Gage County, Nebraska - Chapter 20: Beatrice Continued, 1918

Incorporation of Towns by County Board - Petition to Incorporate Beatrice - Order Incorporating Beatrice - First Board of Trustees - Incorporation of Beatrice as A City of the .Second Class - First City Council, - Popueation of Beatrice - Incorporation of Beatrice as a City of the First Class - Additions to Beatrice - Changed to Commission Government - First County Court House - Location - Old "Public Square" - Description - Cost - Abandoned - Demolished - - A New Court House - Court House Bond Litigation - County Jail - The New Jail - First United States Postoffices - Present Postoffice Building - Postmasters - Beatrice City Hall - Fire Department - Lighting Plant - Sewers - Paving - City

From the date of its founding, in July, 1857, to September, 1871, Beatrice had existed as an unincorporated hamlet or village. Under the law regulating the incorporation of towns, the county commissioners of any county in Nebraska were empowered, and in fact required, by proper order to incorporate any town within their county whenever a majority of its taxable inhabitants should present a petition praying for its incorporation. The corporate powers of every town were by law vested in a board of trustees of five members, to be elected, after the first board, by the qualified voters residing within such town ; and the county commissioners at the time they declared a town incorporated were required to appoint as trustees for the town five suitable persons, who should hold their offices until their successors were duly elected and qualified. Amongst the qualifications required by law for a town trustee was that he should be a "free, white male citizen of the United States." The law vested boards of trustees of towns with the usual powers possessed by governing bodies of municipal corporations, and contained some provisions not now met with in similar statutes.

Pursuant to the requirements of this statute, on the 9th day of September, 1871, there was filed before the board of commissioners of Gage county a petition praying that body to incorporate Beatrice as a town and to appoint as trustees thereof, H. M. Reynolds, J. B. McDowell, Albert Towle, William Lamb, and Job Buchanan. Many of the names attached to this petition will always be prominent in ever>- history of Gage county. For this reason, and because the petition necessarily represented a majority of the taxable inhabitants of Beatrice at that time, the names of the signers are here given. They are:

Of these eighty-three petitioners, as far as known to this writer, all have passed to the great beyond, save G. B. Reynolds, H. A. LaSelle, William H. Walker, Byron Bradt, and George W. Hinkle, of Beatrice; A. L. Snow, of Milford, Nebraska; Sherman P. Lester and J. Fitch Kinney, Jr., of Portland, Oregon ; and Samuel Meyers, of Bassett, Nebraska.

On the day the foregoing petition was presented to the commissioners - Solon M. Hazen, Horace M. Wickham, and James Pettigrew - that body, after declaring that it was fully satisfied that a majority of the taxable inhabitants of said town of Beatrice had signed the petition and that they had considered the same and were fully advised in the premises, ordered, "That the inhabitants residing upon the southeast quarter of section 33 and the southwest quarter of section 34, in township 4 north, of range 6 east of the 6th principal meridian. Gage county, Nebraska the same being the originally surveyed townsite of Beatrice, and all the legal additions which may now or may hereafter be attached to the said town of Beatrice, be and are hereby declared incorporated, a body politic and corporate by the name and style of the town of Beatrice.

"And it is further ordered that H. M. Reynolds, J. B. McDowell, Albert Towle, William Lamb and Job Buchanan be and are hereby appointed as a board of trustees of said town of Beatrice, to hold their offices until their successors are elected and qualified."

The county clerk was instructed to notify forthwith in writing, under the seal of his office, each and all of the board of trustees of their appointment as such and to transmit to them a certified copy of the order.

On the same day the trustees thus appointed held a meeting in the rear room of Hinkle & Pease's drug store, and, having taken the oath of office, as provided by the statute, entered at once upon the discharge of their duties by electing Herman M. Reynolds cliairman of the board, and appointing William A. Wagner clerk, Albert Towle treasurer, and Gilson H. Gale constable for the term of the trustees and until the successor of each was elected and qualified.

Whereas, The town of Beatrice, in the State of Nebraska, was organized as such on the 3rd day of October, A'. D. 1871, under and by virtue of the provisions of chapter 53 of the Revised Statutes of the State of Nebraska, entitled "TOWNS" ; and

Whereas, Said town is desirous of becoming incorporated as a city of the second class, under the provisions of the act of the legislature of the State of Nebraska, approved March 1, 1871, entitled, "An act to incorporate cities of the second class, and to define their powers," and of the amendments thereto; therefore,

This ordinance shall be published in the Beatrice Express, a newspaper in said town, for two (2) weeks, successively, and to take effect and be in force frqpi and after the 5th day of April, 1873.

At the ensuing municipal election for that year, S. C. B. Dean, a lawyer of great ability and learning, was elected mayor; E. S. Chadwick, an able young lawyer, police judge; O. A. Avery, marshal; William A. Wagner, city clerk; Samuel C. Smith, city treasurer; William Bradt, C. G. Dorsey, J. E. Hill and William Lamb councilmen, of the city of Beatrice.

