unday Bee
PART III.
No PIHny ewastloo
THE OMAHA DEC
Best West
HALF-TGHE SECTION
PACKS 1 TO 4.
VOL. XXX VI II NO. 7.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 2, 1903.
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
The Omaha
ERNEST STUHT FINE EXAMPLE OF OLD GERMAN THRIFT
Grandson of a German Shepherd Becomes Maa of Wealth and Influence- in a Country Whose Wonders and Possibilities for Energetic Men Were Never Dreamed of by His Ancestors
THE shepherd who watched hit flocks among the green bills
and vales of northern Germany In the early years of ths
last century little thought that one of his grandsons would
become a cn&n of wealth and Influence In a great city thes
unthought of. In a country then unexplored, on the other
side of the world. The shepherd's name was Stunt and his grand
son's name Is Ernest Stuht pioneer citizen of Omaha. The shepherd
kept the floeks of a feudal lord In Mecklenburg, Strehllts, Germany.
His father and grandfather and his ancestors for many generations
had watched the progenitors of those same sheep which had been
the possessions of the ancestors of that same lord. Thus, quietly, the
world had been drifting along the placid stream of time, a stream
as placid and peaceful as Nature herself. One generation followed
another, grew up. flourished and died as regularly as the trees grew,
dropped their seeds and decayed. The grandfather of Ernest Stuht
was a man of the same mental and physical development as his an
cestor who had probably wmtched fcka la time of peace or carried
bis Master's spear and armor la time of war half a thousand years
before. '
Ths race of men was stm in Infancy and clang close to the pro
tectlng skirts of Ks good mother, Nature. That mother protected
her chndren and they were contented wtth what they had. Health
and strength and rtrtue flourished. While the raeek sheep cropped
the verdant grass, the shepherds reclining ta ' some shady nook
by the side of a purling stream or tn a fountain sprinkled grotto,
played upon their pipes; shepherdesses danced and when tired lay
down la a healthy sleep wpon nature's grass beneath nature's caa
opy. The world Indeed was la Its lafaaoy.
Then came strident ambUlot. Into the world and brought with It
an era wbloh men proudly call the industrial era. The human race
left its mother aad builded itself dties. It dug Into the earth for
coal which It tfuraed. spreading a pall of smoke over the walled
cities. The bucolic peace was violated by the road of machinery; the
pastures were cut by railroad Uaes; men sailed the sea In ships to
discover new lands. In this era wagons were needed, because people
were no longer contented to stop at home, but must go abroad
through the world. The son of the shepherd of Mecklenburg
Strehllts was the father of Ernest Stuht, and at the age of II yean
he was bound out to team the trade of a wheelwright ta the city of
Treptoe. After serving Is appreattceshtp he traveled through parts
of Switaerlaad, Germany aad Denmark. But bis mother grieved at
his absence and ha returned homo, where he was ever afterward re
garded as a most prodigious traveler. He worked at his trade for
the same lord for whom his father was stfU shepherd.
Where Ernest Was Boo.
Naturally a man ot swob, parts found favor la the ayes of the
fair sex and the young wboorwrlgbt aad traveler wooed aad won the
head housekeeper of tfeo lord's household. They were married and
moved to the town ot Ramatow, where, am Jae SO, 1&4I. their son,
Ernest, was born. Two years later tho family moved to ReveUen, in
the province of Prussia, where tho father built up a comparatively
large business and became a loader ta that tiny sommnnity. The .
bucolic blood of many generations awoke tn Ms veins, however, and
six years later he sold out bis business sad took bis family as south
ern Germany, where ho bought a farm of sixty acres near the
village of Schloffeldorf. A year and a halt afforded atlty 0f agri
cultural life and the family, which now numbered atx sonar and a
daughter, proceeded north again to tho efty ot Spaadau, near Berlin.
It was one of the most interesting places ta which this migratory
family resided. It was andeat sod had not yet abandoned Ks feudal
garb of high wall aad deep moat for the styles of tho modern ago.
Indeed, it was an aristocrat among the dties ot Germany. Located
near the capital. It had been a favortta resort ot tho reigning fam
ilies. No city oouM boast greater ago, for it had re carved towa rights
in the year 1232, which was ICO years before Coloaibus discovered
America. It was at that time and Is today the strong box la which
much of the German Imperial treasure is kept Beside Tory valuable
Jewels, large sums la gold are stored there to bs ready Immediately
In a national emergency.
