Reminiscences of Old-Time Hustlers for The Bee
KDWIN DAVIS
RKQUKST from lliu managing edl
tur of The Ilco (or it roiulnlscctil
urticlu uf un early period of tho
writer's service on The
lieu brings back thronging memories
A
of from flfteoa to eighteen yuus ago. Omaha
had u live, hustling set of local nows
gatherers thuu, each Willi one great ambi
tion and tliat to scoop "tliu other follow."
In those days there were tho Uvculng anil
.lornlug Uee, the Herald aud the Ilepub
llcan, the livening Dispatch and later the
World, and among tho boys who gathered
iii tho local news the writer icealls Fred
It. Giles (who died three or four years ago
In u Now York hospital uftcr an eventful
career In Chicago and Now York Journnl-
Ism), Frank Allen, Joe Kynn, Kd O'llricu,
Leo Ilelsley, W. T. Jackman, poor old Jou
llammill, Hnrry Hunter, A. It. Feuwick,
W. G. l'omeroy, "I'opo" Gregory, "Billy"
Kent, later of Laramlo Boomerang memory,
i and, of course, "Sandy" Woodbrldgo, the
noblest Homan of them nil, and tho only
v survivor, In tho present Omaha newspaper
world, of that nnclont band of Item
chasers not a few of whom are now In a
land where scoops nro presumably an un
known quantity.
Thoso wcro days of llcrco competition in
pursuit of newspaper stories, and each ro
' porter carried his tomahawk and scalping
knife ready to lift tho topknot of his rival,
The Bee BuildingMagnificent
STA1RCASH I'ARAI'KT
Hi: llnest newspaper building In
the country" Is the general ver
dict paw-ed on tho home of The
lice. Some of the largest
American cities have newspaper buildings
that cost more money and are more ornate
In design than Tho Duo building, but none
surpass It in real beauty, solidity and
adaptability to purpose.
In this era of architectural triumph there
are perhaps a score or nioro of huge, mag
nlllcent nnd costly newspaper buildings in
the United States and among tho number
The Ilco building stands ns tho pioneer
When construction was beguu In 18S7
Omaha took the lead of oven tho Imperial
city of New York, for at that tlmo the
golden-dotued house of tho World and the
great granite structure of tho Times were
not In existence. When The Hue building
was completed and for several years there
after It was the largest, handsomest nnd
best arranged new t paper house In tho world
and today It still holds Its placo In tho very
front lank.
Thirty years ago Tho Ilco was born In a
rough, unpnlnted two-story frame house at
the corner of Twelfth and Dodge streuts.
then the business center of the city. In
this building thu printers who did thu work
on the llrst Hour by day lodged on the
second Door by night. It bulng a sort of
combination print shop and boarding housu.
Indeed, it wns an humble birthplace, but
GF.OItGi: II, TZSCHUCK,
as It were Tint writer recolleuls one rather
funny allalr which lllustintus this point.
"Hilly" Kent was doing tho local on the
Morning Uee, single-handed. Giles and a
joung cub reporler were gathering up city
intelligence for tho long-since defunci
Morning Republican. Now Fred It., al
though a. lirst-elass newsgatherer and a
remarkably line writer, had one fault hu
was somewhat, addicted to boasting. One
evening In the presence of u number of
reporters he made tho emphatic assertion
that on the following morning tho Repub
lican would scoop Us loathesomu contem
poraries by publishing the "biggest nows
sensation of tho year." Kent quietly sepa
rated himself fiom tho group und at once
started out to puncture tho scoop by locat
ing the sensation. Ho carefully canvassed
overy news center, big and little, visiting
every place which ho thought by any possi
bility might afford him a clow. Supper
time came and no result. With his evening
meal disposed of and a few minor news
Items turned Into copy, Hilly started out
on the warpath once more. This time he
was rewarded, for lato In the evening he
rnn across Captain Jim Nellgh, who for
many years conducted a private detective
agency In Omaha. The captain gavo him
a quiet tip In regard to n singularly daring
diamond robbery that had been committed
that very evening nnd which had Just been
Thu Hoe In Its Infancy was not n very
pretentious newspaper.