At this time, the population of the city had materially increased since the census of 1870, when it stood at 624. At the time the first city council was elected, in 1873, it probably exceeded 1,500. It was growing rapidly ; the census of 1880 showed a population of 2,447, and if had begun to assume the proportions and attributes of a flourishing western city.

The street shown furthest north in the accompanying birdseye view of Beatrice in 1874 is Washington, the one furthest south is. Scott, while Tenth instead of Thirteenth is shown as the eastern boundary of the city. The bridge in the foreground is the Curtis & Peavey bridge, on Market street ; the first location of the Burlington depot is shown where Grant street apparently terminates. Roper's mill, with the dam, is properly located above the bridge. "Pap's Cabin" appears south of the string of empty cars. The old court house appears in its proper place. West of it by a little north is the original Episcopal church building. The church, with spire, in the middle foreground is the first church building of the Presbyterians. Southwest across the block is seen the old stone Methodist church, with parsonage, and southeast is the old frame school house, on the school block. Further east by south is the first high-school building. On the south the first Sixth street bridge is seen, with winding roads from east and north, across the prairie.

In April, 1891, an act of the legislature became effective which provided for the incorporation of cities of the first class having less than 25,000 and more than 8,000 inhabitants, and regulating their duties, powers and government. Pursuant to this statute, Lorenzo Crounse, governor of the state of Nebraska, on the 26th day of January, 1893, issued his proclamation declaring that Beatrice from and after that date was a city of the first class. In his proclamation the Governor recites the fact that the census of 1890 showed that the city possessed a population of 13,825. It can not be doubted that the actual population of Beatrice in 1890 was far short of the number of inhabitants returned by the census enumerators, and probably less even than the minimum figure for cities of the class to which this proclamation assigned Beatrice. Thai census has been the subject of much jus1 criticism, which applied not only to the cities but to the entire state of Nebraska. That i1 was a gross exaggeration of the facts respecting the population of the state and its cities ii an admitted fact.

Since the original incorporation of the towi of Beatrice, in 1871, which included only th< three hundred and twenty acres of land com prising the original townsite, a great mam additions have been made to the superficia area of the city, until to-day it embraces ap proximately thirty-two hundred acres of land The principal additions to the city are Crop sey's Addition, Weston's Additions, Smitl Brothers' Addition, Fairview Addition, Pad dock's Addition, Green's Addition, Grable t Beachley's Addition, Grable & Beachley's Sec ond and Third Additions, Yule & Son's Par Addition, and Glenover Addition - on th north and west; Lamb's Subdivision, Henr H. Lamb's Subdivision, Barney's Subdivisior and Wittenberg Addition - on the east; th town of South Beatrice and the First and Sec ond Additions to the town of South Beatric( Cole's Addition, Riverside Park Additioi Brumback's Additions, Belvidere Heights, an Highland Park Addition - on the soutl Harrington's Subdivision, McConnell's Fin and Second Subdivisions, West Park Additioi

Scheve's Addition, Milligan's Addition and McConnell's Addition - on* the west. The city also contains numerous small subdivisions, places, and irregular tracts, which by ordinance have been incorporated into the city. These additions were largely made between the years 1885 and 1890 - a period which witnessed tremendous growth and expansion in all directions in Beatrice, as well as in the state at large.

From the date of its organization into a city, March 18, 1873, to May 1, 1912, the municipal government of Beatrice had been strictly representative in character. The first act of the first city council was to divide the city of Beatrice into three wards. The city government consisted of a mayor and of councilmen elected from each of the wards. Though modified to include four, five, and even six wards, the principal of representative municipal government was preserved, and the citizens at large, through their councilmen, had direct representation in the affairs of the city. The clerk, treasurer, police judge, and other administrative officers were elected by the people at the time the mayor and council were chosen. The chief of police, policemen, street commissioner, city attorney, and some other minor officers were appointed by the mayor, with the advice and consent of the council. Speaking generally, this form of municipal government up to a score of years ago was universal throughout the United States, and it is still the form under which the vast majority of cities are governed, including the great metropolitan cities of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and St. Louis.

About the. year 1900 there arose in many of the states a system of municipal govem- . ment designated commission government or government by commission, which in a large measure did away wholly with the old representative form of municipal government. This heresy spread with some rapidity in the west and mid-west portions of the country. In 1911 the legislature of Nebraska passed an act providing for the commission form of government in all cities having more than 5,000 population, and at the election held in Beatrice in 1912 it was voted to abandon the representative form and adopt the new method of government. The centralizing of power in a few hands may possess some advantages as applied to civic affairs, but any form of government, municipal or otherwise, which abandons in whole or in part the representative principle, lays an ax at the roots of free institutions, and this because it is evident that if delegated powers may be given to two, three or five men, they can be conferred upon one, and a free community pass into the hands of a dictator. The weakness of commission government as applied to cities, and its unrepresentative character, must in time become manifest, and it is doubtful whether the people will long continue a system which in effect bars the active participation of the public to an appreciable extent in municipal affairs.

