Omaha Sunday Bee
PART III.
hjilf-to::e sectioii
fAQK 1 TO 4.
Largest Circulation
THE OMAHA OEE
Best IT. West
VOL. XXXVII NO. 3G.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 2.1, 1908.
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
The
THOMAS SWOBE SOLDIER AND PIONEER OF NEBRASKA
Busy Life that Followed When a Tanner Boy Ban Away from Homo Away Back In 1861 to Take a Muskfet Under Grant and Help Win Back the South to Old Glory. v
IN PEACE and In war Major Thomas Swobe baa distinguished
himself during his life. Activity has been the keynote of his
career. He Is a veteran of two wars, the civil and the Spanish
Amcrlcan. He la a pioneer of two cities, Omaha and South
Omaha. He has been as powerful a factor in building up the
country In times of peace as he has been In fighting for it in times
of war.
On March 17 of this year he will retire from the army. On that
day he will have reached the age limit sixty-four years. -He was
born March 17, 1844, an Ideal date for an Irishman, though Major
.Swobe is not an Irishman. His birthplace, was Johnstown, Fulton
county. New York. There he lived until his fourteenth year, when
Ms parents removed westward and settled In Michigan. Three years
late:, when the boy was 17 years old, the event which had cast Its
shadow before for several years occurred. The country was rent
nsurder, brothers took up arms against each other, the great rebel
lion had begun. When he first read in a newspaper of the attack
on Tort Sumter his blood, like that of a million others, was fired.
He wss Inspired with patriotism. He urged his father to allow him
to brat his plowshare Into a sword and to enlist in the army. But
Ms i;arei!ts pointed out with strong argument and with still stronger
1 a;.l the advantages of a pastoral life compared with the more
Mlt:ng bi:t more dangerous career of the battlefield. The busy
sensor, on the farm was opening and Thomas was kept sufficiently
mplo; ed during the spring and summer to do more than think of
Elory.
In the fall, however, he slipped the parental leash and pre
sent d Mmpflf at a recruiting station In the town of Nlles, Mich. Ho
vrs nrt yet 18 years old, but he managed to persuade the officer to.
t ' r. Mm and he became a private in Company E, Twelfth Michigan
In'rt try, on October 16, 1861. He was promoted to be a corporal on
December 1 0 of the same year. His regiment was ordered to the
thrctT of war on March 6, 1862, going to St. Ixiuls, Mo., where It
was cttaf-l-.rd to the First brigade, Sixth division, Army of the
TennPFscc. 'The regiment was transferred to the First brigade, First
dlvlf Ion, Army of : the Tennessee, in June, and later to the First
brigade, Flpventh division, left wing. Thirteenth corps. District of
Taokscn, Department of the Tennessee. '
Baptized in Fire at Shiloh
t
The- young boy received his first experience in real war in a
rigorous srl.ool, the battle of Shiloh, that terrible two days' slaugh
ter. Ilia reg'ment had Joined the Army of the Tennessee only a few
days before at Savannah, Tenn. General Grant was in command
of this army, consisting of about 40,000 men. He was awaiting
General Buell, commanding the Army of the Ohio, to come up, and
Urn. the plan was, to advance to Corinth, where Johnston was
er trenched. But Johnston made a move to frustrate these plans. "
Viih 4 0,000 men he marched out from Corinth on April 3 and ad
veined (upon Grant's position on the river, forcing the fight of April
6. Corporal Swobe was In the thick of this throughout that first
da's conflict, which resulted In a victory for the confederate army.
In the evening of that day the confederates had captured all of
Grant's positions along the river with' the exception of one. During
the night pencral Buell arrived with his army and crossed the river
under the protection of this one position still held by the union
army. The second day brought victory to the union forces and the
confederates were driven back toward Corinth. Johnston was killed
in this battle and General Beauregard was In command of the re
treating rebels. "'-,. '
"General Grant was" the calmest man I ever saw even on the
field of a great battle," says Major Swobe. "It did not seem to
worry him that his army was being driven back. He sat on a bill
in his disreputable old uniform, which was, I think, that of a private.
He had a cigar In his mouth all the time and he wore a pair of
thread Kloves. He occupied himself in whittling twigs, picking up
one after the other, whittling them to a Ipoint or cutting them off
sqi pre. He could not have been more calm and unconcerned If be
bad been sitting in a corner grocery store In a village on a drowsy
rummer afternoon, instead of being the general In command of an
army of 40,000 men fighting below him."
