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THE OMAHA DEC
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VOL. XXXVII NO. 45.
OMAIIA, SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 26, 1908.
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
JOHN W. M'CUNE SOLDIER AND PIONEER OF UNION PACIFIC
Young Man Attracted by. Uncle Sam's Great Wild West Show Joins Procession and Sticks for Forty-Two Years at the Unfolding of tbo Greatest Performance Ever Been on Earth.
CONCERNING the great show opened by Uncle Sara ltttlo
more than bait a century ago between the Missouri river
and the Paclflo ocean, something haa been written In
tola aerie befor. No one can doubt for a moment that
It was the moat stupendous aggregation of Gargantuan
greatness ever assembled ujkm the face of the earth,
claims of other nations and of rival showmen to the contrary not
withstanding. 1,000,000 Buffaloes, .l.OOo.OOO. ,
4.000,000 Square Miles of Space, 4,000,000.
30.000,000 Homes. 10,009,000.
Highest Mountains, Highest.
Broadest Plains, Broadest
In his advertisement Showman Uncle Sam did not need to resort
to 'these distorted and hyperbolic statements so much affected by
ehowmen today. His veracious showbills and his reliable posters
exaggerated the wonders of his show not the least. In fact, he did
not realize himself what a' wonderful show he had Inherited from
France and what an astute financier and farsighted statesman was
his agent. Thomas Jefferson, when he bought practically the whole
stupendous aggregation for 17,000,000 from that French spend
thrift. Napoleon. y
In the operation of this gigantic circus and the management ot
Ucse combined and amalgamated shows and In caring tor the great
eslabllshment many thousands of men were required In a thousand
different depsrtments. A few weeks ago an account was given of
the labors of Court Carrier, who, as ticket agent at the main en
trance, Omaha, took' the tickets of the great crowd for many years.
Among the many other departments of the great show which
great men were striving to build up was, of course, the stupendous
street parade, a continuous parade given day and night throughout
the east In the shape of advertisements, newspaper articles, posters.
There were men to play the calliope. There were men to drive the
v.a ;ons containing not only the usual array of wild beasts and birds,
but gold and silver, wheat, corn, oata and a thousand other of the
attractions to be found upon the inside of the circus by those who
attended the great shew.
Advertising Brings Crowds.
Arriving upon the inside, however, the visitor had to traverse
many miles, not being able to walk as he can in the ordinary show
(such as our rivals conduct). And it was for the accommodation of
those who had paid their admission fee and who were waiting to .
see the wonders so extensively advertised in our veracious literature
and our reliable pesters that the Union Pacific railroad was built
Soon after the close of the civil war, which occurred in the side
show east of the Missouri river and which proved an attraction de
tracting temporarily from the big' tent, the crowds began to surge
to the main entrance, keeping the ticket agents very busy and cans
in g the ticket wagon to be kept open day and night Also Just about
this time the Union Paclflo railway began to push out its two bands
of steel westward. Steam engines and cars began to arrive for the
equipment of the railroad to handle the crowds. And in Omaha was
established a great repair shop for keeping the equipment of the
road in condition.
John W. McCune became identified with the big show, in 1868
and he continues with it today. He holds the record for employment
In the Union Pacific shops, having been In continuous employment
there for forty-two years. He was employed in a Tory active capacity
In the sideshow to the east of the river before he Joined the big .
circus, tsklng a prominent part in that famous representation of the
civil war which la one of the greatest attractions over given by the
sideshow.
"Darkest Pennsylvania" was the birthplace of Mr. McCune. He
was born on a farm in Allegheny oounty, which is in the heart ot
the region of coal mines, iron furnaces and coke ovens, where there
Is a continuous cloud of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by algkt
from furnaces and ovens. His father engaged in the coal mining
business when John was still a child, the family moving to Buena
Vista. The elder McCune owned several coal barges and loaded coal
at Buena Vista and floated it down the river to Louisville, Ky.,
where It was sold.
The oil fever took hold of the boy when he was still In his teens.
With a-companion he embarked in an enterprise which each, with
the characteristic optimism which was a symptom of this particular
ailment, believed would make a millionaire of him.
