Viaducts an Outgrowth of Commercial Necessity
JKn 3-fc--iv33
VIADUCT AS A PLAYtiltOUND TOIt Till: ClllLDItKN
a Staff Artist.
OK LlTTLi: ITALY l'lioto by
Sll'lldof
chasm.
f f IVKIt since tlic iIhj some cotiliirtoa
I Wi I sik when Hit- bold Sir William
L J U., It...... nf l.,MlUl liMMitlillll'l- llllll
" 1 ' '-,, I3, l ,,
Ilctlnn Ixiro his Lady Helen safely
across a raging torrent on a
slippery ilm log that spanned the
leaving a 1 :t tnl of lawless ltilllaiM
standing halllcd at the other end nt the
uncertain nctlal pathway. I lie high standing
nt brldgi s as cnnservcts of the public bono
lit ami guardians of tin' common weal lias
boon a matter of general cnnucsslnn. That
llu noble Sir William, however, thought
of his fallen tree trunk In the Unlit of n
vast artery for the eonilnet of the llooil of
general trntllo Is to lie doubted. Hut be
that us it may, the faet remains that since
t ho day when primeval man Hist learned
that stepping across a ditch was easier
than climbing down In It and up the other
side and applied this knowledge to larger,
deeper and wider cliaHins, the value and di
versity of the overhead hanging pathway
have been matters of mere progressive de
velopment. So from the rude tree trunk crosswny tliat
was doubtless the tlrst form In which this
exnresslon of a new principle appeared.
the wnr d of men has advanced to a stage
bridge building at which the labor has
become an art to him who understands It
and a profound mystery or yet a miracle to
the one unversed In details of engineering.
Hut easily the most marvelous feature of
this wonderful institution, bridges, Is tho
viaduct branch of the subject. Bridge
cross gulches, rivers, canyons anil mountain
torrents in deep ravines, thus carrying peo
ple easily over obstacles that would other
wise be of the gravest nature. Hut the
viaduct leads men over men, trnllle over
tralllc and bythls disposition of htimnnlty
and Its accompanying commodities nt dif
ferent localities what would otherwise bo
hopeless Interference resulting In the pcr-
leani'lit enngesiloii of tralllc Is completely
avoided.
Again, n bridge reaches out fpau after
span, with great empty arched openings
biiicalh each, and the reason why It Is not
hull! solidly from the bottom up all Its
length Is because It is Impossible to cross
i lie obstacle contemplated In such a man
lier. A viaduct, on ihe other hand, Is open
below Kolcly for the beiiellt of the trnllle
passing undei ueath. as otherwise, as far as
topography Is concerned, it could be built
up as a highroad from end to end.
In the I'll It oil States has occurred the
most extensive t-xpicsslnu in practice of
this sentiment toward the expedition of
tralllc. The wholesale use of viaducts In
this country can he duplicated nowhere In
ilie world in similar proportion They ar
oinnlpro!-cnt. Kvory large city has them
and ir.!it nf the small ones, and there I
not a tallroad center In the laud, large or
smalt, that has not its quota, of viaducts
Omaha Itself Is by tin means scantily sup
plied. In fact, It has more viaducts thin
the average city of Its size, and this Is
easily explained.
Th" viaduct Is an Institution which from
lis very nature follows railroads. It Is, In
short, born of them. Wherever there 's
any great coucetitiation of railroad tralllc
near a like colligation of population a via
duct becomes an essential feature. It"
necessity, however, depends directly upon
the latter element of ihe combination.
small number of people may be contingent
to a great expanse of railroad truckage
and no viaduct will be needed, because the
amount of tralllc over those tracks will not
be sulllcleut to delay either the trains or
the people. In ihe came way a great mass
of huinaiilty will require a viaduct to cros
even one track, for Ihe tralllc will be so
constant that either (lie trains or the pen
pie wuild be compelled to cease movement
at thai polm altogether without It.