Towai-d the close of the period marked by the year 1870, it became apparent that the growing needs of the county demanded facilities for transacting public business. The county possessed neither court house nor jail. The county offices were housed around town, wherever quarters could be had. If the incumbent of the office happened to live in the county seat, he carried his office around with him, or kept it at his' dwelling or place of business. The board of county commissioners, or the county court, as that body was legally designated for many years, was compelled to hold its meetings at the residence of the member in Beatrice or the places of business at the county seat willing to accommodate them. The courts were held first at "Pap's Cabin," but when the Griggs & Webb building, on Court, between Third and Fourth streets, was erected, in the fall of 1868, the upper floor of that edifice was used for several years as a court room.

That a movement should be made in a rapidly growing town to secure a court house and jail was the natural outcome of these conditions, and on August 20, 1869, a petition was presented to the county court, or board of county commissioners, signed by H. M. Reynolds, Nathan Blakely, Orrin Stevens, and sixty-eight other electors of the county, praying for the submission to a vote of the people at the next general election of a proposition to bond the county in the sum of ten thousand dollars, for the erection of a county court house and jail at Beatrice, the county seat.

On the 1st day of September, 1869, the county clerk was directed to include in the call for the annual election to be held October 12, 1869, the proposition for the issuance of such bonds, and the ballots at the election fairly submitted this question to the voters of the county. The canvass of the votes showed a majority in favor of issuing the bonds, and in January, 1870, the matter of erecting the court house was taken up in earnest by the county board. On the 6th day of that month, the county clerk, Oliver Townsend, was directed to advertise in the Beatrice Clarion for bids for the erection of both a court house and a jail, costing not less than ten thousand dollars, all bids to be accompanied by plans and specifications.

About this time the question arose as to where the new court house should be erected. The founders of Beatrice had provided for county buildings by dedicating the block bounded on the north by Ella, on the east by Ninth, on the south by Court, and on the west by Eighth street; but- when it became apparent that the county commissioners were about to act in the matter of locating the county buildings, A. J. Cropsey, of Lincoln, who had been a state officer in Nebraska and who had laid out an addition on the north of the original town of Beatrice, designated and known as Cropsey's Addition, appeared upon the scene and made an offer to the county board, composed of H. M. Wickham and others, to donate block 24 of his addition to the county for court-house purposes, and the south half of block 11 for the purpose of a jail. Mr. Cropsey included also in his offer certain other inducements. The county commissioners accepted these oflers and abandoned to the first comer the "public square" which the founders of Beatrice had dedicated to court-house purposes. Daniel Freeman, who was sheriff of the county in 1870-1871, quickly saw the weakness of this move and took possession of the square, fenced it and placed a couple of small dwelling houses on it. In 1873 the legislature passed an act entitled, "An Act to Quiet Title to Certain Portions of the City of Beatrice." Section 3 of the act reads as follows :

That the dedication to the county of Gage of the block known as the "public square" in the said city of Beatrice, lying between block 52 on the east, and block 51 on the west, is hereby ratified and confirmed, and the legal and equitable title thereto, in fee-simple, is hereby vested in said county of Gage,, to be used as a site for public buildings, either for the said Gage county, or for the said city of Beatrice, or otherwise, as may seem proper.

In August, 1874, through the agency of a distress warrant for taxes, an effort was made by the county treasurer to dispossess Freeman. This proved abortive and in the end served to strengthen his hold on the property. (Freeman vs. Webb et al., 27 Neb., 160.) No effort appears to have been made by the county at any time by direct suit to assert its title to this property, either under the act of dedication or the. above described act of the legislature, and in process of time Freeman's possession, as the law then stood, ripened into a perfect title.

On the 19th day of August, 1870, the contract for the erection of a court house at Beatrice on block 24 of Cropsey's Addition ta the city, was let to Binns & Fordham. The contract price of this structure was $11,196.01, and it was to be erected in accordance with the plans and specifications furnished by the contractors and adopted by the county board. The building was a two-story, brick structure,, with stone foundation and trimmings; it was about forty feet square, with both north and south frontage, connected by a straight hallway, six feet wide, through the entire building.

The lower floor of this old court house waswholly occupied by the county offices, while the upper story was used exclusively as a district court-room, with two connected jury rooms. This floor was reached by a stairway which started from the lower hallway at the middle of the east side and led directly to the

Before the work was completed the contractors suggested modifications of the plans, which they agreed to make for one thousand dollars in addition to the contract price of the building, and which were accepted by the county board. The work progressed rapidly, and on April 19, 1871, the first court house of county offices were moved to the stone building at the corner of Fourth and Court streets, then occupied by the Nebraska National Bank. The county court and the sheriff's office were later moved to the basement in the Masonic Temple building, at the comer of Sixth and Court streets, the present site of the Beatrice National Bank. In the latter part of 1889 the court house was wholly abandoned, dis- our county was turned over to the county and formally accepted by the commissioners - James Pettigrew, Solon M. Hazen, and Horace M. Wickham. The total cost of this old building, including a vault for the county treasurer, and all extras, was $13,914.00. The grounds about the building were planted by Mr. Cropsey with Cottonwood, maple and other forest trees, and for many years served to some extent the purposes of a park.

trict court being held at first in an old frame opera house at the comer of Fifth and Ella streets, where the fine two-story Kilpatrick building now stands, and later in a hall on the third floor of the Nebraska National Bank building.

