THE OMATIA ILLUSTRATED BEE.
Jannaty W. lPOR.
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KIUKl'LACC ATD MANTEti TTT RECTTTTTON' HOOV, OTIATTA RACQUET Ct,rB.-rhoto tr Staff Artist.
HE recent Incorporation of the
. Omaha Racquet club by a party
of young men of more or lean
affluence and social position Is ln-
terestlng from the fact that an-
cjently, when the game of racquets first by a building, 6oxT5, with beautiful perma
began to be played. It was not the sport nent architecture and all the adjuncts,
of the nobility of the time, but of the beautiful and practicable, of a prosperous1
laboring men and the soldiery. Then tennis club. But that will not be tomorrow,
of a sort was the knightly game and Probably the first addition to the present
racquets the pport of the common peoplo; equipment will be a cafe. With the con
now tennis Is within the reach of all, while st ruction of this will follow the lunching
only the college man and a few of his members, who will acquire a mild form of
Intimates' play in the racquet and the physical exhilaration by climbing the
squash ball courts. stairs to watch their companions beat-
..(
Thf history of the game In Omaha is
not a . large volume. N. P. Dodge, Jr.,
some time will have the beautiful memo
rial statue erected to his memory and
placed in a niche at the first landing of
the grand stairway in the beautiful Bed
ford otono club house of the future, for
he laid the cornerstone. This was in the
year 1908. The trouble with Mr. Dodge
was that he felt In his person a desire
for active exercise and amusement about
the hour of 6 o'clock in the evening, which
could not be gained on the snow-drifted
golf-links of winter, and was not ap-
peased by a run of seventeen on the Omaha
club billiard green. Mr. Dodge told his
troubles to other eligible and able-bodied
young men. The line of talk made quit
a -hit. Every one of them discovered at
once that he had been In need of ame
sort of exercise and a place to go for an
hour, before dinner.
' So club was formed. The original mem
bers .'were' Jde Barker, Ezra Millard., N. P.
bod go, jr., Luther and Charlie Kountze,
Bfthij Caldwell, Ben Cotton. Ed Morsman,
A. Sprague, "Jack Battln, George
Paimer, Hal Yates, Frank Haskell, C. H.
Brown. 8am Bums, J. T. Stewart. Clark
PoweM. 'Pred Rustin, Herbert Rogers and
Con loiuig. .
' . First Home of the Club.
Two rooms were rented on the third
floor at 104 South Fourteenth street. Two
courts were built Into a large room, which
was fitted by nature as the receptacle for
nice cublcular bales of merchandise. A
little place was thrown together In one
corner for a shower bath and the members
It the new club " havl acWlred a debt
for the rntah?;- V fh.t. mm
tarned to with considerable Interest and a
tAl.?totol& game!
not all. hoWe
Idea and a fair proficiency from Harvard
Is which stretch of timber it has quite In-
gratlated Itself. Other men-the Kountzes.
J; T. Stewart and several more-had
learned the game In the eastern universl-
Ues. and the other members of the club
were, most of them, tennis players so they
y.a . '
, ... uc t tun lut-quei ana
soop began to deevlop form In the sauash
bol arena. Q
Growth of the Idea.
The game as first played was not very
fast. The courts were open at the back,
Which would be slightly like playing bll-
1 Cards with one of the end cushions off.
. But the twenty young men were out for
the game and despite the fundamental
cpsrscter of the club bouse, which con-
J slsted of four walls, a celling and a few
fairly comfortable chairs, it made a hit
with them, and they were nearly all of
them constant attendants at Its shrine.
Additions were made to the roFter from
time to time, so that when a set of talk
was planted lust September regarding a
new' club house there were thirty active
members. When Mr. Dodge started some-
. thing, of which he became the first presl-
dent many of those who Joined were
dubious ae to success for squash and
thought the club would have to fall back
on hand ball. But It fell on its feet. Hand
ball requires too calloused a hand, and the
sons of Omaha's best are not very cal-
loused hands as a rule, It is hoped, so
they liked the new game, which made a
tennls racquet do the work. When the
. new club house was decided on. the players
desired to advance from the rather sclen-
tlflo game- of squash they were playing to
'the, real thing racquets. So the Omaha
Racquet club.