(iniiilia is a railroad center and Its sltu.i
Hon with respect to both the tracks mill
Its outlying and adjoining districts is stub
that ninny viaducts are needed. Railroad
tracks not only surround this cnnllux of
life but also etch II back and forth and In
and out and across. So all the conduits of
trade are Intercepted at least once and
vladuelH are necessary at those points n
well as at others where the railroads them
selves cross. Despite this, the railroads
have demuried to a greater or less degree
on every proposition advanceil by the oily
for a viaduct In the nuirse of lis pi ogress,
mid this fact alone makes Interesting the
history of the big bridges in Omaha.
It was In 1SS6 that, after due municipal
finesse had been exercised ami moral sup
port on the part of citlens demonstrated.
Omaha secured Us II rat viaduct, the old
wooden structure on Sixteenth street tha'
TUHNTY I'Ol UTll ST II HUT 1 t'T OPl.NI.D l-'Olt TIIW'IMC
11)01 l'lioto by a Staff Artist
no i:.ini:a 1.
IHVVHIHjSHK r.-nli M ..I
TWI-.NTY-KOUllTH
Artist.
STUKUT VIADUCT TNKKN M Y S 1H01 Photo by a Staff
was replaced by a new one a year ago ThM
initial al 1 1-1 ii 1 1 1 was an up and down alfalr,
conforming In the geueinl undulations of
the ground beneath it, Instead of being built
on one level. There are no longer viaducts
In Omaha with lolling surfaces, however.
This Sixteenth street viaduct is still the
longest in (he city, some 1,500 feet. The
tlrst one had only a twenty-foot roadway,
with six-foot walks on either side. Th"
present In Idge lias a roadway thirty-live
and a half feet in width, with sidewalks live
feet wide.
The next year another viaduct was built,
also of wood. This is on Klovctith street
and still stands. It Is of the twenty-foot
width.
Nothing moie was done until lV.'O, when
the Tenth street viaduct was consliiicled.
This Is easily I lie most extensive alfalr of
Iheni all and the most expensive In con
striiitiou. It Is eighty feet In width over
all. having a sixty-foot roadway and len-
foot walks. It is little more than 1 feet
long, but Ihe cost was about $10(i,0iHi.
After that Ihe leplacing of the Sixteenth
street viaduct lu Hum was the only extensive
work of the kind done till the present year,
when tile Tweiit-fourth Hlreet viaduct was
built 'I'll Ih 1h of the thlrty-llve-foot width
and Is l.o.VJ feet long. Of the four big
bridges the one on Sixteenth street is the
neaiest perfectly level, there being a slope
of only six inches to 100 feet.
Hut in addition to these large viaducts
thole are a great many smaller ones that
have been const rucli'd at dllfi rent limes
since l.SMl. The longest Is the one of mixed
wood and Iron construction which cross. -s
Ihe tracks In Ihe south part of Omaha on
the boulevard near the King brewery. This
is I'lim feet lu extent, beginning al abiiiil
Twenty-seveiilh street and running west.
A little way northwest at Thirty seventh
and Center streets Is aiiolher oveihead vln
dt.ct, crossing the Missouri Pailllc trucks
i i.hi mill vcsi on Cuilii Htnei The Inst
in ibis lass !-. along Hamilton stieel at
I'm i.v -sit'iiud, eiosHlug the same rnllwnv
Tin a tilde ate several in which the
wagon mud I una uiiilei nealh mid the train
overhead. The handsomest one of these Is
Ihe one of hi lid niasoiity aliuliiieiils avviy
out north on Sherman avenue, where Hie
main Hack of Hie Missouri I'aclllc rail
way goes over. A slmpli r one, of Iron,
may he found at the point whom the
I'reinonl , Mlkhoin .V Missouri Valley tr.uk
eiosses Thirtieth street, near (irand avenue.
