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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 1914)
rnK oMAMA si ndav hkk: (KTnUKIJ 4, 1914. One Night at the Den Was Worth a Life-Time Spent, in Peace Elsewhere E How His Satanic Majesty Kept a Hotel for the Guests of the King Pome people In Nebraska act wn 1! v did rot get to see Samson s show nt .k-Hnr-11"T1 len thin year They are rutlier scarce, for Pampon entertmlrd m n Inmo stale, and act aside n don n s;e inl nights nhfn while sections of the Mute rre Iij- ited. Hut after his rare entertainer nave tl e glad hand of rhumhood. and the harpoon of Initiation to some t..xi m n from all parts of the state hik! the I'nlted Mntrs. there still remained a few who hnve not seen the show uml Initiation Pamson i.int help It. He Invited moyf all the teopl on the planet, and did everything hut py their rnllway fare. Famson bus the aatlafaetlon of knowing that those who did not sec it will nlwavp have t tin t as the one wild, linKlng. pulsing rezret In their live For the ahow and initiation nt the Irn arc cloed for the year They arc i l ird to Rive tlie managers of Ak-.S.ir-Hi n time to pet the other Mr event of th ear the carniv al - Into shape to open on ached uled time, Heptvtnhcr letters About the lien. And now th;it aome there he who have hot been Initiated and hnve not e-n thej ahow. ao aonic there will he who will know more about It than 1'iose who have seen It. Thua we rr.ny look for some ovi ploua Individual somewhere from the clolotered aechialon of hi cage to write letter" to the newspapers charging that the Den la "nothing hut a harem." Tea, It's a fact n fellow did write auch a letter about a year ago. Me was a fel low who never was near the I en. lie vii a fellow who sat In his library, pale and bloodleas, from year to year, and never Rot out among men. He Juilgcd all humanity from the way bis dyspeptic, atomach made him feel when ho hud th window of the library all ahut. and read dusty literature nineteen houra a1 day. But he gave a great etatement to the world, namely, that the Ien lag "harem." He muat have dug the Information out of some rarei old volume of Chinese clasa Ica, printed In Celestial hieroglyphics long before the days of Confucius. Now. the newspapers, being good fel lows, and knowing It la a had thing to have atomach trouble and also that It la a great rravlng aome people have to make statements In the public print, granted this poor fellow a little spare and printed his charge. Old Samson reply? No. Samson win too busy entertaining the thouaanda of boosters that each week flooded the Ien to give even his favorite glanca of "withering acorn" to thla knocking re cluse who never paid railway fare to Come down and aee the Ien. He la the loser, not Samson. Although some there atlll arc who hare not been initiated, they grow more acarce year by year, for Bamson enter tained more at the Den thla year than ever before. When his great engine of destruction were all oiled up he opened on the flrat Monday night In J,na. II entertained and Initiated every Monday night fur slxluen weeka and then put on an extra night for the bankers of the atate on a Wednesday evening. And while over H.ono outaldera took the plunge, the tickets ahowed that with the HIS SATANIC MAJESTY, THE LANDLORD. ! ; LANDLORD. I JI) I Chub. Gardl nep -. Omaha crowds a total of 17.CTI passed through tho gates during the seventeen nights. Among them were bankers of the state In a single evening. - Aguln there were 2.V) editors on another even ing. On atlll another evening there were 400 traveling men. Fremont drummed up a crowd of Ml that fame down In sprrlal trains on Monday evening to enjoy the Initiation. Another 6) came from Lin ctoln one night bringing the governor of the atate and hla staff with them. What la Ike A tt ruction f It might be left to the bar of "uni versal conscience." as Huerta saya, whether cu'ch a multitude of men wIM swarm to one central point, pay railway fare and stay up late at night unless there Is a real attraction. Will they go In apeclal trains to see a circus. Not ao much. Will the governor take his staff out to horse races? Hardly, Hut the multitude will flock to the Den. It is the mystery that veils before they get within the gates. And then It la tha fact that no matter how much entertain ment, how many laughs, how many S'-reams of Joy they are expecting, they are neer disappointed for. within fie in stTtous R ites, awnlt exactly sixty-two of the most i ed-booil.-i Individuals In the city of Omsha. They have masked and disguised their fuces and forms In such hideous manner that scarcely a man can he found to recognize them Amateurs? Yes, one may call them amateurs. In the sense that they do nit tiavel no a professional troupe. Hut iiina teurs In no sene nre they when It comes t' ptitllna on a first (lass burlesque op the comlr o:era order. Yet, what of this? Can thla not I ec'n for four bts any time In a good play house ? Nay nay, fnenn. For Ous Rente, the artificer. has so built the monstrous en gines of this den of mystery that the Initiation, the rough rolling ami man handling of a half thousand visitors weaves ltslf quite naturally and alto gether Ingeniously Into the thread of a diabolical p'ot. Who does not enjoy the antics of a hoy fiom thn au. Hence called upon the et.iio to aid the slippery slctpht-of-hand artist? Ionian Interest Is gtrnnsr. I How much more enjoyment, then, when the governor of the state takes the place! of I he small hoy, w hen your best known I hanker Is tat upon by a hunch of huskier, j m I'lrwii iiihi me raKinK name oi pert 1 lion by a gaping red mob of homed ami tailed derl's. How much more racy Is tho enjoyment when the mayoi of your town Is tossed by an Infernal machine from a dlgxy height down, down, toward a series of nets, iach of which In turn are withdrawn Just before ha thinks he Owner of the Devil's Hotel and His Staff of "B ell Hops" HEAD CLERK OF THE HOTEL DU DIABLE. Trr- titiifs You and Your Family Will Enjoy Eating lien's Nebraska-Made Crackers, Biiiscuits, Wafers, Cookies Because they taste so good, are so satisfying and so easily digested STEN Quality Products are made in Nebraska's great Snow White Bakery of the very best materials by the very best methods. They are produced and packed under strictly sanitary conditions that assure you of fresh and palatable good things to eat when they reach your table. Every time you buy Iten Quality Products you get full value for your money, measured by both quality and quantity. If you want the very best crack- A .Recommended and sold by the best grocers throughout Nebraska and adjoining states Baked fresh daily and fully guaranteed by ITEN BUISCUIT CO. Snow White Bakery .... Omaha, U. S. A. j V. ' i l ) " AfJl". " 1:'.'