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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (June 7, 1908)
unday Bee The Omaha For ll thm News THE OMAHA DEC Best West PANT III. I1ALF-TQIIE SECTION PACKS 1 TO 4. VOU XXXVII NO. 51. OMAIIA. SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 7, 190S. SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS. JOHN E. WIGMAN CHAMPION OF MANUAL TRAINING SCHOOL Son of a German Serf Who Haj fought Hi Wa$ U to ft High Ploe aa & Citkea ol a Meat Country and a Teacher of Its Youth ALONG low house; built of Urf and covered with a roof ot thatch, tu the birthplace of the man who la bow head of the manual training department of the Omaha High school LlTlng In the long low house were aome thirty German aerfa, to say nothing of a number of cattle In one end, fifty chickens, a few aheep and aome pigeons. The house was one of a dozen which formed the Tillage of Osschenbruck, near Belm, province of Hanever, Germany. John E. Wlgman was the enly son of his parenta. though they had a small army of other sons and daughters. This is no paradox. His rrother was a widow at the time she married his father, and his father waa a widower. She had about ten children and his father ha as many. John was the only child of both. His mother could rp-ak of "her" children; his father could point proudly to "his" children, but the two could look only upon John and speak of "their" child. The date of John's birth was October 19, 1838. Life In the village waa a life of toil. The serfs were virtually Flaves and had to toil without pay a certain number of days each month for their lord. They llTed in poverty and In aome ways had no better treatment than the beasts. The thatched house In which the Wlgmans and their numerous progeny liTed was shared by them . w!th another family. In the center of the house wan a huge flre rl"! in which turf waa burned In winter. This fireplace also marked the division between the apartments of the two families. There was a threshing floor In one end ot the cottage. In the other rnd were stalls for the cattle and above these stalls a loft In which the sirall grain which waa raised on. the few acTea with infinite labor was stored. In the winter It was threshed .with flails on the threshing loor, every grain being Jealously garn"Td. Another piece cf lrrportant furniture was the weaving machine on which the wenen wove the rough cloth for clothing. It waa a very beehive of industry, that little humble cot. When the crying of children, the lowing 'Of cattle, the cooing of ' pigeons, the bleating of sheep, the cackling cf chickens, the quacking of ducks and the hissing of geese were mlcnled as they of times were within the confines of the house there truly waa, In modern phrase, "something doing." Twlco a month bread was baked In the big oven which stood outside tb house, sufficient "pumpernlckley betngmade to last the big family a fortnight. All the butter which was yielded from the cream of the cows was sold, this being too expensive a luxury for the family to tat. Once a week John's mother put on her best homespun dreca and her heavy wooden shoes, bound her Wg basket over her sturdy eho'ilders and carried the vendible produce to Belm, where she sold it. bringing the money home to add to the small savings needod to meet government taxes and the like fixed charges. Orphaned and an Emigrant At 60 a man was old under this grinding life and at the' age of f2 John'a father withdrew his neck from the yoke and was buried in the little church yard. John was V years of age then, a fatherless boy, aon of a serf, with not a brother or sister, though he had some thing "just as good" in his many stepbrothers and stepsisters. , Letters had come from a aister of Mrs. Wlgman who was In America. She told as wonderful a tale of America as the two Jewish ' spies told of the land of Canaan. There-after It was the desire of the f dwellers In the little- thatched cottage to leave their dull life, to croes the ocean, to possess this land of the free. When John waa 7 years old the heglra waa started from the little cottage la the Tillage of Osschenbruck to the United States. It was done on the Installment plan of easy payments, "so much down and so much a month." The aunt In America sent the first money to bring over the fl rst Installment, and a small contingent left the crowded cottage. This Included the mother and the youngest son, John being then young enough to travel for nothing. Balllngfrom Bfemen on a sail Ing vessel they landed in New. York after seven weeks tossing and buffeting upon the deep. , t They took up their residence In the family of the woman who h-1 ataked them to their passage money, and John went to school. It vas a long jump from the little grinding community where work wrs the order of all the waking hours, to the city where one could rlt in1 school ll day; It was no less a big change from the quiet v41 lafT" of Osschenbruck, where the most exciting thing waa a marriage, to the great metropolis where there waa excitement all the time. John went to public school No. 10, on Douane street between West Drcr-dway and Church street. A five-story marble building stands on the rtte now, marking the growth of the great city. Continuing la thlr. school until he was It years of age, the boy then entered a private school conducted by the Lutheran church, of which his mother was a member. 