THE bMAHA ILLUSTRATED BEE.
January 7, lOOrt.
Omaha's
i 1INCE old Nero, to escape the jeaU
ei I ous chldlngs of Poppea, sneaked
I out through the back door to ha
fXSl hli personal and trusty chariot
give mm a mgnt nan tnrougn ui
throbbing streets of ancient Rome, hack-
men have been established Institutions
among advanced peoples. "8'i I," the phil
osopher of the local tribe, puts It thus:
"Where there ain't no hacks there ain't
no civilisation, is what I ses. Stanley didn't
find no hacks in Africa, did he? Nor Peary
didn't find none up around the north pole,
either, ses I. And there ain't any running
around Uncle Leopold's preiterve up on the
Congo. It there was we wouldn't hear so
much about practicing dlsnttion on live
people. Folks won't stand t f that, sei L
where the conveniences of people what
know are to be found."
Krrfiurr to Vrban IJfe.
In Omaha, as in every city of metropoli
tan pretensions, tho street hack is an es
tablished Institution; and the hackmen, as a
rule, are fixtures who In a few years con.'
to hr, known by many people. They are rt.
only a necessary convenience of mod' i i
life, but are the bearers of secrets and bits
of peculiar knowledge which If dropped pro
miscuous would cause many an upheaval.
They know tho streets, every nook and
turning, and cun find any given place in the
darkest night. They know the general run
of hack users much better than they know
the streets even. Their acquaintance with
men from up and down the state who visit
Omaha is" wide In extent and Intimate in
character. Oood and bad people all look
alike to the hackman, with the exception
that nine out of ten of the drivers would
rather deal exclusively with decent people
If that were possible. The shady ones spend
money more freely, but they demand mon
attention and make trouble five times where
the ordinary citizen will once.
Old timers In the business will tell you
that the golden days of "hacking" are
gone. They recall with fond recollection,
the days when a dollar was hardly counted
aa fair pay for any sort of a ride. Those
were the days when the city had not
quite arrived and the town had not van
ished. There were no city ordinances that
out much figure, and If there had been the
people whe used hacks would not have paid
any 'attention to them. In the days before
the one-horse street cars arrived a few
pennies were to he gathered by the man
with a carriage for hire. Circus day, when
all the population waa out to enjoy Itself,
and determined to spend money for the
accumulation of all the joy there was to be
had, used to be looked forward to with
rich anticipation by the hackmen. Every
fellow with the price wanted to take his
girl to the big show In style, and two or
three couples were taken out In every load.
Horses had to ears, their eats that day,
dashing back and forth between "down
town" and "the grounds" In clouds of dust.
At the close of circus day he was a poor
hackman who could not count up from
26 to 50 aa the result of his day's hus
tling. Thrifty Drivers Do Well.
Many of the driven of the early pleasure
vehicles saved their money until they be
came owners of their own horses and tigs.
A very Justifiable pride was taken In the
possession of a swell four-wheeler when
that style of rig began to come out In all
Its shining leather and stuffed cushion
glory. To wash it until It shone and to care
for If with much pains and unlimited polish
ing was a labor of love. And the horses,
too, were the source of much satisfaction
to the drivers. The man with the prize
team waa Indeed envied of hla fellows.
Hackmen with the proper qualities to make
the business a success have always been
wise In horse lore; many of them veterin
arians of no little cleverness, not taught in
the schools, hut chock full of practical
knowledge ef what to da for an animal
under any and all circumstances.
Wisdom Is Theirs.
Wise In the ways of the world hackmen
have been and are. Changes In human na
ture they never look for, but It is a pretty
swift game ef Intended bunce that they
cannot catch up with. Having figured the
vagaries of human nature down te a nicety,
a simple change of label on any of the
apecles does not go far toward fooling the
professional handler of a atreet carriage.