No sooner had the county abandoned the property in part than A. J. Cropsey, who after a long absence from the state had returned to Ivincoln, began in the United States district court at Omaha an. action in ejectment against the county, to obtain possession of the court house square, alleging that the property had been conveyed to the county for court-house purposes only, and, setting forth its abandonment by the county, charged that the title to this property had reverted to him as the grantor. After considerable evidence had been taken by deposition on both sides, the case was compromised and settled by this writer, as county attorney of Gage county, in March, 1889, by and with the approval of the county board, and a quit-claim deed taken from Cropsey and his v/ife for both the court house square and the half block where the county jail was located.

In 1889-1890, after arrangements had been made to erect the present court house, the old building was demolished and became a thing of the past. But to those whose memories cover its history this old building will never cease to possess a deep interest on account of the part it played in the early development of our county and state. Here many of the lawyers who are now practicing at the bar of Gage county, and many others who have died or moved away, gained their first experience in the trial of causes ; here much of the important litigation, both civil and criminal, arising in our county was tried, including the two Marion murder trials (1883 and 1886), the Bradshaw murder trial (1883), the Reed murder trial (1883), the first Carson murder trial (1889), and many other cases of public interest and importance. Here also the county business was transacted from April 19, 1871, to April 1, 1887; here at desk and ledger toiled men, many of whose names are inseparably connected with the early history of our county. Among these names may be noted the following: Hiram P. Webb, John Ellis, J. F. King, E. J. Roderick, county treasurers ; the lamented Daniel E. Marsh, William D. Cox, John E. Hill, A. J. Pethoud, and George E. Emery, county clerks; Oliver M. Enlow, John E. Hill (ex-officio), A. V. S. Saunders, and Frank H. Holt, clerks of the district court; Daniel Freeman, Leander Y. Coffin, Eugene Mack, Nathaniel Herron, and E. F. Davis, sheriffs of our county ; C. A. Pease, J. W. Carter, Alfred Hazlett, Peter Shaffer, Joseph E. Cobbey, Ernest O. Kretsinger, and

Few are living now of all those who in the days of the old court house were prominent in the affairs of our county. All of the old treasurers are gone; all of the old clerks but George E. Emery ; all of the clerks of the district court except A. V. S. Saunders; all the sheriffs except Davis ; and all the judges except Hazlett and Kretsinger, while not a single one of the old county superintendents is left.

All the days of the years of the old court house were great days for the citizens of Beatrice and Gage county. In those days were laid broad and deep, and for all time to come, the foundations of one of the most progressive, homogeneous and patriotic counties in the entire state of Nebraska.

In the year 1887 our county abandoned the commissioner system of county government and adopted the supervisor system, and at a meeting of the board of supervisors held in February, 1889, steps were taken for the erection of the present court house, on the site of the old, and a special election was called for May 7th of that year, in which a proposition for the issuance of the bonds of the county in the sum of one hundred thousand dollars for the purpose of erecting a court house at the county seat, was submitted to the voters of our county. Of the 5,059 votes cast at thiselection, 2,589 favored the proposition and 2,470 opposed it, leaving a clear majority for the bonds of 139 votes. Steps were about tobe taken for the issuance of these bonds and. the erection of the court house, when proceedings were inaugurated by citizens of Wymoreto enjoin the work on the ground that the actunder which the board of supervisors had proceeded in calling the election was unconstitutional and therefore the election was void, and. that the county board was without jurisdiction to bond the county for the purpose of erecting a court house. In the district court, Hon. A. D. McCandless, of Wymore, represented theplaintiffs in the action - Robert Fenton, A. Perkins, John Mordhorst, Michael Keckley,.

Patrick Murphy, and J. W. Bridenthal - crime, the county was compelled to rely on while the writer of this history, as county at- Nebraska City, which was the nearest point torney, represented the defendants - Thomas within the state where jail privileges were Yule, as chairman of the board of supervisors, available. This involved not only a charge and George E. Emery, as county clerk of Gage for maintenance of the prisoners while in jail, county. The cause was instituted July 8, but also the cost of their transportation to 1889, and a temporary restraining order was Nebraska City, and back - again to Beatrice granted until a hearing could be had. On July every time the district court set or until the 15th a demurrer was filed to the petition, on criminal charge was finally disposed of. This the ground that it did not state facts sufiScient is well illustrated in the case of the State of to constitute a cause of action against the de- Nebraska vs. Lydia Armstrong, a woman who fendants ; and on July 17th Judge Jefiferson H. had been bound over to the district court by a Broady sustained the demurrer, dissolved the justice of the peace on a common peace warinjunction and dismissed the bill at the cost of rant sworn to by her husband, W. W. Armplaintiffs. The cause was then appealed to the strong. At a session of the county board held supreme court of Nebraska, where it was ad- October 23, 1869, the following bills in this vanced and came up for hearing at the open- case were audited, allowed and paid : ing of the September term of that tribunal. i^_ j> Chandler, sheriff, board of pris- sand dollars was accepted, upon his executing 3^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^_ ^_ Watson -was apa bond, in the sum of twenty thousand dollars, ^^.^^^^ ^^ ^^^ commissioners to prepare plans faithful performance of his contract. After ^^^^y, ^^ ^j^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ directed to adversome vicissitudes the building was finally com- ^jg^ ^^ ^^^ Beatrice Express for proposals for first court house, the next most urgent public building of a jail for Gage county was inneed. The administration of the criminal law definitely postponed, by commissioners Solon

