130 Years Ago
June 16, 1893
The west-bound passenger was wrecked yesterday morning a few miles out of Seneca, caused by sand having drifted over the track in consequence of heavy rains during the night. H. C. Houston was engineer and Dan Fitzpatrick fireman, both escaping with only slight injuries, although Houston was pinned down by the wreck and had to be chopped out. The engine was badly wrecked and the baggage and mail cars smashed, but the rest of the train escaped without injury although the passengers were considerably shaken.
125 Years Ago
June 10, 1898
Messrs. Duncan & Wright will move their grocery store from the Paradis building to the room first door west of Todd & McClure’s store sometime the first part of next week. This change is made necessary because they have not room in the present location to handle their large trade or display the stock. It is probable that the building they vacate will be fitted for domestic purposes.
120 Years Ago
June 12, 1903
Our merchant postmaster had an unpleasant experience Tuesday night. He had just put into his warehouse a car of corn, 700 bushels, when along about 11 o’clock at night the side of the building gave way and corn took a fall. It took a full day with several men and a loss of at least $10 to get matters in shape again.
115 Years Ago
June 16, 1908
The infant son of Mr. and Mrs. George Deitlein had an experience painful and which might have been very serious. The little fellow was bit by a bird dog Saturday, being badly lacerated on the forehead about the eyebrows. He seems recovering without any ill results. The dog belonged to a Mr. Bishop, being blind in one eye and has been reported to officials and others as cross. But he is a very peaceful sort of an animal now, for George lost no time in ending the earthly career of that canine.
110 Years Ago
June 10, 1913
Two teams engaged in country road grading in front of the W. M. Myers farm, 6 miles northeast of Alliance, figured in a runaway Saturday afternoon. A team belonging to Albert Bauer and one belonging to Ferdinand Seidler and hitched to road scrapers, ran up the road for a distance of about eighty rods before they became so entangled with each other that they stopped. All but one of the horses were cut by the scrapers to which they were attached. One of the Bauer horses was so badly injured that it was killed immediately and one of the Seidler horses was shot to put it out of its misery.
105 Years Ago
June 14, 1918
Fire broke out Thursday morning in the roof of the west ice house owned by the Burlington railroad. The company fire department was assisted by the city and several locomotives were used to force steams of water on the building. But the united efforts of these were only able to prevent the fire from spreading to the other ice house which stands nearby.
100 Years Ago
June 12, 1923
Gold for dental work was a scarce article in Alliance Monday morning. Almost the entire supply of sheet gold in the offices of Drs. Kennedy, Tyler and Maxfield was stolen Saturday night and it is supposed that the job was handled by some professional thief who knew the usual custom in dental offices.
95 Years Ago
June 15, 1928
Tom “Smoky” Wykoff, 22-year-old ranch hand and semi-professional pugilist, was sentenced by District Judge Bayard H. Pain, of Grand Island, presiding in court here yesterday forenoon, to a year in the state reformatory for men at Lincoln. Wykoff pleaded guilty to a charge of forging a check for $12.50 on Ferd Trenkle about a year ago. He was arrested a week ago by Sheriff George Jones after a year’s search.
90 Years Ago
June 13, 1933
A 1925 model “flivver” has been or will be returned by the county sheriff to its owner at Hemingford following its recovery by police in Alliance after it was abandoned on lower Yellowstone avenue. Police were told, they said, that seven hobos clambered out of the machine. The model bore no license plates, but its ownership was indicated by the license receipt inside the car. It had been licensed by Ivan Jefferies of Hemingford. The machine had been “borrowed’ by the hobos for the trip to Alliance.
85 Years Ago
June 17, 1938
Mayor H. A. Fricke has received word from Mari Sandoz that she will be here June 27 for the presentation of her book, “Old Jules” as a stage play. Miss Sandoz probably will be a guest in the Fricke home. She is a friend of Mr. Fricke’s daughter.
80 Years Ago
June 15m, 1943
Mrs. Blasa Casarse came to Alliance for the first time Saturday night from the Henry Elberg farm, two miles east of the city, and soon thereafter “went into action.” After taking on a sufficient quantity of liquid refreshments to put her in a playful mood she entertained the customers at a beer tavern with various acrobatic stunts, including a long free throw of a pop bottle at the bartender. Her aim was good and the dispenser of suds went down for the count. She followed this with a shot at the mirror in the back bar, shattering that into many pieces. About that time two guardians of the law entered upon the scene and soon thereafter Blasa found herself reposing in Chief Cy’s rooming house.
75 Years Ago
June 15, 1948
A small tornado Sunday afternoon cut a swath of destruction across Box Butte County. Many farm buildings were damaged, some families lost their homes and the total damage will reach thousands of dollars. Accompanying the twister was a hail storm of 30 minutes duration. Stones as big as baseballs smashed practically all of the windows on the north side of the Hemingford high school. The Leonard Thomas place was wiped out and only the safety of the basement protected the family. Ed Jelinek reported that the roof of his big barn was torn off. Buildings were damaged at the Jay Collins farm and at the Milo Gunderson place. The storm hit the Haig place and struck the George Skala ranch with fury. His farm house was turned around on its foundations. The hip-roof was blown off the large barn at the Chris Nepper place, two miles west of Alliance on the Country Club road, and the windmill was destroyed. Windows were blown out of the house and timbers from the barn were driven into the siding of the house. Heavy damage was done to two large barns on the L. J. Schill dairy farm. While Joe Nitsch was watching the tornado cloud from his yard, a bolt of lightning struck nearby and knocked him to the ground. He was not injured. Despite the violence of the wind no serious accidents were reported.