(the. real thing-racquets. So the Omaha
Racquet club.
. The new club was incorporated, and dli-
rated January 1. At the time it had a
Ki.llHInfl. whlfh liari n.tttt wnmattiinir
cated January 1. At the time it had a
building which had cost something like
112,000. Its membership ls now eighty,
about twenty of whom have come In since
the opening o. the new house. The mem
bership has be n limited to 100. The
" initiatory fee is $10 ond the monthly dues
12. But the men members are not all
.'. the machine .-v. There are the avsoc.ate
" members. These are the wives of men
members srd may become associate b;
paying certain fees and receiving the
proper number of white balls. The as
sociate membership hits not been able to
I d. any duty In the new club owlns to the
I carpenters and masons, who would fool
about and stick on tiles and do other
I things uecersury to the finishing touches.
The associates are to have the use of the
in. m.,..i, h.,r -non . !,
member, are n the ofllees and the count- ,l,at wf, t0.uW Uke our kUs- nd "
I,,, house. A fw women were rcjular B,m",e ,,h" low"" ,v.tr tl,e ate" ,eadl"
Jlsyers at tl a old Fourteenth Street club. rouh walls. They are about as far
$ away from Mukden as Ruckvllle is dis-
Buaud e Kiimud, tant from Washington. Fifteen or sixteen
! The Omaha Racquet clsb Is the beginning "" " nt much."
qf what a 111 undoubtedly grw In time to "Mukden is a very important place, is it
be ore of the two most prominent clubs In not?" t
Omaha. It a 111 In the first place be an "Politically yes, strategically no." re
athletic club with many otber branches of plied Captain March. "It ls important as
the exercising art than squash ball and the capital of Manchuria, and In that If
racquets. The building which has now been U falls Into the hands of the Japanese
p'it up was placed far back on the club it will Impress the Chinese and the Man
luti with the Idea that future additions to churlans, and they may think that the
Omaha's New Racquet Club and the Games Played There
mmmm
the membership and broadening; of the
sport curriculum would make necessary ad
ditional room. The expanse of froien
clods which Is to become a lawn with
flowers next spring will in time be covered
jng the iitte red ballB about the courts.
What the Place Contains.
When the club house was dedicated with
a very enjoyable reception New Tear's,
certain parts of It were Incomplete. Now
by February 1 this work will be ended.
Chief among the things being done Is the
tiling of the swimming bath. White en-
ameled bricks, rather than tiles, are being
laid in the bottom and on the sides of the
plunge, so that when It Is finished It will
be a delightful place to float about of a
summer day on a piece of board, smoking
and . PeadinK a pece of llgM literature,
The p, ls 25x40 feet n 8urfacCi wlth a
BheIf of hailow wut.r at the south en(li
and hoMing altogether 60,000 gallons. A
Hn,., .-. ha. KeBn int.iirrt in th
basement to keep this water between the
temperature of 65 and TO degrees. A fil
tering plant was one of the most costly
adjuncts of the bath, but It Is assured now
that a coin can be seen at the bottom of
Uncle Sam's Military Expert
(Copyright, 1905, by Frank C. Carpenter.)
wucijici.j
r"ASHINGTON. Jan. 26. (Special
1A Correspondence of The Bee ) I
I I give you today a chat with one of
IJvyiy the nve worklngmen of the United
IgrrTI states army, a young officer who
tor thB la V" h" in the thickest
of the fighting In Manchuria. As one of our
military attaches, he was assigned by the
War department to the Japanese army to
report upon its operations in the field. He
went 10 JaP". and from there Joined Gen-
eral Kurokl. This was last February, and
he naa bem w,th tnat branch of the Jap-
anese forcc" untl1 a ,lttIe more tllan
month ago, when he started back home.
Th man 1 rerer to 18 Captain Peyton
Conway March, who graduated at West
Point in 1 whn h. a ...