The combined union forces followed the retreating rebels
toward Corinth and laid siege to that stronghold, which surrendered.
The conduct of the young corporal In his maiden battles had
come to the notice of his superior officers. A reward came quickly,
hen, on July 6, 1862, he was made a sergeant His regiment moved
to Bethel, Tenn., and thence on to Jackson, where It remained on
luty until August. Then It moved to Bolivar, Tenn., being attached
to the Sixteenth corps of the Army of the Tennessee.
Y
Pap Price Makes Trouble i
General Sterling Price, with a large force of confederates, had
occupied Iuka, a small village on the Memphis & Charleston railway.
General Rosencrans wanted it and Swobe's regiment helped to get
it In the battle of Iuka on September'l9 and 20. They were also In
the battle of Hatchie river on October 6, That winter the regiment
did guard duty on the Mississippi Ceral railroad, with head
quarters at Middlesburg, Tenn. The winter's inactivity was modified '
by the attack on'Mlddleburg on December 24 by 8,000 confederates
under Van Dorn. The town was garrisoned only by the Twelfth
Michigan, which successfully defended its position. General Grant
himself took cognizance of this in a general order, part of which
was as follows: "The general commanding the post of Bolivar has
to thank the defenders of Mlddleburg thai a most determined and
apparently overpowering effort of the enemy was defeated by their
valor and fortitude."
In the summer of 1863 the regiment was moved to Memphis,
Tenn., and thence to Vicksburg, Miss., participating In the expedition
to fataria on June 3 to 6. The regiment participated in the fierce
fighting that attended the siege of Vicksburg and was present when
it was surrendered on July 4. The regiment was ordered to Helena,
Ark., on July 27 and moved thence to Clarendon and then to Duvall's
Bluff. It accompanied General Steele on the"' Arkansas expedition
which culminated In the capture of Little Rock on September 10.
There the regiment remained on duty during the winter. In January
Sergeant Swobe was on veteran furlough until March.
The regiment was on duty at Little Rock, Duvall's Bluff and
various other points in Arkansas guarding railroads and on provost
guard and fatigue duty until February, 186S. On December 20, 1864,
the sergeant received bis Hrst commission, being made second lieu
tenant. He received a first lieutenant' commission on April 12,
1865. He was then detached from the regiment and assigned to
duty as assistant quartermaster on the staff of General Graves, com-,
mandlng the First brigade. Second division. Seventh corps, Depart
ment of Arkansas. He was present at the surrender of General
Fagan and his forces at Washington, Ark., on June 22. He was
detached as post commissary at Washington, Ark.. June 22 to Oc
tober 23, 1865, and as commissary on the staff of General Dwfght
May, commanding the District of Ouachita, Department of Arkansas,
until December. IJe was in charge of the cotton bureau from De
cember, 1865. to February. 1866.
Into Business Life
He was mustered out and honorably discharged from the service
on February 15, 1866. The warlike Mars having now given way to
Vulcan and the gods of Industry, the eagle having flown away and
left the dove In possession of the country, the warring brothers
having made peace. Lieutenant Swobe quickly beat back his sword
again Into a plowshare or a pruning hook or some such Instrument
of peace and progress. He returned to his home In Michigan. He
was a young man, with hlc way to make. He determined to push
Into the west, as hla ancestors had done, and he chose Omaha as
his home, coming here In August. ?866. The plowshare was good
enough during the farming season, but in a new country In the fall
It was somewhat out of place. So he beat It Into a pen and took a
poalUoa as deputy clerk under rrank Murphy, who was county clerk
t
jr ' '' .
COLONEL THOMAS SWOBE, U. S. A. (Ret)
at that time. He made friends and was something of a politician.
So he succeeded to his chiefs place and was elected county clerk in
1869. At the expiration of his two years' term he engaged in the
real estate and abstract business He still continued In politics and
was elected councilman in 1872, serving on the council of which
John M. Thurston was a member. He was re-elected to the council
In 1874.
Omaha was beginning to show its strength and to give some
indication of Its future. It was the eastern terminus of the Union
Pacific road and the western terminus of other roads which would
eventually build westward from here. It had growing businesses
and promising infant industries. Mr. Swobe was quick to recognize
the possibilities of the town and he Invested in its property and
enterprises with a free hand. He engaged in the hardware business
with Milton Rogers. In 1882 he built the Millard hotel In conjunc
tion with J. H. Millard, Ezra Millard, Samuel Shears and J. E.
