130 Years Ago
September 21, 1894
A peculiar and distressing accident happened to Hans Tucson Wednesday. He has been employed for a few months by Mr. Reed on his ranch just east of the city. He was milking a cow that evening when the animal kicked. Tucson resented this by picking up an old piece of rubber hose that happened to be lying near and struck the animal on the leg, the hose bending sufficiently to fly around and strike him in the right eye, lacerating the eyeball so badly that he is unable to see, being blind in the left eye before.
125 Years Ago
September 15, 1899
It is desired by Miller & Wildy, owners of the Hemingford mill, that we announce a meeting to be held next Monday night in the council chamber at 8 o’clock, when they desire to meet the citizens of Alliance en mass for the purpose of determining what assistance will be offered towards moving the mill here.
120 Years Ago
September 16, 1904
The fire bell and alarm whistle, which have become a familiar sound in Alliance the past few month, because of frequent alarms, thrilled this community again Wednesday forenoon at about 11 o’clock. The Burlington ice house at this point, being one of the largest on the whole system, an about 50×240 feet, two stories, was found a roaring mass of flames along the entire roof.
115 Years Ago
September 17, 1909
Much excitement prevailed in our city Tuesday night on learning of the arrest of C. W. Hall of this city, a cook in the Huss Restaurant, for nabbing post office boxes. The warrant was sworn out by Frank O. McFarland, assistant post-master, who was fortunate enough to catch the culprit in the act, and who has as witnesses J. M. Runayn and Attie Snow, the latter being employed in the money order department of the office.
110 Years Ago
September 18, 1914
A man from Omaha, who had heard that the Box Butte county court house is to be the finest in the state, stopped off Thursday to inspect the building. After he had been taken from the boiler room to the roof and carefully inspected the marble casings and the solid oak finishings he stated to the commissioners that it was undoubtedly the best value for the money he had ever seen.
105 Years Ago
September 19, 1919
Alliance has been bordering on an ice famine for the past three days and the supply will not get back to normal for the next forty-eight hours, according to a statement made by W. E. Spencer, manager of the Creamery where the ice supply is obtained. The trouble started with a broken ammonia pipe in the cooling tank.
100 Years Ago
September 19, 1924
A general reduction of 10 per cent in light rates, effective on October 1, slight advances in power rates above the 200 k. w. line, with no changes in the present heating rate, will be included in the new schedule of rates to be published. This decision was practically agreed upon at an informal meeting of members of the city council and some big users of power and light in the office of City Manager Kemmish last night. No official meeting of the council was held.
95 Years Ago
September 17, 1929
Because of the county commissioners refusal to pay a claim of $50 sent from the state penitentiary recently to defray the expenses of a guard in returning Robert Garrett from the pen to the county jail here, Warden W. T. Fenton is peeved at the local county board. Garrett was brought to Alliance after the supreme court remanded his murder case back to the district court here for a new trial.
90 Years Ago
September 18, 1934
A decree for the plaintiffs and against the defendants Charles Brittan, James E. Thomas, H A Copsey, Clyde D. Ray, Otto Uhrig and N. A. Rockey was entered Saturday by Judge E. L. Meyer in district court in the suit brought by E. H. Luikart of the State Banking department against former stockholders of the defunct Farmers State Bank of Hemingford. In May 1930 the officers and directos of the bank declared a 55 percent dividend on the outstanding stock and at the time, the State Banking department charges, their cash surplus was below the 15 per cent required by law, which the court held made the dividend illegal.
85 Years Ago
September 19, 1939
The stack of the new municipal power plant carried its first smoke as a fire was started in the first boiler. The fire was started to “boil out” the unit preparatory to regular generation of power. City officials said today that all work is being pushed, so that the plant may start production of power by October 1.
80 Years Ago
September 19, 1944
Lt. Frank W. Holliday, husband of Mrs. Norma Jean Holliday of Alliance, recently spared United States bombers blasting at Bremen from attacks attempted by four cannon-firing nazi fighters, according to word received here from an Eighth Air Force fighter station in England.
75 Years Ago
September 16, 1949
If verbal agreements materialize, the Alliance area will be given an oil-drilling test within 90 days, Ben J. Sallows told members of the retail division of the Chamber of Commerce Thursday noon. As representative of the Alliance Development Company, Sallows said he had made tentative plans for Fred Morgan of Long Beach, Calif., to put down a well on land the company has leased southwest of Alliance.
