov. 10, 1922
Dennis Ryan and Bert Winslow of Alliance, who were arrested in Denver, together with Jim Ellis and Ben Cline of Denver on a charge of auto theft, were released following a hearing in Denver police court and they returned to Alliance this morning. Winslow states that he, Ellis and Ryan were talking about buying a Ford coupe when Cline, a stranger, stepped up and offered to sell them a car at a bargain. While they were talking the officers stepped up and arrested the four of them. The car that Cline attempted to sell had been stolen the night before from the Denver Music company. At the hearing Cline pleaded guilty to the theft and cleared the other three. The liquor charge was not mentioned in the complaint, they said.
95 Years Ago
Nov. 8, 1927
Sheriff Jones found a large copper wash-boiler still on the Allen Grace farm north of Hemingford Friday afternoon. A coil and small oil stove were also seized with the still and the entire equipment brought to Alliance and taken to the sheriff’s office. Grace was arrested on a liquor charge and will probably be arraigned before County Judge Ira E. Tash today.
90 Years Ago
Nov. 8, 1932
LeRoy Sutton, sophomore in high school, was found guilty on two counts in district court. Young Sutton was charged with driving a car while under the influence of liquor and of not stopping at the scene of an accident. The state charged that Sutton drove an automobile while under the influence of liquor and that while in this condition, struck and ran over William Fisher, a school boy, at the corner of Big Horn and Ninth street. He drove away without remaining to ascertain the extent of the lad’s injuries and was overtaken by William D. Borgaard, member of the high school faculty, who witnessed the accident. The fisher boy was knocked unconscious and remained that way for the balance of the night. He has made a complete recovery, however, and suffers no ill effects from the accident, according to the testimony of Dr. H. A. Copsey.
85 Years Ago
Nov. 9, 1937
Quotations from a manuscript, “Pioneering in Box Butte,” written by Miss Grace Johnston, history teacher in the Alliance junior high school, are contained in a book written by Prof. Everett Dick of Union college at Lincoln. The name of the book is “Sod House Frontiers.”
80 Years Ago
Nov. 10, 1942
Fred Graham, 24, telegrapher for the Burlington, hovers between life and death at St. Joseph’s hospital today as the result of a hunting accident that occurred Sunday evening. The accident occurred 20 miles west of Alliance on the Tenth street road where Graham had gone to hunt ducks with Clifford E. Sward. Sward and Graham were waiting in a field a short distance from the road, hoping to get a shot at some ducks. Fry, an Alliance blacksmith, was driving along the road, hunting coyote, he fired from the road with a heavy calibre rifle. In telling of the accident, Sward declared that he and Graham were reclining on their backs, with their heads toward the sun, which was low on the horizon and hard to face. They had seen some ducks fly over, and were waiting for a chance to get close enough to shoot. Sward saw Fry’s pickup truck stop on the road, and made a remark to Graham about it. Just then he heard a shot, and the injured man’s outcry. Mr. Sward immediately got to his feet; and realizing what had happened, Fry came running across the field. Meanwhile Fry’s son drove the pickup into the field. They picked up Graham, who was bleeding profusely, and rushed him to Alliance. Dr. A. G. Burnham, the attending physician, found that the bullet had pierced Graham’s “upper arm” and passed through his chest. He described his condition as extremely critical.
75 Years Ago
Nov. 7, 1947
Alliance city police have issued warrants for three men – two of them railroad section hands – as suspects in the theft of clothes and money from the Keep-U-Neat cleaners and the Alliance Steam laundry. The men are B. L. Coffman and Willard Hook, who were formerly employed by the Burlington on a section gang at Seneca, and Mitchell Wright, who is alleged to have used his hotel room as headquarters for the three over the weekend. Late on the night of Oct. 27 two windows on the west side of the building housing the cleaning and laundry businesses were broken. Some clothing including suits and jackets, was taken from the cleaners and shirts were taken from the laundry together with some money. Police picked up a transient, Henry Falco, for questioning. Falco said he met Coffman and Hook on lower Box Butte avenue late on the night of Oct. 27. He said that the men had some cardboard boxes of clothes and that one of them jingled some money in his pocket and said, “That’s the way to make money.” He told the police the two men went into a hotel. Police then went to the hotel and questioned the manager. The hotel manager told police Coffman and Hook had come to the hotel late on the night of Oct. 27 carrying some cardboard boxes. The three men did not stay in the room that night, the manager told police. The beds had not been slept in the next morning. Police checked the railroad station and learned that the three men had taken the midnight train to Denver.