Two years tho tmtastiluus father worked at his trade ta this Mo
toric city. By that tlmo, with tho aid ot his thrifty wtfe, ho had
saved sufficient money to -bar an iaa on tho highway between the
small cities of An klam aad Dammon, tn tho extrwmw northern part
of Germany, almost oa tho shores of tho Baltic sea. There Ernest
began active Ifte as Che assletaat ot bis mother ta soaduottaf tho iaa.
His father continued to work, at bis traSA,
Early Training of the B07
Ernest received tho strict re 11 gloss training and tho Spartan dis
cipline characteristic of tho day. Between tho ages ot and li
years he attended school daily and upoa attaining tho latter ago bo
was confirmed la tho Lutheran church. Bobd religious grounding
was considered of first tranortanos tn that day, and a large part of
the dally program consisted ot prayers, hymns and Bfbto history. Oa
Sunday the entire family drove tour miles to church la the morning
and in the afternoon spent a tow hours ta recreation and conversation
at the beer garden. Industry, thrift and right thinking grew as nat
urally into a man brought up under this regime as streagth Into his
bones and muscles. When bo bad attained the age ot 14 years he
entered his father's shop to learn carriage and wagon building.
"All the work was dons by hand then." says Mr. Stuht "From
the tree standing ta the forest to the completed vehicle, the carriage
builder had to be able to do eveotbrag. germaay then, as now,
protected her forests. Each fall the forest master marked the trees
which were ready to be cut down and they were then sold at auction.
Trees were cut only In tho fall and winter when the sap was out of
the wood, and the wagons which we made then would outlast any
made today. There as no eight-hour regulation for workmen, either.
Our work day contained nearer fourteen hours, though we took things
easy and didn't hurry so fast as they do at present At 6 o'clock
every day we were at the bench; at 7 we had breakfast; at 9:20
lunch was brought la, and at noon we had a big dinner; at 4:89 In
the afternoon we ate another lunch, and at 7:30 we had our supper."
America Lures Them Away
By the time his apprenticeship was completed that spectre of
every young man tn soldier-ridden Europe stared him In the face his
period of military duty. The pay of a soldier In the army under
the peace establishment was equivalent to 6 cents a day. Ernest
had been reading about America, and he thought he could do better.
He broached the subject to his elder brother, Charles. His father,
however, in spite of bis wide travels in his youth, was appalled at the
thought of venturing across the ocean Into an unknown land. He
pointed out that probably they would have to be soldiers in America
anyway, as a great civil war had Just broken out there. Ernest
answered this by the argument that they would get good pay for
being soldiers at any rate. In the end a letter was written to William
Walbrand. an old-time neighbor who had gone out to the United
States. An answer came in due time giving such a glowing account
of opportunities In the new world that the whole family determined
to go. All their possessions were converted into money and one day
they jogged away in a big wagon down the high road to the west.
At the end ot ten, rattling, bumptng, exciting days full of wonders
they arrived at the port ot Hamburg and realised that they were
nearly tOO mlls from their peaceful home.
Great adventures awaited them on the ocean. Scarcely had they
put to sea in their sailing vessel when a terrific gale cams out of
the southeast, driving them many hundreds of miles out of their
rourse. The storm continued for days; the steerage passengers be
came frightened and bad to be confined under battened hatches.
Ernest Stuht made himself useful as an assistant to the ship's car
penter. Then one day the old hulk sprang a leak; she settled rapidly
And all hands were called to man the pumps. Day and night the
strongest of the men and women fought the battle against the sea.
Boms refused to work, but spent all their time la frantlo prayers.
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spent several years working in the shopi. in winter snd hi the woodi
or on farms in the summer. He bought an Interest In a threshlni
machine and later traded it for a yoke pt oxen with which he hauled
cordwood to town. In 1865 two of his shopraates persuaded him to
go with them further west. They came to Molngona, Boone county,
la., a railroad camp, and opened a blacksmith and wagon shop.
