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rcnlurrr wnn tempted ono time by
u.n. ol a vor.Lcrlul country north and
i.f ( t Mexico, Known as the Kingdom
of aivern and Bald to contain the sev
en cities of Cibola, wealthy beyond
compr.rlson. Coronndo mnde the Jour
nc to the northeast In 1540, crossing
Arizona and through the Pueblo. Indian
vi'Inges He Is said by history and fa
ble to have reached Nebraska truly
the Kingdom of Qulvern, wealthy "be
ycml compare,'' n land of promise and
of gold - not that gold which Is "hard
and jellow, bright and cold," but the
gold which is realized from the ast
f
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Geo. W. Duncan
M2
Mt-
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i a
AK-SAR-BEN IS
NEBRASKA SHOW
Enchanting Festival o! ihe Norlii
. Attracts Wide Attention.
STORY OF ITS ORGANIZATION,
Sixteen Years Prove Value of Klnc
Ak-Sar-Ben to TrancMlasourl Coun
try Writer In Hearst's Fapers Gives
State Big Boost for Us Enterprise.
By Will A. Campbell.
"When Mark Twain wrot thirty
years ago that no such an enchant
ing festival as the Mnrdl-Gms of New
Orleans could live in tho practlcul
north any longer than It could live In
Ivonflon, ono Bcason tho distinguished
Journalist did not know what kind ol
men and women the future citizens ol
the middle-west would be; did not Ini
aglne that a foundation of business
jraternnllsra would continue a greai
festival In the north just as surely at
the love of romance would Bustaln
such n festival In tho south.
On the practical foundation of busl
nesB, Ak-Sar-Ben has been built and
has flourished. Tho festival Is about
to open in Omaha for tho sixteenth
year and for the first time membership
fens been limited -because of the grow
ing popularity of the enterprise.
Void of all those things which set
the world in love with d reams and
phantoms; without sham grandeurs,
gauds and chivalries, Ak-Sar-Ben le
really a big "boosters" organization
wlilch has done more to put Nebraska
on the map and renew the confidence
of her people, than any other force in
the trans-Missouri country.
This festival hns everything which
Mnrdl-Qras hns and more. Tho to
mancc is present; there nre kings and
knights; big sounding titles go thun
dering along nftcr the names of its
officers, but the soul of Ak-Sar-Ben is
tho co-opcrntlvo spirit of the people ol
the middle-west tho eternal effort ol
the business fraternity to boost for
each other and for the trans-Missouri
empire always.
Ak-Sar-Ben Is more than n relle ol
the French and Spanish occupation
with thu religious features knocked
out It is more than a tawdry mas
querade of knights nnd nobles clothed
in silken and Pnrls-made gorgeousness
Ak-Sar-Ben has n reason ana hns had
since its inception back in iho-c hard
days when Nebraska nnd Kansas were
thought to be a blizzard cursed western
waste in the winter; sun baked pralr
ies tho harbors of cyclones nnd grass
hoppers in the summer.
"We must do something." said the
men of Nebraska in 1805 when the
veins of commerce had become so
sluggish that tho state had lost con
fidence and lay bankrupt at the feet
of the national government. What to
do was a mystery. Eastern Insurance
and trust companies became possessed
by foreclosing of tho most valuable
real estate, somo owning from fifty tc
one hundred pieces of property wide
ly separated. 0t in the towns and
cities of the state homes of men wer?
being moved to the ranches to house
cattle nnd sheep In the winter thnt thr
more comfortable quarters might take
the place of nourishing food.
Thus tho Ak-Sar-Ben festival va
born In poverty; planned with the be
lief thnt it would bring the people ol
the state closer togother; keep theli
money at home and working. As thoy
joined hands to hold this festival sl
teen years ago, confidence begnn tore
turn; an opportunity hns hern giver
ench fall for taking an Inventory o
tho resources of the middle west ami
a graphic lesson In the ndvnntnges ol
cooperation has been driven homo tc
the people
There was something about the se
lection of tho nnme which increasec
this business fratcrnalism. True, the
name Is Neb-ras-ka reversed, but It Ii
more than that. "Ak" is Syrian In Jtf 1
origin nnd Is snld to mean "head of i
household." Then "Sar" Is good Arab
ic for "hoi fif hold,' and "Ben" In the
Hebraic is literally translated .is "fam
lly" or "brothers of n household."
Thus there Is a touch of Oriental
enchantment about tho word. There
Ib Ak, the head of the household, or
the king; snr. tbo board of twelve gov
ernors who manage the nffatrs of the
festival; last there 1b the family called
ben, which embraces the body of
knights, nnd every true Nebraskan is
n Knight of Ak-Sar-Ben whether ho
hnfl been able to Journey to the den in
Omnhn and attend the ceremonial or
not
The same spirits who organized Ak-Snr-Bon
made tho Trans-MIsslsslppl
and International exposition posslblo
in 18fl8, nnd this enterprise mnrkod the
close of stagnation and opened the ern
of prosperity in tho mlddle-wost; the
period of the '90'b,' dark with industrial
gloom and commercial disaster, be
came history and the star of Nebras
ka began Hb ascendancy.
The men who have continued Ak-finr-Bcn
for sixteen years and made it
tho most enchanting festival the north
has ever known, nre the men who have
planted the boom seed deep In the soli
nnd nourished It until Nebraska and
Kansns nre second to none In tho Indi
vidual prosperity of their people, and In
the amount of food contributed nnnunl-
ly to help feed a hungry world.
Ak-Sar-Ben has two distinct seasons.