But there were clouds in the sky which eclipsed even the glories
of hidden weath which they were trying to dig from the ground. As
the bits of their drill sank. dee per into the ground, the clouds gath
ered thicker over the country. The storm hurst at last Sumter was
fired upon and the country was split in twain and the two parts had
gathered up arms each against the other. .'
' , .
Glory Outweighs Wealth
Visions of glory took the place of visions of wealth In the mind
of the young man. The oil well was abandoned and he vent to West
Newton, Pa., where he enlisted in a company being formed. This
later was designated Company E, Captain Mungo Dick. It went
-from the place of enlistment to Pittsburg, where it was incorporated
in'iho 106 th Pennsylvania volunteers, Colonel W. A. LfcKnight It
was harried on to Washington and crossed from there over the river
into the"very theater of war. The winter of 1861 was spent in a
can'p of instruction at Alexandria, Va. This was the place where
the taglc killing of Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth ot the union army
took place. Colonel Ellsworth saw the confederate flag floating
above the Jackson house, the leading hotel of the place, and calmly
entered the place, ascended to the root and tore the emblem down.
Am be was coming down he was met by Jackson, who owned the
house, and shot and instantly killed. A sergeant in . Colonel Ells
worth's command returned the compliment immediately by shooting
Jackson through the heart
, The 105th Pennsylvania seemed always to be Just in time to be
too late for the most Interesting events. The regiment passed
through Baltimore just the day after the big riots there. It arrived
at Fortress Monroe, Va., a few hours after the Monitor and Merrlmao
haj fought their celebrated aquatic duel. It was in the spring ot
'1C2 that the regiment went down the Chesapeake bay on a trans
poit to Fortress Monroe, Va. The rebel ram, Merrimac, clad in its
iron coat of mall, had been bullying the anion boats and crushing
mapy of them with impunity. Just the day before the 105th ar
rived at the fortress a now champion had arrived in the bay, a cham
pion which looked aa ridiculous before the big Merrimac as David
did before Gollah, as Ulysses betore the Cyclops. The champion was
the union boat the Monitor, small, agile, lying low and protected in
the water. Vhe mighty Merrimac had laughed at the little boat
which offered to give it battle and hurled its mighty mass upon the
little bout. Intending to crash it without further ceremony. But the
Monitor stepped lightly to one side and allowed its ponderous oppo
nent's mass to glide harmlessly by, pouring a heavy fire into its big
sides. The Merrimac tried again and again, seeking to ram the little
boat and trying to. smash it with its mighty mass. But the Monitor
wssn't there when the big boat tried to ram it and the cannon balls
rolled harmlessly from the Monitor's low-lying, smooth decks. The
fate of Gollah, of the Cyclops and of the Merrimac werei the same.
Mr. McCune often hsd the pleasure of seeing the famous little Moni
tor at practice, though he never saw It in actual battle.
Episodes in Ballooning
The 105th sallied forth from its fortress when the Army of the
Potomac needed it in the campaign against Yorktown, marched up
the peninsula and helped In that famous siege. One of the Incidents
which clings to Mr. McCune's memory most tenaciously connected
with the siege has not to do with tragedy, reeks not of blood, is not
brilllaut with the firing of heavy artillery, does not resound with
martlet sounds of ordnsnce discharging. It partakes rather of the
ludicrous than of the tragic, illustrating how close akin the two really
JOHN W. JTCUNBr.
are. It was no less than the kidnaping of General Fltzjohn Porr.er.
Who was the base criminal? It was a balloon.
"The balloon was used for observing what was going, on within
the beleaguered city," says Mr. McCune. "To it was fastened a long
rope which, when it was desired to let the balloon rise, we played
out through a block attached to a. stump. On the occasion in ques
tion General Porter entered the balloon with bis charts and pencils
and all the paraphernalia for observing the operations of the enemy
in the town and gave orders to let the balloon go up. We obeyed,
playing out the rope carefully. General Porter was some 200 feet in
the air and the balloon, was tugging hard on the rope. Suddenly
the tagging ceased and, looking up, we saw the balloon shooting sky
ward at a rate it was never intended to travel. General Porter was
adrift in the balloon and we held la our hands oily a piece of useless
rope. The air current was sweeping the balloon right over the town.