Coming down to Ihe lieatl id the city
there are four of these underneath cross
iugH within eight blocks of each other and
two of the big vladuelH ate lu Ihe same ter
ritory, making iilmosl a etossing for every
block. These smaller ones are located at
Sixth, Seventh, ThlHconlh and 1'oui tocnlli
si reels down in Hie main yards of the Union
I'aclllc ami lliirllnglou roads.
Tile next viaduct coiilemplaleil will be
of the overhead variety, crossing Hit Hur
lington and Union I'aclllc truck on Han
eioft Hlieel, Just six. blinks north of the
Center street In Idge. This viaduct will ex
tend from near Twenty-sixth slieot In a
point between Twenty-seventh and Twetily
clghth slieels.
Ill Ihe rase of one of the big bridges, at
least, a double pill pone Is served. The brief
life of the Twelily-fnuilli street viaduct
has I a sulllcleut to ilciiionstrate that It
Is not only a tin roiighfaie. II Is also the
playgioiitiil for clilblien. This structure
eiosses directly over Ihe Italian dlslrict
and any warm day will Had the wailhy
little chlhlleli playing upon the roadway III
numbers tanging from ..'on up. The young
sters are so expert at taking earn of them
selves thai It will not be necessaty to for
bid them the bridge for the sake of Ihelr
own safely, nor at all unless they gel so
numerous that Ihey block tralllc.
Episodes and Incidents in the Lives of Noted People
1LP1I I). HLUMKNPI-.LD, l.ondun
correspondent of the Htooklyii
Kaglo, writes as follows: "Hero
worship Is a capricious thing.
Here Is pnor (leneral Hadcll-Pow
ell back from the triumphs of Mafeklng,
whero his deeds electrllled the nation una
made him Ihe most popular man in Knglaud
since the time of Watelloo, He goes about
London practically unnoticed. If he had
come homo a year ago he would have been
mobbed nnd hugged and feted by delirious
crowds of ndmirettf. Iladen-Pnwellism was
a fever, an epidemic. It has completely
burnt Itself out. and not only is the gal
lant general a mere memory with tho pub
lic, but ho has also been made to taste the
bitterness of olllclal and royal displeasure.
Tho War Olllce was not overjoyed at what
they called his theatrical defense of .Mafe
klng. Public opinion, however, forced them
into mnking him n major general. Then the
public, ever eager to load Its favorite with
honors and glory, looked to Hie queen to
confer upon Mini the well-deserved knight
hood, but It did not come. And the reason
of It was that Hadeu-Powell had usurped n
royul pierogatlve In having substituted his
portrait on tho Mafeklng siege stamps for
that of the sovereign. The late queen nev
er forgave lilm the presumption and so
when II. -P. raine homo the other day nnd
called, naturally enough, at Marlborough
house to pay his respects to the king, the
hero of Mnfeklng was turned away!
Tho late James (J. Illalno frequently ox-
Mtml unnili.r bv the wnv in which ho tin
pnrently remembered faces. Joseph cnam-
berlaln, tho l.ugllsh politician, shows slm
llnr facility, gained perhaps by means
which lllalne Is alleged to have used. He
was passing the lobby In tho House of
Commons once nnd cordially greeted n
member whom ho had not seen for n long
time. "Wonderful memory for names ho
hns," said tho member to a friend. "Yes,"
was tho chilly answer, "ho asked mo yes
terday who you were."
Tho nmeer of Afghanistan was ono of
the shrewdest nnd strongest mon of his
time, When the amount of tho Ilrltlsn sub
sidy was being llxed with him It was ex
plained that he must do this nnd that and
the other. "You remind me," Bald tho
atiieer, "of a 1'ernlan tale. A certain man
took n piece of cloth to a tailor and said:
'Make mo n morning dress out of tt nnd
an evening dress and, while I think of It,
a winking cent.' The tailor did his best
and brought them all as he was told. But
Ihey were of doll's sl.e. What more could
he do with the cloth?" The nmrer wns not
a great admirer of tho llrltlsh system or
government. On ono occasion n very high
persotiago was conferring with him anil
said In relation to somo matter: "That Is a
very gravo question and I mut refer It to
her ma Jest y's government." The nmeer,
who did not clearly distinguish the parts ot
tin llrltlsh constitution, replied: "When
j on nsk mo a question I am nblo to answer
It nt once; when I ask you one you say
you must tlrst consult "no other gentlemen.