.. 1 t 9 ' I1- : 1 la to alight In safety. How keen grows the Joy riot when you see the congress man from your district taking a wild rocky boat ride down a never ending In cline, with nothing less than Krupp guns bombarding his boat while he dodges the taplda and rocks! he Waa Mome Queen. Then, too, you select a nice boy from among the visitors. You select one who always likes to have creases In his trousers. Or, en the other hand, you se lect one who prides himself on hla phys ical strength a wrestler, for example. You give him as a partner the Tango Queen, the mechanical wonder that dances automatically across the great hall and back. Ah, she is strong, as many a husky athlete has discovered who has tried to lead the danco Instead of being led In it. Yes. the boys would balk on It, but they are strapped to the Queen In order that thv may not desert her right In the midst of the dance, aa aome would love to do, when they have tested out her strength. Ah, the wild whirl she gives the hoya would make their mothers wiah them at home. Yet, when all Is said and tlone, she Is but u wooden queen. Never during the seaaon has the Tango Queen appeared on the floor with he,r helplrea victim but that the t.OOO men In the hall rose o their feet, roared with thunderous levity and threw their hats into the air with whoops of hilarity at the rough handling one or their number got at the hands of the doughty dame. At the KeTll'a Hotel. Throughout all this time, for two and cne-half hours, the burlesque snow Is in progress, and the initiations are merely made a part or an incident to the bur lesque play. Thua thla yeur, there was a chorus of devils, whose principal busi ness was stoking the glaring coals of the infernal regions on the stage, although they sang with the head devil as well aa with the night clerk of tho Devil's Hotel, when he tore through the mates of his funny little song, "1 am the night clerk of the Devil's Hotel, I'm on to every little bit of scunJcl; You ran t hand me any con very well." etc, etc. and again, when he paraded the front of the stage with a truly diabolical grin and sang to the tune of "(.Jet Out and Oct I'nder." the paraphrase: 'So stJdy up, all the sins you might commit. And then yon better, better hesitate a bit. hor wa v got yuur number, your nanv and your number, RlcM down In our devilish book." Charley Gardener thla year was the head devil. And how the minor devils did step around when he appeared on the scene. Some hotel this, where the tem perature was never below 600 degrees and Instead of l-e water, carbcllc acid was served to the guests. Chief as Calei Stoker. Chief of Pollr Henry V. Dunn was tVie chief atoker down In the lower regions. With his red body and face covered with soot and grime, he pounced out of tho hole and upon the stage and demanded his time. He refused longer to shovel coal with a snowehovel. He was tired of roasting greasers, cadets and suffragettes. He held It time for him to pull his freight. And what did he do but sing tho crsslest of songs to tho tune of "I'm on my wsy to Mandelsy." Petting his words to the rhythm of this tune, he would sing. "1 suppose I'm a nut, I'm ft nut. I'm a nut: Eee mv nose full of soot, full of soot, full of s i t. "1 want to go to Mexico, To Cincinnati or to Buffalo. O. Ic-t me bike Along the pike. If you'd only let me go- I'm tired of Hades And its bunch of shades." Ktc. etc. Maybe this Is ft bum song when written on paper. But Chief Dunn has a good voice. He had able backing In the chorus of devils who Joined him. and many, many an encore was necessary to calm the multitude. Others Most Help. O.t. Now. in order that Samson may be enabled to pull off this show of shows every year It Is necessary for a lot of public epirlted men to leave happy homes every Monday night to take part In the performances. It requires no small amount of nerve to do this, for as has been well said, they risk family reputa tions by appearing thus In public, and not a man gets a cent of pay. Thus Ben Thomas appeared In the roll of Grand Mufti, whose title was uni versally mistaken for Tough-Guy. A. V. Jefferls was grand notary and It has even been hinted that he couldn't run for congress because his time was occu pied nt the Den. William Wapplch was arand marshal, and likely hla duties were i as heavy as the grand marshal of any of the grandiose lodges that maintain aucn a dignitary. E. I Potter and R. U. Low wore bodyguards to the Mufti. F. W. Pitch was admiral, and most Indecorously did he break in upon the dignified pro ceedings of the Mufti. George F. West and Fred Paffenrath were dubbed board of strategy and were credited with having written the musical comedy Itaelf. Sailors before the mast were Dan Whitney, Thomas Lynch, II. Wllke and R. A. Frost. Bold lads of the rolling waves were these fellows, who manned the boats that brought candidates safely through the bombardment of German siege guns. Also right cleverly did they on occasion dance the "Sailor's Hornpipe." M. Gibson was (Continued on Page Three. Column One.) ESTABLISHED 1882 COR. 13TH AND FARNAM The I Tl erchants Ma :ional Of Omaha, Nebraska United 1 States Depository Capital, Surplus and Profits, $1,290,060.81 Deposits, $6,125,037.96 Interest Paid on Time and Savings Deposits LUTHER DRAKE, President FRANK T. HAMILTON, Vice President FRED P. HAMILTON, Cashier B. H. MEILE, Ass'l. Cashier C. B. DUGDALE, Ass't. Cashier