Fortunately, Tt was so high that bullets could not touch it and fortu
nately, also, the balloon entered a current of air when it reached a
little greater height, which swept tt back to onr camp and then, by
letting out some of the gas, the general regained the ground in
safety." 1
The regimerit followed the fleeing rebels from Yorktown follow
ing the evacuation and was engaged in the battle of Williamsburg.
Then it marched on toward Richmond and on May SI was engaged in
the fierce battle of Fair Oaks. In this battle young McCune sus
tained a serious wound, the bullet entering the left shoulder and
passing through the body a distance of more than two feet before
coming out on the right thigh. He lay on the battlefield until even
ing, when he was gathered up with the wounded and eventually
found his way to a hospital transport, which took him, with 200
other wounded, to Philadelphia, where he was cared for in St Jos
eph's hospital. At the end of two months he was(well enough to go
to his home on a furlough. H remalnea at home until the spring
of 1863, when he returned to Philadelphia and, his term of enlist-.
ment having expired, he was discharged from the regiment He re
turnd home and later went to Madison, Ind.
He was in Madison when th third call came for troops to serve
In the union army for a period of one year. He raised part of a com
pany himself and this was consolidated with another part raised In
Indianapolis and made a part ot the 145th Indiana volunteers, which
was mustered In at Indianapolis. Mr. McCune became second lieu
tenant of his company, which was sent south at once and stationed
at Dalton, Ga., where there waa little to be done at that time except
conserve the peace and administer the police duties in a territory al
ready practically in a state of peace. After the war bad actually and
formally been ended Lieutenant McCune was detailed with fifty men
for provost duty at Cuthbert, county seat ot Webster county. With
headquarters In the court house, he sat as a sort of military governor
of his little province until order had been restored thoroughly and
civil officers had again taken their seats.
To Civil Life and Omaha
Then the 145th went back to Indianapolis, where it was mustered
out in February, 1866. The young lieutenant took off 'his soldier
clothes, went back to visit his home and then began to look about for
something to do. ' '
The monster parade ot the gigantic circus which was Just open
ing Its doors west of the Missouri river, was doing good work. The
cages, filled with wild animals and birds and with gold and silver
and wheat corn, oata and many other things, were attracting great
attention. The posters and advertisements of ye monster aggrega
tion had attracted widespread attention. The side show, since the
great representation of the civil war had been done away with, was
waning in popularity. The crowds were beginning to apply at the
main entrance of the big tent in Omaha for tickets to the big show.
Among these crowds was John W. McCune. He left his home deter
mined to go Into the big circus and he had his eye particularly on
Denver. He traveled by rail at far aa Dea Moines. From there to
Omaha the Journey was made by stage.
He had a letter of Introduction to one of the bjg circus men. He
wasn't owner, but he was boss of a gang, and a very big gang. The
letter of introduction was to no less a person than General Grenvllle
M. Dodge, chief engineer of the Union Paclflo railroad. General
Dodge happened to be making a westward trip on the same coach
and the two rode together from Des Moines to Omaha. On the way
General Dodge talked very strongly In favor of Omaha and by the
time the stage arrived in Council Bluffs the young man had decided
to settle in Omaha, the gateway ot the west, the eastern base of the
great Union Pacific -railroad. General Dodge, himself, went with
the young man down to the little plant which was the nucleus of the
present big shops and said to the boss there:
"Put this boy to work."
Job a Steady One.
- The boy went to work and the Job has lasted him forty-two years.
On June 20 of this year he will celebrate the forty-second anniver
sary of that day when General Dodge told them to put him to work.
For twenty-one years Mr. McCune waa foreman of the planing mill
at the shops. Now he has charge ot the supplies tor the big estab
lishment. "I have observed a remarkable growth in the shops, In the city
and in the west," says Mr. McCune. "I have seen the shops grow:
to a hundred times the else they were when I went to work there.
The city has grown almost that many fold and the great country
west ot the Missouri river has multiplied Its population and wealth
so tremendously that it 1b almost incalculable. It is a fine thing to
have lived in such an era."
