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Rejuvenated Vinton Street Park Has Metropolitan Air
SWKEP OF 22fEJtZrGKm Sim) at Tire OMASA WESTER2T .
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NIC day when the sun had beRun to warm
-tb earth Tlie Uuk aturh bis head above
a IIUIr rldtte of ground and extended
h! feelern Into the atmosphere to seise
the degree of warmth. Then The Bug
blinked a few times and finally held his
faceted lamps wide open.
"Well, well," he said, "what Is the meaning of
thta? Doesn't seem to me this Is my old stamping
I tround. These sceneries haven't the familiar look of
things 1 used to know. (JueM I'll have to Investigate."
So The Bug carefully felt his way over the ridge
' and prowled cautiously onto a smooth place from
which a good view could be had. After some con
: tcuiplatlve prospecting In this direction and that, he
focused his regard on one particular spot where
i something seemed to be doing. "I'm in the right
j church, anyway," he whispered slowly to himself,
j "but someone has moved my pew. It used to be
' right close to the wall here, but now the wall la so
far away I can't reach It to lean on comfortably. And
that long, cobwebby thing over yon wasn't In sight
when I took the last peek at this place after those
ugly Eoos took away the pennant."
Hy this time The Bug had got his eyes fully open
and had taken his bearings. He moved further over
toward center and suddenly stopped.
p
Kaw Many Familiar Faces.
"Well, if there ain't Dan! Yes, sir, thafi Dan,
"all right; and he's raking away just as he was when
. I saw him last. But what In the name of alizllng
grasscutteri has got Into this place? And If there
I ain't Dave, too; and that fellow with the King Alfonso
hat'on looks just like Papa Bill. Pa, by Jimlny, and
i he's got his spring smile working too. Well, of all
things, thla beata my sister's cat's kittens. Why, I
must have been sleeping, or la this a dream?"
And The Bug rubbed his eyes and threw the brake
j off his brain wheels, while he peered across the field
' harder than ever.
"No,' It's not a dream," said The Bug presently, as
I a big grin opened his aching face. "Not by a long
I shot, no dream. There's old Kid Gonding. I'd know
j him anywhere; he's so forgetful of birthdays from
long association with Pa Bill I suppose. And who's
that rampaging across the line here? Why, it's the
I Skipper, sure as I'm a bug, and he looks quick, too,
j And there's some other chaps 1 know, and I'll bet on
' it. I've been asleep, that's what I've been; and here's
all this Joy work planned and finished. O, watch me,
boys."
Then The Bug turned a hand spring or two,
loosened up his galluses and streaked it for the base
lines.
New IYospect Is Very meaning.
The Bug was right. He. had picked the Identical
people that were getting busy over on the firing line.
Pa Hourke, and Brother Dave, and Dan Kennedy, and
Gonding, and Skipper Bill, with a bunch of huskies of
old pledge and new promise, were all out in the sun
shine at Omaha's new base ball park. The Bug found
.them too busy to pay much attention to him person
ally right then, so he took his stand in a nice moist
place near the water pail and ruminated joyfully on
the changed aspect of things. He noted with delight
that the left field fence had been moved out a goodly
distance; In fact, that a much bigger prospect had
been opened up all around the line. Some unlucky
humps that used to Jar the soul of The Bug and many
like him had been torn out by the roots, and the
diamond and the field surrounding bore evidence of
being quite on the level. Mentally measuring things
as they appeared to his happy view, The Bug decided
he couldn't have done the thing better himself. Then,
the novelty of the new field and the work of the sod
layers having palled a bit. The Bug swung round and
took In the new grandstand. Its extent and generous
dimensions caused him to stand up on his hind legs
and lean over backward. -
"Why that looks like a circus with the canvas
Bides left off," said The Bug. "Where in the name of
Dan Kennedy's sprinkling pot will they get people to
fill those seats?"
"Never mind bothering your head about that,"
said Kennedy, who happened to hear the remark.
"We'll fill it when cherries are ripe, or if we don't,
me lucko, we'll give everybody plenty of room. People
like you are always borrowing trouble when they
ought to be cutting grass."
"Excuse me," said The Bug, "I thought you were
only a part of the landscape." And he twisted his
feet around his neck an the groundkeeper passed on.