Steps were taken by the county board to supply funds for this building, and at the regular annual election held on the 8th day of October, 1872, a proposition to bond the county in the sum of $7,000, the proceeds of which were to be used in the erection of a county jail at Beatrice, was carried by a decisive majority. On the 9th day of January, 1873, the county clerk, William D. Cox, was again directed to advertise in the Beatrice Express for three consecutive weeks for bids for a county jail, all bids to be accompanied by plans and specifications, the building to consist of stone and iron, and to cost not more than $6,000 - -the it by Andrew Miller, of this city, for the erection of a jail in confomiity with the Anyan plans and specifications, for the sum of $6,400, conditioned, however, upon his executing a bond to the county in the sum of $12,800 for the faithful performance of his contract. But on March 22d following. Miller appeared before the board and confessed his inability to give a bond in sufficient sum. The contract with him was thereupon cancelled, and a readvertisement ordered for bids. On April 21, 1873, the contract for the erection of a jail in accordance with the Anyan plans and specifications was awarded to T. J. Patterson for the commissioners reserving the right to reject all bids, plans and specifications. Whether any bids, or plans and specifications were filed with the county board on the $6,000 basis is unknown to this writer, but, evidently growing weary of putting the cart before the horse, that body, on the 8th day of February, 1873, adopted plans and specifications for a county jail, prepared and submitted to them by William Anyan, a well known resident and homesteader of Elm township, a farmer, a practical builder and contractor, a politician, an Englishman of talent and ability. The county clerk was a third time directed to advertise for bids for the erection of a county jail at Beatrice, in the Beatrice Express for three consecutive weeks, and on March 15, 1873, the county board accepted a bid submitted to sum of $6,364, and at a special session of the county board held May 11, 1873, the prospective jail was, by formal order of the board, located on lots 16, 17, and 18, block 11 of Cropsey's Addition to the City of Beatrice.

This old building was constructed wholly of native stone, on the corner of Lincoln and Seventh streets. It was a single story, with basement under the part devoted to the jailer's residence. The entrance was from the south, and a hall led past the living rooms to a corridor in the rear, where prisoners were allowed to exercise ; beyond the corridor were the cells.

The building was completed and turned over to the county board in the early part of 1874, and for forty-four years it served the people as a county prison. It lacked almost every convenience for a modem jail. For years every grand jury was accustomed to condemn it as unsanitary and unsafe. In this old building all the desperate criminals of our county have been held awaiting trial, execution or removal to the penitentiary. In the old jail yard occurred the only legal execution ever had in Gage county, when Jackson Marion paid the penalty on the gallows, in March, 1886, for the brutal murder of John Cameron in 1873. Hundreds of criminals have sighed behind its iron bars, and to some it was the end of hope. If ghosts could walk and all the awarded to F. L. Robertson, as general contractor, the building to be erected pursuant to plans and specifications drawn by Richard W. Grant, of Beatrice. C. W. Werner, of Wyniore, was awarded the plumbing contract, Baker-Hartzell Company, of Beatrice, the contract for electrical wiring and electrical appliances, while the Pauly Jail Building Company, of St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded the contract for cells and other equipment. The following table exhibits the total cost of the building, exclusive of grounds and gradmg: past be revealed, strange tales might be told of those incarcerated within its walls. In the spring of 1918, on the completion of the new jail, this old county bastile was demolished, beam by beam, bar by bar, rock by rock. The very place where it had stood so long is plowed, graded and filled, and not a trace of this sad, gloomy structure is left.

As early as 1916 the building of a modern jail was taken under consideration by the county supervisors, and a levy of one and onefourth mills on the total valuation of the county was levied that year for the purpose of creating a fund to build a new jail. In 1917 also a levy was made for the same purpose, one and two one-hundredths mills, and on the 28th day of May, 1917, a contract for the erection of the new building was

This fine, commodious jail building, which incKides also a residence for the jailor or sherifT, was completed and accepted by the county board November 27, 1917. Few, if any, counties in Nebraska can boast a more handsome, complete, modern jail building than Gage, the great third county of Nebraska.

