The Dawson Herald from Dawson, Nebraska • 20

THE DAWSON HERALD DAWSON NEBRASKA HISTORICAL EDITION Items of Interest to Our Readers From Early Dawson Newspapers MRS PLAT (Continued from previous page) pect for some time It pleased him very much when Mr Heim consented to accept that sum as his first contribution to the building of the church This was probably the smallest contribution made for the church building but it showed the spirit of the people in those days FROM RALPH BARLOW Dear Sir: I think one of my older brothers would be better equipped to furnish you with the information you want regarding the activities of my father at the time early Dawson history was being made However I wish to go on record as having said think my whistling the tune through had about as much to lo with the formation of Dawson as any other one thing that ever took RALPH BARLOW Tulare California that is now the Ulmer addition The mill and the residence were of course on the Nemaha which wound around more than it does today The Woodruff home was a little south of where Jesse Arington now lives and a road from there went east to the Daniel Riley home The elevator was in its present location in fact the same building as today The depot at that time was directly opposite the elevator and Morgan McSwinney manager of the elevator lived across the mill road a little south of where the Dawson Oil Co tanks now stand Prom the railroad Up to the town proper was prairie on the west side of the road and a sizable patch of slough grass on the east side We are greatly indebted to Mrs Lyons for this information about the early days of Dawson It required many hours of tedious work to draw the plat and also a wonderful memory to recall places names and faces of more than 50 years ago purchase of a hand power Are engine hose and cart By this method the water in cisterns near a fire could be utilized in case of an emergency It also recommended the construction of large storage cisterns in different parts of the town and keep the same filled with water to be used only in case of a fire It is thought that with an engine and hose the tanks and private cisterns and wells would provide an appreciable protection so that the work of putting in of storage cisterns could be done gradually as means would permit FORTY YEARS AGO Evidently somebody had just been on the because Henry Scheidegger editor of the Newsboy 40 years ago had this to say: is alright to discuss matters of general interest at random but when men purposely absent themselves from public meetings called for the purpose of considering matters of the common weal of a town it seems hardly fair for these men to criticise the actions or impugn the motives of others who are public spirited enough to take an active part in the deliberations of the Evidently the got in their work in the old days as they do now Rev Sam Small "the noted orator evangelist and who used a stereoptican to illustrate his lectures Dr Dewitt Talmadge most noted preacher in the Prof Chas Lane of the Georgia School of Technology of the funniest and best of southern Prof Arthur Hawks laughing of Baltimore and others Prof Apmadoc of Chicago best chorus master in had charge of the singing It was a big event Among the advertisers in this issue were Fenton druggist James general merchandise Duryea Vanderplas Klima blacksmiths horse shoeing plow sharpening wagon and buggy repairs etc Barlow Son general merchandise groceries furniture wall paper etc IcSwinney grain live stock and coal the Burlington railroad with special rates to California and to the Epworth League meeting at Toronto Canada Miles livery rigs and good Frank butcher Claude Linn lumber dealer the Owl Saloon Dorr barber shop A tiers physician and surgeon A Alexander City Barber Libbee notarv public and insurance Stitzel was agent here for the Burlington and Henry Scheidegger was editor of The Newsboy FIRST FIRE ENGINE HERE From the Newsboy of June 18 1897 The citizens meeting at the opera house Tuesday night heard the report of the committee appointed at a previous meeting ahcTafter some discussion voted to recommend that the village bord take the necessary steps to carrjr out the suggestions of the committee which were the ANNUAL MEETING OF 1897 The Newsboy of July 2 1897 gives an interesting account of the annual school meeting held the previous Monday evening There was a fairly good attendance and the reports of the director and treasurer were read and approved It was voted to have a nine months school A 20-mill tax levy was voted which shows that taxes are somewhat lower in these days Judd was elected moderator without opposition and a motion to discard the three member board system and elect a board of six members was very spiritedly debated and voted down although it seemed that a majority wanted the change The census showed a school population of 177 in the district The cash receipts of the district for the previous year amounted to $204912 and the report showed there was $36657 in outstanding warrants and a balance of but $12522 on hand leaving an indebtedness of $24135 ITEMS FROM THE NEWSBOY OF JULY 2 1897 The Village Board on Tuesday served notice on A Albright Waggener Fenton and Jos Reiger to vacate a portion of Ridge street which has for some time been disputed ground as to whether it was a street of 66 feet or an alley 22 feet wide It seems the records sustain the contention that it is a street of full width hence the action Jos Reiger advertises for sale a good driving horse nearly new buggy harness fly nets and blankets to be sold at a bargain County Superintendent Kuhlman was in town Wednesday to receive the annual reports of school directors from this part of the county Last Sunday Emanuel Ulmer drove over to Sycamore Springs to see how Uncle Jacob Heim was getting along and as Uncle Jacob felt rather lonesome he came home and stayed a few days going back to the Springs yesterday Allen and John Burgett are this week building a large cattle shed on the farm of Belden Rice Page and others took lumber out to the Triggs grove to be used in providing seats for the 4th of July gathering nils issue of The Newsboy contained the -valedictory address of Nellie Draper on Trust of American There was also a half column telling of the Chautauqua to be held at Salem from August 7th to August 15th Season tickets were priced at $150 with tents renting at $300 for the season Among the speakers were ULTRA MODERN When the first settlers came to Dawson more than 60 years ago methods of communication were very crude Telegraph was not here until the railroad came telephone and radio were unknown and it required weeks for word to come by mail from the eastern states Contrast that with conditions now With a new ZENITH RADIO you can have the world come right to your home You can hear the King of England broadcast special events Mussolini of Italy address his followers the brilliant music of Spain and Havana in fact you can get almost any program you want from any foreign country and everything that happens in our own country right as it happens Football and baseball games anywhere in the United States are brought to you play by play just at the instant they happen you "can sit by your own fireside and hear the finest musical programs and the greatest singers in the land all with a ZENITH If you live on a farm you can have one of these modern radios and have it equipped with a wind charger or engine to keep the battery charged without expense or trouble Let me tell you more about them and demonstrate One in your home without any obligation CAR REPAIRING WELDING ELECTRICAL WORK BATTERY CHARGING etc Chas A Smith ESP CONTRIBUTED TO CHURCH An interesting little story was told us one day of the time when the first Evangelical church was beiijg built rather before it was built John Smith then but a boy and Gus Gebhard a young man were herding cattle on the prairie one day when the late Joseph Heim who was soliciting for the new church stopped to talk to them about it John Smith was too young to have moneWof his own and Gebhard had but 15 cents with no more in pros- PHONE 55 DAWSON NEBR.