New Stand Has Metropolitan Air.
The Bug, or the Kan, or anyone else, may well
open his eyes In glad realization over the superb ap
pearance and the most commodious size of the new
grandstand In the Omaha ball park. It has the real
metropolitan air from keel to flag staff, and will seat
',100 people. Counting the space in the three-foot
aisles and back or the seats, at the top of the stand,
there is ample room for 7,500 people.
Of box seats 800 sre provided, and 1,200 chaira are
available, with 4,100 other seats. There Is but one
bleacher, but U will accommodate 2,500 people. It is
back of first base and runs to the limit of right field
almost. The grandstand and bleacher are both solidly
built, with plenty of leg space, and present a de
cidedly attractive appearance. In the upper part of
the grandbtand are two booths for the concessionaires,
from which all the fodder, soft drinks and smokes
wtll bo sent out.
Manager Kourke says the new ground, as It will
appear on the opening day, represents an outlay of
j J toys -fyilaVffii
r"
132,000. When be decided to go ahead with the con
struction of a real ball park, the plans were made on
a liberal scale. A good deal of grading and filling had
to be done, and not a stick of the old plant was left
standing except the club house, a comparatively new
structure. The old grandstand, bleachers and fences
were torn out and sent to the scrap heap. Then,
when the grading and filling was done, the new fence
was built seventy feet further back on the north and
fifty feet on the east. The left foul line Is now
thirty-four feet longer than of yore, and the right
foul line fourteen feet longer. All the space from the
base lines to the grandstand is being sodded, and
within a month or two is expected to be green, sort
and velvety. The home plate Is closer to tho grand
stand than it used to be.
The stand itself is twenty-seven feet in height
from concrete base to roof. It Is seventy feet wide
and 4 50 feet in extreme length. Two broad stair
ways will give access to it from the runway Just Inside
the turnstiles.
Handle lUnalls (Mil Times.
When Frank Bandle, now register of deeds of Doug
las county, saw the new grandstand he began mak
ing speeches about the gradstands of other days.
"They weren't grandstands at all. as the present
day fans understand the word," said Bandle. "They
were planks set on' stringers, and about as hard and
uncomfortable as lumber could be made. Of course,
in the old days I was not in the habit of Bitting In
grandstands. I was one of the working men then,
right out there behind the plate; and when I take my
ease at a game, nowadays, it seems strange that once
I used to work like that, and enjoy It go without
meals, if necessary, just to get the chance to carbonize
a lot of air by struggling until my lungs ached from
the pumping they got.
Clever Tricks
RETROSPECTIVE glance over recent expe
riences shows that the crooks are holding
their own in the matter of originality of
device and cleverness of ideas," says a de
tective quoted by the Philadelphia Record.
"One of the most striking things about the tricks
of the pickpocket is their absurd simplicity. The man
who takes every precuatlou to guard against theft
leaves hhnsalf open to robbery because of the ap
parently innocent action that precedes the purloining
of his pocket book or scarfpin. For instance, who
would see in the very natural action of a man who
folds his arms in a crowd anything suspicious? A
hundred men will do It, and there will be nothing
more in the action than a natural desire to assume a
restful attitude while listening to a strange speaker
or standing in a crowded car. But the hundred and
first man Is a crook, and mark how simple is the man
ner In which he works.
"All the time the crook has his arms folded the
hand nearest the victim is creeping out, tinder cover
of the folded arm, and the educated Angers of the
thief are feeling their way toward the stud In the
shlrj: front of the man who is pressed against him in
the crowd, or are creeping Into his inside pocket in
search of his wallet. A man who Is entirely without
suspicion of his neighbor in the crowd would never
think of watching the folded arms. The action itself
disarms suspicion, because until It Is explained it
seems impossible for a man to use his hands for steal
ing while he stands in that position. The simplicity
of the thing, as I have said, is its strongest point.