70 Years Ago
June 13, 1953
Law enforcement officers were searching at noon today for a county jail prisoner who is adept at shinnying down drain pipes. Ramon Armijo, about 35, this morning about 10:30 used a drain pipe on the east side of the Box Butte courthouse as an escape route while he was supposed to be taking a bath in a third floor shower room.
65 Years Ago
June 14, 1958
Boyd Lee Harris, Alliance, received a doctor of medicine degree from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine at commencement today. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Don Harris, 108 Niobrara.
60 Years Ago
June 14, 1963
Chet Irish, owner of the F and M Bootery here announced today that he was furnishing western hats for the 60 members of the Alliance High Band to wear on their trip to Winnepeg, Canada, next week. The band under the direction of Art Jenson, will leave in two chartered buses. Each bus will have banners on the side revealing “Alliance – the Cattle Capital of Nebraska.”
55 Years Ago
June 14, 1968
The Podhaisky Insurance firm is now in its 38th year of serving Alliance and Northwest Nebraska in the insurance field and moved into its own office building at 6th and Box Butte in 1965. Charles Podhaisky, senior member of the firm, is a past city councilman and a member of the City of Alliance Code Committee. His son Tom is also active in the firm. Mrs. Arthur Hesse is the secretary in the office. In addition to the insurance business, Podhaiskys also handles real estate and owns the Podhasisky apartments on 12th and Emerson. Podhaiskys use the slogan, “Your protection is our policy.
50 Years Ago
June 14, 1973
Woolrich plant manager Terry Dobson gives company owner John Rich VI a tour of the Alliance plant today. Seamstress Gail Strank shows Rich a sleeping bag she’s working on.
45 Years Ago
June 13, 1978
The Alliance Police Department hired three new police officers: Warren Guthrie, 49, an Alliance resident; James D. Young, 30, from St. Francis, S. D.; and Miss Vicky Kurtz, 24, of Vermillion, S. D.
40 Years Ago
June 14, 1983
Box Butte County Red Cross Volunteer Dick Owens, a systems electrical foreman for the Burlington Northern Railroad, shows Alliance Girl Scouts the proper method of splinting a leg Monday at the shelter house in Alliance City Park. Owens taught the Girl Scouts first-aid techniques at the day camp being held by the Scouts this week at the park.
35 Years Ago
June 14, 1988
Box Butte County Deputy County Attorney Leo Dobrovolny has filed an application for county attorney. Also applying for the position are attorneys Walt Metz Jr. and Laurice Margheim, both of Alliance. Box Butte County Attorney Ken Payne announced in early June he would be resigning his position on July 15 to accept a position with the attorney general’s office in Lincoln.
30 Years Ago
June 14, 1993
Four cars will be added to Nebraska’s Carhenge sculpture in Alliance on Saturday during a Summer Solstice celebration. Lincoln artist Bob Hanna is delighted that his Dodge Aspen station wagon will be part of the sculpture. A 1957 Studebaker from Chadron will serve as a stone. Two other vehicles, a 1946 Willis Jeep from Illinois and a 1970’s Gremlin from Wyoming, will replace two Japanese cars buried at the site.
25 Years Ago
June 15, 1998
Cowboy poet Baxter Black relates an experience on the ranch following the Nebraska Cattlemen’s Midyear Conference dinner at the Alliance American Legion Club Friday evening. Over 300 people attended the dinner.
20 Years Ago
June 16, 2003
The Hemingford Flag Day observance included the proper way to retire or dispose of the Flag, Demonstrated by The American Legion Post 9. Congressman Tom Osborne was the speaker and commented that the Citizens’ Flag Amendment is still alive in Congress. The amendment would allow individual states the ability to make Flag desecration illegal.
15 Years Ago
June 14, 2008
Professional artist Robert Peltz shows children how to draw a cartoon ant during the summer reading program at the Alliance Learning Center. Peltz told the children he has been an artist for 30 years, including working for the science museum in Denver, and has had 15,000 to 20,000 cartoons printed or used on TV.
10 Years Ago
June 14, 2013
Gina Jespersen of Hemingford was “beyond excited” as dual announcers revealed she won a category, then a couple more. Soon the outcome came as no surprise as they announced Jespersen was Miss Rodeo Nebraska 2014. Jespersen, 23, daughter of Don and Joni Jespersen, is a Hemingford High graduate and won her first pageant as 2006 Box Butte County Fair queen.
5 Years Ago
June 13, 2018
Huskers Football Coach Scott Frost came to Alliance along with Matt Davison, associate athletic director of football, and Bill Moos, athletic director. Alliance was one of two locations they plan to tour through the state to meet with fans and to thank them for their dedication to Nebraska football.