atrice was the pioneer residence of Albert Towle, commonly called "Pap's Cabin," but in 1866 the postoffice was moved to a single room in the rear of the twenty-five-foot-front, frame hardware store owned by Rainboldt & Company, on the corner of Third and Court streets, where the building of the Blue Valley Mercantile Company (wholesale grocery) now stands. The little room containing the postoffice fronted on Third street. About 1870 Mr. Towle, the postmaster, erected a narrow frame building immediately west of Saunders' two-story brick store building on Court street. The business of the office increased so rapidly that more commodious quarters became necessary, and about 1872 the postoffice was moved to the west storeroom in the Burwood hotel, where at this writing, H. P. Claussen has his shoe store. In 1886 the office was moved from the hotel building to the east room of the old Masonic Temple Block, on the corner of Sixth and Court streets, which was destroyed by fire in 1902, and on the site of which the Beatrice National Bank building now stands. In 1887 Algernon S. Paddock was elected United States senator from Nebraska, and in 1891 he secured an appropriation from congress, in the sum of $65,000, to be used for the purchase of a site and the erection of a postoffice building in the rapidly growing city of Beatrice. Of this sum, not to exceed $15,000 was to be used in the purchase of a site for the building. The northeast comer of the intersection of Seventh and Ella streets was considered the most eligible site ; one hundred twenty feet of this property was selected for the site of the new postoffice building, and in July, 1891, it was purchased at a cost to the government of $15,041.74. Thereafter the United States proceeded to erect the old part of the present postoffice building on this ground, at a cost of $49,934.37, and in October, 1893, it was occupied for postoffice purposes. The material used in this structure is from the great sandstone quarries of Warrensburg, Missouri.

$62,000 for the purpose of purchasing additional land and increasing the capacity of the office. The sum of $11,000 was paid for the eighty feet of ground adjoining the original site, and an extension, with other improvements, was added to the original building, at a cost of $49,877.50. The total cost to the government of this building, including site, is the sum of $125,853.61.

The postoffice in every community is to its members the visible sign of the power and beneficence of the government. Its importance cannot be greatly exaggerated. It forms a connecting link between the citizen and the outside world. Until recent years the postal department was the sole representative in the United States of the paternal or social idea of government. It may be that the present period of the great world war will eventuate in government-owned facilities of every description, from postal to transportation and shipping.

The patrons of the Beatrice postoffice have been fortunate in the character of the men who have occupied the important position of postmaster. Since its establishment, July 16, 1857, to the present time, the following named persons have been appointed postmasters at Beatrice, on the dates here given :

Some years ago the postoffice department at Washington, pursuant to acts of congress authorizing such action, established in Gage county the system of rural mail delivery, and about the same time the system of city carriers was inaugurated for Beatrice. The rural routes radiate from the Beatrice office in every direction and are served by seven carriers, while the city of Beatrice gives employment to ten carriers of United States mail within its boundaries.

^ In 1896 the city of Beatrice purchased lot ten in block sixty-four of the original townsite and erected thereon a small, two-story, plain brick city hall. This structure, though undergoing various changes, modifications, and additions, is still too small for public requirements. It lacks nearly every appointment of a modern, up-to-date municipal building and is almost offensively wanting in architectural style and beauty.

It supplies a place, however, for a jail, the meetings of the city council, offices for the police magistrate, and chief of police and his subordinates, and several of the elective and appointive officers of the city. The day is not far distant when the growing city of Beatrice will demand a city building which besicjes affording ample room and facilities for the housing of the public records of the city and the transaction of municipal business will add to civic attractiveness.

Allied to the City Hall is the fire department, which includes four volunteer hose companies and a salaried force of firemen. This important branch of the public service had its origin with the organization of the volunteer companies June 8, 1886. From then until a comparatively recent date the nonsalaried volunteers valiantly defended against the ravages of fire the property of the citizens of our city, in a most faithful and efficient manner. Notwithstanding the fact that since the creation of the salaried fire department the volunteer companies have been relegated to the position of reserves, they have maintained their organization intact and hold themselves in readiness to respond instantly to every call for aid. At present these companies number one hundred and thirty brave and public-spirited citizens of Beatrice.

On the first day of September, 1908, the volunteer hose companies purchased the north forty-six and two-thirds feet of lots 7 and 8, block 63, Beatrice, and, at a cost of more than thirty thousand dollars, erected thereon a fine, two-story, pressed-brick fire station, which forms headquarters for all the firemen of the city.

apparatus of the city, at the present time consisting of a motor truck, which is a combined hose and chemical engine, a horse-drawn truck of like character, hose reels, and the hook and ladder equipment.

The volunteers also, in 1907, in commemoration of their dead, erected a splendid monum.ent, which, fronting its main entrance, overlooks beautiful Evergreen Home Cemetery.

In many other ways this organization has written its own indelible record in the history of Beatrice. The fire chiefs have been Nathaniel Herron (the first leader of the brave volunteers), John Schiek, John Walker, H. L. Harper, Rudolph Woelke, John Scharton, and Henry Whiteside (the present chief).

In 1912 the authorities of the city of Beatrice installed in connection with the waterworks system a municipal lighting plant, from which the streets and city buildings are now well and beautifully illuminated. Efforts have been made to secure the application of this plant to commercial purposes, but so far the voters have failed to endorse this plan. The future may see a complete revolution of sentiment with respect to the activity of the city along commercial lines.

Beatrice is also well supplied with storm and sanitary sewers, work which had its beginning about 1886, and which has been recently extended to cover large areas of the city. Perhaps no city of its size in the west exceeds our city with respect to these public utilities.