When The llee had attained the age of
three months and given some promise of
becoming a permanent Institution It leased
a new home another framo building on
Twelfth street, Just to the south of Its
birthplace. This second home of The llee
was totally destroyed by an Incendiary fire
on tho night of June 11, 1ST2.
Without nny Interruption to Its regular
nppearanco The llee was moved Into u
two-story and basement brick building on
Fnrnam street, between Ninth nnd Tenth
streets, which had been erected by Mr.
Rosewater In 18G9. In this house, re
modeled und enlarged from tlnio to time as
was necessary, Tho Hoo lived for sixteen
S
m
CHARLKS C HOSKWATHR
reported to tho police. The details weie
soon secured, although the author. ties made
u strong elforl to suppress the matter, aud
tho next morning The Dee came out with
one of tho best police stories that had
been published In many n long day. Tho
Republican sensation, on thu other hand,
fell Hut. It proved to bo a story of an
alleged crime of poisoning and was wholly
unwarranted by the facts presented a ease
of "going off half-cocked." Tho Repub
lican was promptly sued for libel, although
the suit was withdrawn later, after an
humblu apology had been published. It
was a long time before Kent finished
chuckling over the amusing nequel to that
ldlo boast of a rival reporter.
A laughable event of Omaha newspaper
history that occurred about this time was
the llrst and for aught I know last -to-porters'
bicycle race that ever occurred In
the city. Along In '83 or 'SO Jack 1'iinee,
Tom Kek nnd several others of the old
time racing men lauded In Omaha and be
gan to stir up Interest In wheoltug mattors.
A well-constructed, clght-lap track was
built In tho old exposition building on Cap
itol avenue nnd a series of racing tourna
ments was Inaugurated, l'rlnce conceived
the Idea of gutting up a reporters' bicycle
race as tho central featuro of one of theso
evening progrnms, Thoso wero the days of
the old high wheels and not a single ro-
years nnd grew to a great metropolitan
newspaper.
For some time prior to 18S7 Mr. Rose
water had contemplated tho erection of a
newspaper building In Omaha that would
not only provldu every facility for tho pub
lication of a modern Journal, but would
stand ns one of the lasting nrchltcctui nl
triumphs of a growing city. In June of
that year hu engaged S. S, Human of Chi
cago, famous as a designer of large olllc
buildings, to prepare the plans, While tho
genius and technical skill of Mr. Heman
evolved thu plans In detail, thu general
scheme of construction was suggested by
Mr. Rosewater. Work on tho building
commenced In the fall of 1887 and It wns
pushed rapidly to conclusion.
THIS DRR IIUIMMNO-I'hoto by Ileyn,
1 ..... .....(
NAIU .l P l-'HIl.