Markel. He bought out the interest of the others in 1890 and
became sole manager of the hostlery. Later he was associated with
J. E. Markel in the railway hotel and restaurant business. They built
up a vast and very prosperous business.
He was a pioneer Investor in South Omaha. When the present
site of the Magic City was nothing but prairie he had faith In it
and he was associated with other Omaha men In the conception and
development of the city and the stock yards. He was one of the
Incorporators of the Union Stock Yards company and a member of
Its board of directors. Later he was one of the Incorporstors of the
South Omaha Iand company and wns one of the men to whom the
trust deed of the 1,875 acres on which the city now stands was
made out. Others among these mere W. A. Paxton, P. E. Her, J. A.
McShano, Charles F. Manderson and J. M. Woolworth.
He was one of tho reorganises of the Omaha Driving Park
association in 1S90 and a member of the board of directors. He
wss a member of the Real Kxtate Owners' association, organized In
1891.
War Finds Him Ready
In 1898 the dove of peace which bad dwelt In the landfor more
than thirty years again winged its flight and gave place to the eagle
of war. Once more Thomas' Swobe transformed hliplowBhare into a
sword and offered his services to his country. Those services were
accepted and he was appointed captain and assistant quartermaster,
United States volunteers. May 28, 1898. He accepted and qualified
on June 10. This time his country needed him on the other side
of the world. Dewey's squadron had annihilated the vessels of the
Spaniards In Manila bay. but Uncle Sam's blue coats were in the
thick of the fight to gain possession of the Philippine islands. Also
there was fighting on the Inlaid of Cuba, near at hand. Captain
Swobe was ordered to Tampa, Fla., to equip the siege artillery
under General John I. Rogers, chief of artillery.
After the surrender of the Spanish army in Cuba he was
ordered to Moutauk Point to take charge of the shipment of troops
from that place. He was subsequently mentioned especially In the
report of the chief quartermaster at Moutauk Point for efficient
services connected with his duty an J was recommended for promo
tion and for transfer Into the regular establishment. From this
time on he was to do Important service upon the sea in the business
of transporting Uncle Sam's soldiers from home to the new Island
Interests. He was assigned to duty as transport quartermaster on
the transport City of Berlin (now the Meade) and continued in that
position until August 26,"t899, making fourteen trips between Now
York and Porto Rico and Cuba. , '
Around the World Again
He was then ordered to the other side of the world on an im
portant mission. He went to Tacoma, Wash., and becamo quarter
master of the chartered transport Post Albert, sailing for Manila
on September 3 with a cargo of mules, horses and army supplies
by way of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and Kobe, Japan. Tho transport
arrived at Manila on October 15 with 512 animals in good condition
out of 516 taken from Tacoma. After delivering a part of the cargo
at Hollo and Cebu be returned to Manila, where hu was ordered to
report to Oeneral Bates at Jolo for duty. He was assigned on No
vember 28, 1899, as quartermaster of tho Department of Mindanao
and Jolo, with headquarters at Zamboanga, Mindanao. He served
as chief quartermaster of this department until mustered out of the
volunteer service on June 30, 1901. He then returned to the United
States and was appointed captain and quartermaster. United 8tates
army, to rank from February 1, 1901. On November 18 of the same
year he was ordered to New York to take charge of the United
States army transport "Crook" as transport quartermaster, and took
it to Manila by way of the Suez canal with a cargo and troops, arriv
ing In Manila on February 3, 1902. After distributing the troops-at
different points In the Philippines and picking up troops for the
states he was ordered to San Francisco with the transport Crook,
arriving there on April 2, 1902.
At bis own request he was then relieved from the transport
service and ordered to Sheridan, Wyo., as constructing quarter
master at Fort Mackenzie, Wyo., where he served in that capacity
until October. 1, 1904. He was then ordered to report to the com
manding officer, Department of the Missouri, for assignment to duty
as assistant to the chief quartermaster in charge of the government
depot He was promoted to be major and quartermaster on February
16, 1907.
Major Swobe has been granted a month's leave of absence, be
ginning February 17 and expiring March 17, when he will be re
tired from service under the age limit as lieutenant colonel. He
left last Monday for California to spend the month visiting with his
son.
Major Swobe married Miss Alzlne Scott In Omaha and they
have two sons, Edwin T. Swobe of Omaha, engaged in the Insurance
business, and Dwlgh Swobe of San Francisco, traffic manager of the
ML Cloud River and Railroad company of California.
