130 Years Ago
September 29, 1893
A Card. It is reported that if I am elected treasurer of Box Butte county that I will have Smith P. Tuttle for my deputy. It is also being reported that John Keeffe will be my deputy. Now gentlemen, fair play please. I cannot use but one. I say if I am elected I will personally conduct the affairs of the office honestly and fairly towards all parties. THOMAS BECK.
125 Years Ago
September 30, 1898
Dr. J. E. Moore arrived from Ohio and has decided to become a resident of Alliance and form a partnership with Dr. Bowman. The doctor is a graduate of College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore, has had eight years’ experience in general practice, besides two years’ hospital work in city hospital of Baltimore, and Bay View Hospital, of same city.
120 Years Ago
September 25, 1903
The Denver papers of this week have a detailed account of the kidnapping and abandonment of her three weeks’ old grandchild by Mrs. Anna Trout, a former resident of this county. It appears that Mrs. Trout’s daughter had married against her wishes and in order to be revenged she kidnapped the infant, took it to Denver, where she abandoned it in an out of the way corner of the depot, left a note attached to the basket containing the baby, addressed to the police, stating the child’s name was Leonard Trout, and requesting that it be sent to the state orphan’s home. The crime was discovered by the authorities at Casper, Wyo., and Mrs. Trout placed under arrest.
115 Years Ago
September 25, 1908
At the dance at the Marks hall last night Mrs. Bishop sustained a painful injury, a large sliver from the floor becoming so deeply embedded in her foot that it required the services of a surgeon to remove same.
110 Years Ago
September 30, 1913
Using an eighteen inch bridge spike, John J. Delaney forced his way into a desk at the Phillips livery barn Saturday evening and secured $9.25 in loose change, but was captured by Virgil Ackerman, who works at the barn, before he could make his escape.
105 Years Ago
September 27, 1918
Willie Dunbar, an old offender, and Clarence Darrah were arrested in Antioch Tuesday night on a charge of robbing the E. G. Laing store two weeks ago. After the boys were brought to this city they told the officers that two other men were implicated in the deal. Dunbar and Darrah and their two companions were discharged from the Colorado penitentiary less than thirty days ago. The officers have a good description of the pair and their arrest is expected.
100 Years Ago
September 25, 1923
A pretty woman appeared before County Attorney P. E. Romig with the complaint that her husband had been acting like a moving picture husband and she wanted to have him tossed into the caliboose. Asked what complaint she had to make, the woman told of his chilly receptions of her finest culinary efforts. At noon he would push the dishes off the table with his right hand and say: “No Good!” At the evening hour he would go through the pantomime, using his left hand. When she complained, he spanked her, she said. The county attorney sent for the husband and told him what would happen to his liberty if he persisted in such acts. The husband smiled all over his wife, spoke a few words about their sweetheart days down on the Rio Grande and, hand in hand, they walked out of the office. “Well, that’s that,” remarked the county attorney, as he turned back to his desk.
95 Years Ago
September 28, 1928
Night Policeman Elliott Minnick of the local department drew a brief suspension without pay for taking part in a fist fight with Fred Becker, local painter, near the Tenth Street dance hall last Saturday night.
90 Years Ago
September 26, 1933
Ted Cabaniss, of Alliance, was arrested in a local pool hall Saturday night following a disturbance in which Cabaniss and another figured. Officers said they were told that Cabaniss punctuated his arguments in an altercation with pool balls.
85 Years Ago
September 30, 1938
A bandit identified as Lee R. Stuart of Avoka, Ark., who was picked up in the railroad yards here a year ago last spring, was shot and killed in an attempted bank holdup at Parsons, Kas., last Saturday, according to word received by Burlington special agents.
80 Years Ago
September 28, 1943
“Love Triangle” A rooming house at 105 Niobrara was the scene of a shooting Saturday evening at 8 o’clock when Pvt. Quentin Chaffman of the Alliance Air Base, fired two bullets at Pvt. Raymond Wagner, according to the local police. One bullet entered Wagner’s left side and passed through his body, puncturing his intestines. The other bullet struck him in the leg. Both men are paratroopers, and have been stationed at the base for several months. Wagner was taken to St. Joseph hospital in an army ambulance and was later transferred to the Army Base hospital, where his condition is reported today as very critical, with little chance for recovery. The shooting occurred in the room of Helen Bell, also known as Mrs. Helen Bressler. She has used several different names and is said to be the wife of a soldier now on foreign service.
75 Years Ago
September 28, 1948
Richard Sturgeon, 25-year-old rancher who lives east of Alliance was painfully injured when his automobile went off the highway and struck a power line pole. Sturgeon is in St. Joseph’s hospital being treated for cuts and lacerations of the head and face. State Safety Patrolman Mike Frerichs investigated the accident and said that evidently Sturgeon went to sleep at the wheel.