70 Years Ago
Nov. 7, 1952
The Hested Stores today announced a new manager for the Alliance store to succeed Dick Campbell who has resigned because of health reasons. Taking over management of the store this week was Joe Amen who came to Alliance from the Broken Bow store. Amen has been with the Hested Company since 1943. Amen is married and has two children, a daughter, Linda, 10 and a son, Steve, 7. Mrs. Amen and the children will come to Alliance as soon as living quarters are found.
65 Years Ago
Nov. 9, 1957
Three Alliance High School girls escaped serious injuries but were hospitalized after a car-truck collision seven miles north of Alliance on Highway 19 Friday afternoon. Geri Lichty, driver of the car, suffered two fractures of the jaw. Sharon Morehead was to leave the hospital today. She suffered a bruised hip. Karen Colerick has chest injuries and will be hospitalized several days. Deputy Sheriff Fred Marsh investigated the accident. He said Lichty car going south, came up behind a truck loaded with sugar beets, moving slowly up a hill. Miss Lichty started to pass but another truck was coming down the hill from the south. She hit the brakes, trying to stop and swing back into the right lane but could not stop before hitting the truck. The driver of the truck was Claude Miller.
60 Years Ago
Nov. 9, 1962
Alliance’s link as one of five satellite stations in a proposed new Nebraska Educational Television network (ETV) was another big step nearer realization today with the announcement that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had reserved VFH Channel 13 here for the project.
55 Years Ago
Nov. 13, 1967
A Colorado Springs pilot, who crash-landed a light plane in a wheat field 20 miles northwest of Alliance is recovering from injuries at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Michael Brook Burnett, 21, was found beside his badly-wrecked plane approximately 12 and one-half hours after the mishap. The Piper Cherokee 300 plane, which Burnett was flying, came down on its fixed tricycle landing gear in a newly-planted wheat field about half a mile from the Sherman Laursen farm home. What happened after the aircraft struck down appeared to be that a wing dipped into the soft ground causing the plane to cart-wheel. It strung parts, including the landing-gear wheels and the propeller over a distance of 107 yards before coming to a halt. One of Burnett’s feet went through the bottom of the craft, pinning him inside. He had managed to free himself by the time he was found. The hunters who found him were Dennis Jantz, Frank McCarroll and L. G. Schnyder of Alliance.
50 Years Ago
Nov. 13, 1972
Mrs. Vic (Lorraine) Haas is in West Nebraska General Hospital at Scottsbluff, as a result of severe injuries suffered in a farm accident last Thursday. Her injuries include a fractured neck, and face and head injuries. The Accident happened when a scarf she was wearing became entangled in a shaft on a grain auger. She was helping move some wheat from a bin that had developed a leak when the accident happened.
45 Years Ago
Nov. 8, 1977
Twelve-year old Mike Harden gave Rainbow Acres Trailer Court residents and surrounding farmers a scare Tuesday morning when he got lost in a snowstorm five miles east of Alliance. Mike is the son of Delmar and Pat Harden. Box Butte County Sheriff Bill Stairs said young Harden and his sisters were playing in the snow when one of the girls’ gloves blew away. Harden chased the glove into a field and couldn’t find his way back to the trailer court, he said. He was found almost two hours later walking along a fence line, Stairs said. At least 20 people from the trailer court and surrounding farms were out looking for the boy by the time Stairs arrived, and the sheriff credited the searchers with “doing a good job” in their efforts to find Harden. He said CB radios, tractors and four-wheel drive vehicles were all used to locate the missing boy. Stairs said Harden appeared to come through his ordeal without injury, noting that none of his fingers or toes had been frozen. “He was well-dressed with a heavy coat, boots and gloves,” he said he was in pretty good shape.
