Otoe County Sheriff Russ Seals told Optimists a great deal about the job as a law enforcement officer the other day and he told the group about what he called "losses."
He referred to the seven fatalities recorded in the county during 1973. The sheriff screened slides on two fatalities which occurred last year at railroad crossings in Cass County. One of the people killed was a Plattsmouth radio station station announcer who drove to the scene of the railroad-highway fatal crash returned to the station to report the story and was himself killed when he started across the tracks after leaving the radio station.
The interesting story by the sheriff and his deputies Harris Esluer and Jerry Williams, was told with the use of colored slides.
Deputy Esluer told Optimists that the woman who was the first fatality, had stopped at an accident scene north of Nebraska City a short time earlier, blocked traffic and had to be ordered by the officer to move her car. It was a tragic report the officer gave.
A man died later of injuries sustained in that accident north of Nebraska City.
The sheriff also displayed a number of items confiscated in drug cases. One of the instruments or whatever you want to call it is available in Lincoln for $9.95, the officers said. It contains white wine or some other liquid.
And according to the officers, one whiff was enough to convince them that it was pretty stout.
Our friend, Raymond Bossung.
One of the benefits about working in a newspaper is that we get a chance to rub elbows with many people. A telephone call quite a number of years ago has grown into a special friendship for us. Raymond Bossung is one of the men we call when we want to know something about hunting and fishing.
To understand these following words, you have to be a sportsman. Bob Poggemeyer will understand.
Ray's hunting dog is dead. He had checked her only a short time before (a Hungarian Vizsla) and when he returned he found her dead in her pen. Her death is a mystery. Her loss hurts.
Ray has had other hunting dogs and we've known a few of them. They've all been hunting wonders.
He got us started several years ago with one of our favorite breeds, the Weimeraner. We had a lot of fun training her and at six months of age, we were about ready to plop down a wager to Ray that "my dog is better than your dog."
Unfortunately, the dog died a short time later and we never got a chance to make the wager nor hunt with her. And, we've never found another sportsman's dog to equal her caliber. She was one of a litter raised by Ray.
If you want a workout, you ought to go along with Ray when he goes fishing.
I did and we returned with a fine mess of fish, but he wore me out going from place to place checking lines and rebaiting.
We tried some ice fishing the other day and had no luck. So, the next cold spell that comes along, we plan to call Ray for some advice. Other fishermen say the ice sport isn't too good here because of water depths and fish species that we have.
We're stubborn. We'll call Ray and try it anyway.
We had a pleasant visit recently with George Golden at a holiday party at Steinhart lodge, but we found that of the subjects we talked about, George failed to mention one.
He will retire as a rural mail route carrier about the middle of February. George served as a commissioned officer in the Army during WWII and has been at the post office for something over 30 years.
Understand now, I'm not saying he "deserves" to retire, he's really too ornery to quit, but I guess the post office allows retirement to the 55 and 60-year-old employes.
The Goldens have purchased some land at the edge of town and hope to have a new home erected soon. George is quite a gardener and he enjoys his pipe, so I imagine he is looking forward to hoeing, smoking and sitting.
It takes a lot of years on the job to save up for retirement and George is one of the saving kind. He always sez, "save your money and buy no, not Bourbon you ninny, buy Scotch."
Rep. Charles Thone's Lincoln office telephoned a Nebraska City party-faithful the other day to ask if some of the gals would help prepare a number of envelopes for mailing.
The Nebraska City woman negotiated. She said that the county GOP women were still waiting for confirmation from Sen. Richard Marvel for an appearance in Nebraska City January 31 and would Congressman Thone's secretary please call Marvel and get a "yes or a no."
Five minutes later Senator Marvel's secretary called, to explain that the letter didn't get to the Lincoln office until a day or so ago and that the senator would be pleased to speak in Nebraska City.
That's what you call wheeling and dealing on the local level. Now all the gals have to do is type addresses on those envelopes and the buddy-buddy system will be even-steven.
Olin "Oley" Bennett, Topeka, Kans., said he wished he could move his business interests to Nebraska City because he likes the town and people so much, he'd like to live here.
His wife, Irene, would enjoy it too. The couple has relatives in Bellevue, but members of their immediate family and grandchildren and their businesses keep them in Topeka.
Mr. Bennett has spent some time in Nebraska City contacting Ralph Boerner, D & D Electric, Hatten Construction and probably others to get a pizza barn built at 412 Fourth Corso.
The Kansan is a member of the Topeka "Honor" Optimist club and attended a Nebraska City Optimist luncheon meeting the other day. He was impressed with the closeness of people in a small community, something that's lacking in the larger towns.
He told Optimists a story about his first visit to Nebraska City with his parents in a Model T. The story was that the family car got stuck east of town on the bottom and the family spent the night in the car. Along with a few humorous remarks about the night, he added, "you just don't forget something like that."
He has traveled that route many times since, but now it's on blacktopped No. 2 and the superhighway which stretches from Hamburg on north.