70 Years Ago
September 29, 1953
Bill Coleman, 15-year-old high school student, will be cited by the Alliance Junior Chamber of Commerce for his quick action which has been credited with saving a 19-month-old baby from drowning. Coleman and his parents Mr. and Mrs. Fred Coleman, will be guests of the JayCees at the Drake Hotel. The JayCees will present the youth with a wrist watch suitably engraved. He was credited with the rescue of David Best, infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Best, from the lagoon last August.
65 Years Ago
September 30, 1958
Miss Patricia Mitchell has been named the extension home agent for Box Butte County. Miss Mitchell is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Mitchell of Burwell, and is a graduate of the University of Nebraska with a degree in home economics. Miss Mitchell is a niece of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Wood of Alliance.
60 Years Ago
September 28, 1963
Two teenage girls escaped injury in a one-car accident on the Emerson Road. According to Sheriff Freddie Marsh, Linda Greenfield, 16, driver of the car, and Jean VonTour, 15, a passenger. They told Marsh that dust from a car ahead blinded Miss Greenfield and she went off the left side of the road. In attempting to get the car back on the road, she lost control of the vehicle and it jumped the right borrow pit and landed on its top.
55 Years Ago
September 30, 1968
The price of haircuts will take a 25-cent increase effective Tuesday morning in Alliance and Hemingford, according to an announcement made this morning in Alliance. Spokesmen for the barber shops said adult haircuts will be $2 and that children in the sixth grade and under will be charged $1.75.
50 Years Ago
September 27, 1973
At prevailing supermarket prices last spring, these 2 ¼ lb. “high bred Spanish sweet” onions grown by Mrs. Charles Sherlock would be worth about $1.50 each. Onions have been recommended as a commercial crop for Western Nebraska farmers and the results obtained by the Sherlocks indicate that such a venture would be successful.
45 Years Ago
September 30, 1978
Picketing was ended at Alliance locations at 7:55 p.m. Friday, according to a report from Burlington Northern, and railroaders were returning to work. Crews of the Union Pacific were being called in. That meant an end to the strike that began Tuesday. A Burlington Northern official said that the railroad had lost $10 million in the first three days of the strike and was losing $5.5 million a day.
40 Years Ago
September 27, 1983
The week of Sept. 29 through Oct. 5 has been proclaimed as National Roller Skating Week. The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and the American Heart Association have joined with the Roller Skating Rink Operators Association in the proclamation. Skateland is planning special activities and will be offering special rates to celebrate Roller Skating Week.
35 Years Ago
September 28, 1988
Gretchen Garwood, president of the Carnegie Arts Center, announced today that the organization had received a grant of $10,000 from the Burlington Northern Foundation. “This grant is a great stride forward in converting the old Carnegie library into a usable, educational facility for our community and the surrounding area.” Mrs. Garwood said.
30 Years Ago
September 27, 1993
The Alliance Times-Herald won two awards at the Nebraska Associated Press Association meeting this past weekend. For the second straight year the T-H was given the Nebraskalander Award for the member who had the most outstanding contribution of human interest feature stories for a year. T-H Managing Editor Tom Huddleson won an honorable mention in the category of personal columns for his column “Justice Seems Unequal in Judge Hansen’s Court..”
25 Years Ago
September 29, 1998
Seven Utah residents appeared in Box Butte County Court on Monday to answer charges of First Degree Criminal Trespass, filed after they had jumped from a television tower northwest of Alliance. Sheriff’s Deputy Kurt Schipper arrested the group at the tower. The Utahans had made the 700-mile trip to Nebraska to jump from the freestanding tower, which they described as the “Holy Grail” of sky-divers. The 2,000-foot structure is one of the 10 tallest in the world. Each paid a fine of $247.
20 Years Ago
September 30, 2003
Shortly before 9 a.m. today the Alliance Volunteer Fire Department responded to an accident at Brayton Road and Highway 2 just east of the Highway 2 overpass into Alliance. A small Sturdevant’s Auto Parts delivery pickup truck and a semi cattle truck that was hauling a few animals collided at the intersection. One person was transported to Box Butte General Hospital by the AVFD emergency unit.
15 Years Ago
September 27, 2008
Wally Seiler captivated the fourth graders at Grandview Elementary School with spooky ghost stories. When he was done with each tale, he gave the students pointers about why each story he told worked and how they too could become better storytellers. After the presentation, the fourth graders were asked to write a scary story of their own.
10 Years Ago
September 27, 2013
Martha Boyer Armstrong reads poems from her recently published book, “The Hour Glass,” last night at the Knight Museum. Armstrong also spent some time talking about growing up in Alliance and commented, “My fondest memories were spent at the sale barn.” She noted how many things have changed in Alliance over the years, “You tend to remember the things that are no longer there more than the things that still remain.”
5 Years Ago
September 29, 2018
The Alliance Public Library hosted Bernard (Bernie) Burgess, Sandhills author, for a presentation and book signing event in the Community Room. He has recently published his newest book, “Bert and Norah: The Nickel Dime Murders.”