- " ...,w.
oattery during the Cuban war until It was
mustered out. and who then went to Luzon
and led the American forces in the famous
"battle In the clouds." In that battle Gen-
eral Gregorto del Pilar was killed, and at
about the same time General Concepclon.
Agulnaldo's chief of staff, and Agulnaldo's
wife were captured. In another engagement
Captain March was commended by the pres-
Ident for his gallantry, and for other serv-
Ices he was made colonel of the United
States volunteers. At the beginning of the
Japanese war he was one of four officers
chosen to report upon the fighting to the
War department.
My talk with Cnptnln March relates to
the little things rather 'than the big ones of
the campaign. The stories or the battles
have been told in the papers as far as the
censorship would permit. This matter
comes fresh from the field, and is. It seems
to me, full of flesh and blood Interest
Six Hundred Thouiand Flahtins; Men.
I asked Captain March as to the number
of men now actually lighting In Manchuria,
He replied:
"There are at least 600,000 soldiers In
the two armies. The Japanese have 325.-
out) and the Russians almost as many. The
forces are lined up almost facing each
other. Tht y are on the two sides of a
little river known u that f)hn nr it
more commonly called the Sha-ho, the
word ho meaning river. The soldiers are
stretched tlong both sides of that river
for a distance of about thirty miles. In
...
oiae places mey are not more man two
hundred yurds apart, and in others as
much as 2.0u0 yards. Each army has dug
entrenchments and put up fortifications,
and is waiting for the other to charge.
Now and then there Is a sallv at dif
ferent places along the line, but when I
Uft there October 16 they were r till wait
ing to tight They were waiting Decern
be.' lti, and are waiting blill."
Mekdeu and the Japanese.
"Are they near Mukden?"
"One end of the line, I should say, ls
not more than fifteen miles from Mukduu.
The other ls perhaps fifty miles away.
' t- ."--- ""7 -.
y " , y" K"OW- preUy tar up "
Manchuria. They are so near Mukden
rs. i"iJi: .wrt'
45
EXTERIOR VIEW
Japanese are the more likely to be vie-
. auaiitaa bio tut iuuiv i j iu wt
...
torlous. As to Its advantages as a war
base, they are comparatively little. The
most Important point is Harbin, at the
Junction of the Chinese Eastern railway
and the Transsiberian railway, where one
branch runs off to Vladivostok. Harbin
has a rich country surrounding it, which
raises enormous quantities of grain.
"There are flouring mills there which
are supplying the Russian army, and also
the great warehouses of the Russians,
Not far away Is a rich cattle and horse
country, so that altogether the place is
exceedingly valuable. It Is toward that
point that the Japanese are working. If
they could capture Harbin and discon-
nect the two lines of railway shutting off
E(K,io f on.i n ih.
trt. -
same time, get possession or these
enormous mills and supplies, they would
nerhaos be much nearer peace than they
are now."
"But is there any possibility that they
can do that?"
"In war everything Is possible." said Cap-
tain March. "I am not a prophet and I do
not care to predict You must remember,
however, that the campaign of the Japa-
ly2y - " ' r'- - - - i ",if ' - i . -jls,
, Syt i ...... f
v
... t
Tw1
4 '
K
OP THE N'CT' CLI'B HOt'SF! OF THE
nese. as their arml.-s move toward the
mcoc, s .,... ..... . - -
... . . . . i 1 1 .w
nortn, Decomes more aimcuu, wnne mo
campaign or tne nussians is 10 a great ex-
tent less so. The Japanese are moving
away from their base. They have to carry
all their provisions, ammunition and other
supplies farther on. whereas the Russians
are falling back to where their supplies
are.
"It is something of an undertaking to
carry the food and supplies of 300.000 me.
to say nothing of their arms and munition,
of war," continued Captain March. "You
must remember that the Japanese have a.
many men now stationed along the Sha-ho
as there are men. women and children li.
Washington. Every one of them has to
have his three meals a day, and good ones
to withstand the cold. Every one has ro
. . .....,t..
nave warm ciuming. n tua1..iu n pim
to sleep at night. In the winter the ther-
mometer gets down to or Deiow zero in
Manchuria, so you see that a war like this
has other problems than those of mere
fighting. The same problems confront the
Russians."
