The Omaha Sunday Bee
PART III.
I1ALF-T0IIE SECTIOil
PACES 1 TO 4.
Largest Circulation
THE OMAHA DEE
Best t. West
VOL. XXXVII NO. 33.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MOHNINO, FEBKUAKY 1(1, 1908.
SINGLK COPY F1VK CENTS.
MICHAEL F. DEMPSEY WHO HAS LONG SERVED OMAHANS
Twenty-two Years of Continuous Service on the Local Police Force Finds Him Active and Vigorous and at. His Post of Duty Every Day in the Year and Full of Vigilant Life
OVER twenty-two years of continuous active service on the
police department of tbe city of Omaha, during which
time he has. In his thoroughly capable manner, performed
the duties devolving upon him In every capacity, from
patrolman to acting captain, is the proud record of genial
Sergeant Michael F. Dempsey, the oldest man on the force from the
- point of continuous service, and who at present holds the position of
pawn shop detective with twenty-five pawn shop, twenty-six second
hand stores and numerous Junk houses to round up every day In
search of missing and stolen articles which are reported to the police.
Mr. Dempsey was born nearly fifty years ago at Plttstown, Pa.,
and, as his name indicates, is of Irish descent. After leaving school
' Dfnipsey spent several years In the coal mines of Pennsylvania
building up a physique which stood him In good stead in buffeting
the rigorous weather and arresting law-breakers years after, while
patrollng a beat and keeping peace among the citizens of the Gate
City of the west. Coming to Omaha In 1879, Dempsey was not en
amored with the prospects of the town at fhat time and decided to
try his hand at farming in Iowa. Continuous reports reaching him
of the rapid growth of the active, hustling city he had left, Dempsey
returned a few years later and worked In various capacities until his
" appointment on the police force, October 2!, 1885, by Mayor James
K. itoyd. Defore the Inauguration of the present metropolitan police
system for Omaha there was no chief of police and all policemen
were appointed by the mayor. At the time of Dempsey's appoint
ment, the twenty-two men who were on the department were under
charge of Marshal Tom Cunimlngs, who is well remembered by many
of tbe residents of the city. '
Troublous Times for "Coppers"
In those good old, rare old, halcyon days of cedar block pave
ment, horse cars and muddy walks Omaha was a wide-open town,
with the principal business district of the city being bounded by
Douglas street on the north and Thirteenth street on the west, while
Tenth street was one of the main business streets. The patrol beats
were considerably longer then than they are under the present sys
tem, and policemen then had not the convenience of calling for the
patrol wagon from the patrol box, because there were no patrol
ngons end no boxes, and the officer was obliged to walk his prisoner
In .to the city jail, which at that time was located in the old city hall
building, which stood on the northwest corner of Sixteenth and Far
nani streets, the site now occupied by the United States National
bank building. It was an easy task for a "copper" to place a person
under arrest, but it was exceedingly difficult to land one or more bel
ligerent prisoners behind the bars of the city Jail, sometimes one or
two miles away, and retain the dignity of the "coppers" of the present
day, who have only to walk their prisoners to a nearby patrol box or
telephone and call the patrol wagon.
"The metropolitan police system was established July 28, 1887
v.l!h Webber S. Seavey as chief of police. Dempsey was at this time
appelated patrolman under the new system. In recognition of his
services he was appointed on the detective force the following year,
and for thirteen years he made an enviable record in the detection
and nrrest of several notorious criminals of national reputation,
irany of whom are still serving sentences. April 1, 1901, he was.
promoted to partol sergeant, performing faithfully the duties of that
office until his appointment to his present position, in October, 1900.
Veterans of the Force
Three men on the police department now, Captain Mostyn, Ser
geants SigTvart and Whalen. were on the department , previous to
Dempsey'B appointment,' but they, from business or other reasons,
left the service for various periods, leaving Dempsey the oldest men
ber for continuous service. Indicative of his popularity and effi
ciency, he has given the utmost satisfaction to the heads of the de
partment from the regime of Marshal Cummings, through the terms
of Seavey, White, Slgwart. Gallagher and Donahue, the various
chiefs under whom he .has served. Attesting to his efficiency. It
mny be remarked that during the month of January Just passed
every article reported stolen during the month, either by burglars
or Detty. thieves, was recovered and returned to the owner. Al
though he always has a cordial greeting for friends, Sergeant Demp
sey is of a very modest disposition, and almost any evening can be
found at his cozy little home. 1608 North Thirty-fourth street, with
his wife and their two neices, whom they have raised since' early
childhood.
