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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1908)
F fS"H "B r"ffrfS2 CZZ mm mmtrhTrrrr mTHi zs frH "i, ti rm IJ-i 'Trm. TTTnTrfl -n TiTnrT fi-t " rr? -fl--n TW fl S Kr f"' TT711 CTr-ejaa -nTl TIIK OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: REPTEMBEU 27, 190?. si' i ' I i' i n ---- .... ) i Ml Li 1 HEN the hardy vandals of the W Northland, clothed In their heavy furred robea of bear and reindeer, first Invaded the fair provinces of the Trans-Alpine, whose people werd robed In silks and cashmere, they taught their lighter clad subjects the fashion of the Northland that, grace, comfort i i "V Board of C. TI. PICKENS, Preaidrnt. K-BER-BEN will be a festival of national scope within a fow year that J, It will attract people from all parti of the . United States, as the knights become, better known, tha same. A as Mardl Oram, held In New Orleans Just before Ient, takes thousands to that city." This is the. opinion of Charles H. Pickens, president of th Board of Governors of Ak-Sar-Ben, as regards tha future of tha festival. "Already there is a tendency of people to come here from all parts of the country during the week of the king's celebration. They go to New Orleans becuuse Mardl Gras Is held In the spring, or, rather, In late winter, and the Creole city is some thing of a winter reaort. People go there for the climate, but it la my opinion they will come to Omaha to see the spectacular elebratloQ of King Ak-Bar-Ben. ' "The organisation has done more for this city and the surrounding territory than any other of Its kind. With this work and the results everyone is familiar. It is sufficient to suy that the fame of Ak-Sur-Ben and his royal works have far exceeded expectations. Those who have seen the street parades and particularly our electric parade are unanimous in expressing the opinion that It is the finest of Its kind which passes down the streets of any city. "As to this year's festival: The Board of Governors has worked hard and we will have a parade which will exceed -In bril liancy and beauty any former parade, and If we bave fair weather, with the exceed ingly low rates made by the railroada, Ak-ear-Ben will have the largest attend ance In its history." All loMtrlbele. "It would be a good thing for the cause If the Ak-Sar-Uen carnival could be sus pended for just one year, so that those people ky are still bujkward enough to .... V. - : fC - I P, A 9 ? 0- -Tf 1 lut.vafcj.-jll " l( v.. n mi iitt Viiii i r Interior of Retail Store. 1 and dignity of habit could be found in furs. But the heavy furs of the north were too sweltering for the warmer climates, and the people of the tem perate and torrid latitudes began to discover that the wild beasts of their neighboring Jungles would furnish a brighter and less heavy raiment and thus they began wearing furs and . t i n n Filling Orders in Wholesale Dept. Governors V. B. CALmv-Et.U Vice President. EMILi BRANDEI3. belittle Its importance and who are not loyal, t wide-awake and enterprising enough to contribute their share to its success could see how much they would lose if It were not carried through every year." This is the sentiment of Geuld Diets, who has been for the last three years a mem ber of the committee on the parade. 'florae of us work hard to get these things succesKfully done." said Mr. Pitts, "and. although we are glad enough to do what we can, there la, nevertheless, some complaint because of the lack of mpre clotlon which some men show. When we have gone into business houses which were very directly benefited In a financial way by the g real crowd of visitors which couu'S I' "' -"- .---; ' ? - V ' 5 to ' V4 skins goat and lamb skins for .the humbler classes, and leopard, tiger, wolf and fox skins for those better able to procure them. Thus the wearing of furs became the fashion not alone for comfort but.for adornment, the char acter of the fur indicating the valor of social standing of the wearer. There was a day when the wearing '. .... v n ' 2 ifyf-' if - Outline Working: Plans for Future of Ak-Sar-Ben H. J. PEN FOLD, Secretary. A. j. uovn Into the city we have met, sometimes, with a generous response 'and sometimes will) ridiculous offering which It is not worth our while to accept. I have uked some men to let me have tha profits of their business for any morning during the week rather than the luO which they have of fered as a contribution and no one has ever accepted such an offer. They know that they would lose by the trade.