Scientific Study of Light and Heat Reflected by Sun
(An Extract from "Po&aTar Astronomy." by Flam
marlon and Gore.)
ALREADY the star of Venus, Chasca, gives
the signal of morning. Scarcely do
her silvery fires sparkle on the horizon,
when a gentle murmuring is heard
round the temple. Soon the azure of
the'' sky pales toward the east, waves of purple and
gold Inundate the celestial plains. The watchful
eye of the Indians observe its gradations and
their emotion increases with each new tint. Sud
denly the light rushes In great waves from the
horizon; the star which sheds it rises in the sky;
the temple opens and the pontiff, in the midst of
the Incas and a choir or eacred virgins, sings the
solemn hymn, which at the same Instant is re
peated by thousands of voices from mountain to
mountain."
Thus writes Marmontel when describing the
festival of the Sun the god worsh! ,d by primi
tive nations. And at the return of the equinox
the rising of the sun, the god of day, the king of
light was saluted by the Incas from the heighths
of their cyclopean terraces. The same adoration,
the same worship, Is met with among all the an
cient peoples. Without yet taking into account
the real size and the incomparable importance of
the dazzling star, they already knew that he is the
father of terrestial nature; they knew that it is his
heat which supports life; they knew that It Is he
who makes the trees In the forest to grow, the
stream to flow In the valley, the flowers of the
meadow to bloom, the bird to sing in the wood,
the cereals and the vines to ripen; and they hailed
him their father, their friend and their protector.
Modern science has not only confirmed, but in
creased tenfold, a hundredfold, the ancient conjec
tures. The sun's light heat and power are as
much above the ancient ideas aa the poetry of na
ture is above our Interpretation. No light created
by human Industry can compare with his. Inter
posed before his disc, the brilliant electric light
appears black. The highest temperatures of our
furnaces, that of the melting of gold, of silver, of
platinum, of Iron, are but ice compared with the
solar heat The astronomers of the school of
Pythagoras, who thought they gave a grand Idea
of the day star by estimating Its distance at 44,740
miles and Its diameter at 384 miles, were as far
from the reality as the ant who believed Itself the
size of a horse. And yet to estimate the sun as
the alze of the Peloponnesus was then such bold
ness In the eyes of the classical conservatives and
the teaching doctors that for having asserted this
beginning of truth the phllospher Anaxagoras was
outrageously persecuted and condemned to death
a sentence commuted to a degree of exile on the
petition of Pericles! The trial of Galileo was,
later on, a repetition of that of Anaxagoras.
Photometric measures of the solar light show
that it is equivalent to 1,575,000,000,000.000,
000,000 millions of wax candles, or to 157,500,
000,000,000.000,000 millions of carcel lamps, sup
posing that one carcel lamp Is equal to ten can
dles, or to 15,760,000,000,000,000,000 of gas
burners, each equivalent to ten carcel lamps. At
the surface of the day star the Intensity of the
light exceeds by 6.300 times that of the incan
descent metal melted in a Bessemer converter,
14 6 times that of calcium and four times that of
the electric light.
The luminous and calorific influence which we
receive from the star Of day being a fact of con
stant and universal observation, the question
which Is presented to us is, not to ask whether
this influence Is real, but to determine the In
tensity of a cause which at such a dUtance can
still produce such effects. But what are our tem
peratures, which, after all, proceed from the suu,
In comparison with that of the sun itself? The
heat of boiling water appears to us enormous and
our living organism cannot bear it. Still, it rep
resents but the ordinary scale on which our ther
mometers are graduated. Water bolls at 100 de
grees Centigrade, sulphur fuses at 113 degrees,
tin at 236, lead at 325. silver at 945, gold at 1.245,
iron at 1,500. platinum at 1,775,- iridium at 1.950.
The furnaces of our laboiatories have succeeded
In producing heats of 2,500 to 3,000 degrees.