On the Way to Omaha
After a year there, that strange destiny which seems to draw
men on through life caused him to leave a prospering business and
push westward. California an! the gold fields were his intended
destination, when iu May, 1866, accon paulcd by Peter Gopferd, a
boy he knew iu Wisconsin, he took the train for Council Bluffs,
then the western railway terminus. In that day when one took
train in the west the chances were about even as to arriving or not
arriving at one's destination. Heavy ruing had soaked the newly
made roadbed and the train on which wirt the two young men
Jumped from the rails into the ditch nenr Marshalltown,- la. They
walked into the town and, seeing a freight train headed west, stmvej
themselves snugly In a car of bridge timbers. While they slept some
one closed and locked the door. They became hungry and finally
used a heavy timber as a battering ram on one of the end doors.
After several other adventures they arrived in Council BlufTs. Thers
the two oun nun parted. Gopferd became wealthy in the Still
water mines and Mr. Stuht attained pecuniary s access no less great
in Omaha.
After weathering a severe siege of fever, Mr. Stuht secured work
as a carpenter at the government corral. One day it became neces
sary to mend a pair of shafts. An iijiskllled workman had made a
bad Job of It when Stuht was given a tryout. He did the work with
"neatness and dlsj.atch" and Jits Instant reward was a promotion to
the position of head wheelwright, a place which he continued to hold
tor eighteen years.
Soon after he arrived in Omaha he wnt to a dance In the OlJ
Capitol building. There ha met a pretty girl who had recently coma
from Denmark, bringing with her the many good qualities of the
sturdy, God-fearing people of the northern Isle. She was Miss Maria
Matson, and became Mrs. Ernest Stuht February 13. 1869. They
have four children, as follows: Mrs. Edith Kneale, Pocatello, Ida.;
Dr. Albert E. Stuht, Colfax, Wash.; Clinton Stuht. private secretary
to J. J. Brown, leading banker and financier of Spokane, Wash., and
Miss Mabel Stuht of Omaha.
Active Quarter of Century
ERNEST STUHT.
After eight weeks and three days In this watery Inferno the adven
turers reached New York. Three days later the Stuht family went
by no emlgraat train to Milwaukee, Wis., where they hired a man to
transport them la a wagoa to the town of West Troy. Ernest's
worldly possessions amounted to exactly 26 cents at that time. But
ho possessed a goodly heritage of strength, health. Industry and
ambition. A Scotchman hired him to work oa the farm at the sur
ptismg salary of f t a month. At the end of a month the Scotchman
was so pleased with the sample of industry which the German boy
showed him that ho made a contract wtth him to work a year at $10
a month. Of course, the work wasn't hard Just milking eight cows:
oaring tor six horses, feeding forty bogs and 3 sheep before break
fast and then putting la the rest of the day until sunset splitting
rails and chopping cordwood in the woods. After he had chopped s
couple of cords of wood or cut down a doiwn trees and split 100 rails
he could have the rest of the day to himself. In the spring he ana
the Scotchman ploughed 140 acres of land and sowed It by hand.
When the grain was ripe Mr. Stuht cut It all by "cradle" and bis
employer bound it by hand. When it is remembered that a city block
contains about two acres across, the Herculean labor of cutting 140
acres by the back-breaking cradle method Is appreciated.
After having worked in this temple of toll with the hardy Scot
for a year and having turned over his $120 dutifully to his father,
Ernest secured employment at his trade In a shop la West Troy. He
Mr. Stuht left the government employ in 1883 to devote all his
time to his private Interests. The following year he formed a part
nership with Gus Hummel under the firm name of Stuht ft Hummel
to engage in the grading business. They graded parts of West
Farnam street. West Cuming street, Eleventh street from Mason to
Bancroft, Fourteenth street from Mason to Castellar. and Twentieth
street from Mason to Castellar. During seven months in 1887 the
firm paid out as wages $158,000. Mr. Stuht erected the Union
hotel, Eleventh and Mason streets, tn 1890, and conducted it until
1901, when he sold out tbs business and leased the building. Hs
has been active In public work for the upbuilding of Omaha. Ia
the legislative sessions of 1882 and 1884 he collaborated with Judge
Clinton Briggs in securing the passage of the bills which enabled the
city to construct viaducts over the railroad tracks. He was a leader
In the fight to enjoin the state auditor from delivering the $160,000
bonds voted by the city for constructing a union station. The bonds
bad been voted on the understanding that the building erected
would be 230x447 feet in site, and the injunction was applied for
and secured when the railroad company reduced the size of tho pro
posed building to 140x160 feet Mr. Stuht was elected in 1896 to
the city council, where he was active and made a good record, Hs
has tiled far the race for stats representative this fall.
