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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 1910)
THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: FEBRUARY 20, 1010. Birthday of China's Baby Emperor Formally Celebrated in Omaha HCURF.LY secluded from tlx C! I ' f llion! who do not ktww I oncl do not understand In some imir iiiuiir-n corner or inose li?!';J Illarl' partitioned, i ' ' " 'J oriental restaurant odoriferous its on lower Pouglun street tits solemn-faced yellow peopln ore remembering the world's old est fete day t lie New Year of China. As old as the most musly tradition of a rat whose written history extends bark Into Koh before the Christian world began; as oung um the birthday of tho buby rulr tt the Celestial Kingdom. Four years ago, February . 1 1," l'J06. In the reckoning of western folk, 11 Yu, the emperor, was berh. Last week this 1 1 ft y . youngest of the Mutuim dynasty ended the cond year of his lule.rship. Chinese custom which the occidental mind date not try to understand, many and many a' yeur ugo before the Tartars came, fixed the. beginning of the year at the birthday .of the ruling emperor. Ko where .ne sees t tie Koldeti dragon signs aling Douglas Bluet It Is now the third year of PI Yu. . Flow, ulender flliny lines of smoke rise from funny little regiments, of punk sticks standing on a table bedecked as only by The art from out of the Kust. Strange smells of gaiilc-like pungency pervade the shaded gaudlness of th-j loom. It is the Chinaman's New Year feast, all to the glory of 11 Yu and the land of 111 fore fathers over the Pacific. New Year Indeed! Almost an anachron ism It secnis so to designate a season that combines so much of dim historic and culinary mystery In terms so boldly Anglo Saxon. There on a cloth of daring brilliant color, rarely stitched In weird fantasies of dragon design and unchristian (scrolls, are plates of rich enamel through which gleams artfully traced lines of "powder blue," cups with flaming shades of salmon pink and sange do bocuf, vases that mak one think of a seasuusct tangles In a simoon. Each beurs a pile of candled fruits and wt meats nnd dainties from PI Y'u's' country. There are tho bitter sweet ginger roots, ct ustcd in yellowish flakes of sugar and the biting wild tasting shreds of ginseng mixed with ribbons of sugared cocoanut. A round woven basket with a frieze of rioting fanciful creatures chasing each other ubout the rim, holds the soft shelled raisin hearted nuts from tho valley of the Yang-tse-Klang. Then In sudden contrast the eye lights on perhaps a box of American-made cigars. Next sits a dwarf tea plant, neighboring with a blossoming primrose. Packages of yellow and green and red tire-crackers are strewn about mingling their gaioty with paer flowers, the like of which never grew on plant or tree. They are the fairy blossoms of good luck that's all, Just good luck blossoms, the only kind that tho botanist has not tried to classify. They bear sweet fruits the Chinamen say. If the visitor shares the confidence of Ills tea tinted host he may nibble at the awcet things. Yes, even the Celestial even may In the exultation of tho generous New Year spirit, produce a chubby Jug strapped with dust stained labels In funny scrawls of India Ink hieroglyphs and set forth tiny portions of green China rice wine, aged in fair Cathay. Short Stories of Several Sorts Selected Oat of Night of Land. ES," told a traveling man last night, was once out of sight of land on the Atlantic ocean twenty-one days." There was a small-sized crowd Sitting around. Another man spoke up. "On the Pacific ocean one time I didn't see land for twenty-one days," he said. A little bald-headed " man knocked the ashes from his cigar. "I started across the Knw river at To ptka in a skiff once," he said, "and was out of sight of land before 1 reached the Ottter side." "Aw, come off!" said the mun who had told the first tale. "The Kaw isn't more than 3iX) feet wide at Topeka." "I didn't say It was," aaid tho little bald heuded man quietly. "The skiff turned over and 1 sank twice." Denver Post. A t'leyer Urafter. James U. Dill, whose recent speech on "Graft" lit Oberlin college attracted so much attention, told recently, apropos of "graft", a story about a swindling tramp. "Tills framp," said Mr. Dill, "had the alert, unscrupulous, bold mind that makes 'grafting' successful. "He was walking in Chicago one day when he saw a little boy stoop and pick up something. "JIo crosned over to the boy quickly. " 'You have made a find, my lad,' he said. " 'Y'es sir,' said the Innocent boy. '1 have found a silver ring." " 'I thought so,' said the tramp. 