- Cer tain businesses pay better during that week than during atl the rest of the year and make as much in a day as in a week under ordinary circumstances. Tet the proprie tors, raking In their benefits, are satis fled to stand by snd ! t the Ak-Sar-Hen be suppurted by the contributions of other of furs and skins constituted the cheap est and most easily obtainable raiment of mankind Today It is the most costly. Centuries ago only sturdy men were the wearers of skins and furs. Today It is womankind that are most adorned with this raiment. The icy plains of the north and the jungles of the'troplcs are ravaged and almost de populated of their delicately furred animals to furnish adornmont for the winter wear of milady. Here in Omaha is one of the greatest fur garment manufacturing establish ments In the United States. Within the establishment of O. E. Shukert in the Ramge building, at the corner of Harney and Fifteenth streets, will be found one of the greatest and most valuable collections of furs and skins In the United States. Here, too, are fur garments, in every process of mak ing, keeping a force of from fifty to seventy-five people employed. The Omaha Fur Emaorlum was es tablished in this same location in the year 1886 by O. E. Shukert. He re mained In the Ramge building for twelve years and then removed to Six teenth street between Farnam and Har ney, continuing there until early in tha present summer, when he again re turned to the Ramge building, which he had recently purchased, and is again established in his old location in which he began business twenty-two years ago. For many years Mr. Shukert has been recognized as the leading author ity on furs in the western country, and his establishment is by far the largest in the west, and his trade extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. In the Shukert establishment are stored the raw skins of practically all the fur-beartng animals, including seal, sable, otter, beaver, marten, mink, astrakhan, silver fox, chinchilla and ermine, for women's .wear, leopard lynx, tiger, kangaroo, bear and wolf for robes, coats and rugs, from every part of the civilized and uncivilized world. These are made up into their various needs by skilled workmen and workwomen in the Shukert factory. In the factory are specially designed sewing machines for sewing furs, and a corps of cutters, trimmers and finish ers, especially skilled in their work. The work of cutting and trimming ekins requires the highest grade of skill on account of the extreme value of the furs and skins that enter into the makeup of the coBtly garments. Adjacent the work room are large cylindrical machines for cleaning and softening the skins, after which they are sent back to the cutter for Inspec tion. The beating machine is a pecu liarly constructed affair which makes thirty thousand revoltlons per min ute. Skilled Bewlng machine operators are employed making ruffled linings for muffs, others are engaged sewing in the general silk linings for the capes, jackets and coats. The wholesaling department Is one of the interesting parts of the estab lishment, for here are found finished garments, including heavy fur over coats for men, made from black Gallo way cowhide skins, dog, coon, beaver W. li. TETTEB, Treasurer. C. E. BLACK. men who get not nearly as much direct benefit, but who are public-spirited enough to sacrifice something for the good of the city." People Kxpert fclelertalnuieat. Will L. Yetter. who has been u member of thd board of governors for three years, says of the Ak-Sur-Bon festival after his association with the work: "People of every ttae expect the metrop olis of the state to furnish a ceraln amount of entertainment. The .carnival about to be opened Is one of Omaha's en tertainments for Nehraskans and 11 Is a festival of which the people of the state as well as those of this city might well be J, ; .. - ll 1 it i and bearskin coats, caps and gloves, as well, as the most costly garments for women's wear. Here, also, is stored great quantities of furs and skins of all kinds, Including kangaroo, waulaby, bear and Russian buffalo. Adjacent the wholesaling depart ment is the storage vault where large quantities of fur garments are stored for the keeping of Omaha people., and adjacent cities and states. All kind of fine skins are also kept here for safety. Including lynx, silver fox, mink, er mines, beaver