Omaha High School in New Quarters
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ENTRANCE TO LIBRARY. NE'.V
OMAHA HIGH SCHOOL, BUILD
ING rhoto by Stall Artist.
M
kONDAY morning, February S, the
Omaba High achool moved into
tha new building which has been
in proceM of construction (or a
' a year. Thla ia tha fourth build
ing to be occupied by thla achool since ita
organization In 1871. Previoua to that time,
Ten aa far back aa 1855, there were acboola
In Omaha, and aa early probably aa 1857
there were schools which taught branchee
similar to thoae now taught In the High
achool, but these achoola were of the "sub
scription" variety, the publlo ayatem con
templating nothing above what are now
considered grammar achool grades. With
tha development of the city cama a demand
for higher education at publlo expense, and
the Omaha High achool waa organized. Two
of the members of the first board of trus
tees are still resldenta of the city A. J.
Simpson, who waa the president, and B. E.
B. Kennedy, a director. The other mem
ber of the board were John Evana, treas
urer; Ezra Millard, Rev. W. H. Kuhna and
J. H. Kellum.
The first aeaslon of the Omaha High
achool waa held In the south room of a
brick building at the aoutheaet corner of
Sixteenth and Chicago streets. Hera It con
tinued for one year, when It waa removed
to a building on Jackson street between
Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets, where
tha aprlng term of 1872 waa held.
Heir to Capitol Sqaare.
Some time previoua to thia the capital of
the atate had been removed from Omaha to
Lincoln and the tract of ground known aa
Capitol square waa deserted. An effort on
tha part of cltizena of Omaha aecured the
ground to the city of Omaha for High
school purposes. By the fall of 1872 the -High
achool building Omaba people of later
date are familiar with had reached a point
where It could be occupied and thia build
ing was then used for the first time.
When the Omaha High achool moved Into
thla building J. H. Kellum waa principal
and Job Babln and R. E. Oaylord were aa
alstanta. These comprised the entire corps
of High school teachers, and between them
they divided pupils to the number of forty
seven. The curriculum of the first High
school Included algebra, geometry, English
analysis, natural philosophy and Latin. At
that time, aa well aa later, there was con
siderable discussion over the course of
study, Greek at one time being added and
then both Latin and Greek being placed
upon the list of elective studlea.
Iteeorde Are Incomplete.
The recorda of the Omaha High achool
are Imperfect. There are no reports at hand
previoua to the year 1877-8, which waa pre
pared by the late 8. D. Beats, then and at
the time of hie death an active worker In
the Omaha schools, and In 1877 superintend
ent of the achoola of the city. Mr. Beals'
report -throws much light upon the work of
previous years, aa in an appendix he glvea
tabulated reports of the year .which In
tervened from the establishment of the
High school, with brief mention of the men
connected with that event.
According to this old report there waa
small change In the personnel of the teach
ers of the High achool until 1875, when W.
H.. Merrttt became principal and Jamea A.
Dodge assistant, these two men caring for
the sixty-two pupils then enrolled In thnt
school.
At the time the High achool waa re
moved to Capitol square the building waa
used not only for High school purposes, but
the greater part waa given over to grades
below that achool. This condition continued
until 1890, and there waa no auggestlon of
change until 1885, when, with 240 pupils
In the High achool, Henry M. Jamea, then
auperintendent of city achoola, suggested
that he could see the time when the entlrt,
building would have to be devoted to thia
department. No further reference Is made
to the change until 1889, when In his report
Mr. James said that six rooms were atlil
occupied by gradea lower than the High
achool and that a new building was greatly
needed.
Straggle for More Itoom.
Then came a lively time In the history of
the Omaha High school. Membera of the
Board of Education purposed to erect a
grade achool on Capitol aquare. Citizens
objected. There waa litigation and agita
tion, with the result that It waa finally da-
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EXTERIOR OF NEW OMAHA HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING VIEW FROM THE SOUTHEAST Photo by a Staff Artist.
termlned that Capitol square waa given to
the city for High school purposes alone.
Shortly after that the new Central school
building waa erected and the building on
the aquare used entl.e'y for (he High school.