'He remained at this private school until he was nearly IS years of age. j Days of Apprenticeship Then, in pursuance of German custom, be selected a trade and waa bound out as an apprentice. John wanted to become a wood carver. He accordingly entered a shop at the corner of Elm and Canal streets, where all kinds of furniture, piano legs and ornaments were carved by skilled workmen. ,To the master of thla shop Joha waa bound for. a four years' apprenticeship. He worked the flrat alx uu nths without' wagea, durlag the second six months he drew $2 a work, the second year S3 a week, the third year $4 a week and the fourth year f S a week. During the early part of the fourth year his er. ployer died and the young man Immediately secured a position at $12 a week In the ahop of a Frenchman, Monaieur Rau, on Green etnet. This ,man did 'a, high' claaa of work and kept a store on Broadway. Twelve .dollars a week In New York in that early day woe a very large aum, equal possibly to about ISO a week In Omaha ttelay. The salary paid the young German boy Is, therefore, a fair Indication of the high proficiency he had attained In his profession. During the second year of Wigman'a apprenticeship that broad minded and far-seetag philanthropist, Petar Cooper, established his great institute In New York City, "to be devoted forever to the union cf art and science In their application to the useful purposes of life." "I waa 1C yeara old at the time and doing a hard ten hours cT work In the shop eTery day." saya Mr. Wigman. "But I had heard . i thia Insiltutlon. where a poor boy could go to school In the even-In- and learn practical things which would be useful to him in his trie. Another boy and I went around to look at the place and we wve Impressed by the possibilities. I enrolled immediately, and to old Peter Cooper, a struggler from poverty like myself, I owe most of what I have, attained In life. Enrolling and atudying In Cooper Institute were two of the best things I ever did. I often used to see Peter Cooper, his son-in-law, Whitney, and his two daughters when they came to visit the Institute." After working In the ahop of Monsieur Rau nine months Wlg man took a position as cabinet maker. The cabinet maker "busted up" and then the young man. having aaved money, decided. to go Into business for himself. He took as a partner In the venture Mark Harrlsan, an Irishman, and. though this waa 1857. the year of the panic, their business prospered, only to be submerged In the uni versal deluge when the civil war broke out - i j v .-; - 1 . JOHN E. WIGMAN. mother. There he secured work as a pattern maker In the Fort Wayne iron works. He remained a year and a half, during which time he met the young woman who waa to become hla wife, Miss Kate Lelshner. But before a man can worship at the altar of Hymen it la necessary that some of that incense called money be secured. In search of this he pushed on west to Springfield, 111., where he worked in the Wabash railroad shops. It waa while there that he heard luring news of Omaha, which, being the eastern terminus of the great Union Pacific system, waa a busy place for railroad men. He wrote to Isaac Coagdon, general master mechanic, and received an answer by return mall saying that if he was a good pattern maker he should come on and go to work at 45 cents an hour, which waa 25 per cent mere thaa he was getting in Springfield. He moved on to Omaha at once. Work waa so plentiful that he found employment almost day and night, making the unheard ot sum ot $150 a month. In six months he saved $700, and In September, 1868, he wenf back t Fort Wayne and married. He brought his bride west and they lived a week at the St. James hotel, which was an old wooden structural standing on the present site of the Burlington station. Then they secured three rooms at Eleventh and Davenport at a rental ot $1$ a month. There they began housekeeping. Record of Activities For twenty-three years Mr. Wigman was an employe ot tbs , Union Pacific shops. From 1868 to 1887 he was a pattern maker, and In the latter year he was made foreman of the pattern shops, a position which he held until he left the shops in 1891. In that year he was appointed to be head of the manual training department ot the high school. While