"Where do the soldiers get their fooa,
captain?" I asked.
"The Japanese are living chiefly on rice
M I
iii ii i i .I i i i . . I .
, t t
,.,'" ' 1 ' ' . 'A i
EOHtB OP THE MEMBERS OF THE
r - "
OMAHA RACQUET CLUB. Photo by a
in Far Manchuria
and meat. -The rice ls In a raw state, Just
.i j i. i - .... -M-A. ami l
h juu mm it w uui B';tj "
mun n . utn.i u c., .....
necessitates water and Are, and makes it a
bad field ration. I think the Japanese are
discovering that. It Is not like our hard
tack, wmcn can oe carr.ea 10 me neia ana
eaten at any time. In add lUon to this the
Japanese nave canneo mea pUl up wu a
kind of .auc In Japan. The soldiers eat
It out of the can. and seem to relish it. but
a foreigner does not like it aner two or
lnrce meals, it Is not so bad wnen cookea
" """" ,K , - ,w , .
w nat ls tne looa or tne Kusslansr
y," better able than the Japanese
to live off the country. 1 hey can get a deal
of fresh meat In the north and their Dour
comes from the Harbin mills. Those mills
m ln nu,h In mrlv th. irn.v 1.
--" V ' Z
Russian commissary Is well managed. Eacb
"imuij u . Bit k"
which a big boiler of soup Is always
cooking. The men put everything they can
Sot In the way of vegetables and other
edibles Into this soup, and there Is a hot
bowl for each soldier at regular Intervals.
In this respect the Russians are better off
than the Japanese."
Armies In Pars.
"How do tha men keep warm there In
midwinter? They cannot have fires when
under arms." ,
"No, the most of them rely upon their
clothing for warmth. Both armies wear
more or less furs. The common soldiers of
Jnpan have long thick overcoats-of khaki.
with high fur collars, which they can turn
up about their faces, and the officers wear
fur-lined coats Ar to the Russians, some
of them are clad In furs and some In sheep-
skins. Tho Cossack uniform Is almost all
fur, Including an enormous fur cap.
"As to the fire, one of the most serious
questions is that of fuel. The march of
Kurukl's army, with which I was, has been
largely through a wooded country, and we'
have cut down the trees for wood. At times
charcoal hes been sent In from Japan for
the use of the soldiers and Just now1 they
are dofn? all they can to pump out the
Yentnl coal mines. These mines are not
very far from Mukden. They were used
by the Ruswlans. but they flooded them be
fore they left, and they are still full of
water. The Japanese are doing all they
can to get pumps and empty the mine's."
Railroads and the War.
"Those mines are reached by the rail
roads, are they not?"
"Yes. Tho Japanese now have the south
ern end of the Chinese Eastern railroad.
They have changed It to a narrow gauge. In
order that they muy be able to use Japa
nese engines and rolling stock. You may
remember that the Russians have a broad
gauge. For this reason the Japanese could
not use the road until It was changed."-
"Is the Transsiberian road working well?"
"Very well, indeed, I understand," said
Captain March. "The government has taken
churgo of It and they are pouring soldiers
Into Manchuria over It. There Is a steady
strenm of fighting men moving across
Siberia day and night, and as fast as the
soldiers die or become disabled they are re-
Plenished by others. It is wonderful how
II..I.. . T I . ....
...... , t......... io regara tne loss
-uu.u ...ve mmjgnr mat the
50.000 go
iiiipu iu uie jast
great battle would have disorganized the
army and disarranged its plans. It did not
seem te sfTei-t the Russian policy one Iota.
The officers took It as a matter of course
sod also the men. This feet. It seemed to
me. made a serious impression upon the
Japanese. Before that battle they bad no
doufft of their ultimate success. Since then
v
" 4 - !
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It : . . :-y,! t ?
Sd'- '? ' ' " ' .
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. - :..-,' - e -: 'w'jf''
l ,t ' - ' ' .v . ' .'
r.. -.,('.(? . ' - - " t ; '
OMAHA RACQUET CMTtt Thoto by a
r''t',
t .4.
