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The 1946 Christmas season was marked by ideal weather but things were about to change. On the last day of the year, thermometers registered 14 below zero. This affected the turnout for a special election on Thursday, Jan. 2, 1947, even though free rides were available. The election marked the third time the question of liquor by the drink was submitted to the voters of Laurel and the third time they turned it down.
Due in part to frigid temperatures, only about one third of Laurel voters went to the polls in the municipal building (light plant). And when the 230 ballots were counted, the liquor question was defeated 131 to 99.
The question of serving liquor by the drink was rejected by voters in 1935, 1936, 1947 and again in 1949. In 1963 the proposal was finally approved. Until that time people who wanted a shot of whiskey or a mixed drink had to buy a bottle at Harold Macklem’s liquor store and make it themselves. Or they could go to a bar in Hartington where liquor by the drink had been available since 1935.
Another drinking controversy also arose in January. Russ Haviland and Sid Elliott of the Logan Valley Creamery announced they had purchased Magnus Hansen’s dairy equipment and milk route and said they would begin pasteurizing all milk delivered to stores and residences.
‘’Since the article about Laurel having pasteurized milk appeared last week, much controversy has been heard,“ said the Advocate. Some people thought pasteurization meant adding chemicals to the milk. Another man said he couldn’t see how they could pasteurize milk in the winter when there were no pastures.
The Advocate explained pasteurization involved heating the milk for about a half hour then filtering and cooling it before being bottled. Dr. Carroll said the process would destroy any bacteria present in the milk and provide protection against multi-fever and possibly polio.
Polio was a big concern. Cedar County’s 1947 March of Dimes campaign began on January 15 and ran through the 30th. The Advocate noted that during the summer of 1946 there had been five cases of polio in the county. These cases totally exhausted the county’s accumulated funds of $1329 and an additional $5000 would have to come from the national foundation. “It must be remembered all doctor, medical, hospital, and rehabilitation expenses are paid by the March of Dimes,” said the Advocate. There would be no polio vaccine until 1955.
On Jan. 9, a meeting was held in Hartington to discuss ways and means of securing better roads in Cedar County. Most of the county roads were dirt in dry weather and mud in wet weather. Mud grip tires and tire chains were a necessity for folks who lived in the country.
Each town and each rural precinct was asked to send delegates to this meeting. More than 350 attended. The principal speaker was Orville Brandsetter of Wayne, a director of the Nebraska Good Roads Association. Brandsetter told the group that not everyone could have a gravel road past his place immediately. The first priorities would be to provide gravel roads to schools, churches, mail routes, and small rural communities. Another speaker described Cedar County’s present roads as some of the worst in the state. It was decided to organize a Good Road Association consisting of representatives from each of the county’s towns and rural precincts.
A shortage of money was the main obstacle to improving county roads, said County Commissioner George Berglund. The cost of graveling one county road south of Laurel was estimated at $250 per mile for grading and $631 per mile for gravel. During the war much of the money from gas taxes, which was supposed to be used for road construction, was diverted for other purposes.
The former county poor farm was sold at auction Jan. 11. The property had not been used for housing homeless and indigent persons for more than 20 years and had become a drain on county resources. At a special election in October 1946, voters approved the sale of the property to get it back on the tax rolls. The buyer was William Lauer who bid $14,880 or approximately $97 per acre for the 154 acre farm.