"Another clever means of concealing the move
ments of the hand is to use an opon newspaper. Noth
ing Is more natural In a crowded car than for a man
to open out his newspaper and have considerable diffi
culty In getting the page doubled under. There is
scarcely room for the blanket sheet of the modern
daily to be turned when men and women sre standing
huddled together in a crowded tar. No one would
even glance at a man who turns down the page and
gets at the next page by doubling the paper over his
hand, and few people are on to the trick of the
crook who. while turning his paper, has an exceed
ingly active hand at work beneath the outspread
sheet. The paper Is thrust almost In the face of the
man sitting beneath the crook, in . the few seconds
that It rests on the Adam's apple of the victim the
hand beneath the paper has snatched the scarfpin or
twisted out the diamond from the shirt front.
"The cleverness of it amounts to Jugglery. It
actually is Jugglery, for in no other way could a dia
mond be torn from its setting without the owner
knowing of its loss. It Is done by means of a pair of
pliers, made especially for the purpose. The pliers
grasp the diamond and a dexterous turn of the hand
extracts It from the setting. It doesn't take long for
one of our skilled operators to accompllHh this. All
the time the newspaper hides the hand and the more
crowded the car the easier It is for the operation.
"Beware of the man who pushes against you when
you sre leaving the theater or getting on and off a
crowded car. All the time he is nervously pushing
you in the back, apparently to accelerate the progress
of the crowd, be is exploring your pockets through
your coat, and he can tell as unerringly from the out
side what is hidden in those pockets as if he had
X-ray eyes and could see through a heavily lined
coat.
"Moat men feel fairly well protected against the
pickpocket if they wear an overcoat covering the
pocket in which they carry their money. The skill
IT
--,,,i,j(jJ,i , : . W ....
"And don't forget that we used to have to work
our way to the grounds in themo days. The oldest
ball park was at about Eighteenth and Ohio streets,
and an alleged street car line used to carry
the people to this ponit sometimes. Mules of
the most ancient vintage possible to secure were the
motive power, the tracks were pliable to a high degree,
and most any sort of storm, or a hint of mud, would
making riding on that line quite uncertain. I recall
of the Thieves
of the pickpocket In slicing away with a sharp knife
the Intervening cloth, so that the wallet drops into
the hand, is wonderful. The victim never feels that
knife and knows nothing of his loss until he finds the
evidences of the theft.
"Perhaps the most audacious theft Is that of the
man who poses as the friend of the sleeping individ
ual on the street car. A good-natured looking chap
begins to play practical Jokes on one of these sleepers.
He reaches over and tips his hat off. The man sleeps
on. The other occupants of the car begin to enter
into the spirit of the thing. The practical Joker calls
the sleeper 'Bill' and invites him to wake up. Every
one by this ttme has Jumped to the conclusion that
the two are friends. The Joker dips down Into the
man's pockets, grinning and winking all the time at
the other men In the car. He extracts the sleeper's
watch and chain and pocketbook. Everyone is tickled
to death over the Joke. The Joker grins all around
and tiptoes to the door, holds up a warning finger and
is gone.
"The sleeper eventually wakes, finds his watch
and chain missing, feels In his pocket, discovers he
has been cleaned out and starts to raise Cain with the
other passengers. The Joke Is better than ever. They
all grin and Jolly the exasperated victim. At last
someone concludes that the joke has gone far enough
and be discloses to the angry man that his 'friend'
was the thief and his valuables will be returned to
him in due time. Then, to the consternation and dis
gust of the dumfounded crowd of rioters, It turns out
that the robbed man had no friend with hlra. He was
entirely alone and the practical Joker was simply a
clever and daring thief. Moral: Don't go to sleep
on street cars. More moral: If you see a man going
through another man's pockets grab him and let him
convince the police that he was only Joking."
Deep Diving Points
vi ip. ffrHtt denth t which useful work has
T
- r - -
been performed by a diver Is 182 feet, the
level at which Angel Erastobe recovered
silver bars worth $46,000 from the Syro,
sunk off Cape Flnlsterre. Alexander
WW
Iambert salved $350,000 from the Spanish
mail steamer Alphonse XII, sunk in 162 feet of wattr
off Las Palmaa. and at 150 feet W. Rddyard recovered
$250,000 in silver from the Hamilton Mitchell, which
foundered on the Chinese coast.
