.jpg)
The Advocate of May 1, 1946, was the first issue edited and published by Roger Hill and his wife Lotus Hill.
There were a few minor changes in format. Hill often used two-column headlines on the front page; Allison mostly used single-column heads. Hill consolidated the birth announcements on the front page under the heading “Hello World.” Allison generally buried them among the local items throughout the paper. And the “Pop Offs” column disappeared from the front page, along with items about the couple in the Black Ford and hints of other extramarital activities.
In his first editorial column entitled “Ribs by Rog,” Hill remarked “Whosoever taketh unwanted refuse, trash, and garbage to ye city dumping grounds might likewise taketh some tidbits of poisoned food for the rodents which aboundeth there.”
The Commercial Club decided to tackle Laurel‘s chronic housing shortage.
Former editor Allison commented many times that Laurel would not grow in population until housing was available.
Bricks and tile blocks were available for building purposes but there was a shortage of lumber.
The American Legion tried unsuccessfully to procure trailer houses. The Commercial Club decided to ask residents to take in roomers. “There are homes in this city that are large enough to house two or three extra people.” Alfred Mittelstadt offered to rent two rooms in his big house on the West Hill to a married couple. This plan did not meet with success either.
Work was underway to remodel the old hotel at the corner of Oak and Main. What the building will house has not been decided, said Editor Hill. The new Logan Valley Creamery may have been the first tenant. But only briefly.
Another building project was underway on the south side of Main Street.
Art Alexander began tearing down an old wooden building formerly housing a blacksmith shop. Alexander said he planned to erect a new tile building with a cement floor. It is the building with the garage door on the front and the “Go Bears“ sign just east of the post office parking lot.
The stage curtain on the second floor of the old high school building was taken down and replaced with a new curtain donated by members of the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior classes of 1946. The old curtain was donated by the seniors of 1923.
The Girl Scouts collected two tons of paper which they planned to sell and use the money to attend a week at Camp of the Hills in Sioux City.
Harold Sudbeck, who joined the Navy in May 1945, returned home on leave to graduate with the Class of 1946. Francis Paulsen, a water tender in the U.S. Navy, was assigned to the “Prinz Eugen,” a former German war ship. The Eugen was destined to join a fleet of 94 other ships participating in “Operation Crossroads.“ In July 1946, the ships were loaded with hundreds of live animals (mostly rats and mice) and assembled in Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific and blasted with two nuclear bombs. One bomb was detonated in the air above the ships; the other exploded under water. Needless to say, Paulsen was not on board.
Most of the ships survived the blast, but were so severely contaminated by radiation that they had to be scuttled. One of the surviving animals, a pig, was later found paddling around the lagoon and was rescued. The pig recovered and spent her remaining days in the Washington National zoo. The other animals were less fortunate.
Incidentally, the modern bikini bathing suit appeared for the first time in a Paris fashion show in July 1946. The inspiration for the name came from the nuclear tests in the Bikini Atoll.
Harry Wallace, Truman’s Secretary of Commerce and Roosevelt’s former Vice President, declared that congressmen who failed to vote the party line should be disciplined.
Wallace said once the party had agreed on an issue, every member of Congress was obligated to go along. Under Wallace’s line of reasoning, members of Congress should represent party leaders not the people who elected them.
Gladys, the 18-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herman Heese, was badly injured when the car she was driving, left the highway two miles west of Laurel, jumped a creek, and crashed into the opposite bank. Truck driver Douglas Harrington spotted the wreckage and took Miss Heese to Dr. Carroll’s office where she received first aid before being transported to a Sioux City Hospital. Heese, a student at Norfolk Junior College, was returning home for the weekend in her father‘s 1941 Chevrolet.
Sharon, the three year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Everett Huddleston, received a deep gash on her head when she was hit by a truck in downtown Sioux City. Somehow the little girl became separated from her mother and ran out into a busy street where the accident occurred.
Herbert Edward, the infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Bose, was baptized in the Coleridge Lutheran Church. The baby wore a baptismal gown made of nylon from a parachute brought back from Germany by his father.
According to Prof. Ernest R. Groves, there had been a large increase in the number of divorces in the wake of the world war.
Groves attributed the cause to the large number of hasty marriages before servicemen were shipped overseas and the unfaithfulness of wives during their husband’s absence.
C.D. Haskell was appointed state chairman for the Right to Work Amendment campaign.
“It is my belief that every man should have a right to earn a living for his family without his employer being able to fire him for joining a union and without a union being able to obtain his dismissal if he refuses to join,” said Haskell.
Nebraska’s Right to Work Amendment was approved by voters on Nov. 5, 1946.
The entire revenue raised by taxation for the Village of Laurel was $44,300.