'It's the one I Juat dropped. Now, ain't it lucky 1 had niy name cut In it?' ' What's your name?' 4id the boy, suspiciously. " 'Sterling, lad.' " 'Take It, then. It's yours,' said the boy, handing over the ring with a, disappointed air." Judge. Irish vs Itollau Method. Pev. Suiiford Culver Heurn, pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal church, Yonkers, is relating a street car Incident which concerns a conductor, an Irishman and an Italian. Kuch had given ik dime to the faretaker, but had received no change. "I wanta da nick," complained the Nea politan. "You've got your nick. No more nicks for you. Bee!" And the conductor moved to the rear platform. Tho Italian sat meekly In silence, but the Irishman employed different tactics. He went to the doorway. I "Ulmme 5 cints change," said lie to the f conductor. "You've got all the change you're going to g-t," was the retort. "See he.ts." exclaimed the Irishman, "you may pluy that chuue on a hand organ, but you cun't do It on a harp. (Jimme i cints." Amt'he got It. Cleveland Plain Dealer. Llertlonerrlntf lu North Dakota. f'.enator McCumber of North Dakota had a dinner at the hoiue of one of his rural 1 constituents last fall which was costly, re lates the Washington Times. It consisted of boiled ' potatoes, bread, and AlbuckIVs best coffee. The senator and his secretary indulged In It and were glad to get It. but berere they got tin outfit it had separated the senator from Jl. . Mr. MK'umlur and his secretary were touring the slate In a motor car, fixing up such political fences as appeared to be in need of repair. On this occasion the machine gut stuck out on the prairie. ,The senator and secretary went to the merest farmhouse and whilo tho machine was being pried loose dinner time came. They were Invited to have dinner and accepted;- Dinner consisted of the menu as staled. It is not the cuslem for North Dakota folks to take money for a meal. wmw f&?9r Turn i Vr. vty I,. 1 J - ' 7 ' " n t StL kidh ,T-V.C riBiUS STAMP rlCC 7ZIK7 IT" It "Tt 11 "-7 1 m il. V --jF- ' J - A, V " Wsm ?Wmk 3v .V-5 I (.MT v v"l;te ?fS or r .v.; jEKLPins; the second tcx k rm ntME or thjb rei&ning-emperor. AND THE LAST DESIGNATES THE YEAH OF HIS RE1CK. THE SECOND It may appear a stingy measure, but wait. The taste i Weil. It is not exactly dis pleasing to the bourbon trained palate, but one wonders what will happen next. The notion comes while tingling sensations spurt through one's veins as the aroma of the peculiar beverage'dlffuses, that dis and so the 'senator handed k dollar bill to tho small boy of the family. The small boy had no scruples about accepting it and did so. Then the visitors went outside the house and were contemplating the continuation of their Journey when the farmer pointed out near at hand a small church which had, he said, Just been built. The debt In curred rested heavily on the shoulders of the meager congregation. He suggested that If the senator felt Inclined, any small contribution would-be thankfully received. "Of course, I'll be glad to," said Sen ator1 McCumber, reaching for his roll. The senator expected to give some small amount, us a five, but when he scanned his supply of currency lie found ha had nothing but twenties. He could do noth ing else under the circumstances than peel off one of the yellow-backs. The farmer accepted it with thanks, and tbe senator climbed into his motor car, lost in con templation of the banquet he had Just at tended, at $10.50 a plate. Sorrow, Indeed. Deep feeling is disclosedln the following notice which was sent to the agent of a German life insurance company by a man whoso wife had Just died and which the New York Journal of Commerce dlscoyered in a German Insurance Journal: "Greatly shocked, I beg to inform you that my very dear wife. Anna Maria Doulse who was Insured in your com pany for mark 3,0M), Is dead, leaving me in the deepest despair behind. That hap pened this morning about 7 o'clock. 