The Omaha Daily Bee
VABT XXX.
FOR ALL THF NEWS THE
OMAHA DEE
. BFST IN THE WEST
300,000 OMAHA
VOL. XL NO. 52.
OMAHA, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17 1910.
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
Judges of the District Court and Leading Officials of Douglas County
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HOWARD KI INEDT.
Jud( et DUtrlot Court.
WIUIAM A. REPICK.
Jud of DUtrlct Court.
WILLIS O. SEARS,
Juds of District Court
LEE 8. ERTELLB.
Judf of District Court.
A. I PtTTTON.
Judge of Dlatrtct Court.
A. C. TROUP
Juds of Dlitrlot Court
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Judf of UtUtrtct Court
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CTTAltrBS LESMB,
County Judg.
ROBERT SMITH..
Clerk of DUtriot Court. '
JAMES P. ENOLTSH,
County Attorney. -
E, F,
BRAILET.
Sheriff.
GEOROB A. MAGNET.
Deputy County Attorney.
ALFRED G. ELLICK.
Pcputy County Attorney.
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' ,' aEQRGBl M" BRIDES. r '.,
County Burreyor.
W, O. SHRIVE R,
County Assessor.
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' FRANK A. BTTRAT.
County and City Treaiurer.
D. M. TTAVWRLBT,-
County Clerk.
FRArnt vr.'VktmTM.'
Register of Deeds.
W.ATOTKTV
Superintendent Publlo Instruction.
THU.vrAS MCL EX N KG ! tA?T, '
Superintendent of County Hospital.
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FRED BRT7NTNO,
Chairman County Conimliisloners.
JOHTf OR ATTT.
County Commissioner.'
OSCATT T. T'lCKAITD,
County Commissioner.
JOHN C. TROTTTON,
County CommiHsloner.
TEFF "W." BEDFORD,
County Commissioner.
WTT.LT3 ' C. CROSBT,
Coroner.
Frederick: renner.
Superintendent of Store.
DOUGLAS COUNTY
L A RICH EMPIRE
Aiseiied Valuation of $183,446,935
for 1910 is Twenty Per Cent
of Beal Value.
INDIVIDUALITY WELL PRESERVED
Count ii an Entitv Not to Be Lightly
Reckoned.
') NOT OVERSHADOWED BY THE CITY
New Court House One of the Finest in
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uuivcu uiaics.
COST BIG OUTLAY OF MONEY
I'taltaral Domala lamoeled Ii
'ertlllty ky Amy Oter la En
tire C'oaatry Schaol Sye
tea Pride of Coaaty.
At a rule, city so overshadow county In
wealth and general Importance that without
Ae city, the county amount to but little.
Wmov Chicago from Cook county, or St.
Louis from St Louis county, and compara
tively little remain. So It Is la many
places, but if the city of Omaha were ellrn
Ins ltd from Douglas county, there would
still be left an entity not to be lightly reckoned.
Douglas county is first of all an agricul
tural bailiwick. The price of the land Is
high, owing to its proximity to the metrop
olis, yet farmers have made it pay hand
some returns upon the lnventment. In fact.
the county of Douglas Is one of the most
thoroughly tilled sections of Nebraska.
Splendid farms and splendid farm houses
dot the country, attesting the prosperity bf
the husbandman, and many a fortune has
been made out of Douglas county soli.
Douglas is one of the original eight coun-
t es of Nebraska, created by Governor Cum
ing In and until l!i57. It Included the
present county of Sarpy within Its limits.
After Sarpy county was segregated, there
remained 321 square miles an area as fer
tile a any that can be found In the middle
west.
By way of Illustrating the expansion of
wraith In Douglas county, comparison of
assessed valuation is Interesting. In K& ih
total assessed valuation of all property, real
and personal, was $311, U. while the as
sessed valuation for 1910. real and personal,
Is $37,689,387, an Increase of a round million
over 1909. The assessed valuation under the
present method of assessments Is 20 per
cent of the actual cash value of the prop
erty, hence it can be figured at a glance,
that Douglas county' total wealth of tax
ation Is $,4ft,935. Of this $27,20,000 applies
to Douglas county outside ot the city of
Omaha.
On of the most recent and most notable
forward movement of Douglas county i
the appropriation of $1,000,000 for a new
court house which, when completed, will
be one of the finest county buildings In
the United States. No city In the entire
country will have a more ornate, com
modious and modern building not until
lh.L-y build again and try to outshine
Douglas county. Vexatious delay have
somewhat retarded the building process, yet
It 1 th hope of the county commissioner
that the new building will be ready for oc
cupancy In the year 1912. That seems now
like a long way Into the future, yet con
sideration must be given to the fact that
there I much work about such a vast
building.
Briefly described, the new court house
Is to be seven stories high, with a base j
dimension of 157 feet and 4 Inches by 203
feet and Inches, and a height of 111 feet
from foundation to dome. The building
will not look to be seven storlea. Perhaps
It would be more nearly accurate to desig
nate it as a five-story structure, yet by
counting the basement and the sub base
ment the seven stories are found. On the
top floor will be the Jail, and Just below It
comes a mexzanine floor which Is de
signed to remove any evidences of the
prison from the court rooms and the offices
on the floors below. Prisoner will be
brought to the court house through a rear
driveway and hoisted to their cell In a
elevator toward the rear of the building.
Thus all outward suggestion of a prison
will be removed from the building.
While the structure Is generally spoken
of as a million-dollar building, the fact
remains that before It 1 completed, includ
ing the front parking, the total cost will
ruu to $U.CW.00O. The ground In front of the
old building I to be graded and a retaining
wall much lower and more ornate than the
present on will be built.
