In Big Springs the boys who served in the army and navy during the war have an active branch of the American Legion and have recently purchased a building, formerly a church, but later used for mercantile purposes, for the use of the Legion club rooms. This was bought of R. V. Taylor of Scottsbluff and will be converted into suitable rooms for club activities and meeting purposes; so that the men who served over seas or in this country will have a place which they know is their own and can

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

use for Legion work and keep all the men of the Legion in the county in touch with one another.

Henry J. Elmquist, who returned from the

battle front unharmed, was killed in the peaceful life to which he had returned when a fast train struck his truck, when he was hauling wheat.

CLIMATE AND PRODUCTS OF DEUEL COUNTY

Western Nebraska and Deuel county have many qualifications that go to make what may be considered an ideal climate. The summers are moderately long and cool, possessing all the warmth that is necessary for a growing season, tempered by breezes. The air is crisp and invigorating, produced by the altitude of thirty-five hundred feet. The nights in western Nebraska are cool, and greatly appreciated by people from farther east. Taking into consideration the soil of western Nebraska with the climate a fine combination is had. The soil of the broad prairies and some of the tablelands is a dark loam with sufficient sand to make it work easily. This is underlaid with lighter loam under which is a clay subsoil. There is no alkali or gumbo of any considerable area, in Deuel county. The land absorbs the rainfall to a great depth, the earth remaining cool and moist below the surface.