1 en treat you to send me as soon as possible Nebraska's Oldest Woman. MRS. TERESA B. CLEVELAND. RS. TERESA E. CLEVELAND, who died St. Valentine's day in Lyons, would have been 100 years old if she had lived nine months longer. In spite of her years she was spry up to her Ml 3d last illness and in her ninety-eighth year pieced nineteen quilts. She retained her faculties to the last, and the day before she died, at the request of a friend who sat at her bedside, she sang the familiar children's song, "Sing a Song of Sixpence, a Pocket Full of Rye," through to the end She died of bronchial trouble, growing out of a cold. Mrs. Cleveland was the last of her Im mediate family, though she leaves a num ber of grandchildren living near Lyons and two. daughters-in-law, Mrs. Julia Cleveland of Lyons and Mrs. Kate Cleve land of Detroit, Mich. I f J ,1 tV A I -v. . 9 i. ,. . .. rT- i i, i -a , iMlpi-(,, . it v baa JOit THE Ja?fi: cretion bids only the experimental tipple. It Is In cunning comprehensive under standing that tho Chinaman offers the sec ond cup. His face gleams with a politely concealed smile at the profuse refusal. Tho guest, if he is a knowing one, ex changes his card for his host New Tear the amount of Insurance. The number of the policy is , which you will no doubt find in, your books. She was a true wife and an admirable mother. In order to enable you to atterid to the formalities as quickly as possible I am Inclosing herewith the certificate of death. She has suffered much, which made my torture still mora unbearable. I trust that you will grant me some consolation by sending the money as quickly aa possible, in return fpr which I promise to insure my second wife with you for mark 6,000. The conviction that you will grant me the above consolation makes it easier for me to bear the terrible trial which has afflicted me." Squelch lag av Smart Lawyer. In a suit tried in a Virginia town a young lawyer was addressing the Jury on a point of law, when, good-naturedly, he turned to the opposing counsel, a man of much experience, and asked: "That's right, I believe. Colonel Hop kins?" Whereupon Hopkins, with a smile of con scious superiority, replied: "Sir, I have an office in Richmond, wherein I shall be delighted to enlighten you on any point of law for a considera tion." The youthful attorney, not In the least abashed, took from his pocket a half dol lar piece, which he offered to Colonel Hop kins, with this remark: "No time like tho present. Take this, sir; tell us what you know and give me the change." Pittsbur.- Chronicle Tele graph. Cat Necessary to Bakery. A cat is a necessary adjunct to a bakery, according to the decision reached by the license committee of the city council of Chicago. . Chief Sanitary Inspector Ball protested, and, quoting reports from Liverpool and other European cities, declared nine out of ten cats are not any good, in that they never catch a rat. "Cats get so fat In bakeries," said Ball, "they couldn't catch a rat if they sat down and waited for it" , After one hour of argument on both sides the committee adopted the section of the bakery ordinance which allows cats In bakeries. All other domestic animals are prohibited in bakeries. Odd Taste of a Dog. 1 "I -once knew a very eccentric dog." says a writer in Bailey's Magazine, "he was a S-eal old English spaniel, with long body, shoit legs with great bone, grand head, Jaws and teeth like a wolf's almost, and long ears that would meet his nose. Poor fellow, his temper was certainly unaml able, but I think this was caused by the state of his health. t "He was a very curious animal, never showing much attachment to any one; lie would bite his best friends on the least provocation. Nothing, lUough, offended htm so much as being laughed at that was an Insult he never forgave. If you began to laugh at him he would growl In a very, ominous manner, and if you per sisted In it would snap at you and give you such a bite that you would not care to try again. "If you wished to please htm you had to get a lot of old birds' nests and give them to him, one by one; he would carry' them about for some time and then he would sit down and tear them to pieces. He was riot particularly fond of going for a walk with any one, but If you got some nests and gae him one occasionally he would trot along with you as happily as possible. "Another curious habit of his was that he would never get out of the way for any one. When be was trotting along he never moied from his line If he saw any one coming, but it he saw they did not intend to move, would begin to growl and look so savage that people usually made haste : w d m v una III 1 -. "Joy card," a. slip of rice paper bearine th Chinaman's name in bold brush printed characters