What are these effects in comparison with the
Incandescent star, which, across a distance of
93,000,000 of miles, and only by a quantity of
heat 2,000 millions of times less intense than that
which it radiates, is still capable of warming our
planet to a point which makes It live In the fecun
dity of this radiation. The quantity of heat
emitted by the sun was measured by Sir John
Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope and by Poull
let of Paris. The agreement between the two
series of measurements Is very remarkable
Sir John Herschel found the calorific effect a
vertical sun at the level of the sea Is sufficient to
melt a laver of Ice of .00075 of an inch per
minute; while, according to Pouillet, the quantity
of ice melted would be .0070 inch. The mean of
these two determination jxuuu he far from th
truth; It is .0072, or .437 Inch per hour. Taking
into account the thicknesses of the atmosphere
traversed at different hours, we find that the quan
tity of solar heat absorbed by the atmosphere Is
four-tenths of the total radiation directed toward
the earth; bo that if the atmosphere were removed
the illuminated hemisphere would receive nearly
double the heat. If the quantity of solar heat re
ceived by the earth in a year were uniformly dis
tributed it would be sufficient to liquify a layer
of ice 93.4 feet covering all the earth. In the
same way It would cause an ocean of cool water ,
having a depth of sixty-two miles to pass from the
temperature of melting ice to that of ebullition.
The sun is the mighty source from which pro
ceed all the forces which set in motion the earth
and its life. It is its heat which causes the wind
to blow, the clouds to ascend, the river to flow, the
forest to grow, fruit to ripen and man himself to
live. The force constantly and silently expended
in raising the reservoirs of rain to their mean at
mospheric height In fixing the carbon in the plants,
tn giving to terrestial nature Its vigor and its
beauty, has been calculated from a mechanical
pol;:t of view: it is equal to the work of 217 bil
lions, 316 thousand millions horse power; 543.
000,000,000 of steam engines, er.ch with an effec
tive power of 400 horses, would have to work day
and night without intermission; such is the per
manent work of the sun upon the earth.
We may not think, so, but everything w hich
moves, circulates and lives on our planet is the
child of the sun.- The generous wine whose trans
parent ruby cheers the table, the champagne which
eparkles in the crystal cup, are so many rays of
the sun stored up for our taste. The most nutri
tious foods come from the sun. The woods which
warms us in winter Is. again, the sun in frag
ments; every cubic inch, every, pound of wood, is
formed by the power of the sun. The mill which
turns under the impulse of the wind or water. re
volves only by the sun. And in the black night,
under the rain or snow, the blind and noisy train
w hich darts like a flying serpent through the fields,
rushes alons the valleys. Is swallowed up under
the mountains, goes hissing past the stations, of
which the pale eyes strike silently through the
mist in the midst of night and cold, this modern
animal, produced by human Industry, is still a
child of the sun; the coal from the earth which
feeds Its stomach is solar work stored up during
millions of years In the geological strata of the
globe. Aa It U certain that the force which sets
the watch In motion la derived from the hand
which has wound it, so it is certain that all terres
trial power proceeds from the sun. It is Its heat
which maintains the three states of bodies solid,
liquid and gaseous; the last two would vanish,
there would be nothing but solids; waer and air
itself would be in massive blocks. If the solar heat
did not maintain them In the fluid state. It is the
sun which blows in the air. which flows In the
water, which moans in the tempest, which sings
In the unwearied throat of the nightingale. It
attaches to the sides of the mountains the sources
of the rivers and glaciers; and consequently the
cataracts and avalanches are precipitated wKn an
energy which they draw directly from him. Thun
der andjighting are in turn a manifestation of his
power. Every fire which burns and every flame
which shines has received its life from the sun.
And when two armies are hurled together with a
crash, each charge of cavalry, each shock between
two army corps, Is nothing else but the misuse of
mechanical force from the same star. The sun
comes to us in the form of heat; he leaves us in
the form of heat; but between his arrival and his
departure he has given birth to the varied powers
of our globe.
Presented to our mind under their true aspect,
the discoveries and generalizations of modern sci
ence constitute, then, the most sublime poem
which has ever been offered to the intelligence and
the imagination of man. The physicist of our day,
we may say with Tyndall, is Incessantly in contact
with marvels so grand and sublime that those who
study them have need of a certain force of charac
ter to preserve them from being dazed.
And still all this is nothing, or almost nothing,
in comparison with the real power of the sun. The
liquid state of the ocean, the gaseous state of the
atmosphere, the currents of the see. the raisin
of the clouds, the rains, storms, streams, rivers;
the calorific value of all the forvstj of he globe
and all the cotl minis of the earth; the moton
of all living beings, the best of all humanity, the
tore j-up' power In all human m iscles, in all the
manufactories, in all the guns all that is almost
nothing romnared with trat of which the sun is
capable. Do we think we have measured the o!ar
power by enumerating the effects which It pro
duces on the earth? Error! Profound, tremen
dous, foolish error. This would be to believe still
that this star has been created on purpose to Illu
minate terrestrial humanity. In reality, what an
(Continued on Page Ftux.),
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