he waa in the shops he was active in shop affairs. He waa a leader in organizing the Durant engine and hose company and wrote Its constitution and bylaws. On May 10, 1869, the day when the last spike In the Union Pacific road waa driven In Ogden, this fire company appeared In the parade through the atreets ot Omaha, rivaling Solomon In all his glory in the brilliancy ot their uniforms and helmeta which had been furnished by the Union Pacific. "Bill" Fawcett waa chief at that time and John E. Wlgman waa assistant chief. Manual training is the modern system of education, and John E. Wlgman Is Its prophet. The words "manual training" are the open eesame to his speech. It Is his hobby. Next to his family, no doubt, he loves It beat of earthly things. The ideas of Peter Cooper when he established hla institute In New York City In 1854 should be carried out In all the schools of the country, says Mr. Wlgman. And he la doing hla beat to carry them out here. He has developed manual training In the high school from mall department with only two small rooms and a total of forty spuplla to one of the largest and most Important departments of the school, occupying five rooms and enrolling this year 288 pupils, "And there are no schools in the country that turn cut finer work In manual training than the Omaha High school," he says proudly. "We had exhibits at the manual training teachers' conven tion In New Haven, at the Transmlsslssippl exposition, at the Greater America exposition and at the St. Louis exposition. Everywhere Omaha stood at the head of the column, though in many cities much more money' is devoted to thia branch than here. His Great Ambition "My ambition Is to see a building erected In Omaha exclusively for manual training, thoroughly equipped for that purpose with a carpenter ahop, pattern shop, blacksmith shop, machine ahop and a domestic science and sewing department. Out of the $500,000 ap propriated for building schools in this city a sum ought certainly bo set aside for the building of this most Important department." Who Is this 70-year-old man who talks about ambition and speaks of his high hopes for the future when he has already arrived at the three score years and ten ot man's mundane spanT To look at the little man with the firm step and the ruddy face one would not take him to be more than fifty years of age. He haa original Ideas upon the art of keeping young. He haa been a gymnast all hla lite and a devotee of outdoor life. To this he ascribes in part hla great vigor. But there is something more Important. "The new system of longeTlty," he. declares, "InTOlTea Interest In things going on about you, keeping up with the times or a little ahead of them, taking an Interest In the affairs, the hopes and ambi tions of the rising generation. Tbat'a what kept old Pete Cooper alive and active up to his ninety-second year." Into the minds of the boys whom be teaches he drills the rugged self-reliance of his own life with many aa epigram and sentence sermon. "The boy that la able and willing to gt to work in overalls and black shirt will soon be wearing a plcadllly collar and a boiled shirt and bossing the men under him." And he polnta proudly to the many boys who have gone out from hla department and today occupy high position in the busy world. Mr. Wlgman is a member of the Lutheran church and of the Elks' lodge. He lives with his wife at 3827 North Twenty-first street They have four children, William Wlgman, who holds a responsible position with the United States Supply company; Mrs. Kate Noyes of Omaha, Miss Linda May Wlgman ot Omaha and Mrs. Emma Rod man of Butte, Mont How American Institutions Impress Cardinal Logue Struggles During the War Laying down the Instruments of peace and ot the fine arts, he took up the Implements of war. For thirty days he went through the manual ot arma in a Germany company which waa being raised by General DeKalb. On the ere ot his enlistment the plea of hla aged mother caused bin to change his mind. . He pawned a gold match and diamond ring, used the money to send 'his mother to the home ot her sister la Fort Wayne, Ind., and when she waa gone he betook himself southward to Washington and then on to Alexandria. There he sought work In Tain for two weeks, sleeping In barns and tenerally happening around to the soldier camps about mesa time. Then he secured work in a wholesale and retail grocery. After he bad been there one year the firm started him and hla cousin In the retail grocery business. A Tent u re of the cousin aa an army sutler was disastrous and dealt a deathblow to the email concern. At the dose ot the war ha went to Fort Wayne, Ind., to see his NEW YORK. June . "A little talk with Cardinal Logue?" ' Father Qulnn, ne of the young priests who have accompanied the car dinal on his visit to America hesi tates