and sable. The storage vaults are under the sidewalk and are absolutely lire,, burglar and moisture and moth proof. : The retail department of the Shu kert establishment is one of the most attractive features of the whole elab orate concern. Here will be found every variety of valuable fur and skin enter ing into the fur garment wear, as well . as many of the finished garments, many of -which are of fabulous value. They represent the handsomest creations of the furrier's art, and are fit to robe a . monarch. The royal ermine, and the silver fox, are shown Jn various de signs of garment, muff, tip or cape, as are some extremely beautiful creations in mink, marten and sable. The Shukert establishment has just finished a set of silver fox furs for a Chicago woman, formerly of Omaha, at a cost of over $500. Numerous other fur creations for Omaha people costing from $100 to $300, have also just been finished. The most valuable fur, is that of the silver fox, which costs $100 to $1,000 per skin. It Is procured only in Alas ka, and is becoming more rare each year. The sables and martens rank next in value, and they, too, are be coming extremely scarce. J. C. ROOT. JOSEPH M. CL'DAHY. s proud. "The tendency of Ak-Sar-Ben is to be come more and more a part of the com munity life. It has more friends now than It twr had. The business muti are more generous ec,h year In contributing to its success both financially and by giving a liberal amount of time to the work. They appreciate the fact that the festival is permanent and they are de' a n lied to make it larger each year. "Prom my experience with the board of governors, I would say that no panic or spell of hard times can detract from the magnificence of Ak-Har-Ben. Should hard times overtake the festival In future years, the people will spend their uioiiey to tliegj- i - Corner of Tactory. Ate-. W UK Storage C. E. COURTNET. ARTHL'R C. BMITIt. themselvs up and Ak-Sar-Ben will bo with us always." ' Contributions O vei-iooUed. "My intereet in the testlvltlcs Is largnly In the success of the affair financially." said Arthur C Smith. "J put my work In that direction and results in that direction arc wliai pleanu me most. T'v pKiuina! difficulty we have to deal with U the apathy of some of the business merr who have most to gain from a successful Ak-Har-Ben week. There are merchants on farnam stieet in the very heart of the re tail dlatrict to whom the coming of the Ak-Sar-lii n crowds means hundreds of dol lars every year, who are unwilling to back the board iu a financial way against a Ififf d f - W'f- - 'Mi , P7L I C$?vf : Vault. " '."I - ' 1,5 : CU .jv1. GOULD DIETZ. possible failure. Of course, everything Is all right when there is no rain and tha street fair pays. In that case we don't need the assistance. But sometimes we do, and they shirk the responsibility whlrfh is rightly theirs. These enterprises cannot be carried on with success unless every Omaha business man shows his loyal Inter est and enthusiasm by standing behind the board of governors and pushing In every way possible. When they do that, then the financial committee of the board of gov ernors won't have to work so hard and we will have even bigger and better parades end street fairs." H Improvements at tbe Den. "As a piember of the hous committee," said Charles E. Black, "I find that the condition of the Coliseum Is of more Inter est to me than any other phase of the work. This year we have succeeded In making ona big improvement In our quarters, the ex tension of space In the buffet room. It used to be that anyone who wanted to eat had to knock down and drag out every, body In front of him to get to the counter. We have remedied that by adding 10 square feet of floor space and the result Is very satisfactory. "I am anxious to Improve the floor of the old building. If we are blessed with good weather tills year and the revenue from the carnival Is great enough, the great ball of Ak-Sar-Ben XV, next fall, will be held on a fine hardwood dancing floor instead of canvass covered floor. We wsnt an oak floor snoohly am Kolfdly land and we are go Irn to hav) It. It lias oeen noceary frequently to jack up the old floor where It has sun'it and straighten It out where It has warped, and do a great many things which are only crude attempts at keeping it in proper condition. We are going to have a new floor Just as soon as we ret the money and that will be as Mf aa lm (Continued on Page Fourteen.)