70 Years Ago
September 18, 1954
The Alliance City Library has an unusual new book written by a Nebraska freight conductor who is an ardent hiker, historian and amateur cartographer. The book—one of only 300 printed– is “Landmarks on the Oregon Trail.” The author: Paul C. Henderson of Bridgeport, a Burlington railroader who works out of Alliance.
65 Years Ago
September 18, 1959
A warning was issued today for children and pets to stay away from the City Dump southeast of Alliance. Poison was to be distributed Friday to exterminate rats in the dump. The warning will hold true for approximately two weeks.
60 Years Ago
September 18, 1964
The callous corruption of New Frontiersmen should be the major issue of this presidential campaign, U. S. Senator Carl T. Curtis told 290 persons Thursday night who paid $3 each to attend a Republican fund-raising dinner at the Elks Club here. “We need to elect Sen. Barry Goldwater as president to restore honesty, decency and morality in our government,” Curtis declared, after giving his receptive audience some of the inside details on the cases of the TFX plane contract, Billy Sol Estes and Bobby Baker.
55 Years Ago
September 18, 1969
The Hemingford Board of Trustees purchased a new Dodge from the Dobson Motor Company in Alliance at its regular meeting this week for the police department. Bids were opened at the session and the Alliance firm’s bid of $1,838.30, was the lowest of the three submitted.
50 Years Ago
September 18, 1974
A group of Box Butte, Dawes and Sheridan County farmers and ranchers attended the National Farmers Organization fund-raising meeting in Corning, Ia., it was reported in Hemingford Wednesday by Derald Grabher, chairman for Box Butte County’s NFO chapter.
45 Years Ago
September 18, 1979
Alliance is about to make a new leap forward in housing. This news came out in a late afternoon meeting of the Alliance Housing Authority Monday: An architectural plan for which AHA has already received approval has been prepared for a 46-unit apartment complex to be located on Kansas St. east of Potash Ave. in the newly-cleared South Alliance addition. Streets in this area were paved last year with costs paid by a federal grant.
40 Years Ago
September 17, 1984
“Our statistics continue to reflect a stabilization in the local crime rate. This is a trend which has continued since 1982. We do not anticipate a change of this pattern within the foreseeable future,” Chief of Police Keith M. Rippy wrote in the Alliance Police Department Annual Report for fiscal year 1983-1984.
35 Years Ago
September 18, 1989
The Alliance Area Chamber of Commerce is gearing up for Iron Rail Days, set for October 6, 7 and 8. According to Janet Steele, Alliance Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, the purpose of Iron Rail Days is to show the importance of the railroad in Alliance’s past, present and future.
30 Years Ago
September 17, 1994
A new class is being offered at Alliance High School during the 1994-95 school year. The year-long class, called Principles of Technology, is open to juniors and seniors and is worth 10 credits. It is taught by Neal Sutton.
25 Years Ago
September 11, 1999
Remember the image of good old Andy Taylor and his son Opie walking down to the fishing hole? Well, that’s the image the city of Alliance and Nebraska Game and Parks is trying to project on Laing Lake and other inner-city fishing holes across the state. With the final passage of Ordinance No. 2369 during Thursday’s city council meeting, Laing Lake has been converted into an “Urban Fishery.”
20 Years Ago
September 18, 2004
Writer of mystery, fantasy and romance novels, author Carole Nelson Douglas will be visiting several locations in the Panhandle next week, including the Alliance Public Library.
15 Years Ago
September 18, 2009
According to Todd Nordeen, the Panhandle’s District Manager of the Wildlife Division of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, most mountain lion sightings in the Panhandle Region have been difficult to confirm. Over the past three years, the Game and Parks office have taken reports or sightings of mountain lions within Box Butte County, but none have been officially confirmed.
10 Years Ago
September 18, 2014
Alliance High School graduate Kip Van Tilburg is back in Alliance visiting family and friends while on leave from the United States Army. Van Tilburg spent Wednesday speaking to students in History class and Leadership class at the Alliance Middle School about his experiences in basic training, daily Army life and what the near future holds for him.
5 Years Ago
September 18, 2019
Bringing the topic of suicide into the light is the goal of the Out of the Darkness walk that took place Saturday in Alliance. Health Educator Janelle Visser with Panhandle Public Health District, explained this year is the 10th year the walk has taken place. She said there were about 75 participants in the walk this year.
*Compiled from The Alliance Times-Herald Archives by staff.