I prefer our Afghan way of doing busl-
llCfcS."
In connection with the fact that Hooker
T. Washington recently dined with the
president. It is recalled that during Mr.
Cleveland's first administration the lato
r'rcdorlck Douglass wns Invited to ono of
tho congressional receptions, together with
his Caucasian wife, then his brldo. And
John C. Drown, tin democrat le governor of
Tennessee, as far back as 1S73, when ho
gave a banquet at tho Mnxvvell houso, Nash
ville, had among tho Invited guests on that
nccnslon Sampson Keeble, a negro repre
sentative from Davidson county, who not
only attended the banquet, but responded
tn a toast.
John Url Lloyd, chemist by profession
and author by avocation, recently mid of
an Incident by which ho was enabled to
bring together two sisters, separated by the
civil war, who believed each other dead.
In "Strlngtown on the Pike" lu repro
duces a scene where, a mere lad, ho stood
by tho plkoslde and watched n troop of
Morgan's raiders gallop by, singing ns they
went, "The Clrl of tho Homespun Dress.'
In tho book tho author UFed tho first ropy
of the song that was at hand. Immediately
he was Hooded with letters saying that ho
had misquotiil it. Wishing to bo accurate,
ho published a statement to the oll'ect that
he would pay $100 for the true copy ot the
song. This only ctcated mine trouble, as
there are many variations of It.
Among those sending what proved to bo
the original verses were two sisters, ono of
Philadelphia and one of Atlanta. On., who
stated that ihelr dead sister, Clara Hello
St. Clair of Atlanta, had written tho snug.
In answering one of them Mr. Lloyd men
tioned tho other sister, lie at onco re
ceived a reply from her to whom ho had
written, stating that she thought Hie other
slslir dead and asking him to send tho ad
dress. Mr. Lloyd did this and lately
learned that they had been reunited after
thlrty-tlve years' of separation.
Leopold Sotitiemnn, one of the best known
public men In (lermany and for thirty years
tho leader of tho (Jermnn democracy, cele
brated ills seventieth birthday on October
ill at Kraiikfort-on-tlie-Maln. Ho is tho
founder nnd editor of the "r-'rnnkfurtor
Zeltung," and was for more than twenty
years a member of the Itelehstag, in which
body he was one of Hie most earnest and
successful advoeates of progressive Ideas.
The adoption of tho gold standard In (ler
many was largely due to his efforts In the
Herman pnrllamonl. He Is well known as
a philanthropist and as a liberal friend nf
science and tho lino arts.
,
The young queen of Holland Is n total
abstainer and ostentatiously refuses on all
occasions to take wine. Her most Intimate
friend, Princess Paulino of Wiirtemberg,
was by her won over to the ranks of tho
teetotalers. She Is said to lie tho only tee
totaler among reigning mounrchs, except
tho Sultan of Turkey.
Cleveland Moffett tells in Ladies' Homo
Journal how- the greatest of all singing
evangelists, Ira D. Sankey, came to give thu
world a hymn that will live long after his
voice is stilled. It was during Moody and
Hnnkey's first visit to (Ireat Hrltaln. As
they were entering the train In (llasgow
Mr. Sankey bought n copy of u penny re
ligious paper called tho Christian Age
Looking over II. his eyes fell on some
verses, the llrst two lines of which read
thus:
Theie weie ninety and nlno that safely
lay
lu the shelter of the fold.