at the request He la quite certain that It cannot be accorded and speaks of the great mass of correspondence, the many social visits and half a dozen Impending engagements for the day, as reasons why It la plainly impossible even to get a word with him. But you can see at the start that Father Qulnn is undoubtedly on your aide. He does hot need to tell you, aa he doea, that he likes every thing in New York from the Battery to The Bronx and the trips outside Manhattan have only ce mented the stronger his feeling toward the new world. Geniality Is radiantly visible In his look, his enthusiastic descriptions and even In hla re grets concerning your mission. It is a long step forward for the conservatism of the old world to look leniently on the feminine representatives of the Fourth Estate, but he even doea that as if it waa all part ot this great new scheme of life with which he la becoming rapidly acquainted. "There was one," he explains, la speaking ot this rare species, "who got three minutes with the cardinal. She had three questions written on a slip of paper and he gave her a minute for each. Now, if three minutes would do you aay good, perhaps " "Three seconds," you hasten to aay, for it Is the first step that counts. He haa your visiting card and he gazes at the name absently. Then in a second a smile of home sickness and delight irradiates his face.- "Sort o' Irish, ain't it?" he saya with a merry twinkle In his brogue. "Sort o'.M you answer sedately. You are sure now that you will see the cardinal, and you sink into the big chair aa he disappears through the reception room door. The episcopal residence at 452 Madison ave nue, where Cardinal Logue stopped during hla Tilt Is a Tery peaceful place for the worldly to rtt in. At the door quiet voiced servitors meet the constant stream of callers. Occasionally a secular priest goes by. A cathedral clock chimes softly, now and then. Your glance is attracted by the marble buat of a pope rising from its onyx pedestal, a canvas depicting the Madonna and a great vase of spreading ferns. You are almost asleep, it is so restful, when a slight sound rouses you and you rise, mechan ically, as one rises in church at a signal, at the entrance ot the cardinal, Michael Logue, arch bishop of Armagh, born at Raphoe October 1, 1840, and created cardinal January 16, 1893. The cardinal has come, genially and kindly, at your request He Is not the imposing figure you had imagined, but there is about him the un mistakable alrot one In authority. He Is unao compaaled, for even Father Qulnn has disap peared, and you have a moment's fear, dispelled at once by his hospitable handshake and hla "Sit down, my child." He follows his handshake by sinking Into a great big, red chair near at band which engulfs, his short figure, and in his gestures that seem to speak hla gladness at the respite from the other cares of the hour there Is an unconscious appeal to your common sense, If not your generosity. He seems to say, silently and eloquently, that he hopes you will not ask Impossible questions and expect Impossible admissions and Impossible ver bal fireworks. His black gown is buttoned in the front from collar to bem with small scarlet buttons which match in color, the cap of silk which be lifts oc casionally when he wishes to brush his gray balr with a wave of the hand, a favorite gesture. He weara patent leather pumps, with big gold buckles, cut.square, and about bis ankles loose scarlet silk stockings are plainly visible. He has a heavy gold chain about his neck sup porting a beautiful filigree cros studded with pale amethysts of a color midwaxbetween rose and violet, aud a ring on his left hand has a stone of the same tint As soon aa he ia seated he draws a repousse silver snuff box from one pocket and a red silk handkerchief from another and takes snuff constantly during the Interview. The cardinal has deeply-set dark eyea under bushy eyebrows flecked with gray, and they are kept downcast, raised only for a moment now and aga'.n, then dropped immediately. Hia face is of the type which suggests no slightest mixture of foreign blood, the long upper lip a predominant feature. He has a slight brogue and an occa sional Irish idiom breaks into his speech which haa little to suggest the orator. He seems to the casual atudy more a man ot thought thanot words. But he doea like to talk about the new world, the visit to which he has accomplished after many years. "There waa a double reason for my coming," he saya, "as Archlbsbop Farley had not only the claim of the church, but also that of personal friendship of many years' standing, and when he asked me to come to the centenary celebration ot the Catholic dleceee ot New York t felt I must take advantage i tk Ofyertunity to see this wonderful country of yours and what the church had accomplished since