He can see a fare even If the same be
walking In a fog, and as a rule he can
tell just about what the fare Is going to
be worth. The "rounder" with the coin
and a disposition to let go la the special
delight of the man who Is tired of riding
himself, yet is always willing to give any
body else a ride. Wedding or funeral, so
cial call or exploring trip It Is all one to
the man on the box. Blow hot or blow oold,
blizzard or duststorm, burning sun or
drenching rain, he will take you where you
want to go; and the rougher the weather
the more likely .you are to need blm. The
real hackman baa never yet been driven
to cover by the weather. He faces It aa
a matter of course, and ofttlmea the worst
weather Is hla best harvest time. In this,
aa In many other things, hla Ufa differs
from that of tho ordinary odtlsen In atrllt-
V
UXR3IAN
Hackmen
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JOHN B. CARVER,
Ing degree. Physically, the drivers wear
like Iron, largely owing to their outdoor
life and association with horses. Very
rarely do they die, and the life Is so at
tractive to men of just the right tempera
ment that about all of them stick to tho
finish.
Views of an Old' Timor.
"Jack" Carney Is the oldest man on
"the boot" In Omaha, as to service and
years on earth. His memoirs, if carefully
and truthfully written, would furnish food
for the keenest sociologists to digest. Tha
deductions to be drawn should undoubtedly
be enlightening to that half of the world
that doesn't have even a hazy Idea as ta
how the other half Uvea At GO years of
age Carney has come to be a philosopher
In thought and 'an advocate of the better
aide of the hackmen'a lives In action. Ha
puts his beliefs thusly;
"Hackmen draw all too much blame for
other folks' fallings. It is natural thai
this should be so to a certain extent, and
up to any reasonable measure we do not
object to shouldering a share of trouble,
to ease the other chap. But the general
public that does not come Into close touch
with us especially the women who are
altogether home bodies get many a tale
handed to them which puts the hackman
away to the bad In their estimation.
"Few people outside of those who hava
business dealings with hackmen as a part
of their dally life know that we do not
haul men who are drunk, to use the blunt
word, unless a personal friend is with tho
party, or unless we know him ourselves,
and all about him. That la a rule estab
lished in self-defense. The reasons for it
are many. A man who is Incapably drunk
will mess up a hack almoBt Invariably; ho
may not have a cent when he strikes a.
hackman to haul him home; he is likely to
be quarrelsome and hard to handle. Now,
about the money part: The man when ha
comes to, at home or wherever he ordered
himself taken, will say that he had money
before he got the hack, and his friends
know that he started out with money. Ha
may have been In all sorts of places and
In every kind of company before he took
refuge with the hackman. He forgets
whore he spent his last change, or cannot
remember who he was with. What more
natural than that be should take a chance
shot at the lost friend he could find, and
lay the blame offhand on the driver, who
perhaps took a verbal promise to pay for
his work and his trouble? See the pos
sibilities for 111 to the hackman In such a
situation as that, especially aa there Is
nearly always an excuse to be made to
some one, at home or elsewhere. Thus,
while playing the really friendly part, the
hackman accumulates a smudge of bad
reputation that will rarely be forgotten.
But I often think that If the record la
squared, as wo are promised, when tho
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BORSKT.
and the
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JOHN W. BVERErra
ALFRED WALLACE.
game la all played, the men In this busi
ness will not fare as badly aa tha unin
formed w aid suppose."
BUi Armour si Booster.
"BUI" Armour never made any money
In pork, but he has gained a fair amount
of valuable experience while perambulat
ing about the precincts of old and modern
Omaha. A canny lad Is "Bill," but aa
men go not at all a bad sort. He takes
almost aa much, pride In the city and ita
development aa his namesake of Chicago
over did In his own achievements. In this
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Quaint Happenings in Every Day Life
Uvt Touches In Old Aae.
iKOOKLYN papers tell of a million
B
aire resident there who lives with
his wife in a handsome home.
They are both past the middle
age, but the happy couple retain
one custom which they established in
days when they were poor. The old
lady cuts the old gentleman's hair. Econ
omy of this kind at one time was a neces
sity with them and though that was a long
time ago the wife every two weeks says to
her lite partner: "Come, dear, it's time I
cut your hair." And while the scissors snip
they chat contentedly of times when they
Were young and struggling.
IJfe Saving by a Dos;.