In 1889 Superintendent James, speaking
of the crowded condition of the old High
achool building, mentioned the fact that
when the building waa constructed questlona
of ventilation and sanitation were not ao
well understood, and a new High achool
building would be needed In a few yeara,
when existing evils could be corrected.
Recognizing the apparent necessity for a
new building systems and policies were dis
cussed. Some persons proposed that two
or more high schools be built In different
parts of the city. Others urged a central
building, and the latter Idea finally pre
vailed. In 1898 $150,000 waa provided for
the construction of the new building. This
amount waa found Inadequate, and an addi
tional bond issue of $40,000 waa authorized
two years later.
Detlara of the Kew Bnttdlaa.
The plan for the new building was de
signed by John Latenser, the present archi
tect of the Board of Education, and work
on the building was atarted In the aprlng of
1901. The design la after the Grecian pal
tern and the present building Is so con
structed aa to in time become the main
part of a building w'jch will In time have
commodious wlnga added on the west.
The building contains. In addition to
offices, a gymnasium and other apartments
for the convenience of faculty and pupils,
twenty class and study rooms, ranging In
alze from 24x24 feet to 71x36 feet In area.
The rooms are well lighted, well ventilated
and are pronounced to be the most con
veniently arranged achool rooms In the
west.
With all of this addition to the facilities
of the High school It has been found neces
sary to continue the use of the old build
ing. The rooms below the second story are
used aa class rooms and recitation rooms
In addition to the apace occupied in the
new build ins.
There la still considerable work to be
done before the new building will present a
completed appearance. It has been found
necessary to change the grade of the
grounds and considerable surface will be
removed from the southeast corner of the
tract, bringing the building level with the
around.
Growth of the Utah School.
The annual reporta of the superintendents
of city schools from 1S77 to 1901 show the
growth of that Institution since Ita founda
tion. The achool opened with an attendance
of forty-aeven puplla and three Inatructora.
In 1875 the number of Instructors had been
reduced to two, but the growth of the
achool In those yeara waa aa follows: 1872,
47; 1873, 60; 1874, 65; 1875, 62; 1876, 59; 1877,
63; 1878, 63. There Is no report from 1878
until 1883, but In the report of that year
the following figures ore given:
Enrol- Teach-i Enrol- Teach-
Year. ment. era. Year. ment. era.
192 746 Zo 1881 91
1882 103 4 1S93 875 28
1883 139 6 1894 892 26
1884 172 f 1895 1,0X2 26
18X5 240 11 1896 1.204 32
1SX6 256 18 1X97 1.224 82
1X87 372 20 1898 1,3X0 36
18X8 453 .. 1M9 1.346 40
1889 486 18 19K 1.518 43
1890 633 181901 1.552 47
1891 616 23,1902 1,463 47
First Claas Graduate.
The first clasa to be graduated at the
Omaha High achool was that of 1876 the
clasa which entered the year the achool
waa opened. Thla class, as given by Prof.
Beals in hia first annual report aa auperin
tendent of the city schools, waa aa follows:
Stacla Crowley, Blanch L. Deuel, Ida M.
Goodman, Addle Gladstone, Fannie E.
Woodbrldge (nee Wilson), Esther Jacoba,
Margaret M. McCague, Bertha M. McCon
neil, Nella Carrier (nee Lehmer), Alfred
Ramsay and Henry C. Curry. There were
no graduates In 1877, and In 1878 the names
of the four graduatea of that year are
given aa Maria Manning, Sarah Jacobs,
Fannie Langdon and William L. McCague.
These are said to have been all of the pu
pils who attended the High achool the year
it waa moved from Jackson street to lt
present location.
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MAIN STUDY ROOM NEW OMAHA HIGH SCHOOL Photo by a Staff Artist.
INTERIOR OF THE GYMNASIUM. NEW OMAHA HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING Photo by a Staff Artist.
Some Cranky Notions of People Who Use Tobacco
j I cranka. relates the New York
limes, mm r icn w uv v
hold their cwn with those who
have the tobacco habit.