Reminiscences of his experiences during his long service on the
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MICHAEL F. DEMPSEY.
department would, if put in printed form, All a volumo of several
hundred pages containing interesting tales of long vigils in cold and
rainy weather, waiting for the appearance of burglars who were ex
pected to ransack a residence or to blow a safe, and again some chap
ter of the book might tell of experiences with law-breakers who had
been captured in other states and whom Dempsey had gone after, to
return them to Nebraska to stand trial for their crimes; or many
pages might be written of the humorous episodes in connection with
the cases upon which he has been detailed. Sergeant Dempsey Is
very reticent in speaking of his own exploits, but as an illustration
his ingenuity in handling cases which require quick thinking, the fol
lowing story Is told of him and Captain Dunn, who was paired with
Dempsey several years ago, about the time Kelly's army of variegated
self-styled legislators paB3ed through Omaha and camped on the
other side of the river:
Hundreds of the idle curious mingled with the cohorts of the
Ingenious Kelly and altogether about 1,500 gathered in the evening
about 9 o'clock at the west end of the Douglas street bridge. Owing
to the orders of local authorities that the army could not camp In
tho city limits, the antagonism of that multitude of erstwhile
"bolicmlans" was aroused, and when the west end of the bridge was
reached it was evident that trouble wus brewing, and It once started
the small force of police who were detailed to see that the "army"
crossed the river could do but litt'e to stop It. Detectives Dunn and
Dempsey were detailed at the east end of the bridge and. seeing that
trouble might break out at any minute, taey sneaked down the alley
between Douglas and Dodge streets, east of Ninth, and emptied their
revolvers at the twinkling stars, and then sauntered Into the rear
end of a nearby saloon and stood by the stove. To the muttering
multitude, congregated less than a block away, the reverberating
echou of those dozen shots seemed to come from nil directions and
tho crowd dispersed as If by magic, some going one way and some
another In an effort to locate where the fusilade had taken place,
and one policeman ran down the alley and, jumping off Into a yard
some feet below the level of the alley, lit in a garbage barrel, much
to his discomfiture. Suffice it to say, that the ruse of Dunn and
Dempsey was successful and the rear guard of the "army" was
marched across the river without further trouble.
Incidents of the Servics
At another time, while Cox was chief of detectives, it was ru
mored that a full-fledged gambling house was bein conducted in an
upstairs apartment on North Sixteenth street, which was supposed
to be occupied by a man and his family. Taking Savago and Demp
Bey with him, Cox hied himself to the supposed den, where he ex
pected to mr.ko a great haul. Sneaking upstairs, the trio waited
outside a few minutes, and then hearing someone inside pouring a
bucket of hard coal into a stove, Cox exclaimed, "A roulette wheel,
by all that's holy," and, backing away a few feet, the chief of detec
tives dove at the door, breaking it off the hinges and landing himself
on all fours In the middle of the room and frightening the inmates,
two women, into hysterics. Cox demanded to know where the
roulette wheel was located, but It took the united efforts of Dempsey
and Savage to convince him of his error. Later it was learned that
the husband of the woman had been In the habit of conducting a
"quiet game" In a downtown hotel.
Following the tragic death of Patrol Conductor Dan Tledman
June 9, 1897, Who was shot by ono of three burglars who hud rifled
a saloon in the early hours of the morning at Thirtieth and Spauld
Ing streets, Dempsey and Savage were the recipients of many Jests!