' Staff "Artist '
they have begun to wonder whether after
. .. .
nil Th1r fan wanr Aiit nr nnnnlier a foe like
this."
The Russians as Soldiers.
"What kind of soldiers are the Rus
sians?" "They are brave and will fight until they
drop.' They know nothing else. We cap
tured many of them and there were thou
sands dead on the battlefield. Many of
the privates are fine-looking. They are big
boned, lusty fellows with fair complexions
and light hair. This surprised me, as I
had1 expected to find dark-haired men. I
had heard many stories of the viclousness
and savagery of the Russian peasant. The
faces I saw had no such characteristics,
and the papers found upon the men con
veyed the opposite Impression. Every sol-
" .
Ue,r had a pocket testament or at leasi
tha Fou(, q,,., and upon f tn,
dead we found letters written and ready
for mainK to their families at home. The
ietteri were simpie, affectionate and lov-
jng, g-iyltig the little details of camp life
and car rylng messages to dear ones, large
and small, in Russia. It seemed to me
that men who could write such letters must
be more than ordinarily decent. Speaking
about the Testaments, it was a curious
fact that the names of the company and
regiments of the men were scratched out.
This was to keep the Japanese from esti
mating the character of the Russian army."
"From what you say, captain, the Rus
sians muot be religious?"
"They hae all forms of religion, and I
do not see why we should not give them
credit for . honesty," said Captain March.
"Every Bfi of troops has Its priest with It,
a hlghnc'apped man in a long black gown.
The soldiers sing hymns as they go Into
battle, and even during their night attacks.
they charge, singing."
The Japanese Soldier.
"How . about the Japanese?"
"They are Just the opposite of the Rus
sians. They make no noise whatever. They
sing no military songs and In fact you
never hear them singing. They are quiet
in camp and on the march and in battle,
but they go steadily ahead and light to the
death. There are no braver soldiers known
than the' Japanese, and none, I think, more
efficient."
"Are they well trained?"
"Thoroughly so," said Captain March.
"The work they are doing In Manchuria ls
not newwork for them. They have been
doing this same thing In their maneuvers
at home year after year for fifteen years.
They have been moved by water from one
part of Japan to another and have had to
fight upon landing. Almost every problem
that hue come up In the war has been
solved by them in these maneuvers again
anil again. They are organised after the
German system. Each man knows Just
what he has to do and the army works like
a great machine."
$
The Japanese army ls composed of picked
men," continued the military expert.
"Evtry year all the able-bodlrd youths cf
Japan of a certain age have to uppetr be
fore tho authorities and the best are taken
for soldiers. This lot Is weeded out again
and again until something like UO0 or
mure men of equal height and good phy-
' ' ' "
,qUe remain. These are trained for
army. Ajt a result the Japanese troops are
about as e'
evenly matched a body of men as
you will find In any army. They are In
tensely patriotic and almost every man es
teems it an honor to die for his emperor."
"What do you thluk of the officers of the
two armies?"
'They are able men and men of p-
(OunUnaed on Page Seven.)
Start Artist,
the plunge if anyone nas me skill to catch
It as It goes slanting down. On the gal
lery at the vide of the plunge has been
built In a white tiled shower bath.
The formal and the social side of the
club Is provided for In the new house by
a very neat and homelike reception room,
20x34 feet In ground plan. Blbert Hubbard
and h'ls Roycroft shop bunch of social re
formers have turned out a very neat and
comfortable set of furnishings in dark oak
and leather. Tills den of the surfeited
squash ball man was dedicated January 18
by a stein party. The guests each brought
a stein as a donation to the new club, and
after these had been duly washed they
were set up in the stein rack and have
beceme a picturesque and useful portion of
the permanent fixtures.
Below Btalrs Is the billiard room. This
now contains a pool table and a billiard
table, donated to the club and placed since
the opening day. There Is also here a
kltchdti leaded with a gas range, and the
custodian's room and other departments
such as the coal cellar. The front rooms
of the club house and the reception, room
are the fighting ground of the house com
mittee, which consists of H. A. Tukey, W.