Mr. McCune met a young woman soon after his arrival In Omaha
who suited him and on June 12, 1867, they were married. His wife,
was Miss Anne Dorsey of Indianapolis, Ind. She waa visiting In Omaha
at the time they met Mr. and Mrs. McCune haa four children. Wil
liam S. McCune, for twenty-three years in the employ of the Union
Paclflo shops here and chief clerk in the motive power department at
the time he resigned, has been since January chief auditor ot the -Copper
River Railroad and Mining company, Cordova, Alaska. The
second son, Frank C. McCune. is a second lieutenant in the Sixteenth
United States Infantry, now located at Fort Crook, and has seen serv
ice in the Philippines and other parts of the world. Mrs. Will
Browne live in Salt Lake City and Miss Juliet Wyman McCune Uvea
at home.
.Mr. McCune is still a vigorous man and apparently much younger
than his experience and ploaeershlp in Nebraska would indicate. He
lives with his wife and daughter In a handsome home, 1813 Blnney
street, where they enjoy the comforts and pleasures which have been
vouchsafed to those who cast in their fortunes with Nebraska In the
state'B young dayB and clung by her through prosperity and misfor
tune alike.
President as an Attendant at Devotional Services
WASHINGTON, April 28. The presi
dent is not only a good churchgoer
himself, but aeserv-; the thanks
ot at least two Washington preach
ers for his aid in boosting the size
of their congregations.
With his predilection for having everything in
sight reformed, it is no more than natural, per
haps, that his church, also, should bear the magic
label. It is Grace Reformed, a rather small,
graystone building on Fifteenth street, not quite
a mile from the White House.
Grace Reformed, is not a fashionable church.
The congregation Is unassuming in appearance
and would be decidedly modest in size1 if it were
not for the president He fills certainly two
thirds of the pews. So tar as audiences go the
preacher may have to look for leaa years after
March 4. 1909.
While the president fills dozens of the pews by
the mere fact of his expected presence, he occu
pies his own seat in solitary grandeur. Once in
a while he goes with his wife and family to St
John's, but they don't seem inclined to recipro
cate the attention. St John's rejoices in the
local title of "the church of state," and always
reserves a pew' for the president of the United
States, though it had not been in demand for a
good many years when Mrs. Roosevelt became the
lady of the White House.
Whether he goes to his own church or not no
one but Theodore Roosevelt, unless it is some
friend or guest accompanying him, which rarely
happens, is ever seated in the president's pew at
Grace Reformed. Two secret service men always
accompany him to church, but they do not sit with
him.
Every Sunday morning aa early as 10 o'clock
the sightseers begin to gather in front of the gray
building in Fifteenth street Most of them are
tourists whose only chance to see the president is
to catch him at church and who are willing to
wait an hour outside if need be and to spend an
other hour and more inside for the possible priv
ilege of a glimpse of the man they call "TmAAf"
when they're back home.
The sexton is posted on the steps sad forms
the crowd into a double line which often reaches
to the flattering length of 100 yards or more be
fore the doors are opened. It is lucky for the
multitude that the president's church Is not an
otherwise yopular one. If it were crowded by Its
own members ouulers would have to that period
of painful suspense and w&itlng "until after the
singing of the first hymn," that regulation famil
iar to the church tramp.
At Grace Reformed the doors are opened long
before 10:30 'and people are admitted with the
admonition: "Just go up to the gallery. They're
the best seats." Of course that means the best
seats for getting a view of the president
It is calmly accepted that the multitude Is not
standing In line because of a consuming desire to
hear the gospel as It is expounded in Grace Re
formed church. Even the preacher can cherish
no illusions on that point jv hen people who have
fought the crowd and wheedled the ushers into
giving them a front seat calmly and conspicu
ously get up and walk out when, the service hav
ing proceeded for fifteen minutes. It becomes evi
dent that the president won't be there.
They make a mistake to wait so long. The
president does not straggle In fifteen minutes late.
On the other hand, he doesn't waste a quarter of
an hour by getting there fifteen minutes too soon.