owing to the following occurrence, of which they were the principals
under orders of then Chief of Detectives Hemming. Tledman had
been killed by a load" of buckbhot fired Trom a shotgun. Suspect
after suspect was arrested in connection with the case, and finally
the detectives arrested men they believed were the parties who had
killed Tledman and also seriously wounded Officer Glover. The
shotgun with which the shooting had been done could not be found,
and as the burglars had used a horse and buggy to make thoir escape
and the suspects under arrest had in their possession such a horse
and buggy, a brilliant thought came to Hemming. Calling Detective
Henry Dunn into his private office, Hemming explained that if the
horse were hitched up and allowed to take his own course he would
go to the place where the burglars had hidden the shotgun, If they had
burled it anywhere. Seeing the fruitlessness of such a quest, Dunn
explained that neither he or Donahue knew anything relative to the
harnessing of a horse, but volunteered the Information that Dempsey
and Savage were two real broncho busters. The chief of detectives
then detailed the latter couple on the case, much to their chagrin,
but under orders they went out and hllci.ed up the horse and let
him have loose rein. The animal immediately picked out a course
to the nearest creek, and started to drink and refused to move, even
after having filled himself with water. He failed to lead the detec
tives to the hidden gun and it was afterward Intimated thnt tho horse
Was blind.
Laughs at the Passing Jokes
, Mr. Dempsey still laughs heartily at the parts he played in many
a humorous episode in which he was often the butt of a Joke, and
which at the time seemed serious enough. Despite his fifty ycarB,
he is apparently in i-e prime of life and good for many more years
of efficient service on the department, where he has spent the best
years of his life, helping in his useful way to build up the standard
of the Omaha police department from a small squad of twenty-two
men to its present excellent condition.
t ,
Daily Performance During a Session of the House of Representatives
-w "w -rASHINGTON, Feb. 1. To be a almost any mornine befor th ,
I sallery god in the house of
VJ representatives Is to have a
free seat at a unique perfor
mance. In that particular
wing of the national capitol they make more
laws and do It with fewer symptoms of law
making than anywhere else in the world.
The performance is scheduled lo begin
at noon, but most spectators like to be on
hand before that time. Early birds straggle
In Boon after 11, take up claims in tfce front
row and settle down to contemplation of the
sr tried ranks of seats below them.
At that time most half a dozen of those
scats are occupied. One by one a corporal's
guard of members strolls 4ji. The place is .
quiet.
The puges in their two corners are gos
siping In the subdued tones of which later
they srein to have a monopoly. The few
mrmbers read The morning paper or work on
documents, blandly unconscious that a young
man a few seats off is making rapid sketches
of them for use in caricature.
Half past 11 comes. - So do more con
grtbtmen. So do other folks who have a
pass which admits them to the floor when
tho house Is not in session. Reporters are
getting expressions of opinion from chairmen
of committees. Even up In the gallery one
hears the chairman's, "Now, my boys!" And
ono knows that the "boys" are pressing him
too hard.
Odd figures In hats of the long ago and
overcoats of the never was, at least in New
York, wander down the aisles like so many
lost causes. They are constituents from
back home. Their representatives have sent
them passes' to the floor,' good for one day.
Tbe passes are not good after 11:45 and the
representatives are careful not to arrive before-
that hour.
At precisely 11:45 one of the clerks for
mally announces tbe time and requests all
persons not having the privilege of the floor
to leave. Of course, they don't leave Imme
diately. Dut at five minutes to II any loi
terers are hustled out by house officials, who
go up the aisles Baying, "Time's up! Time's
up!
aimost any morning before the bouse is
cleared. They are relatives or friends of the
representatives.
By the time the clock is ready to join
hands at 12 there is a fair sprinkling of
members. Congressmen are a ' demonstra
tive lot. Probably they form the habit while
they are campaigning. Anyhow, they are
giyen to shaking hands with one another,
to shaking two hands, to putting an arm
around a colleague's shoulders, to poking
him lii the ribs, to tapping him on the knee.
At precisely 12 o'clock Uncle Joe comes
in at the right of the speaker's desk, goes up
th- steps, lays his cigar down at his left with
the lighted end carefully adjusted so as not
to scorch the white marble! He doesn't al
ways bring one Into the house with him.
Evn when he does bring one in he never
smokes It within the sacred precincts.
Some of the members are not so particu
lar, but those who smoke at all, do it in as
unobtrusive a way as they can manage, puffs
few, far between and almost smokeless.
There is some sort of a rule against smoking
on the floor during a session, but it's a
case of "If we don't care, whose business is
It, anyway?"