Sponge fishers never go below 150 feet and pearl
divers never below 120 feet. Experiments made by
.two officers of the British navy under the supervislou
of a naval surgeon, who assumed no small responsi
bility and must have been very glad to see thorn
reappear on the surface, showed that it was possible
to reach In diving dress s depth of 210 fet. where
the pressure of the water is about ninety pounds to
the square Inch. But men working under water, either
In a caisson, a diving bell or a diving dress, must be
subjected to an air pressure exceeding the water
pressure, and increasing by one atmosi here or fifteen
pounds per square Inch for every thirty-three and a
half feet of submergence, so that in the experiments
mentioned the air pressure was nearly 110 pounds
per square inch.
jH4f .jriMxt: w jjr'r-j-r!--J - rNH- inl
"JV -SxV, ' V ; " - I
fSZCZiOZT OF. ZHG . OJZANDjZTANI)
that sometimes we refused to pay our fare until we
could be reasonably sure that we would be taken to
the end of the line. It will be understood that con
siderable fun used to attach to the trips to the ball
ground.
"The B. & M. grounds were close by, and as not
the slightest hint of love existed between the Union
Pacific and B. & M. teams wheneevr they came In
conjunction, the air was cool, even on blazing hot
days. Why, it got so at one time if a Union Pacific
man and a B. & M. man met each other on the same
side of the street one would have to take to the road;
and that's not a dream. Base ball teams cherished
rivalries In those days."
Where Former Omaha Stars Shone.
The old park where the original Union Pacifies
played was enclosed in 1879, and the B. & M. grounds
about the same time. In 1880 the Nail works team
got into the game, with grounds at the Nail works,
iuar the government corral. In '81 and '82 the
U. P. grounds were at Sixteenth and Locust. In '83
the grounds were located at Eighteenth and
St. Mary's avonue, and here many famous
games were played. This park had the ad
vantage that is enjoyed by the famous Polo grounds
in New York. People could sit on the high ground
outside the fence and watch the game without paying
the price of admission. Later Omaha entered the
Western league and a park was enclosed at Twentieth
and Miami streets. This was a famous headquarters
for the real thing. The struggles of the teams out
there are part of the classic history of Omaha. Omaha
won the pennant In 1889, with Frank Selee leading
the team, and would have repeated in 1891 but for
the fact that the league went to pieces. When Omaha
dropped out of the Western the park was taken over
by the University Athletic club, and later by the
Young Men's Christian association. Later, In 189 4,
Bill Rourke, Dave Rowe and Tom McVlttte built the
famous "cigar box" park at Seventeenth and Charles.
Home runs became so numerous at this park the
scorers kicked on being overworked, and the toy park
was abandoned for the wide expanse at the old state
fair grounds which used to be located Just south of
Ames avenue, from Sixteenth to Twentieth. About
1898 a new ball park occupied the ground where the
beautiful residence addition, Prairie Park, now decor
ates the landscape. Ten years ago the Vinton street
park came into existence, and "Pa" has now renewed
the lease of the ground for a long term, which ac
counts for the big sum put into improvements there.
Mr. Bandle is the owner of a great collection of
photographs of base ball teams, but one among them
that makea him talk Is labeled "Omaha, '8"." It Is
too much faded to be reproduced, but this was the
team that gave Omaha a place on league maps. The
nine men In the picture are "Bobby" Black and
"Billy" 'O'Donnell, pitchers; Bandle and Webber,
catchers, and Melstr, Dwyer, J. and L. Say and
Graham, basemen and fielders. "Of course, wer used
to change about," says Bandle, "but I do not now re
call that we ever carried any extra players except one
or two. The fact that only nine men are in the pic
ture leads me to believe we were worrying along with
Just that numbr at the time. Players were not so
finicky, perhaps, as they are now."
Old Players Were Not Slow.
or the men of the '85 team Bandle has only good
words, and he says those who are not dead have made
good in the various lines of business they took up. Of
one In particular, Graham, he Insists no better natural
player and bitter ever stood on a ball field In this
section. Graham's particular position was center
field.
This old team of '85 represented Omaha In XV m first
Western league, when Kansas City, St. Joseph, In
dianapolis, Cleveland and Toledo were the other cities
represented. "Bobby" Black afterward became one of
the noted "pony battery," of which "Kid" Baldwin
was the receiving end. Black wasn't much taller
than a base ball bat, but be was wide and strong. He
came originally from LeMars, Is.