on a field of red rich cs blood clots, the glow that delights the heart of the heathen Chinee. Then the door elosee behind on the oriental feast tossing the delicate swirls of punk smoke into a chaoa out of his way. When he happened to be running down a hill, he did not growl, but merely ran against people if they did not clear . out hia great weight usually upset ting them, of which he took not the slight est notice. "A great friendship arose fcewteen this dog and a fine cat we had, and it was very amiittlng to see them together. He would walk up to the cat and begin to lick her all over, and then she would rub all around him, purring ahd seeming to be very foud of him. when all of a sudden she would stop, look up In his face and spit at him, at the same time giving him two or three sharp scratches, the 'only notice of which he look was to close his eyes so that they might not be hurt" $. ' Llmberiier ' Closes a School. Falling to get a promise from the teach ers for as long a holiday as they thought they should have, large boys of the Oak dale public school tried llmburger cheese with startling effect a few days before Christmas. This was brought out when nine boys were placed under arrest, charged with malicious mischief, on warrants Is sued, by Justice of the Peace II. Q. McMur ray, the complaint being made by the school board. Oakdale is a hamlet about fifteen mileS' from Pittsburg and It has a school of ten rooms. When D. Loss Dickson, Warren Wallace and Charles Letter of last year's class, who are now students in Grove City college, reached home and found there was to be a short holiday season for the old home school, they are alleged to have In troduced some college ideas into the heads of the youngsters. In any event, Dickson, Wallace and Letter were the first three arrested. There 'is doubt as to the tlmo the hearings will be held, since Ida Stevens and Gertrude Mortimer, who were two of four teachers who fainted In the school room owing to the strong odor of cheese, are In bed and may not be able to appear against the lads. A committee of the boys called on R. C. McKelvey, the principal, and asked for a longer holiday Beason that usual. This was refused, and the boys left him, threat ening to get even. That night the school was broken into and tho llmburger cheese smeared over every heat radiator In the building. At the same time cheese was placed Inside each radiator. Tie teachers tried to teach In the hot, close rooms with the limburger cheese, but they could net do It with success and all became 111. After the schools were dismissed for the holi days one of the boys was heard to say boastfully that they had fixed matters so there would be no school for a long time. Pittsburg Dispatch. Western Barber Jars Boston. "Why. say," said a visiting barber from the wide, untrnmmelcd west, to Boston ar tists, "you folks here in the cast are nar row, limited, shackled, contracted, far be hind -the oge. You think you are the human limit when really your gait Is very slow. "I went into one of your shops he-e the other duy. Nice shop , Tood equipment, everything fine and elt t it; but when I taw how slow you wire J-re on the work It made me nervous. A god plant, but not wi rked to anything like capacity. "They had a man In a chair with a bar ber cutting hH hair and a manicure fixing his hands and a bootblack blacking his shoes all at the same time. And 1 sup pose you think here that that's going soma to have three people work on a customer all at once, but goodness me! you ought to look Into my shop and see how we do things In my part of the country. "I've got a shop that's every bit as mod ern and up-to-date to the last limit as any thing you've got; but out there we utilize our plant. What do you suppose we do when a man comes in that's In a hurry to Mm . ill W X) -a--- n VI rm . . . ,r tmu..? - I 'FfJ- '., . 