As soon as Uncle Joe Is at his post and
he is as punctual aa the clock itself the
blind chaplain, Rev. Mr. Couden, prays. He
, dees it as slowly as If he felt his way through
speech as well as through the material world.
Everybody in the house, from the speaker
to the smallest red-headed boy In the pages'
coiner, Jew or Gentile, orthodox or atheist,
stands during the prayer. The general atti
tude is respectful, but a Bharp glance shows
that many heads are not bowed and that
some of the members are frankly scanning
tho galleries.
"Amen!"
The Instant the word is pronounced hub
bub sets in. The speaker's high voice is
hctrd soinewhre in the medley of sound
, and the clerk begins to read the Journal.
No one pays the slightest attention. Why
should anyone? Everybody knows it all,
anyway. The time Is devoted to a grand
powwow of visiting, consulting, story-telling,
planning ana dickering. Late comers
A few women may be seen on the floor rive. Page fly around. Its hoorah. boys,
By this time the important members are
prttty sure to be In their seats, or in some
body else's seat. For It is by no means
. safe to try to spot them by the places they
occupy half the time. If you see a man un
lock a desk and get out his papers you can
be sure he belongs In that seat. Otherwise
there's no telling.
Colonel Peto Hepburn is aB little given
to straying from his ain swivel chair as any
man in the house. There he sits and rooks
and rocks, back and forth, back and forth,
watching, listening, studying.
Representative Cole of Ohio ought to be
able to make a good bit if ha could rent out
his seat. It is next to Hepburn's and some
body is always dropping into it for a hcurt
to heart talk with Colonel Pete.
You can go to any session of the house
and be reasonably certain of seeing the men
whose names are known throughout the
country They are not the ones whose
places are vacant day after day. The big
wblte head of Payne is mighty sure to be a
landmark at the seat he occupies, rinht In
front of Dalzell, who can also be counted on
to be there for almost every session.
Mr. Payne perambulates around more or
less, his hands in his trousers pockets,
though how he finds those pockets is a prob
lem not to be appreciated by anyone who ha9
not seen the figure of the republican leader.
Finding those pockets must be a sort of pen
insular campaign, with the pockets ou the
other side of the peninsula.
Across the aUle from Payne sits General
Keifer of Ohio, who was himself speaker of
the house once. His chief claim to notice at
present is the fact that he wears a two-tlned
coat In the daytime. It is not a strictly
dress coat, for it Is buttoned, what there Is
of it. snugly across the general's ample
frcnt. But it is so unlike anything else in
the house array of garuents that Kelfer's
comings and goings, which are numerous, are
always followed with rapt attention by the
galleries.
Mr. Mann of Illinois sits near the Payne
group; that is, he occasionally sits. He has
an opinion about most things that come be
fore the house, and if he Isn't already pro
vided with one he can ask some questions
aad fix himself out with material on which
to form an opinion. This uets him on his
feet often enough to keep his knees from
going stiff. ,
Across the aisle, right ou the democratic
frontier, John Sharp Williams used to be.
It was mighty seldom that Williams wus not
In his place when the houm opened. He
watched everything closely, leaning forward
on his desk, his hand behind his ear to catch
everything said by the speaker. His enemy,
De Armond, Is a close attendant, too.
No wonder Williams had to make a
sounding board of his hand. Tho chief dif
ference between the nolsu In the house of
representatives and tho noiwe in a sawmill
is the fact thnt the mill makes its noiso be
cause it la BHwhig wood and the house
doesn't. One man, even thoush he talks at
the top of his voice, N no match for a eotiplo
of hundred, swapping jokes and arguments
in a conversational tone all aioja.l hlui.
One source of noiw haa been done away
with of recent years. Formerly the pages
in the houie sat on the bipa of the speaker's
platform, as they still do in the senate, and
a member summoned one by clapping his
hends sharply.
Strangers in the galleries used to be
startled, tor instance, by an apparent burst
of applause as soon aa the c-h.iplaiu's prayer
was finished. It vaa not reaily a tribute to
the reverend gentleman, but a call for pages.
As the house grew larger and ever noisier
till j was done away with, 'electric push but
tons were attached to the desks and the
pages were banished to tho cloaji room,
where tho annunciator wa3 installed.