No other improvement in the city has added so much to the beauty of the city and the comfort of living in Beatrice as the street paving. This work was inaugurated in the autumn of 1886, and was largely confined to the business districts of the city. Since 1913 the paving of the streets and alleys of Beatrice has been greatly increased and been extended to include much of the residence portion of the city east of the river. This work has gone steadily forward until at the present moment Beatrice possesses approximately sixteen miles of paved streets and is probably the best paved city of its class in the state.

account of the paving, exclusive of interest and the cost of paving the intersections of the streets, is $101,930, which is assessed against the property comprising the several paving districts.

In 1885 steps were taken by the city council to inaugurate a waterworks system in Beatrice. That year, on the twenty-first day of December, an ordinance was passed by the mayor and council which provided for holding a special election January 22, 1886, upon a proposition to issue bonds of the city in the sum of eighty thousand dollars, for the purpose "of constructing, operating and maintaining a system of waterworks for said city of Beatrice." At the election thus provided for, this proposition was carried by a decisive affirmative vote, and Steps were at once taken to put into effect the wishes of the voters. The work went vigorously forward and before the closing of the year 1888 the city water-works were in operation.

The plan adopted was that known as the direct-pressure system, by which, through the agency of powerful force pumps, the water is elevated through main lines and service pipes to the consumer. In 1890 additional bonds were voted to cover the extension of the water mains. The water used by the consumers was taken directly from the Big Blue river, in an unfiltered and impure state. During the greater portion of the year it was utterly unfit for drinking or culinary purposes. In 1891 a serious effort was made to remedy this condition, and at a special election, held in Beatrice on the second day of September of that year, called for the purpose of voting on a proposition to issue additional bonds, the city council was authorized to issue the negotiable bonds of the city "to the amount of thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000), for the purpose of constructing, maintaining and operating a system of waterworks for said city, to purchase land for the site of a water plant, and otherwise improve the waterworks system of the city of Beatrice and appurtenances, in the extension of and connection with the present system of waterworks of the said city."

of experiments had been conducted by the water commissioner in what was then known as "Paddock's Pasture," a tract of land where the Lang canniiig factory and the Kilpatrick stock and storage yards are now located. From the test wells put down, the city council was led to believe that an abundance of pure water could be here obtained at a shallow depth. These bonds were issued, placed upon the market and sold for approximately their face value, and a contract for installing this plant was let to the firm of Godfrey & Means, of Fremont, Nebraska. But these contractors failed to obtain a satisfactory supply of water, though it developed that a considerable quantity of pure, wholesome water did in fact exist at that point. The money invested in this movement was wholly lost and the small brick building which was erected as a pumping station and which still occupies the small tract of ground purchased by the city, is a melancholy reminder to the tax-payers of Beatrice of this failure to secure the necessary supply of pure municipal water.

For several years after this costly experiment, the question of an adequate supply of potable water for Beatrice was sufifered to rest, though it still remained an ever-present, urgent problem to every lover of his city. About 1910 the city authorities again took up the matter and a short distance east of the Paddock pasture several test wells were put down to water bearing gravel. These, it was thought, indicated the existence of pure water in sufficient quantities, if properly developed, to meet the requirements of the city. Four large wells were put down by the city, electrical pumping apparatus was installed in them, and, in 1911, a small reservoir was built, at considerable cost, on the northern boundary of the city. Water from these wells was pumped into this reservoir and conducted by gravity through mains to the pumping station of the city waterworks. It soon became apparent that the water problem of Beatrice had not been solved, the supply from this source being painfully deficient.

tion in the city council to the commission form of government, and the new administration applied itself at once to a solution of this everpresent, perplexing problem of wholesome water for Beatrice. Finally, on the 10th day of August, 1912, the commissioners advertised in the city press for sealed proposals "for the construction of a sufficient number of wells to supply the city of Beatrice with five hundred thousand (500,000) to seven hundred and fifty thousand (750,000) gallons of water per day of twenty-four hours, also the pumps, electric motors, pipe fittings, and all other material and equipment, including all labor necessary to install same and to deliver the above amount of water into the present water mains." Bidders were to furnish their own plans and specifications and the cost of the work to the city was to be based on the number of gallons of water that the wells and equipment should be capable of pumping into the mains for twenty-four hours.

On the 20th day of August, 1912, the Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company, of Beatrice, submitted a "proposal for wells, pump and motors for the city of Beatrice" accom^ panied by plans and specifications and a blueprint illustrative of the proposed wells and their equipment. This proposal was accepted, and the company entered immediately upon the work of putting down wells in the neighborhood of the Paddock Pasture, on North Sixth street. The limitations of this volume render it inexpedient to follow the details of this movement further than to say that the company failed to develop a sufficient quantity of water from its wells to meet the requirements of its contract.

Finally it turned to the well known spring located on the farm of John H. Zimmerman, on the west side of the river, a short distance northwest of the city. The existence of this spring had been known since the first settlement of Gage county. Without development or artificial aid it sent forth a considerable stream of pure, cold water. To the Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company generally, and to its president, Charles B. Dempster, particularly, belongs the entire credit of developing this fine living spring, which is now almost the sole source of the city water supply.