A remarkable story of life saving by a dog
Is told at Innsbruck. Two persons were
ascending Mount Etlvo, which has an alti
tude of about 6,100 feet. Near the top a
dog attracted their attention by his plain
tive cries and bis obvious efforts to Induce
them to follow him. The two travelers
took the road Indicated by the dog. The
animal kept In front, and led them to a
narrow ravine, at the bottom of which they
found Herr Bugoot, a professor in the Lycea
of Lubeck, lying dangerously Injured by a
fall while searching for nilueraJoglcal speci
mens. Both legs were fractured. He Is
now lying in the hospital of Arco.
Plow of V. I. Swords.
A plow mode of swords used In the
American civil war has been placed In the
hall In Geneva, Switzerland, In which the
treaty was signed regulating the Indem
nities. The plow waa made In America
twenty-five years ago, but It Is only re
cently that It was presented to this city
for the purpose of having It placed in the
historical hall which saw the last treaty
signed.
The emblem of peace and war la com
posed of ten different blades, so arranged
together aa to make not only the working
part of tho plow, but also too handles. An
Inscription attached to tho wail of tho
Service
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FRED FIELDS.
respect ArmDur represents a large class of
old-timers who cannot separata themselves
from the Idea that the richness and ex
tenslveness of thla burg la part of their
own lives. No one can put up an uncon
tradicted "knock" on Omaha while such an
advocate Is in hearing. They simply will
not stand for the same.
Reculaxa of Long; Standlna.
"Al" Brown and "Jim" Tucker, who
stand with Carney at the Heoshaw, and
have so stood for many years, backed up
his reasoning with Instances along similar
historical hall tells the history of the plow,
which is the object of much curiosity from
visitors.
Kite Lifts Man Thirty Feet.
Prof. Alexander Graham Bell, who has
been experimenting for some time at his
laboratory at Iiolnn Bhreagh, Baddock,
Canada, with flying kites of the totrahedral
form of construction, succeeded last
Wednesday in getting his lateBt deslnned
kite, which he lias named the "Frost King,"
to lift a man named McDearmld, weighing
1C5 pounds, to a height of thirty feet and
supporting him there steadily. The "Frost
King" itself weighs sixty-one pounds and
carried a load comprising flying lines,
dansilng ropes and a rope ladder weighing
sixty-two pounds. Thus the total weight
was 288 pounds. The man clung to the fly
ing line as he was lifted into tha air.
Yoonntrr Kills Giant.
Mitchell Shadrlck of Columbia, Mo., a
giant, said to be seven feet In height, was
almost instantly killed Christmas night
four miles west of Columbia by an la-year-old
boy. Henry Jonas, who brought him
down with a stone no larger than a wal
nut, thrown from a distance of forty feet.
Shadrlck had struck at, a younger brother
ot Jonas and. It la claimed, picked up a
club with the Intention af assaulting the
latter. The lad's missile struck him be
hind the left ear. After running about in
a circle for several minutes he fell down
dead. No scar was found en hla body.
No coffin In Columbia was long enough
to contain the body of the victim and It
was found necessary to make one to order.
Joyful Christmas nlft.
Three years ago last September Mrs.
Washington A. Cunrdngham. wife of the
grocer at Majenlca, Ind., suddenly lost her
speech. All efforts of physicians and friends
proved unavailing and the family had set
tled down to the assumption that the
mother had lost her vocal rowers for good.
Not a word did she utter under any clrmm
stances. Her only child, a bright little fel-
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CLINT DEMOSS.
lines. Tucker has been on the Henshaw
beat longer than either of the others. Only
last May he disposed of a carriage that
had done service every day In the year,
with rare exceptions, for sixteen times
twelve months. These first class four
wheelers cost $1,100 today, so it is not every
year a new one can be purchased; and It la
very evident, too, that such a carriage
cannot be placed at the mercy of drunken
men Indiscriminately.
Brown is aecond to Carney in point of
years of service. He could. If he would,
spin a few yarns of quite Interesting pos-
low of 10 years, had greatly admired his
mother's singing and it was a loss to him
especially to miss her cheerful voice. Boy
like, forgetting the misery he was inflict
ing, he appealed to her again and again to
sing to him. Christmas day, at home with,
his mother, he demanded that she sing.