A peculiar eight to be seen In Wilming
ton, Del., until a tew yeara ago. waa one
of the wealthiest and oldest cltizena of
the place driving beside his coachmun.
who always smoked a huge black cigar.
The alght of a coachman smoking while on
duty waa In Itself remarkable enough, but
It waa the way the man blew the smoke
Into the old gentleman's face that would
have attracted the attention of even
stranger. The coachman would take a
huge puff of the weed and. with checks
puffed with the smoke, lean toward thi
man beside him aa If to whlaper something
Into hia car. Then he would send the en
tire charge of smoke Into hie employer's
face, who Invariably leaned toward the
coachman and stuck hia nose Into the blue
cloud, whiffing It with evident satisfac
tion. For over five yeara thla man waa a
familiar elght.cn the streeta of Wilming
ton. The doctors had forbidden him to
sracke, but he had been aa Inveterate
amoker and be waa obliged to be satisfied
with ths compromise of having someone
else do the smoking while he enjoyed the
aroma.
Another cranky notion in the tobacco line
was that of an old police magistrate named
Davis, who died several yeara ago In Or
ange, at the age of 90 yeara, and who, the
good people aaid, killed himself by the ex
cessive use of chewing tobacco. The Judge's
habit, however, waa distinctly a peculiar
one, In that he invariably used clgara for
thla purpose; not the entire cigar, but
merely the points. His claim waa" that
there was not in the entire market' a brand
of tobacco that aulted him aa well aa the
one end of the cigar, and he aaid that In
discarding the rest of It he took only the
choicest part. Natural though It may seem
that the nose of a smoker of fine clgara
should become peculiarly sensitive, there
waa a remarkable Instance In this respect
In the person of a cigar manufacturer liv
ing In West Hoboken. This man amoked
only the very best clgara and finally It be
came almost unbearable for him to remain
for any length of time In any public place
where amoking waa allowed. The odor of a
pipe, no matter how good the tobacco, be
came a horror to him, and his eccentricity
grew upon him eo that hia frlenda, In ordtr
to please him, and more often themselves,
smoked only the cigars which be offered
them while visiting at his home.
It there are cranka In the cigar line, there
arc Just as many In the plj !' What
pipe amoker, lor example, has not had cne
certain pipe, tie Uk,e of which heaven
never before or since permitted mortal tc
amckeT The true pipe crank can alt by the
hour and tell you yarna about hia favorite
ripe. Mow he got It. Just how Itng It took
him to break It In, whether he expected
from the start that it would prove a "hum
mer," or whether It dovelopeJ lute an
agreeable disappointment. Then, the occa
sions when he smoked It; how much so and
ao offered him for It one night, and, finally,
how It broke or bow he lost It, and the time
he had getting over hia loaa.
Pipe cranka may be divided Into two
claases, the men that are cranka on one
particular pipe, and those who have a col
lection of ptpea that would gladden an
Indian chief. One man, an officer In the
firm of the big Harrla Paint Works In
Philadelphia, haa a roll-top desk which la
literally loaded with pipes. Not a paper, not
even an envelope la In the desk. Pigeon
holes and drawers are full of splendid
pipes, every one of them "broken In," each
In the pink of condition, and each beautiful
enough for a preaent
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Distinct from this kind of crank la the
man who amokea but one pipe. One love,
one pipe, seema hia motto, and though the
pipe may irvlve fifteen yeara aa la the
case with some exceptional apeclmens once
it goes out of commission permanently, the
owner la never quite the name amoker
again. Some men prefer meerschaum,
other brier, but In each caa the result Is
the same attachment for the pipe that
has seen the long service. None but a pipe
smoker can feel aympathy with the man
who polishes the black bowl of a meer
achaum on hia coat aleev as he affection
ately tells ita history.
If there It an excuse for the man who la
disturbed by the wearing out of hia favor
It gold pen or even the loss of a long-used
penholder, surely there I reason for
atmllar feeling when the friend of long
night and sad or glad days aee it last
To the beginner, all pipe taste alike, and
often have th came effect, but to the eon
firmed pipe smoker there I as much of a
difference between the taste of on pipe
and another aa there 1 to th matinee girl
between the taste of ice cream and water
toes.