This caused a lo't of delay, bo the pages
were brought back to tho main hall and
placed In two corners where noiseless annun
ciators are in operation. When a button is
pre ssed t a desk the corresponding number
diBk on th." p.m"nc:lator ti.rn a reddish
brown. The color gradually fades, taking
about thirty seconds to die out entirely. So
there Is an end to hand-clapping except for
real applause.
The representatives are fairly generous
with this. It Is a matter of democratic duty
to applaud any member of tbe minority who
gives the slightest excuse for It. That side
of the house always seems to be saying:
"Though we shout in vain, yet will we
shout!" When a vote Is taken and there is
an Indifferent mumble of ayes from the re
publican side and a violent explosion of noes
from the-democrats, the gallery novice is
surpiised to hear Uncle Joe's calm, singsong:
"The ayes Beem to have it. The ayes
have it."
But when the novice has seen the division
of the house upon call after a few of these
votes has obuerved tho number of repub
licans which it took to make that "number oil
aye:; and has seen that volume of noe s peter
out to astonishing thinners he has more con
fici. lieu in the speaker's ability to size up a
vt te.'
it is an interesting thing, by the way. to
seo tho speaker count a rising vote. He
turns his savel around, gripping It by its
white n;arble head and using the foot-long ,
slender wooden handle as a pointer. With'
his head forward, his eyes keen, his lips
Dirving, he indicates each man with a pecu
liar motion of the gavel so decided and so
exact that very member must know by
wntchiog that handle whether he is counted
or not. His manner of using the gavel to
nmlnialn order is peculiar to him. too. He Is
left-handed, so that It is almost Invariably
with that hand he grasps the handle, at its
extremity, and rather loosely.
He stands a great deal when presiding,
and as he lifts the gavel above his head it
.as a good, long drop to the green baize
cover of his desk. It falls with a slow bang
laDg banii. And when it does fall it
produces an Immediate effect
When the house sits as ,a committee of
the whole, with somebody else In the speak
er's chair, it is amusing to watch the strug
gles t'of certain temporary chairmen. There
is one who begins banging the desk before he
is fairly seated, for he, like most of the tem
porary chairmen, sits down to the work that
Uncle Joe stands up to.
Hu bangs and then he calls for order.'and
then he bangs some more. Then he scolds
and pounds, singly and together. And with
all the hullabaloo he makes ho can't get as
much order aa the speaker does with three
of those deliberate left-handers.
But it keeps Uncle Joe's good left arm
pretty busy. The top of the speaker's great
marble desk, at least about four or five feet
of the center of it, Is covered with a pine
board, which, in turn, is covered with green
baize. That board is already being pounded
to pieces.
If you should run your hand over the
worn snots on the baize which show where
the gavel comes down you would feel not
only the dents In the wood underneath, but
that It Is actually now in great slivers. Be
fore the end of the session it will bo a candl-"
date for the sawdust pile. Hardwood was
tried formerly Instead of pine, but it hurt
the speaker's hand too much and pine has
been used ever since.
There Is a worn spot on the baize at the
right end of the desk where the temporary
chairmen do their pounding and the wood
there is yielding to their blows. It Is less
refractory than the house Itself.
There Is no detail which Indicates more
vividly the difference between senate and
house manners than this very matter of
gavel wielding. In the senate that imple
ment has no handle at all. It Is a mere
head, which the vice president holds in his
hand and with which he taps taps, mind
you on bis desk. If the speaker tapped
on the house desk the gods might laugh, gal
lery and other varieties. Nobody else would
know anything about it.
There is another interesting detail about
the speaker's equipment. His chair runs on
a track. Each rail is formed by two parallel
pieces of brass slightly separated. The ends
of the chair legs fit Into these spaces, two
running on one track, two on the other. As
Uncle Joe is up and down fifty times a day
while presiding, this sliding track is very
convenient.
Among the things which always amuse
tho gallery god.i is the spectac le of a rep
resentative going through oil the motions of
addressing the house, while the house shows
not the slightest consciousness that it is be
ing addressed. The orator hiniBelf doesn't
scm to mind.
He Is In reality not talking to the houar
(Continued on Page Four.)