Industry, frugality and an abiding faith In Omaha's future ars
qualities which have worked for Mr. Stuht's success in Omaha. As
early as 1873 he had acquired property which in later years proved
the excellence of his Judgment Recently he moved to a handsome
home at 1325 South Thirteenth avenue, where he lives In that com
fort which Invariably comes to those who live wisely.
"I always knew that Omaha was going to be a large city " says
Mr. Stuht, in looking back, upon the quick development of a city out
of a desert. "I invested my money and allowed time to take Its
course. When depression came I did not lose my faith, but held on
through It. and the present development of Omaha has Justified me
I must confess that the city Is exceeding ray expectations even. I did
not expect to live to see It so large as it Is today. But now, juc-ln
its future by Its past. I feel assured that tn twenty-five years from
now Omaha will have $00,000 people."
Patience of the Turk Seems at Point of Exhaustion
THE Turkish soldier Is generally consid
ered by those fitted to Judge as being
among the most pattest, obedient and
sober of any in the world, and, consid
ering the limited opportunity that he
has to learn his trade, one of the most efficient.
He has been denounced by all Europe tor massa
cres in Bulgaria, Macedonia and Armenia; baa
gone without pay, clothes and proper rations; has
been poorly housed badly drilled and generally
mistreated yet through it all he has been uncom
plaining. The hopeless mismanagement and corruption
ot the administrative branch of the Turkish army
during the war with Greece and Russia are well
remembered, but not more vividly than the cheer
fulneas of the rank and file. An American who
was in Turkey at the time of the last war cites
as an Instance of patient discipline a body of
troops that he found guarding a government house
near the Grecian border.
They had been rushed overland from some
where In Asia Minor and It had been raining in
torrents for days. The soldiers were obliged to
remain day and night drenched to the skin and
without food or shelter, for the commissariat had
broken down; their uniforms were in rags'and the
soles of their shoes were worn through, but not
a murmur escaped their lips and no discontent
was visible on their Impassive countenances. They
were ready not only to die in battle, but to con
tinue standing In the rain until they should die at
their posts.
So loyal to the sultan has the Turkish soldier
been that for him to rise in mutinous revolt as he
has been doing recently indicates some new and
unusual development. His grievances must in
deed be great if they exceed what he has put up
with In the past If ho is a part of the young
Turk movement, which has -for its purpose tho
forced abdication of Sultan, Abdul Hamld and the
formation of a new government with a constitu
tion, It is the first time in his history that hs has
ever mutinied from political motives.
Opinions regarding the Turkish army vary
and depend much upon tho part of tho country in
which they ars formed The soldier Is seen at his
best In Constantinople, where are found the great
est numbers of straagers to Turkey.
There Is always a brilliant and Inspiring mili
tary display whan the sultan gees to the mosque.
Regiments of Sudanese, Nubians, Albanians,
Georgians, Circassians, Kurds, Arabs and many
others of the picturesque Oriental races line the
roadway along which the sultan passes and sur
round the mosque in which he worships. It is a
brilliant show that they make In their red fezes,
white turbans, gold lace, red and green banners
and glitter of arms,
But out along the borders, where the stranger
is seldom permitted, it is quite another story.
There are the ragged regiments, officers and men
who have perhaps never received any pay, and a
review, should one be held, would be an exhibition
of military poverty such as no other country could
produce. -
If the bare numbers that Turkey could muster
for war were alone considered there would be a
formidable array. It would not be short of a
round million. As far back as the time of the
Russian war in 1877 the army had a peace foot
ing of 100,000 men, capable of increase to 237,
000. When these numbers proved insufficient a
fresh effort was made, and despite the wretched
communications of that day the Turkish army
from first to last managed to embody not fewer
than 750,000 men.
But in tho present available force of a million
there would be about 15 pr cent that would pos
sess an insignificant military value, being com
posed of Irregulars like the Circassian and Kurdish
cavalry. For an encounter with a modern civil
ized to Turkey would have to rely upon the
Turkish contingent The best material for such
au army would be supplied by the Turks proper,
found in their purest in the central province of
Anatolia and as a more or less mixed race through
out Asiatic and European Turkey; then the Lazes
of Greek descent living on the southern shores of
the Black sea and the Syrians. The military' value
of the last is perhaps the lowest of the three, while
the Laza would not be animated by the blind do
votion to the sultan that makes the Turkish sol
dier ever ready to devote his life to the perfor
mance of any duty for the Holy Prophet.