The original Northwestern league had preceded
the Western by some years, and an account of the
first league game In Omaha Is to be found In the
SEAT'S
Omaha Morning Herald or May 9, 1879. The score re
sulted 6 to 3 In favor of Dubuque, yet the Herald
Bald next morning:
If thore Is any better baso hall umpire in the
country than Mr. F. D. Thayer, who officiated at the
Omaha grounds yesterday, the Herald's base ball man
has yet to see. him.
A glance over the names of the players in that first
Omaha league game will recall some men who later
became quite famous In base ball annals. The Omaha
team was made up of Bandle, third base; J. Whitney,
catcher; Furlong, left field; Burke, short; Wllllgrod,
first base; 11 lb ben, Beoond base; Bailey, right field;
Cantlllon, center field; C. Whitney, pitcher. On the
Dubuque team were: J. Gleason, third base; Radburn,
right field; Loftus, second base; Sullivan, catcher;
Taylor, left field; Lapham, first base; W. Gleason,
short; Alveretlas, center field; Rels, pitcher.
,
Base Ball Always Popular Here.
The old scribe says of the game, that in spite of
rain spatters, "several hundred people were present,
the entire northwestern corner being filled with car- ,
rlages. The rivals were In the field early and had
an hour's practice before the game began. (It required
an hour and forty-five minutes to finish it.) It was
then noticeable that the Dubuque team was much
heavier than the Omaha boys; and a fine looking,
muscular, gentlemanly lot of men they are. Judging
from the physique of the two teams the Dubuqucs
would be selected as the best." Aud the result this
opening day proved the writer's judgment good, al
though next day Omaha turned the tables.
According to the report Omaha fell down in the
second inning, of which the scribe wrote: "This was
the fatal Inning for Omaha, for which tbey were not
wholly to blame. It was still drizzling, the ground
was moist, and the ball was getting wetter every
moment. Burke opened for the home team with a
beautiful long fly Into left field which most players
would have missed, but which Taylor 'backed up' for
and caught In fine style. Willigrod and Hlbben struck
out."
Of Dubuque's half this Is the mournful account!
"Lapham reached first, after three strikes, on Whit
ney's muff and subsequent poor throw; he steals sec
ond, Whitney throwing wild, and Burke's vigilance
preventing the ball from going far Into the field. Rels
makes a short hit to Burke, first fumbled and then
thrown wild to second, on which the visitors make
three additional scores, Lapliam, Alvaretta and Rels
treading the home plate in quick succession. Rad
burn lifts up an easy fly, muffed by Burke. Whitney
attempts to catch Radburn stealing second and makes
an overthrow which gives Radburn third, from which
a passed ball brings him In. Loftus strikes out. Total
score, 5, and things look gloomy." And the gloom,
stuck.
"Out On a Foul Bound.''
Several players are recorded as being out "on a
foul bound to catcher," and it is set down that
"Bandies clean hit Into the field brings in Bailey's
score." Then Bandle went on and stole second with
out raising a row, but when he tried to also steal
third the Dubuque catcher threw him out. At one
pofnt the reporter notes that Rels hit a long fly "which,
was firmly seized by Bailey." Of other captures of
flies the words used, "taken In In splendid style,"
would Indicate some pride in good playing.
Here's a picture that might well do credit to any
rield today: "J. Gleason hits a long fly to lift field,
far to Furlong's left, but he makes a grand run, throw
ing himself into the air after the ball, when he finds
it Impnsslbe to keep his feet, and securing It, holds
it aloft as lie lies on the ground one of the finest
plays of the game." u
Commenting on the result, tho reporter said:
"Both pitchers were very effective. Five out on
strikes and eleven on flies speaks well for Whitney's
work, and nine on strikes and eight on files quite ss
well for Reis. A lusty shout from Captain Burke, In
st least two Instances yesterday, would have pre
vented errors by the Omahas aud bases for the Du
buques." The Omaha manager, K. E. Balch, is handed a
compliment for the ground arrangements, which wera
favorably commented on by tho visitors.