The first comes' in the summer and is
for initiating candidates. The second
is festival time in the fall.
Beginning early In June the unknown
king who 1b to be revealed and
crowned In the fall, holds Initiations
In hlB great den every Monday eve
ning. Business men of Omnha join
each year and pay substantial Initia
tion fees. Some 2,500 contribute thtiB
annually. Every stranger wltnln the
state 1b knighted without pnylng a
fee if recommended or accompanied
by some Omaha knight.
The Initiations nre unique, chnnge
each year and arc originated and exe
cuted entirely by Omaha talent Some
of tho ceremonials "would linger In the
memories of your great great grand
children" to use an expression of a
distinguished visitor who Knows
Three presidents, McKlnley, Taft
and Roosevelt, have been Initiated and
Colonel Roosevelt returns this fall as
n private citizen to renew his alleg
iance to the king. Foreign ministers,
cabinet members, senators, army offi
cers, governors of nlmost every west
ern state and many eastern states,
hnve Journeyed to Omaha, been knight
ed nnd experienced the mysteries of
Ak-Sar-Ben.
All this mystery vnnishes In the fall
It Is a season of great events. As the
carnivals of Venice became famous in
history because "no less than seven
foreign princes and thirty thousand
foreigners" attended them, so have
the festivals of Ak-Snr-Bnn attracted
attention becnuso one hundred nnd
fifty thousand people attend them an
nually nnd men more then foreign
princes have been guests of the organ
ization. Last yenr the event of tho festival
was the visit of President Taft This
year it is the presence of Colonel
Roosevelt
The electrical parade of King Ak-Sar-Ben
is excelled nowhere In th
world The scores of floats, different
each year, move through the stn-ets,
bearing hundreds of actors appearing
as the men and, women of snng nnd
story or as the oddities nnd pleasant
creatures of fnii viand All theso
floats nre billllant with tenB of thou
sands of electric lights which from
the first succeeded the smoking nnd
flickering torches In tho parades
Then at the coronation ball comes
the cry, "The King, the King," nnd for
the first time In tho season the real
personality of the king bpromes
known. He Ir always a gentleman of
position and consequence as the "Rex"
of MnrdlOras, and It Is an honor high
ly esteemed to be selected king of Ak-Sar-Ben,
so the mystery with which
his personality Ib hidden nil summer
Is merely for the sake of romance nnd
not an account of the police
During the summer and fall festival
the country west of the Missouri river
is referred to as tho Kingdom of Qui
vera. This Is explained by Samson
Lord High Chamberlain of the realm
Coronndo. a Spanish grandee and ad
by '4M&
"77?e Busy Store"
Staple,Fancy
GROCERIES
QUEEN OF AR-SARrBEN.
agricultural aren when cultivated'
an industrious and intelligent people.
Even the colors of Ak-Sar-Ben, the
red, yellow and green, nre explained as
Bymbolln of the products which make
the middle-west great; the red of the
beef, the yellow of the corn and green
of alfalfa.
All this pomp and display of power;
the mixing of progressive ideas with
the jejune romanticism of the midale
nges; these kings on thrones resem
bling those In fabled JsleB of tourlstry;
the knights swearing nllegiance to the
nnme of their state spelled backwards,
have but one object to bring men and
women of the middle west closer to
gether in a great co operative move
ment to develop the country west of
the Missouri river.
The success of Ak-Sar-Ben aB an
empire builder is unquestioned For
sixteen years his armies hnve battled
with the knockers and the grumblers;
the prairies have grown tired of pro
ducing sage brush and buffalo grass
and are giving the world corn, alfal
fa nnd wheat; every town Is a bivouac
of this army of boosters, and backed
FRESH FRUITS
Cured Meats and Produce
New and Fresh Stock
w
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WW
&&
Phone 32
K6 '"
Alliance, Nebraska
A GRAND MUFTI OF AR-SAR-BEN 0
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URANCE
mat Insures
NS
by a series of successful years In ag
Ticulture, the middle west will realize
a rerord-breaking year when King Ak
Sar-Ben Is crowned in Omaha, Oct
1010 From New York Journnl
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EVERYBODY MAY HEAR
ROOSEVELT IN OMAHA
When Colonel Roosevelt speaks ir
Omaha Friday afternoon. Sept 2, i
will be to the general public and no
to an exclusive few political admirer!
or members of any social organlza
tton.
The great Omaha Auditorium
which the people of Nebraska helpec
build has been engaged It will sea
comfortably 10,000 people and as it i,
fireproof there will be no fire depart
ment Interfering with those who wlsl
to stand in the aisles.
At 4 o'clock In the afternoon Colone
Roosovelt will arrive at the Audlto
rtum and make his address It wil
be the only addross he will make ii
Omaha or in Nebraska While he 1
going to the Ak Sar-Ben den later li
the evening and while he will be i
guest at both a dinner and a lunchcoi
in Omaha, he will speak but once l
the Auditorium, where all who com
may hear him.
Only a few seats 150 to 200 haw
been reserved and all others are fre
to anyone who get them Visitor
from outside wi'l have ihe sam
What's the use of carrying fire insurance on your property in a
company that has small assets or surplus. We "represent only standard
companies.
We Handle Farm and Fire Insurance I
Exclusively
Because of our extended
exclusively we are better
experience and the fact that we handle , only these
able to advise and protect you.
Our Bonding Department is ready to handle your business,
When that Policy expires, phone us. Phone 69
Nelson Fletcher Fire Ins. Co.
The Leading Fire Insurance Agency of Western Nebraska
A 112n4-rA lckKOCn
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chance
as Omaha people.
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