porter in ()mah:i knew the llrst thing about
riding one of the machines However con
slderable t uthusi isiii was aroused over the
event and seeral newspaper men went Into
tluinliii;. lively spare moment was util
ized and the result was that when the
eventful evening came oil' three contest
ants faeiil the starter. Harry Hunter of
the .Morning Itee, I'ciiueniy of the Herald
and the writer of tne livening llee. The
building wits jammed with sp.'ctato.s. tin
a varied and exciting program had been
provided. I'ometiiy had made up his mind
to gut the medal and when the starter's
pistol popped he shot out nil end, pumping
away for dear life. Tho three contestants
strung out nnd kept up a pretty even pace
for tho llrst two laps. On one of the
till lis of the third lap the hind wheels of
the hlcycloi ptdaled by Hunter and the
writer collided and both riders were thrown
ten or twelve feet with terrlllc force. Doth
machines were Irretrievably damaged and
each contestant was thoroughly hors du
combat. Hunter, Indeed, was rather seri
ously Injured, having been violently hurled
against a steam radiator. That broke up
thu race, of course, but tho funny feature
of It was that romeroy, who still had that
gold niedil glittering before his eyes, kept
pumping nway. Hu knew nothing of tho
accident and merely supposed that ho had
gained a comfortable lead and ho didn't
Home of The Bee
As the great structure of granite, It on
aud marble rose from Its foundations no tie
tall was so small that It was overlooked
and as the work progressed tunny cluing s
to add to the beauty and solidity of tho
building were iniulo from the orlglnnl plans
regal iI.csh of tho extra expense Incurred
Thu Hue building occupies one-fourth of
an entire city block, with n frontage of 132
feet on Farnnm street and tho same on
Seventeenth street. Its distinguishing
feature Is Its Impressive appearance or
solidity nnd durability. Its beauty Is In
Its Imposing walls of granite and brick, the
masslveneHH of Us richly colored columns
aud the absenco of frivolous ornamentation
In Its exterior llnlsli.
Tho building rests on an Impregnnble
T- I
t'll ltl Kh I' R 11,1,1 M.-
propose lo lose It The iiiml yelled f
him to stop, but lie thinking lb it the t i n
weie those of encoiiingeilienl . redoubled lie
elToits. The Ili-rald roprcHCi.'iillo was a
much disappointed man when the situation
Dually dawned upon hint and lie slowed
down his wheel. It Is needless to say thai
this event eltectually dampen d the ardor
i.f thu newspaper racing cnlhulastN
Omah.l was a good held for news In those
days. Among other matters the writer ie
calls the trial and conviction of City .Mm
shal Guthrie for accepting b'.lbes from the
gamblers, tho famous John l.auer murder
ease, in both trials of which John M
Thurston and General John t'owln wete
pitted iigaiiisl each other, Hie building of
the llrst packing houses in South Omaha
and the development of that market as a
stock center; tho facts of the famous
Omaha boom, which at that time was at
Its height, aud numerous other affairs,
among which, by tho way, let us not for
get .Marshal Ton: ('uinmltigs' famous
ukase against the wearing on the street of
the .Mother Hubbard gown, a subject which
was handled by newspaper paragraphers
from the Atlantic lo the I'aelllc.
Taken all In all, those were busy days
in tho Omaha Journalistic world, as any
one who participated in the scramble for
news at that time can well attest.
Fort Smith. Ark. A .1 KKN'DRK'K.
TlIK MARHI.r: A IK 'I I
foundation, five feet thick at tho base, with
assisting piers eight feet thick. From thcii
huso tho walls taper to a thickness of
twenty Inches at the parapet. Their
strength Is augmented by Iron columns, In
closed In tho brick piers above the llrst
story, Tho walls of the basement and llrst
story are of rock faced granite from
Waupaca, Wis., cousldcied fully equal u
color and textile qualities lo thu famous
Scottish granite. Tho granite is but
tressed at tho corners of the building, and
above each a beehive Is suggest Ively carved
in the pilasters. Tho main front on Fnr
1 1 u til Htreet Is supported by elevi II polished
pillars of tho same material.
Ilegliiiilng at tho second story the granite
gives way to brown obsidian pressed brick,
iiliiinicd with terra c oi lit of a similar color
and brown stone. .Moulded iirii-R and
carved terra eolta relievo tho monotony of
tho vast Htreleh of masonry. On tho Far
iiam street side an eighth story extends for
sixty feet along Hie ci liter of Hie building
ami serves to break the effect of the long
lines of windows which stretch across the
main wall. Above the eighth story two
small turrets rise to a height of lift feel
above tho sidewalk, and between them the
Inscription, "Tho llee lliilldlng," In plain
Roman letters, graces a terra eotta panel.
Passing lulu the building uudi r tho Im
mense granlto arch that gives Ingiess fiom
Farnam slreot, tho visitor duds himself