When on October 25, 1S2, the cornerstone
of the new dismantled but still occupied
building was laid with great ceremony,
the commissioner In charge evidently felt
that Douglas county had a Beat of govern
ment fine enough and large enough for all
time to coma. In fact, It was a magnificent
building for that era, but the county has
long since outgrown it and now comes the
new .structure to meet the demand.
The court house site consists of an entire
block, bounded on the west by Eighteenth
street, east by Seventeenth street, north
by Farnam street, and south by Harney
street The value of this block, exclusive
of buildings, Is now estimated at $1,000,000,
but back In 1878 it was purchased by the
county for $35,913, which in that day was
considered a rather strong figure. The
difference between the purchase p.ice in
1S78, and the estimated value today tells
In tabloid how real estate values have In
creased In Omaha. But that Is another
story? which will be told in detail else
where In this issue of The Bee.
In 1SS0. an election was held for the
purpose of voting In the sum of $125,000 for
the erection of the court house, which Is
now soon to be torn away. It wa dis
covered, however, that $125,000 was an In
adequate appropriation, and a year later
another election was held and the bond
l?sue was increased. Before the finish,
the structure had cost the county $20I,7S7,
exclusive of the expense Incident to the
retaining wall.
Prior to that building, the county had
managed to conduct Its business In a much
smaller structure, consisting of a Jell, four
rooms and a hall, located on Farnam
street In the vicinity of Sixteenth street.
Money was scarce, and, as a menns of aug
menting county revenue, the commissioner
were In the habit of renting the pourt
house at odd times for any purpose that
happened to require a publlo gathering.
For example, the Presbyterian In that
esrly day, having no house of worship,
paid a rental to the county for the privilege
of holding service In the court room, and
about the same time the executive com
mute In charge of a that was to be
given engaged the court house, also. Thus
it appears that the early-day commissioner
were no respectors of persons when it came
to the question of taking care of county
finances.
In hlstorlo lore, Dougras county is rich.
It was In Douglas county on the sit of
Florence where the lliimlji.! first at
tempted to establish themuelvuft r-.fter the
evacuation of Nauvoo. This epoch and
many other of equal Interest d-i to the
volume of early-day history.
There is a strong tendency for the pres
ervation of Douglas county's individuality,
and there will probably neer be a merger
of city and county governments as has
been done In large centers elsewhere. The
only movement in this direction ever made
is the merging of the treasury. Frank A.
Furay is treasurer of Douglas county and
ex-offlcio treasurer of the city and school
district of Omaha. One of the results of
this combination has been a material re
duction of the expense Incident to the hand
ling of public money. For example, during
the last four years prior to the merger, the
average coat per year of maintaining the
treasury department of the city and county
as separate institutions was $27.8.Vi.G5, while
the aversge.for fuur years sine the merger
up to and Including 1909, 41 $1.233.71 a rav
ing of almost half. While Treasurer Furay
is primarily a county officer, he has his
office In the city iialL
The present roster of county officials
follows.
County clerk, D. M. Haverly; county
treasurer, Frank A. Furay; sheriff, K. P.
Bralley; register of deeds, F. W. Bandle;
county attorney. Jama P. English; county
Judge, Charles Leslie; county surveyor,
George McBrlde; clerk of the district court,
Robert Smith; coroner, W. C. Crosby;
county physician, Loul Bwoboda; county
superintendent of schools, W, A. Yoder;
county assessor, W. G. Shrlver; uperln
endent of county hospital, Thorns lie
Clenegan. County Commissioner Fred Brunlng,
chairman; John Grant, first district; Fred
Brunlng, second district; O. J. Plokard,
third district; J. C. Troutan. fourth district;
J. W. Bedford, fifth district. Henry K.
Ostrom, secretary.
Douglas county takes special pride in the
district school. There are sixty-three dis
trict in the county and the Intellectuality
and general capability of the teacher Is
high above the average. As a rule the
county school buildings are commodlou
and illiteracy In Douglas county Is a thing
unknown.
Douglas county Is essentially an agricul
tural county. Near the city there Is con
siderable truck farming, but for the most
part the county is devoted to general farm
ing. Equipment for tilling the soli is the
very latest of modern invention and the
fact that automobiles are the rule rather
than the exception as a means of transit
attests the prosperity of the farmer. Dairy
ing Is also a leading pursuit and there Is
much pedigreed stock of every kind. Ken
tucky Is far famed for the blood of It
horses, but go out Into Douglas county
anywhere, any day, and the observer will
find horses that will prance alongside of
any-thlng Kentucky has eve.' produced, and
suffer none by the comparison. This show
ing of horses, In view of the ever Increasing
popularity of the automobile, may seem
somewhat anomalous, yet it Is a fact none
the less. There was a time when Douglas
county roads were not worthy of cheerful
comment but that day ha passed and now
the highway are among the best to be
found In the country. The Douglas county
farmer Is more than a mere tiller of the
oil. II ha money In the bank. He comes
to town In hU automobile, unless perchance
he happens to belong to that class of ooun
try gentlemen whose devotion to the horsa
precludes consideration of benzine locomo
tion. He I a traveled man, too. He la
present at all the big fair not only In hi
tate, but elsewhere. Occasionally he take
his wife and other member of hi family
to Chicago, St. Loul or New York to
the sights. Now and then there I a sum
mer Juunt through the Rockle. Take him
In the aggregate, and he I a man of af
fairs. He lives on the fat of the land in a
banner agricultural region. So, why
shouldn't he enjoy life?
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CHARLES L. HAI'KDSH
Supervisor of Census.