The history of this venture, with its result, is well set forth in a letter by the company, signed by its president, addressed to the mayor and city commissioners of Beatrice. The general statements of this letter are pertinent to the object and purpose of this history and for that reason it is here given in full. It reads as follows :

Without going into details with reference to our efforts to secure the city of Beatrice a sufficient supply of water, which we have been endeavoring to do since last November, we are now pleased to report that we have finally secured what we believe to be not only an ample but a lasting supply of good, pure, soft water at Zimmerman Springs, joining the city on the northwest.

We also have an option from Mr. John H. Zimmerman for the lease of these springs, together with the right of way over the land adjacent thereto, for a term of ten years, for an annual rental of $300.00 per year, with further option to purchase the springs at any time within ten years at the price of $6,000.00, together with such land as may be required, up to ten acres, at a price of $200.00 per acre. This contract or option is made direct to the Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company, but can be assigned by them to others. We believe this option is a valuable one to the city of Beatrice.

We further believe that we have secured and can deliver to the city over one and onehalf million gallons of water every twentyfour hours, taking the Zimmerman Springs and the wells we put down north of the city together. The wells north of the city were put down under our contract with the city of Beatrice, dated August 20, 1912, with later amendments.

After having put down these four batteries of wells north of the city, you will remember that we were unable to secure the required amount of water to complete our contracts and that, by mutual consent, the contract was suspended until we had an opportunity to make a test of the supply of water at the Zimmerman Springs.

derstand, were made at our expense and our risk, the city taking no chances in our ability to secure the water supply whatsoever. We stated that we would take the matter up with you again after we had made the tests.

Now, Gentlemen, we have not only made the tests, but have completed a permanent well, walling it up with a twelveinch brick wall, laid in cement. We have been pumping the springs almost continually for two months and the amount of water pumped increased steadily from the time we began pumping until it is now capable of furnishing 1,200,000 gallons of water per day and, at the same time, leaving three to three and a half feet of water still in the bottom of the well.

The well is dug down thirty feet deep. We also drilled five holes in the bottom of the dug well an additional twenty feet. The first two of these holes we drilled increased the flow of the water in the well about fifty per cent. It is our opinion, also the opinion of Professor E. H. Barbour, Head of the Geological Survey Department of the University of Nebraska, that by blasting and taking out the rock an additional sixteen or eighteen feet, we can increase the supply of water up to at least one and a half million gallons per day.

Professor Barbour made a special trip here at our request, while we were sinking the wells. He made a careful investigation of the formations and all conditions surrounding the springs, and stated that it was the best prospect for an ample supply of water that he had seen in the state and that it was, in his opinion, a permanent supply. He was also here yesterday, making measurements and taking photographs of the flow of the water and surroundings, and was very much pleased with the amount of water we were getting.

Now, Gentlemen, we have been to a considerable expense in our endeavor to secure the city this supply of water and, at last, we have the satisfaction of being able to say to you and to the citizens of Beatrice that we have been successful and that we have secured a supply of water sufficient to take care of the city's requirements for many years to come.

We never had figured on making a profit out of securing for the city a sufficient supply of water and we are willing at this time to turn the wells and springs over to the city of Beatrice, which shall include the option for the lease or purchase of the Zimmerman Springs together with the completed well, also the wells north of the city and the pumping machinery and equipment connected with same, also the cancellation of our contract for the water supply, and all we ask in return is that we be paid just what it has cost us to secure it, charging nothing for the risk which we have taken by virtue of the fact that had we not secured the water, we stood to lose what we had spent or invested.

This proposition is made to the city of Beatrice, through you as their representatives, . and will hold good until September 15, 1913, which we believe will give you ample time to investigate the matter and decide whether the city wants to accept the proposition or not.

Hoping that this proposition will meet with your approval and that steps may be taken at an early date to close the matter up, in order that the main may be run into the city and the people supplied with this spring water before winter sets in, we are

At a special election held in the city May 5, 1910, the voters of the municipality had authorized the issuance of $70,000 of the bonds of the city, the proceeds thereof to be used in constructing, maintaining and operating a system of waterworks for Beatrice. On October 10th of that year these bonds had been issued and sold, and the money realized from their sale had been applied by the city authorities in enlarging the building and plant of the waterworks, installing additional machinery, including an electric pumping plant and lighting system, and in covering the expense of the various efforts put forth by the commissioners in trying to develop a sufficient water supply by the system of wells. After the development of the Zimmerman Springs proposition as set forth in the foregoing letter of the Dempster Company, it became necessary to raise money to cover the cost of acquiring the spring and the ten-acre tract where it is situated, as set out in the letter. For this purpose the special election was held in the city on the 5th day of November, 1913, at which the issuance of $30,000 of the bonds of the city was authorized, the proceeds thereof to be used to complete the waterworks system of the city by acquiring title to the spring and the ten-acre tract of land where it is located and of connecting it to the existing waterworks system of the city.

By these various steps Beatrice has finally acquired a supply of pure spring water sufficient, as far as tried, for the demands of the city, at a total cost of approximately $225,000 to the taxpayers of the municipality. After many years of operation at a steady loss, which was annually met by additional taxation, the Beatrice city water plant has reached a point where it is easily self-supporting.