130 Years Ago
October 4, 1895
C. A. Burlew was in the city Saturday. He is inclined to the opinion that the Bank of Hemingford, which closed its doors last week, will not be able to re-open, and that depositors will receive about twenty-five cents on the dollar.
125 Years Ago
October 5, 1900
Work is progressing on the fourth pipe at the city well, three having been finished. The third of these was sunk a little deeper than the others and a strong flow of water obtained.
120 Years Ago
October 6, 1905
Mrs. Wine of Carroll County, Iowa, arrived in Alliance Wednesday for a visit with her daughter, who, upon her arrival here, she discovered had changed her name to Mrs. Heater. Mrs. Wine will also visit her sons, Coote and Frank Mulloy, at the ranch.
115 Years Ago
October 4, 1910
You are not experimenting on yourself when you take Chamberlain’s Cough Remedy for a cold as that preparation has won its great reputation and extensive sale by the remarkable cures of colds, and can always be depended upon.
110 Years Ago
October 5, 1915
The Drake Hotel is to be enlarged and improved into one of the finest in the west, according to a statement made by C. L. Drake, the proprietor. It will be extended to the alley in the rear, making a total length of 130 feet with a width of forty-six feet. Another story the entire length of the building is to be added, making a four story building, the first one in Alliance.
105 Years Ago
October 5, 1920
Five Alliance ex-service men have availed themselves of the opportunity of taking free courses of study in the extension division of the United Y. M. C. A. schools and will enter upon their studies at once. The fund for these scholarships is part of the approximately $3,000,000 Y. M. C. A. war budget unexpended at the time the armistice was signed.
100 Years Ago
October 6, 1925
Those who want to learn how to dance the Charleston should not miss “Pretty Lady” at the Imperial Thursday and Friday. Ann Pennington, clever dancer of the “Follies” gives a stunning interpretation of this new dance – and she’s simply gorgeous.
95 Years Ago
October 7, 1930
Mrs. Barrows, wife of a farm hand on the Dilling place north of the city, was seriously injured Monday afternoon while riding to a funeral at Hemingford. A culvert under repair on the county road four miles west of the 19 mile corner caused the car to give such a bump that she was thrown to the top of the car. She was brought to Alliance and an x-ray examination reveals a fracture in the 11th dorsal vertebrae.
90 Years Ago
October 4, 1935
A threat of scarlet fever in Alliance is indicated by reports of three cases under the city’s quarantine and warnings are being issued by school authorities and the city physician, Dr. Lee Farmer, against any careless spreading of the disease.
85 Years Ago
October 4, 1940
Flags, bands and cheering throngs will greet Col. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., when he arrives in Alliance Monday for a speech at 2:30 in the afternoon in behalf of Wendell L. Willkie’s campaign for president.
80 Years Ago
October 5, 1945
Curtis Sowers, employed by the Burlington Railroad in its Alliance shops the past 38 years, retired from active service Monday. Mr. Sowers was first employed by the Burlington as a machinist on Feb. 18, 1907. His last occupation was that of federal locomotive inspector, a position he held since Aug. 17, 1931.
75 Years Ago
October 6, 1950
Ben Sallows, with a proper appreciation of the good things of life, stops frequently at the drinking fountain on Fourth at Box Butte. And says, “Every time I stop here for a drink, I take a nickel out of one pocket and put it in another.”
70 Years Ago
October 4, 1955
Building Off Here During September: A total of 13 building permits totaling $11,020 were issued in Alliance in September, according to City Manger Robert Laing. Permits totaling $52,050 were issued in September of 1954.
65 Years Ago
October 6, 1960
Many high school students in Alliance are seeking part-time work after school and on weekends, according to Harold McClary, manager of the Alliance Employment Service. The number of persons actually seeking work at the end of September was slightly less than the last of August.
60 Years Ago
October 5, 1965
Raymond R. H. H., 45, of Hemingford, waived extradition here Monday, and was returned to Martin, S. D., by the Bennett county Sheriff to face a charge of second degree manslaughter. Sheriff Freddie Marsh said Raymond has been working in the Hemingford area.
55 Years Ago
October 5, 1970
Beet Truck Drivers Are Needed Here: There are 159 active applications for employment on file in the Alliance Employment Office, according to Frank Mounts, manager. This is an increase of 27 over September a year ago. Of this number, 70 are female, 37 are veterans of whom seven have some handicap.
50 Years Ago
October 3, 1975
Alliance has 90 days whether or not to accept a 27.5 percent increase in natural gas rates by Kansas-Nebraska Natural Gas Co. (KN), but as was indicated at Thursday’s City Council meeting, the increase is inevitable.
45 Years Ago
October 6, 1980
Ga$ $aver, a program to tell motorists how much gasoline they can save by having their cars properly tuned, goes into operation Thursday in Alliance. The Nebraska Energy Office van contains electronic automobile testing equipment and a computer to test the efficiency of a car’s engine and other operating equipment.
40 Years Ago
October 4, 1985
“It’s not over until it’s over,” said Jerry Underwood, school board member of District 16. He is part of the group who filed suit against the Panhandle school districts when they verified the non-resident tuition rate. The non-resident tuition rate, in the opinion of the rural residents, was too high and could be figured at a per pupil cost instead of a set rate.
35 Years Ago
October 6, 1990
Alliance’s Central Park Fountain has cleared the second hurdle. The first hurdle was to get the Nebraska State Historical Society to approve the fountain for nomination to the Nation Register of Historic Places. The second hurdle is for the state review board for the National Register of Historic Places to consider the fountain.
30 Years Ago
October 4, 1995
The Panhandle Rural Electric Membership Association will hold its 50th anniversary event at its headquarters at Alliance, East Highway 2 and Brayton Road, on Oct. 10 and at its new Hyannis headquarters on East Highway 2 on Oct. 11.
25 Years Ago
October 5, 2000
Main Street Players To Kickoff ‘Save The Drake’ Campaign: The Main Street Players community theater group has scheduled its first fundraising event since acquiring the former Drake Hotel and announcing plans in July to convert the historic building into a community theater.
20 Years Ago
October 7, 2005
The City Council, in last night’s scheduled meeting, unanimously approved on Third Reading the three-percent across-the-board increase in electric rates that will cover the wholesale cost increases which have occurred over the last several years.
15 Years Ago
October 7, 2010
In past years, the Alliance Police Department has dealt with complaints regarding people not stopping when the Alliance Public Schools bus drivers extend the stops sign arm from the vehicles. So far this school year, School Resource Officer Matt Shannon said, people seem to be paying better attention to the signs, which drivers should treat as a regular stop sign.
10 Years Ago
October 7, 2015
Over 3 Tons Of Drugs Collected In Nebraska, 115 Pounds At Alliance: On Saturday, Sept. 26, local agencies and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) gave the public its 10th opportunity in five years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.
5 Years Ago
October 7, 2020
As the bench trial of former Box Butte County Public Defender Jon Worthman continued, more details were revealed about the night of the controlled delivery of cocaine to Worthman by Jeff Lujan, who was working in collaboration with the WING Task Force.
*Compiled from The Alliance Times-Herald Archives by Christine Melcher