In fact, the gallery, tired of craning its neck
at every person who goes up the aisle below, has
already begun openly and mourfully to declare
that he Isn't coming at all, when there Is a sudden
shock of expectancy. , Even before the rapid
strides of the four men who have Just entered
have brought them into view of the gallery, those
upstairs have whispered: "Here he is."
The four men are the usher, the president and
the two secret service men. It is a question
whether the usher could keep up that, gait very
long, but he does nobly in the short distance be
tween the door and the second left-band pew from
the front that being the Roosevelt seat.
, One of the secret service men quietly slips into
the end of a pew across the aisle and about five
rows back of the president. The other one takes
an end seat acroaa the aisle several rows still
farther bach-
The first thing the president does Is to bow
his head briefly In an attitude ot prayer. Then
he leans forward and speaks to a middle-aged .
woman and a young boy who generally occupy the
seat in front of him. He talka with them two or
three minutes while he pulls off his gloves and
stows them away In his Bilk hat
Then he gets his big gilt-edged prsyer book
from the rack and finds the place. He Is ready
for business; and so accurately does he time his
arrival that the service is by this time beginning.
Probably during the ninety minutes which fol
low he gives the nearest imitation of absolute re
pose of which he Is capable in his waking hours.
He does pretty well, considering his temperament
and the fact that several hundred human beings
are concentrating their attention on the back of
his head.
If he makes a move it is followed with the
keenest interest by scores of eyes. It he scratches
the back of his head, It he smoothes hjs hair, if he
adjusts his eyeglasses, there is a rustle ot atten
tion. It Is enough to make a stone Image wriggle.
Somewhat to the disappointed surprise of the
observers, the president does not wriggle. He's
not absolutely quiet, but. he's quiet for him!
When he sings oh, be sings! he doesn't look
at the book ten notes In succession. So far as his
glance and the page are concerned, it's a chronic
case of on again, off again.
When It comes to the sermon, he is a model
of uttentlon. It he doesn't listen he at least looks
aa tf he were doing so. The detk Is at the right
of the platform, so that the president has to turn
his head somewhat to face the preacher. Ap
parently he doea not miss a word of the discourse.
The service concludes with singing, followed
by the benediction. Before the singing is over
the president baa put his hymn book In the rack
and has picked up his hat and gloves.
During the benediction he gets one foot Into
the aisle and his hand on the end ot the seat ready
tor a quick start Back of him the aecret service
men also have got half way into the aisle and are
on the alert. '
The instant the amen is pronounced the presi
dent ha startsd. , Before people have raised thtir
heads he has swiftly bnt quietly passed the secret
service men, who at once close in behind him.
They are at the door before anyone but the
vigilant gallery knows It. Down the steps they
go and out to the walk lined with another curious
throng which has wanted a glim See ot him, but
hasn't wanted it badly enough to go to church
Itself to get It
By this time the gallery has precipitated Itself
down the narrow stairways and with the other
agitated sightseers is debouching upon the street
The president has reached the corner. Behind
him are, first, bis coattalls flapping furiously; next
the secret service men looking as if they were
prsying not for length of days, but for length ot
legs; next the populace, men, women and children,
black, white and mlddlln's, striding, running,
making up lost ground with spasmodio rushes,
skirts billowing, feathers flying, more coataila
flapping.
At the corner the president cuts diagonally
cross without regard for crossings and take a
shoot down Rhode Island avenue to Sixteenth
'street, whence it is a straight run to the White
House gleaming In the distance. Remember thie
Itinerary if you meditate meeting the president oa
bis way to or from church. He always taken the
same route.
The wide street, which some want to be called
the Avenue of. the Presidents, dips away below
the circle, and one can stand and watch the tunny
procession stream down the grade, the president
forging always at its head, his gait close to tlx
miles an hour. The philosophic policeman at the
circle smiles pityingly.
"They'll toller him clean to the White House
them as can keep up in sight," says he.
At the gait' he is going the president will get
home as early as If he went with his wife to 8t
John's. That he docs occasionally go there is
what makes many sightseers consent to push and
be pushed In Its little vestibule for an hour on end
waiting for a chance to get In.
Of course they want to see Mrs. Roosevelt and
the family, not to mention other celebrities who
go there to church. But the hazy prospect ef i
lag the president is a big card evea her