4 1 ji-w rqni . k. ' 1 '.i;'vi'.c,-.fa: -. f.S CAf SC STiHyANf W?f CELEBRATION VMS fifj YOANPS. ZEAPY FOR THE of curls. With suave gesture the Chinaman, bows you out and the New Year's call is over. Down the dingy stairs, out Into the noisy clatter of Douglas street, here the Omaha bustle and roar awakens one again and there PI Yu'a birthday seems just a Specially catch a train? Think we all lie down and take a nap? Why! We put one barber to cutting his hair and another to shaving him and two manicures tackle his hands, one on each side; we take off his shoes and two boys work on them, each blacking a single shoe, while two chiropodists get to him, each taking a foot; and at the same time we have one boy brushing the customer's hat, and another brushing his overcoat, while still another boy Is dusting the clothes he's got on with a vacuum duster. "You put three people on a man at once and think you're doing something! We put on eleven and think nothing about it at all. "Why, honest, this atmosphere makes me sleepy." Chicago Inter-Ocean. Puttlnar It Up to the Judge. Miss Lydla Conley, a Wyandotte girl. Is the only ' Indian woman lawyer In the world. She Is a member of the Kansas bar, and at Kansas City anent a recent Indian case that she conducted she told an Interesting legal story. "So I put my man on the stand," she said. "That, If your case is a Just one, is always the thing to do. You know the story of the Kansas land claimant? "Well, out here, many years ago, a man brought suit before the Bquire to reocver some ' land that had been outrageously filched from him. His care was a good one, but tho other side had doctored its witnesses had even doctored the plaintiff's witnesses, too and up to the time when he took the stand himself not a Jot or title of testimony in his favor had been re corded. "He, as soon as he was sworn, turned to tho Justice and said: " 'Squire, I brought this suit, and yet the evidence, excepting my own, is all against me. Now, I don't accuse anyone of lying, squire, but these witnesses ore the most mistaken lot of fellows I ever saw. You know me, squire. Two yeais ago you sold me a boss for sound that was as blind as a bat. I made the deal and stuck to It, and this la the first time I have mentioned Eft,.-(L, . ! ...... -i 2 ; - "id 1 I . Jlf.lf-...L , r .J, , . ' I HEHMAN PETERS AND TITS PIX-CYLINDER THOMAS CAR, WHICH 13 EQUIPPED WITH A ItEFRItJ ERATOR Al OTHER COMFORTS OF HOil" ! I 1 i FEAST. curiously ornate dream. A bit of talk, a drink, ' a smoke, some memories is about all that remains of the Chinese New Year in Omaha. There are but a scant 100 of the baby emperor's coun trymen In the city and they are too busily engaged in the altogether modernized chase for Sunday Service It. When you used to buy my grain, squire you Btood on the scales when the empty, wagon was weighed, but I never said a word. Now, do you think I am the kind of a man to kick up a rumpus and sue a fellow unless he has done me a real wrong? Why, squire. If you'll recall that sheep speculation you and me ' "But at this point tho squire, very red In the face, hastily decided the ense in the plaintiff's favor." Kansas City . Journal. Mistress of Detail. Dr. Robert Wood of Johns Hopkins uni versity was complimented by a young lady at a dinner in Baltimore on the artificial mirages that he succeeded In muklng in his laboratory'. "It is by attention to tho least details," said Dr. Wood, with a smile, "that one suc ceeds In experiments of this kind. One must look after the details like cr like tho landlord's wife. " 'Tommy,' said the landlord's wife to her lltle boy, 'who Is that talking on the door step to your father?' " 'It's a divinity student.' Tommy an swered, 'who Is looking for a furnished room.' " 'Hurry, then,' said the mother, 'and walk up and down the hall whistling a hymn.' "New York Pibfs. , Not Tending to Business. A. country doctor was recently called upon to visit a patient some way from his office. , Driving to where tho sick man lived, he tied his horse to a tree in-front of tho house and started to walk across the ground. It (happened that work was In progress on a new well, of which tho doctor knew nothing until he found him self sinking into the earth, lie fell Just far enough to be unable to get out of the hole unassisted, and lustily yelled for help. When Tie was finally pulled up the hired man remarked to him: "I say, doc, you had no business down there." "No, I don't believe I had," replied the doctor. "Don't you know," continued the hired Biggest Automobile in Omaha 'V v '- 'V I "V 'S;.; V"i;-' '-J :'' of th big round American, dollar. TVM! buslnv" urres they do not linger lonf with the native holidays. Where the Chinese maintain a community life preserv ing racial customs In a higher dcgTet, the. resl fifteen day feast Is held. It l season of exchange of gifts between frlendi and general Jollification. The beginning of the New Tear mean many things to the Chinaman. Then, a his debts must be paid and his obligations met. Hemarkably like