The mother opened her mouth to go
through the motions of singing, at which
the boy had often laughed. To her great
surprise and astonishment of the boy the
strains of "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" rang
out In the stillness of the country home.
The boy, overjoyed, ran to tell his father
and the day was the happiest Christmas of
that household, for the mother's voice had
returned.
Costly Helta-Ions Crown
Seventeen hours of religious services pre
ceded the crowning of the statue of "Tho
Virgin of the Pillar" In the Cathedral of
Saragossa.
Twenty-two altars were in use, services
being continuous at all of them, and at last
the archbishop advanced with due solemnity
and placed the crown upon the head of tho
statue, while a military band s'ntlonad out
side played the royal march and a saluto
was fired from the fort.
The ceremony was followed by a jollifica
tion and the performance of national dancea
In the market place.
The crown was presented by the queen
mother and ladies of the aristocracy of
Madrid and Is valued at 1 150.000. being moro
costly than some of the crowns worn by
kings.
A Great I'.i plosion.
The recent firing of sixteen and one-half
tens of nitroglycerin In Abouklr hay was a
frreat spectacle and considered one of tho
obJert lessons In the power of high
exploelves on recora. 'i ne rorca was so
great that the ocean was actually lifted
from Its bed. the water flung aloft In tre
mendous volume with such velocity that
the mass burst Into a gigantic waterspout,
the whole blossoming and changing into a
thousand cascade
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AL SMITH.
lbllitlea himself. But In their close
mouthed characteristics the old knights of
"the boot" are but typical of all the tribe
of real hackmen. They constitute one of
the half dozen or so guilds in a community
that cannot violate confidences. They are
paid for their work all right, as a rule,
but their customers must necessarily often
trust the drivers with secrets that In some
Instances would brew much trouble If
divulged. A hackman rarely volunteers
evidence, except It be to clear up a crime
or where a person's liberty Is at stake and
fair play demands that the facts be un
covered. One of tho Heal Characters.
Alfred Wallace, better known to the
hack users of Omaha, and of this section
of the west, as "Sex I," Is one of the noted
drivers of the city. His remarks at the
beginning of this article are but an Indi
cation of his somewhat unpolished but
direct way of reasoning. It is only, a few
months since a well known councilman
missed the last car to his section of tho
city and hired "Sex I" to draw him home.
Afterward the hackman, with the perennial
mile, found a t20 gold piece In his pocket.
Telling about it afterward, he said:
"Sex I to myself, ses I. there was no
double eagle in my kick before I pulled the
councilman out home. Hence, ses I, the'
councilman must have got a cross-eyed
blink at the shiner he staked me to. It
didn't feel no different to an ordinary
slmoleon In me mitt, but, ses I, the man
may need the money; so he gets' It, of
course. He acts right about It, but, ses I
to him, any other driver would have done
the same thing, sez I, being the circum
stances were as they were; and that's all
there Is to It. So the ongtong cordyale,
as we call it, was maintained, and that's
our object, srz I to the buys; and they
agreed likewise."
"Jim" Tucker Indorsed what Wallace
opined touching the gold piece, and "Tom"
Cronln, another night fog pilot, who cares
for the hack travelers who start from in
or about the Millard, also voted aye.
Well Known on Vnelr Stand.
Few patrons of the Iler Grand but know
Henry Corbett and Ernest Undorwood.
About the Thirteenth and Douglas corner
Fred Myers and Alex Russell have been
fixtures for so long that passers-by would
miss them If they failed to show up.
"Jack" PrleBt and "Johnny" are also to bo
found at that "stand."
"Bob" Drake Is known to the men on
the boot aa "Missouri," because he rather
likes to be shown. Fred Trutteman has
the pet name of "Sleepy Fred" among hla
Intimates when they get their Joshing
clothes on. He Is anything but sleepy
when a fare is In sight. Clint De Moss,
secretary of the union, may be casually
alluded to aa "Soldier," because of early
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tic up on that end of life Do Mo-a m.ht
now have lvn at least a dr. I -. rgeanl.
He has a good eye for i-ffoct and a j-T
a Rood horso that would have made him
an ideal cavalryman.
jlnrlU of, h fJo'-M.
