Miscellaneous Information and Stories Found When
Researching Other Topics
Little Girls Traveling
June 1934 -
Irene, 14, and Patsy, 10, had been given a $2 bill by their father in Omaha
He told them to make their way as best they could
to Los Angeles, Calif.
He would meet them there, but if he failed to show
up they were to get in touch with Bert King.
They managed to get as far
as Kearney where the sheriff picked them up for questioning.
The older girl say that
her mother was dead. Their father was a penman, making a living writing
personal cards or
doing other
pen work when and where he can find it.
She said they had no home ties, but had been on
the road as far back as she can remember.
When he heard their story, the sheriff took the
girls home with him,
There they got three
square meals per day, a good place to sleep plenty of fresh air, sunshine
and toys to play with.
They enjoyed themselves
playing on the court house lawn and around the county jail
[the sheriff lived on the main floor of the jailhouse building on the
northwest corner of the courthouse block].
The sheriff contacted the
Los Angeles police but they were not able to find a man named Bert King.
The
father, George Anderson, also known as California Jack, could not be found
either
Finally
after about two weeks, when no relatives could be found, the girls were
taken to a Children’s Home in Lincoln.
This was not what they wanted to do.
They told the Judge they would rather be on the road again instead of living
in a Home anywhere.
A Kearney Ghost Story
The new Midway Hotel was open for business
even though the construction was not quite done yet.
A steam radiator heating
system was being installed. When digging a trench for pipes, workers
uncovered a skeleton.
There
was nothing about the skeleton to indicate what manner of man he was in life
– an Indian who fell when
chasing buffalo? An immigrant who died along the Mormon Trail which came
through here?
Some boys in the neighborhood got hold of the bones and carried them away
before a local doctor could look at them.
The gentleman telling the story had a room on
the third floor of the hotel. He intended to get up early in the morning and
go hunting with friends
He had spent the evening
reading, and about midnight when he finished the book, he remembered that he
had forgotten to place a wakeup call at the office
As he was about to touch
the electric button and call a bell boy, his eye caught the projecting end
of the inch and a half steam pipe just put in above the floor in one corner
Knowing it led to a corner
of the night clerk’s office three floors below, he thought this would make a
wonderful speaking tube, save the sleepy bell boy from coming all the way up
to the third floor.
So he knelt down, put his mouth to the tube and,
so he would not disturb other guests, spoke in a whisper.
“E-d-d-i-e!” It must have sounded ghostly and mysterious in the quiet office
below.
“You there? Ed-d-d! O-h! E-d-d-d!”
Failing to get an answer
and he put his ear to the tube and could hear the bell boy and the night
clerk moving around trying to find the source of the voice.
"Oh! Ed-d! E-d-d!” he
whispered again in a muffled but distinct voice.
After rolling on the floor in laughter as he pictured their feelings he
decided not to carry the joke so far that they would alarm the whole house,
he tapped on the pipe with a key and called again.
When the boys heard the metallic sound of the taps, the realized what it was
and came to the open end of the pipe in the office
The guest then gave his
order for the wakeup call, and the Midway ghost was laid to rest.
Third Judicial
District Court Session Held in Buffalo County in 1873
Third District included all of state north of
Platte except Douglas & Sarpy Co. and those parts of Dawson & Lincoln south
of the Platte.
The session was to be held in the newly completed first county courthouse in
Gibbon
March 4,
1873 – First session of District Court
No
judge – Adjourned to next day
Mar 5 - No judge – Adjourned to next day
Mar 6 - No judge
but order received from Judge Maxwell [apparently the missing judge], who
was in Plattsmouth, to adjourn until Apr. 3.
Speed Limit in
Kearney
Aug
24, 1909 – City council passed an ordinance setting the speed limit at 10
mph
on Central, on west 22nd St, and on streets by schools, parks and public
buildings.
The rest of the streets had a limit of 15 mph except Eastlawn Boulevard to
the Military Academy, and west 24th
west of the tailrace.
Miscellaneous items from the 1890’s
Sept 1891 - Mrs. Samples Funeral
The
funeral of Mrs. Sarah Jane Sample took place from her late residence at the
corner of Ave B and 26th St.
[the editorial comment:] She died of general debility at the age of 65.
Oct. 2,
1895
Dr. Vance and wife rode their tandem to Grand Island this afternoon, to be
present for the funeral of Dr. Vance’s
brother-in-law. [They returned home Oct. 5]
1899
Sweetwater – A. Dunn, a widower and his step daughter took a trip to Grand
Island last week and got married.
[the editorial comment:] He is a pretty old man, and the girl is about 19
years old
Elm Creek – As the west bound fast mail train went through Elm Creek on an
afternoon, the mail agent threw off
a sack of mail, hitting the mother of a popular merchant in town. Friends
gathered around her and carried her to
her home.
Sept 2, 1889
Mrs. V.
J. Moses filed for divorce from William Moses because of habitual drunkeness
and lack of support and
several other acts of cussedness due to her husband.
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