old St Peter's, on Bar clay street, the first Catholic church here, was butlt "No churchman could fall to be pleaaed at such a Catholic ahowlng. I can never forget the night, some features of which jaere especially memorable the great procession, with 45,000 men In line, the children's service, where I saw before me more than 6,000 little ones, all rever ently attentive." "And the new music the Gregorian you think better adapted to such occasions than the former style?" "It is the pope's ruling," he admonishea, gently. "Until the boy's voice cracks, which usually happens when he is about 14, personally I think there1 is nothing so beautiful in the world as that freshness and purity, and the combina tion of a dozen, fifty or a hundred voices, men's and boys', is undoubtedly the most Impressive and religious music of any. "I have heard since I came here that the change meant the cutting off of a great many singers who depended on the church music more or less for their sunport I do not know If that be true. Certainly In Ireland It could not have had that effect, for we have no paid singers. Everything Is voluntary, and I have In mind only one church that in Dublin, which was endowed by a Mr. Martin where anyone is paid, except, of course, the organist. "The church services give plenty of oppor tunity for those who love the church music to Join In the singing, and I believe that the regular music should be voluntary for many reasons. One is that familiarizing the young boys with th church atmosphere Is a very good thing for them. Oftentimes it happens that a man when he is grown up Is kept in the church by the habit that he has acquired as a boy ot assisting at the altar or in the choir and by hla love for it Implanted in his early years. "It is such a fine foundation for a lad that I wish it were possible to give every one of them in the church aome active part In the service. The little lads of respectable parentage at home who are admitted to the choir consider It a great privilege and opportunity, and I understand the same feeling is had here, for which J au very glad. I am sure that thla waa made evident la the jubilee celebration, whose music I do not be lieve could be aurpaased. "I came for a week's visit, which I planned would cover the centenary services, and that Is all I had la mind, bat (he days have gone by and are still going and-1 am here yet I must get back, for my work is greatly in arrears, although I have only to do with the provinces ot Armagh and Ulster, the other three archbishops looking after the rest of Ireland, and the traveling la made easy for me now, as I only go to a distant part to be present at the dedication of a new church or some service of equal importance. I never refuse to do anything that I can, but I find my people Tery lenient to me as I grow older. "If I were capable of improvement," says the cardinal modestly, but with a little tightening ot the lips which precludes any protest of flattery, "I should go back feeling that not a moment had been lost, for there Is so much to see here, so much to think about, so much to learn. "Your skyscrapers are the one distinctive feature of your architecture that I cannot get used to or admire. They seem to me oppressive, ugly and even dangerous. There is to me, too, a cer tain spiritual significance la the way they have overpowered and dwarfed the church spire. "It is a thought on which one might ponder at length. Perhaps I am old-fashioned, but the horizon In which the spire with the cross stands forth so nobly leading the thought directly up ward is to me very impressive, and very neces sary. How often has a tired traveler come to stange place and met that welcoming sight and felt at home Immediately! Here the twin spires ot St. Patrick's, the beautiful cross on Old Trinity, are sunk into comparative Insignificance, and the aame is true ot other churches." The cardinal is lost In thought for a moment, then, with a flash of dry humor, emphasized by the quick raising and lowering of the dark eyes, "Tell me, do the people who live In the top stories of the skyscrapers have to go in on their hands and knees? It certainly looks so from the street as they are being built As I have been driven along I have pictured them to myself lying flat on the floors and crawling through the doors. The stories look like little boxes put one on top of another. "Oh, it is merely a matter ot height? I am glad to hear that." and he breathea a sigh of relief. "Of course I knew all the reasons for the sky scraper's existence, and they are good ones from the commercial standpoint. I had a long talk with a man from Albany who furnishes a great deal of the stone that is used for them In this part of the country and he was quite convincing in his arguments. "But what be said and what I faeer myself (Continued os Tar