The r.oau ltrumtn.ls of the local aggrega
tion of hHckmen-aml th.re are quite a
few who are more than passingly handsome-are
"Johnny" Di.gan (Kveiett) and
John H. ("IW Carver. As rxponi "ta of
the sartorial nrt these two men sport a
pulchritude which might win tho envy of
even an eastern congressman. "Dugan.
as Everett is best known, ho a pretty
turn of wit. not at nil dulled by the pos
session of a bnnk account. Carver has
been considered something of a mogul by
chance passers who have noticed him In
front of the Paxton, alert but quiet, well
dressed and readv. He is really the part,
too, for he owns a couple of fine rigs and
enjoys a good reputation as a steady going
chap who will discharge his duty expedi
tiously and well.
y Story Told by the Kids.
Ifemmn Rorsky and Ray Bishop, who
have their stand at the Poxton, are tha
"kids" of the local hackmen. Horsky was
one of the Jurors who tried Pat Crowe re
cently and Bishop Is an officer of the union.
Both are quite well broken and tractable
and in time hope to 1m admitted to the
Inner circle of yarn spinners among the
veterans. It Is said to have been one of
these boys that Bturted a story told on
Amos Bray, another relnsman. Bray, so the
story goes, was called to a private resi
dence to take a sick woman to the train.
He was keeping his eyes on his pair of high
steppers, and when ho heard the hack door
apparently close ho drove off. When he ar
rived at Ills destination he got down and
opened the door to let his fare out. Ho
found only two pillows. A feather would
have knocked Amos to the bad, and when
he got back to the house and found a won
dering woman waiting for an explanation
he wilted like a man hit with a plledrlver.
The other lads say Bray put up an excuso
that would have lulled even vinegary Xan
tlppe Into good humor. He never lays his
head on a pillow now without searching It.
He says It makes him light-headed to even
see a pillow casing on a clothesline.
Drivers nt tho Depct. '
"Joe" Buttley is the veteran of the depot
bunch. With his mates he has seen many a
chap come off the train "like a h 1-roartng
tiger," only to start home luter "tome 'nuff
f eat out'n yer hand." The depot drivers
havo seen, too, many ailing travelers un
loaded for the hospitals and have helped to
tenderly put thorn at ease in a carriage and
then have carefully driven them to tho
buildings where treatment of the Ills of life
Is the only specialty. Hospital calls are no
uncommon thing among the street hackmen.
Strong physically, with a ldYge vein of sen
timent and a kindly feeling for others in
distress, they never fall in satisfying those
who call them in such service.
Omaha's Back Equipment.
There are no hansoms in Omaha today;
nearly all are four-wheelers, with a few
coupes. The two-wheelers with the man
up top behind had quite a vogue here a
few years back. Jim Stevenson, the veU
?ran liveryman, put a large number on
he atreets, but after a time he sold tho
whole collection to a Boston party.
It Is the consensus of opinion among tho
hackmen that the development of the street
car service has had no very bad effect on
their business. "A man who wants a hack
will get one," sold Jim Tucker, and thoso
who heard the expression agree with Its
conclusion.
There are about two score hacks avail
able for street duty in Omaha, and about
twenty members of the union own their
carriages. II. O. Rockfellow owns ten of
the street hacks, which are handled by
hired drivers. The carriages of all own
ers do a good deal of double duty, with a
change of horses for the day and night
shifts.
Pioneer I n Ion Men.
The Omahavnockmen Bet the uoce for the
whole country In the matter of organiza
tion. It was In ISM that the local street
men got together in an organization for the
betterment of the business and for, mutual
protection. So successful did the effort
prove that It wss soon extended to other
cities and it is now coextensive with the
country. The I luck and Cab Drivers'
Union of America Is affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor and Is an
Important organization. At present tho
local union has a membership of about
forty. Including every man engaged In the
business in Omaha. The officers of tho
local union are:
President Al Smith.
Vice President-Joseph, Buttley.
Secretary Ray Bishop.
Treasurer-John W. Everett.
Recording- Secretary Clint Do Moss.
Onm mammal:
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