Military service is compulsory in Turkey, but
only for the Mohammedan population. For
reasons that are both political and social the
Christian subjects of the sultan are excluded from
the army. Conscription is In force all over the
empire, but among some ot the wilder remote mo
pie tho rule is ladXCswoatly aaJerced.
The method of organization now followed was
introduced by the Germans. Colonel Kohler,
with three captains of various branches of the
service, undertook the work ia 1882, and when
Kohler died the reorganization was taken up by
General von der Goltz, one of the best officers In
the German army. What modern methods of war
fire and organization now exist in the army are
due largely to the unceasing efforts of these men.
The Germans all acknowledged the superior
material that they had to work on and that they
(lid not make one of the greatest armies in the
world was due to other reasons than mere organ
ization. Tha Turk is a born soldier.
"The moment that a rifle or sword is put in
his baud," said someone who knew him, "he In
stinctively ktows how to use It with effect, and
he is at home in the ranks or on a horse."
He may be good-humored, patient, kind to
children and animals, but let there be some fight
ing, if nothing more than a riot, and he shows a
surprising power of organization, and if he keeps
at it long enough, surprising ferocity and heart
leseness. killing, burning, ravaging without mercy,
neither asking nor giving quarter.
His bravery no one has ever questioned. Re
ligious Inspiration is not, as is generally thought
the chief cause of It. Islam only adds to his war-lik-o
enthusiasm. He ia Just as fearless when he
Is waging war against bis coreligionists, the Arabs
or the Albanians, as he Is when fighting the In
fidel. He Is especially eager in battle with the Infi
del, because death in such cases secures him the
reward of martyrdom. His bravery Is in Its blind
ness almost animallike and Its nature is revealed
by the attention that he can give in battle to the
trivial details of life. One ot his officers illus
trates this by telling of the unconcern with which
in the heat of battle he will watch the flight of a
bird overhead, the unconcern with which he will
sit down and tie his shoestrings, or the test with
which he will follow a Joke or any humorous In
cident. But all his admirable fighting qualities have
been sacrificed and rendered of little avail by the
very ruler hs Is willing to die serving. He is not
allowed to have any system of military training
beyond a little elementary drill In the barracks
grounds, consisting mostly of marching back and
forward, because the sultan 1 afraid that any
would mean a
As a result mlii-
mora especially
A soldier who
evolution of military efficiency
movement against his palace,
tary maneuvers are forbidden.
Rifle practice of any kind,
snapshooting, is prohibited.
reaches any great degree of proficiency as a marks
man is hustled off as far as possible from the
neighborhood of the Yildli Kiosk.
The officers In the great majority of cases are
illiterate or received their training at the military
academy at Constantinople. The principal quali
fication of the director of this Institution Is that
for twelve years he has been one of tho most effi
cient of spies upon his brother officers. Anpther
gauge of the worth of the school is the fact that
chemistry Is not taught there, because four years
ago someone who knew something of that science
made a bomb that came near blowing off the Im
perial head at the Selamllk.
"Affairs are undergoing a much greater change
in Turkey than people outside of the country have
any Idea," he continued. "As has always been
the case, every reform movement Is belittled by
official reports. From the Information given out
by the sultan's officers you would think that aU Is
as serene as a summer day, yet everyone familiar
with the situation knows that the sultan Is liable
to be overthrown any day and the whole wretehed
government changed.
"At Beirut recently a body of some 3,000
trocps that had served eight or nine" years and
were being sent home without their pay forced
the captain of the transport to take them Into port
in defiance of express orders to the contrary. They
landed In detachments, seised the military com
mandant, the treasurer and the vali and held
them as hostage until their pay, about $200,000,
was turned over to thorn. Then they went back
to their ship and. being landed at another port,
dispersed and went to their homes.
"Another regiment at Uskub, which had bees
forced to serve double the time of their legal serv
ice, insisted upon rolng home. When permission
vrs refused tho men abandoned their duties,
seized the postofflce anj held It for three days.
"Their arrearage and discharges were sent so
them and tbey disbanded and started for home.
These are only two of many incidents of which
tho world knows nothing, but they eloarhj ta4icat
the change that has soma la aataira,"