40 Years Ago
Nov. 9, 1982
Linnea Rhoades takes a handful of fleece from a sheep and uses her spinning wheel to turn it into yarn during a demonstration at the American Legion Auxiliary Post No. 7 Holiday Festival Saturday at the Alliance American Legion Club. To make the yarn, Rhoades uses a spinning wheel close to 100 years old brought over by her grandmother when she came from Finland to the United States.
35 Years Ago
Nov. 9, 1987
An Alliance man escaped serious injuries early Sunday morning after a fire caused $28,000 damage to the Clyde Hodgson residence, 804 Box Butte Avenue, according to Fire Chief Bud Taylor. The fire call came in at 5:37 a.m. after Hodgson was awaken by his alarm clock to go to work and noticed his house was filled with smoke and there were flames in the living room. Hodgson’s wife and two children were out of town at the time of the fire.
30 Years Ago
Nov. 13, 1992
Richard Boness, principal of Alliance High School, announced today that Scott Kimmel and Angela Moritz have been named Commended Students in the 1993 National Merit Scholarship Program. Commended Students have shown exceptional academic promise by placing among the top five percent of more than one million program entrants.
25 Years Ago
Nov. 11, 1997
Nancy Rauter and Katalin Szalay are two of the senior exchange students at Alliance High School, and like most students are looking forward to graduation. Rauter lives in a suburb near Hamburg, Germany. Szalay is from Hungary’s capital city, Budapest. They are both spending the school year with Judy Meyer.
20 Years Ago
Nov. 8, 2002
A 16-year-old rural Alliance youth was injured yesterday morning while he was driving to school in Hemingford. According to the Box Butte County Sheriff’s accident report, William S. Gibbons was northbound on Highway 385 in a 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier. A witness reported that Gibbons crossed the center line for an unknown reason, entered the west ditch and appeared to try to correct the situation. The vehicle rolled one complete turn and Gibbons was ejected from either the back or passenger side window. It is unknown at this time if he was wearing a seat belt. The Alliance Volunteer Fire Department Emergency Medical Services transported Gibbons to the Box Butte General Hospital, and later transported him to Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff. According to RWMC spokesperson, Gibbons is listed in critical condition with neck, back and chest injuries.
15 Years Ago
Nov. 9, 2007
The former Ceramics and Celebrations is under new ownership offering more than one service. Jack and Liz Garton are the new owners of Garton’s Ceramics and Gifts on East Sixth Street. Liz said customers may come in and paint their own ceramics, purchase their item and take it home to paint, or order their piece custom painted anyway they choose.
10 Years Ago
Nov. 8, 2012
On Monday, Oct. 29, Attorney General Jon Bruning presented Alliance Police Investigator Colleen Busch the Certificate of Valor. This award was presented at the Police Officer’s Association and Nebraska Sheriff’s Association Conference in Kearney. This award was submitted by Chief John Kiss of the Alliance Police Department for her actions during the hostage situation on June 12 at Thiele’s Pharmacy. Investigator Busch observed Officer Kirk Felker exit the pharmacy and saw that he had been severely wounded. Busch left her position of cover to help Officer Felker. Busch removed her belt and tied off Officer Felker’s arm. She then assisted Officer Felker some 75 yards to an awaiting ambulance.
5 Years Ago
Nov. 10, 2017
Jeff and Gaylene Jensen accept the Outstanding Airport Award at Heartland Aviation. The award was presented by the Colorado Pilots Association. The award states, “In recognition of the Alliance community, staff of Heartland Aviation, and airport staff and management’s involvement, in hosting the Colorado Pilots Association, plus large numbers of other General Aviation aircraft, during the August 21, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse. Despite the large influx of aircraft, each aircraft was ‘marshaled’ to a parking space,. Passengers shuttled to the main FBO area; and airplanes were refueled with an exceptional amount of organization. Due to the diligence and professionalism of airport staff, volunteers and the FAA’s temproary tower, hundreds of aviation enthusiasts safely stored their memories of a remarkable work of nature … a total solar eclipse, enhanced by the hard work of the fine people of Alliance, Nebraska.” The award was signed by Gary Tobey, president of the Colorado Pilots Association.