130 Years Ago -- 4/6/2008

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By the Lincoln Journal Star

   1878: The consolidation between the A&N and B&M railroads was about to expire, and Lincoln looked for large reductions in freight rates.

   1888: A strike of Burlington employees was approaching settlement. H.B. Stone, general manager of the railroad, said former employees on strike would be rehired, but strike-breakers would not be discharged.

   1898: News of the approaching war with Spain filled front pages. Sen. Frederick Allen of Nebraska wrote a resolution directing President William McKinley to take steps to abate the Cuban war and to secure a stable, independent government for the island nation.

   1908: Lincoln voters, called upon to choose prohibition of daylight saloons, chose saloons by a small plurality. The next day, contemporary accounts said, thousands of men, women and children participated in a Prohibition parade.

   1918: Lincoln citizens held a World War I Liberty Loan parade on the first anniversary of the U.S. declaration of war against Germany.

   1928: A heavy snowstorm cost Nebraska and Iowa telephone companies thousands of dollars. The companies had nearly 800 men on the job raising 10,000 telephone poles that had fallen during the storm.

   1938: Lincoln police staged simultaneous raids on five “cigar stores” and took 29 people to headquarters for questioning about alleged racehorse bookmaking.

   1948: Sen. Robert A. Taft of Ohio, Harold Stassen of Minnesota and Gov. Thomas E. Dewey of New York were locked in an all-out fight for the favor of Nebraska Republican voters in the all-star presidential primary.

   1958: The Lincoln Chamber of Commerce began a campaign to make it easier for tourists to see points of interest. Boosters pointed out the Capitol,   Pioneers Park, the Nebraska State Historical Society Museum and the University of Nebraska State Museum as major tourist attractions. Lack of parking space and signs to guide visitors to the sites were identified as major problems.

   1968: Memorial services for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights leader assassinated in Memphis, were held throughout the nation. There were at least three large public services in Lincoln.

   1978: Lincoln was one of 12 communities that received All-American City designation by the National Municipal League, a citizens group for better government. Ravenna also was chosen for the annual award.

   1988: Sen. Marge Higgins stalled the Legislature with a filibuster lasting from about 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The object of the filibuster was a bill to exempt nontax-qualified annuity contracts from the state’s 1 percent premium tax.

   1998:  Security Mutual Life Nebraska broke ground at its new headquarters at South 40th Street and Pine Lake Road. Construction was completed in 2000.

   The building at 200 Centennial Mall North was bought by the University of Nebraska Foundation for $2.5 million. It is now the College of Journalism and Mass Communications.