occidental New Year's resolutions some way, la It not? Ills ancestors must be remembered with por tions of boiled rice and chicken fresh cooked In spices placed on their graves. He may not grow angry or vexed while the New Year celebration la one, and the Joss sticks must burn steadily In the temple. The period Is all to the Chinaman that would be represented by tbe combined sentiments of Christmas, New Year, Thanksgiving, Valentine day, the Kourth of July and St. Patrick s day. If one can Imagine such a potpourri of tradition and festivities. The Chinese New Year Is a season of peace on earth and good will toward men, and many flrecrackera to keep away divers and sundry devils and mali cious spirits. In Omaha the firecrackers form only a part of the decorative scheme of Chinese New Year, for city ordinance forbids pyro technic indulgences so startlngly out of the season of the Fourth. The Joy of the Chinaman's New Tear In those cities where they have real Chinese settlements is likely to bo fraught wltli severe strains on the compelled good nature of the seaaonl Devilish boys soon learn that the Chinaman must keep his wrath tilled during this period, and In marauding troops they invade tho sacred precincts to raise bedlam In the temples and subject the graven gods to heathen Indignities. They are protected in this vandalism by the certainty that the Chinaman must keep his temper or fall under the ban of these same gods. The New Year for China Is the signal for a gathering of the vagrants and tramps about the Cnlnpse cemeteries along the Pa cific, coast. Tim lice cakes and highly seasoned vlamlN that are left on the graves of the, departed lor material benefit of the souls of both dead ui.d living are consumed by the hungry wandt rt-rn who lie In wait. The Celestials are thus often led to believe that the viands so deposited have been con sumed by the hunger of their long dead ancestors and they must take great unction thereat. The real Chinaman would rather be a felon than to be considered unfillal. About the Chinese restaurants and laun dries at this season one sees many little red cards bearing a name In English accom panied by an array of the Chinese char aiters. These are remembrance cards sent to former students by the teachers In Chinese missions, many of them from far over In the orient. One Omaha Chinaman has been receiving a card from his mission, teacher each New Y'ear day for eighteen years, and he has come to consider it a part of tho tradition of the day. "I wonder," he said In curiously good English, as he turned over the little red pasteboard, "if it means that the Chinese, New Year is becoming Americanized or the American missionary is getting a. tinge of the oriental?" man.t "you ought to leave the well alone and take care of the sick!" Llpplnoott'i Magazine. ' . 'I , Wouldn't Hats MarrledT Him. A clergyman, noticing the simple appear "', anco of tho couple he had Just married, decided to give them a lew words of ad vice. He explained to the young man his duties as a husband, and then told the young woman how she should conduct herself, winding up with the old injunction that she must look to her husband for every thing, and, forsaking father and mother, follow him wherever he went. The bride appeared very much troubled at this, and faltered out: "Must I follow him to every place he goes?" "Yes," sold the clergyman, "you must follow him everywhero until death doth you part." Gracious," cried the girl, "if I had 1, n ,,n tliul ImfnrA T 11 ,,A,,.- t, . . - married a postman." Spare Moments. Marvelous Cycling;. Once again the conversation had veered round to thrilling adventures. "That reminds me of an experience I had some time ago," remarkod a member. "1 was riding a brakeless bicycle down a steep hill, when all of a sudden the chain snupped and I careened down the rest of the hill quicker than groused lightning. "The road down the hill took a turn at direct right angles, and in the corner of the angle stood a cottage. I was wondering what the verdict would be at the Inquest when I saw a man rest a plank of wood against the eaves of the cottage. "I went straight for the plank, over the roof, and down the other tide. Luckily, the cottager's wife and daughters were shaking carpels, and, alighting on an outstretched carpet, I was gently lowered to the ground." A dead, dull silence descended on the company,-which was broken by the hissing of a soda !phon. Tit-Bits. -.ft.- . I -d: