130 Years Ago
Feb. 10, 1893
C. W. Klingbeil, who recently arrived here from Hooper, Nebr., with a stock of general merchandise, has his goods nicely arranged in the old Fitch building and commenced selling them this morning. His stock is very large and consists of dry goods, groceries, clothing and boots and shoes. He is a pleasant gentleman to meet.
125 Years Ago
Feb. 11, 1898
Miss Pearl Kelley has been assisting at the Times office during the past week, revising our subscription books, which was made necessary by acquisition of the Guide list.
120 Years Ago
Feb. 6, 1903
A young man named Al Turner was shot in Alliance yesterday morning by another young man named W. Silverdollar, who claims to be a special deputy sheriff, from Deadwood, S. D., while the latter was attempting to arrest the former. The facts in the matter as near as we can ascertain them which led up to the shooting are as follows: Turner, who was shot here, had been employed by a man at Lead, S. D., named William Dunlap to sell hot tamales and after making quite a large sale he took the money and went down to Deadwood and blew it in.
115 Years Ago
Feb. 7, 1908
A fine and costs of $80.10 was administered a citizen of Alliance this morning on two counts of gambling, on complaint of Marshal Laing. A number were mixed in the affair, but we give no names this time. The authorities declare they will stop this sort of “innocent” amusement.
110 Years Ago
Feb. 7, 1913
With two prisoners locked in the city jail and a fire blazing away not more than twelve feet distant, Night Marshal Jeffers proceeded to turn in the alarm notifying the members of the fire department and then unlocking the door of the cells and released the men, who had first told him of the presence of the fire. The prisoners, needing no second invitation, made a break for the door of the city hall building. They were both in for being drunk. One was Washburn of Bridgeport, who had been picked up in a drunken, half frozen condition. Mr. Washburn was lying dead to the world behind a bill board north of the Alliance hotel. The other was Rice, an employee of the Drake hotel, who was taken from a motion picture theatre in a drunken condition.
105 Years Ago
Feb. 8, 1918
A quantity of clothing was stolen from the line in the rear of the W. W. Norton residence, and a hunt still has been waged for the guilty ones. The loss consisted chiefly of “heavy ones” and as there are several more months of use for such garments, Mr. Norton is quite put out.
100 Years Ago
Feb. 6, 1923
When Prof. Leo Jackson, the Australian knife thrower, gave his exhibition at the opening performance to the Elks Indoor Carnival, he was given an ovation. Local people had never before witnessed anything so thrilling as when Prof. Jackson hurled large Bowie knives through the air and stuck them in the big plank background with scarcely an inch to spare around his living target.
95 Years Ago
Feb. 7, 1928
Varnie Vanadore and his “Kentucky Ramblers,” the hottest and best dance orchestra that ever came out west, will be back at the Roof Garden Saturday night for another of those big dances of the past several weeks. Make plans now to be there.
90 Years Ago
Feb. 7, 1933
Donald Wells, Alliance high school youth, suffered a fracture of an arm at the wrist. The injury was sustained when he was attempting to crank an automobile and the motor backfired.
85 Years Ago
Feb. 8, 1938
The latest irrigation well to be drilled in Box Butte county is on the Fred Trenkle farm. It was finished last week and given its first tests Sunday. Powered from a tractor, the well Sunday was pumping between 450 and 500 gallons a minute.
80 Years Ago
Feb. 9, 1943
Lyle Pebly was gathered in by the strong arm of the law in an intoxicated condition Friday night. He objected strenuously to the officer’s efforts to calm him and as a result faced the charge of resisting arrest the following morning. The resultant net cost to Pebly was $15.00.
75 Years Ago
Feb. 6, 1948
This week the Alliance post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars donated to the city library a four-volume set of books on the photographic history of World war II. The books were published by the National V.F.W. and printed by the W.H. Wise company of New York City.
70 Years Ago
Feb. 9, 1953
Blinding snow and icy streets were blamed for an automobile accident this morning at the intersection of Third Street and Laramie Avenue. Mrs. Ruby Ewing was driving west on Third and William Brixius was driving a Newberry Hardware Co. truck north on Laramie. Mrs. Ewing slipped on the ice and skidded into the right side of the box of the truck. Damage to the Ewing vehicle was to the grill and headlights.
65 Years Ago
Feb. 8, 1958
All adults interested in playing in the Alliance City Band are invited to a meeting at 7:30 Tuesday evening in the band room of the Junior High School. This will mark the first City Band activity since Don Harriss took over joint directorship of the city and school band programs last September. The meeting will give Harriss an idea of how much interest exists among adult instrumentalists and what participation can be expected for the summer concert season.
60 Years Ago
Feb. 8, 1963
News has been received here today from Senator Carl T. Curtis that Thomas E. Percival, son of Mr. and Mrs. T. E. Percival of Alliance, has been named as an alternate appointee to the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kingsport, L. I. Percival is a senior at St. Agnes Academy and is president of the student council this year.
55 Years Ago
Feb. 8, 1968
Alliance service club members – the Lions, Rotarians, Kiwanians, and several women’s organizations – will join together this evening in an effort to raise needed funds for the Salvation Army post.
50 Years Ago
Feb. 7, 1973
J. L. (Oley) Saylor, long-time Alliance resident and retired Texaco distributor, was appointed Box Butte County Commissioner today by the 3-member committee to replace Dake Novotny. Saylor is a former City Councilman and Mayor.
45 Years Ago
Feb. 7, 1978
The 1,500-foot broadcasting tower owned by the Nebraska Educational Television Network located 20 miles south of Alliance now lays in a twisted heap. It collapsed Monday evening at 6 p. m. when a U-bolt anchoring the guy wire connected to the top of the tower broke.
40 Years Ago
Feb. 8, 1983
K mart job hopefuls fill out applications at the K mart store location on West Third to apply for 80 job openings. Manager David P. Vasknetz said that about 340 applications were taken Monday, with applications still to be taken Tuesday. The store, scheduled to open March 17, will employ more than 50 local residents on a permanent basis.
35 Years Ago
Feb. 8, 1988
Alvie Hamilton plays “Redwing” on his accordion, accompanied by Sheila Kimble and Kenneth Hamilton. They played during the 9th Annual Jamboree of the Nebraska Panhandle Country Music Association. The jamboree was celebrated in the American Legion.
30 Years Ago
Feb. 8, 1993
At a retirement party Saturday night, Larry McCracken (known as “Cracker”) was honored by members of the National Guard Unit with stories and gifts. Through the 26 years as a member of the National Guard, McCracken has received numerous awards. These include The National Defense Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon; Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal with four oak leaf clusters; Armed Forces Reserve Medal; NCO Professional Development Ribbon; NNG Service Medal; NNG Emergency Service Medal with one bronze star; and NNG Individual Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster. During the party McCraken received the Army Achievement Medal, a distinguished award, for service in National Guard in 1992.
25 Years Ago
Feb. 10, 1998
Students in Mary Adam’s third grad class at Emerson Elementary School look through newspapers for examples of articles that will be included in a class newspaper constructed by the students this week.
20 Years Ago
Feb. 8, 2003
Alliance High School sophomores – Casie Schmid, Mo Trumble, Laura Chubick, and Rachel Steele – display plants (from artificially selected “Wisconsin Fast Plants” and seeds purchased locally) grown for Vicki Joule’s Biology class. Every Biology class has been growing radishes, corn, beans, cabbage and peas in student-produced greenhouses.
15 Years Ago
Feb. 8, 2008
Well over 100 Alliance, Hemingford and rural residents, community and business leaders attended the 2008 Alliance Chamber of Commerce Banquet at the Country Club last night. Nebraska Governor Dave Heinman told the audience he had met with members of Leadership Box Butte in Lincoln earlier yesterday, including Alliance Chamber’s administrative assistant Darcy McConnell. “People such as the leadership program and all the state’s people is what makes the state so special.”
10 Years Ago
Feb. 8, 2013
Ruth Campbell and Larry Leinweber delight the audience with a selection of favorite love songs in a cozy setting at the Alliance Public Library. RSVP volunteers provided refreshments for visitors who remarked about the pleasant quality of the acoustics inside the main area of the library.
5 Years Ago
Feb. 7, 2018
Friday night was Boss Night at the Fire Hall and four took home honors: Matt Saunder, Boss of the Year; Randy Prall, Rookie of the Year; Ken Huff, Veteran of the Year; and Leroy “Fuzzy” Weare, 40 Year Service Award. Fire Chief, Troy Shoemaker gazed into the kitchen to see all the volunteer firefighters and EMT’s serving guests, he stated, “It’s a very humbling job, all the good and all the bad, but I will tell you that I don’t take the credit for the good, it goes to everyone here and everyone that is serving our community. They are the ones that make us who we are.