"Mr. Moody," exclaimed Mr. Sankey, "I
have found the hymn that I've been look
ing for for years."
"What Is It?" asked Mr. Moody.
"It's about a lost sheep."
Two days later, in Kdliiburgh, they held a
gie.it meeting in tho Tree Assembly hall
As Dr. Ilonar llnlshcd Mr. .Moody leaned
over the pulpit and asked the singer if he
had not a solo for the occasion. The
thought of the verses ho had read In Ih"
penny paper came to Mr. Sankey'B mind
and, opening his scrapbook, lu which ho
had pasted the clipping, he placed It before
him on the organ and after a moment of
silent supplication struck a full chord and
began to sing. And note by nolo came
tho now famous song, lie composed it as
he went nlong. What he sang was tho Joy
that swelled lu his own soul, hope that was
boin, tho love for those who needed help.
Thus he llnlshed the llrst stan.a.
Then, as ho paused and played a few
chordr walling to begin again, the thought
camo to lilm - "Can I sing the second
stnn.a as I did tho llrst? Can I re tuber
the notes?" And concentrating his mind
onco more for the effort ho began to sing.
So he went on through for five Htan.as and
after the services lie put the melody In
music.
Lieutenant Thomas M. Ilalns, Jr., whose
quick wit and bravery prevented the sur
prise and destiiictlon of tin American gar
rison at Saiiiar, Is a Philadelphia hoy. Ho
was horn lu Philadelphia lu 1S77 and was
educated In the Pi Idols' Central school.
After he was graduated ho went to Cornell
university Al Ihe outbreak of the Spanish
war h" enlisted lu the Sixth artillery and
with his battery was sent In Tampa, K!a.
Later ho was ordered to the Philippines
and mndo quartermaster sergeant of tho
battery. On July 2a, 1899, Ilalns wns made
a second lieutenant and assigned to tho
Ninth Infantry. Ho Joined his regiment
al Pekln and saw much of the woik done
Ihere.
Ceueial John S. Mushy, the famous guer
rllla, I elates an Incident of his visit to
Washington dining the war. Ho went theie
wilh tho Intention of trapping President
Lincoln, but his plans were circumvented
al the last moment, (ietieial Mushy had
leached the coullnes of Ihe capital and had
halted on a hill overlooking Hie city, when
ho met an old Herman woman who was
going in with her moiulng's marketing.
She displayed a pair of shears hanging from
her apron. Their presence suggested a
happy thought In tho iebe leader. Itequest
Ing their use for a moment ho carefully
sheared olf a lock of his abundant hair, and,
placing it lu a ta'aled envelope, asked hel
lo sou that the package was delivered In
person to tho piesldent. Consent was
easy nnd, strange to say, the messenger
curried out her pledge, handing tho im
volopo to Lincoln, who, on opening it, read:
"Hero's a lock of my hair. I hope in a few
days to have I ho privilege of cairylug away
your entlio head."
Lincoln was equal to tho emergency, for
wilh the same sheais ho detached a lock
of his own and several days later succeeded
In delivering it to his elusive correspondent.
The answer accompanying It was: "Thank
you for your kind Intentions, but I lake
pleasure lu sparing you tho trouble."
(leneial Mushy has enrefiilly preserved
the epigrammatic reply, which ho cherishes
today ns Die most precious souvenir of thu
war. lie declares Hie story has never been
told, but vouches for Its accuracy.
ColiH'iry to a popular belief crealed by
long veins of newspaper misrepresentation,
KiibbcII Sago I not only quite paitlcular
about what ho eats, but Is a valiant trench
erman and a good authoilly on matters of
Hie eulsli.e. New York papers, 111 spite of
this fact, periodically describe his mlddav
meal its consist lug of a cracker, an apple
and a glass of water. As a matter of fact,
he generally lunches in tho Western Union
building wilh such men as the Hoiilds, (len
eral IVkert and other olllclals of the Could
Interests.