M. Burgess and 'S. Burns, Jr. In the
women's locker room, which Is about the
size of a locker, and In the men's locker
room, with Its long rows of lock-faot
places, and In the gallery, seating 150.
which overlooks the game and where quite,
a crush often gathers to watch the squash,
the house committee and the tournament
committee clash. The club, by the way, la
ruled by a board of governors, consisting;
of F. T. Kennedy and W. T. Burns, elected
to serve three years; W. M. Burgess and,
H. A. Tukey, for two years, and H. W,
McCord and W. J. C. Kenyon, one year,
The officers are also in this board. They
are' L. L. Kountze, president; F. J. Has
kell, secretary, and 8. Burns, Jr., treasurer.
Place For the Players.
The new ceurts. which are three in num-
- " - -
. i 1 ... -i. n .4 ... I .... vi
oer, nave oeeu juuuu it. n,u j
for squash ball, but the racquet court ls
a little short. The three courts are 20x15
feet and resemble a tennis court sawed In
two at the net and backed up against the
barn. The busy hours about the club are
from 4:30 to 6:30 o'clock. The tournament
committee, which consists of W. T. Burns,
Jr., George Prltchett and Harry Wilklns,
has commanded that a time limit of one
he If hour be placed on the squashers dur
ing the rush period. In this way, two men
playing in each court at a time, twenty
four can have a game each evening. An
Intending player Is supposed to register
for time on the blackboard. Tournaments
are to be played monthly. Twenty-eight
men entered for the first of these rounds
nf .kill on th. .nrf ni. Rtuntr
' - "
nlgrht. L L Kountze and Sam Burns who
wom piuitru mi . ut i .n
running, and the scratch men generally
hve bpen aurprlsed at the showing made
by some of those witii big handicaps. or
me of the members this was the first
tournament
The first tournament was for a cup given
by Ward Burgess and a consolation cup by
Miss Preston. No tournaments with out-of-town
clubs have been arranged, but there
Is a hope something may 1 pulled off
with some Chicago players. H. N. Harrl
man Is the best player of the Omaha cluh.
He has but lately come from the east and
Joined too late to take part In the first
tournament. W. T. Bums, Sam Burns, F.
T. Kennedy, L. L. Kountze. B..W. Cotton.
F. J. Hsskell and N. P. Isidore. Jr., are
among the heavy men of the olub and
would figure In any contest.
What the Game Is triVe.
The game itself Is a little like hsnd ball, ,
only In that there is no racquet and no side'
and back walls. It ls a little like tennis
and It Is a little like billiards. For squash,
an ordinary tennis racquet Is use with a
red tennis ball. Racquets- demands a
leather ball and long-handled, small-bodied
racqueta It ls about the best winter gams
now played. A knowledge of tennis Is
some help, but not as much as would bs
supposed. The game consists of fifteen
points snd only the server scores. The
wall serves as a net, as In tennis, and the
player makes canons on the four sides of
the court.
The Inside games of this family may
have been originated In the ark between
the times of feeding and watering the
stock, snd the Noah boys may have led
a mastodon or a yak out of Its box stall
and hsd a round or two. The Henry sort
of kings in England and old Louis XI
were about the first players to get In the
sporting columns with their game. Court
tnnl at the bent court of the time, too
was the le.-ider among these games. Tennis
was brought Into England by William the
Conqueror nnd he made It about 40-Iove In
a little set-to. The BrltUh-made racquets
out of tennis and squash came from
racquets. The first regular racquot cnurt
was built in London In 1So3. The Britishers
are now the principal exponents of ths
name and hive brought It to a very b'.y.h
degr- of science, in the time of Henry
VIII the K"me was con I) no to the working
people, while that monarch used to slip
out occasionally between marriage and di
vorce proceedings and have n gnmr of ten
nis by way of a bracer. Not long after
ward the haute monde saw what there was
In the game and the liousu of Commons
about the same time pusxlng a law against
the populate wasting its time at such use
less diversions, the gentlemen of the court
were left in possession ot the racquet
court, which they have slnoe retained.
i.
J