Dec. 8, 1892. . .
We understand there is to be a social club organized in town and a room rented for entertaining purposes.
Miss Emma Mahrt is, we are sorry to learn, confined to her bed with lung fever [tuberculosis]. We trust she may soon recover.
John Zeurcher, a highly-respected young man of this neighborhood, has become violently insane. He imagines that his brothers and, in fact, almost everyone he converses with has a desire to poison him. He will be taken before the insane commission.
100 Years Ago. . .
Edward Schad, manager of the Hanford Produce Co., at Osmond made an interesting report on the cream sold to him by one of his customers, Wm. Kumm, in the year 1923. His books disclosed that he paid Mr. Kumm $563.49 for cream in the year 1923, that this cream weighed 3,463 pounds and the butter fat was 1,456 pounds. Mr. Kumm milked about nine cows on the average. In addition to this, the Kumm family had all the cream butter and milk that was needed in their home.
The Misses Tillie and Olga Maly started the Ford of Mr. Crabtree Jr., intending to take a ride, the latter at the wheel. The steering wheel was locked, and the Ford made a beeline for the glass front of the Henry Grosse Rhode store, smashing two of the plate glass [windows] all to pieces, and knocking Green Tacey, who was walking along with his little daughter, into the window. Mr. Tacey was badly bruised about the head, but the little girl got out of the way of the car. Fortunately Mr. Tacey escaped without serious injury, although how was a miracle as the plate glass was falling all around him. The damage to the windows was several hundred dollars, the Ford was unhurt, and the Misses Maly escaped without injury, Miss Tillie jumping from the car before it hit the window. The window was quickly boarded up, Mr. Tacey was quickly cared for, and all were happy that no one was killed. It certainly was an unusual accident.
75 Years Ago. . .
Wide areas in the Midwest looked out on the fourth major storm of the winter as fine snow blown by a lusty northwest wind whipped into narrow man-made snow cuts and over farm yards and fields. The storms had been running so close that in some instances it was a problem to classify them — new or a continuation of the old. The Jan. 26, 1949, paper had the headline, “Weather Hazards Increase As Severe Cold Adds to Snow Worry.” Moderate snow coupled with extreme cold had added to the midwinter dilemma. On Jan. 21, it got no warmer than -11°. The coldest that day, and the season’s low, was -22°. Every day that week was 0° or colder. Monday of that week found every road out of town blocked. Sketchy information, which could not be confirmed because of telephone line conditions, indicated that more than a dozen bus passenger, an unknown number of automobile drivers and passengers, and two truckloads of cattle were finding haven and hospitality at the Harry Fuerhoff farm home just off Highway 81 six miles northeast of Osmond.
65 Years Ago. . .
A local man, Alva Theisen, was one of the principal owners and the supervisor of operations at a Mexican mining site in northwest Sonora. As such, he dealt almost exclusively with Mexican labor, the qualifications of which he investigated quite thoroughly. “The average Mexican laborer is poor,” he was reliably informed, “and quite honest — unless, of course, he is hard-pressed.” Unfortunately, commented the Yankee mining boss, in a telephone conversation, Mexican laborers were usually hard-pressed. And so it was that a major portion of an ore pile of the Cerro de Oro mining corporation disappeared. The small pile of some 20 tons of lead-silver-gold ore was mined in the desert and mountain section near the Gulf of California during the summer of 1958. Because of the remoteness of the area and lack of transportation facilities and with the ore pile situated halfway up a milehigh mountain, theft was deemed impossible. When the working foreman became ill during Theisen’s absence of several months, the pile largely disappeared. How did they get it down the mountain, Theisen was asked. His reply: “Damned if I know. We hadn't figured out how it was to come down ourselves.”
50 Years Ago. . .
Should the city council be successful in the application for funds from the Bureau of Outdoor Reclamation, Osmond might be able to offer the finest in park and camping facilities in northeast Nebraska. However, a news release from the Nebraska Game and parks Commission indicated that communities were waiting in line for funds allocated by the bureau. Proposed improvements included: A picnic shelter, 28’x42’; approximately 15 picnic tables and fire grills; some $1,000 of playground equipment; four camper turnoff stalls; sewage dump station; landscaping; combination shower-restroom building.
Glenn Moritz of Osmond was congratulated by W. I. McKay, general manager of Acco Seed, at a national sales meeting held in Omaha. Moritz, who was a district sales manager for Acco in northeastern Nebraska, was recognized for outstanding achievements in territory management including progress toward sales goals, new dealer recruitment and training and significant contributions to the Acco Seed organization.
25 Years Ago. . .
“Old Timers” frequently talk about a “January thaw.” Some years there were pleasant January temperatures. . . some years it was a stretch of the imagination to say it warmed up that much in January. There had been a real January thaw in 1999. A warming trend began on Jan. 11 with a high temperature of 48 degrees recorded here. From then through Jan. 19, temperatures had been in the 40s and even reached into the lower 50s, except for a nippy 12 degrees on the 13th. A good deal of the snow from the year-end storm had melted.
10 Years Ago. . .
The visit of the Red Cross bloodmobile unit to Osmond ended with the goal exceeded by six units. The goal for the day was 68 presenting with a productive goal of 58. There were 62 productive whole blood units and seven double red cell units. The visit total was 66. There were three deferrals.
A weather pattern not relished by many in the Midwest and Plains states had been recurring recently. Alberta Clipper winds, gusting to more than 50 mph, had plagued the areas. Typically a day or two following would have subzero temperatures with wind chills in the -20s. A dry fertilizer shed under construction by Helena Chemical at the west edge of Osmond was the latest victim to the strong winds. Some of the side wall was partially destroyed. Tree branches and down spouts around town had also been damaged.
