The Omaha Sunday Bee,
PAST ONE
ANNIVERSARY
PAGES 1 TO 12.
PART ONE
ANNIVERSARY
PAGES 1 TO 12.
VOL. XL NO. 52.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MOliNING, JUNE 18, 1911.
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
1871-FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BEE--1911
Statist N(,ut
CXICUTlvt OFFICE
TMC WMITC MOUSt
waShinOTOm
Juns 2, 1911.
Juno 10, 1911.
Hon. Vlotor Rosewater,
to
A
I
s
K7 dur kr. Bosewateri
1 writ to congratulate you on the 40th anniversary
or the Caaba Bss and to axpraaa the bo pa that it
may eontinua to prosper end exorcise tba useful
Influence good which haa characterised It In, your
respected father time and your on.
Sincerely yours.
Bon, Victor Bosewater,
One ha, SebraaXa.
cr
GOVTOEESIER B. MUSICS
The Bee Receives' Greetings and Con
gratulations from the Chief Executive
of the Nation and the Governor of the
State on Its Fortieth Anniversary
fSfojn-L
Editor of The Dee.
Omaha, Nebraska,
My dear Sir:
Lot me offer greetings end oongratu
lation8 for the oomlnc fortieth anniversary of The
Bee. It haa been a great thine tor- Uebraeka 19
have a bis metropolitan dally llko The Dee worklnff
.for the upbuilding of our state and the vest, and
battling for the people against tnonopollstlo
oppression, eni I hope Tho Bee will always continue
the yigorous policy of Its founder, whloh haB boon
carried on by you as hio euooeeaor.
With best wishes for future suooess, 1 am,
Very truly yours,
,0W did you come to start The Bee?
That Question haa been frequently
asked, but never before auswered'by me
In print. In the winter of 1870 I held
the position of manager of the Atlantic
& Pacific Telegraph company. Omaha
was then a town of about 15,000 popu
lation, with two daily papers, the Omaha Herald and
the Omaha Republican, each representing one of the
two great political parties. The Republican was a
prosperous concern with a lucrative party patronage,
but Its proprietor, Major St. A. D. Balcombe, was not
a practical newspaper man, and, although the repub
lican party was In the ascendant in Nebraska and
growing stronger from year to year, the paper had
been greatly distanced by Its democratic competitor,
ably edited by Dr. George L.. Miller. Among the rank
and file of the republicans there was much dissatis
faction, and party leaders who had endeavored to In
duce the owner of the Republican to infuse more vi
tality Into the paper finally decided to start a wide
awake republican laily.oulse-Major Balcombe would
sell yils paper, ora controlling interest. I Us refusal
to Part with the property except at an exorbitant price
left' no other alternative than to establish a rival to
. t)w Republican.
gfsi' At that period, and for some years previous, I had
if been the telegraphic correspondent for the New York
Heraia, inicago lriDune, Cincinnati commercial ana
St. Louis Democrat, now the Globe-Democrat. During
the six years ending in 1869, while acting as the local
manager of the Western Union Telegraph company,
I had also been agent of the Associated Press. My
practical experience as a telegrapher and news gath
erer placed me In close contact with the press and af
forded me an excellent opportunity for Journalistic
training. Incidentally It Is pertinent to state that I
was an ardent republican, trained in the abolition
acbool, and had passed through the fiery ordeal of a
union man living In the heart of secession at the out-
break of the war, and participating in several cam-
1 paigna with the union armlea.
Connection With Omaii Tribune.
At the urgent request of a large number of promi
nent republicans, I ventured upon the task of or
ganizing a stock company having for its object the es
tablishment of a first class republican dally. After
three months of the hardest of hard work I succeeded
In securing $30,000 in subscriptions to the stock of the
Tribune Printing company, $2,000 of which was sub-
fitribed by myself. I had not the remotest idea of
ever becoming an editor or of seeking any position in
connection with the paper. My plan was to induce
some man with a national reputation to come to
Omaha and establish a name for It that would insure
Its supremacy In this section. With this end in view
I addressed letters to several of the most noted edi
tors of thte country, and among these were Horace
Greeley and Samuel Bowles. The autograph response
' of Horace Greeley, which is preserved by me as a me
mento of the greatest of American editors, deciphered
Into plain English, reads as follows:
NEW YORK TRIBUNE, NEW YORK, March 17,
1870. Dear Sir: I have yours of the 13th Inst. In
my Judgment, Mr. Beeman Brockway of Watertown,
N. Y., would make such a paper as you want. He is
able, honest, well Informed and temperate. He waa
formerly editor of the Reformer at Watertown and
haa been one of our republican canal assessors until
he was turned out. If you write him, ask the P. M.
to forward in case he should be absent. Yours,
HORACE GREELEY,
E. Rosewater, Esq., Omaha, Neb.
Sam Bowlea had been across the continent only a
few years previous and had described the country In
his great work, "Beyond the Mississippi." I endeav
ored In my letter to Impress upon him the advantage
of locating in one of the future great cities of the
west. Mr. Bowlea made the following response:
THE REUBLICAN, SPRINGFIELD, Mass., March
22, 1870 My Dear Sir: Your suggestions are very
flattering. I ahould like on many accounts to share
In the upbuilding of a good journal at Omaha, but I
fear it is altogether out of the question. I am pretty
) strongly anchored here. It Is a very difficult thing,
nay. Impossible, to Improvise either a Journalist or a
Journal. I cannot at this moment put my thought
upon a man worthy pf your consideration, but I may
be able In a day or two to suggest one for you. What
you should do is to buy out the present republican
paper and then get better men Into it. I advise this
most earnestly. It Is a great deal better and easier
an to undertake to oust a rival. I am, yours truly.
SAM'L BOWLES.
9
Birth of The Bee Described by Its Founder
Moniior Printing company, by which the Job print
ing plant of the Monitor company was acquired by the
Omaha Tribune company. Mr. Hall had been secre
tary of state for the state of Maine and was reputed
to be a man of good business capacity. Under the
agreement made with him, the machinery and print
ing materials which were to be brought to Omaha(
were upon appraisal to be exchanged for Tribune com
pany stock. In those days a Job office was considered
an lndlspensible adjunct of every newspaper and our
acquisition was considered most fortunate.
Shortly after I had received the letter from Samuel
Bowles, declining to assume the editorship of the new
republican daily, an application for the position was
received from Mr. C. B. Thomas, accompanied by a
recommendation from Mr. Bowles, which endorsed Mr.
Thomas as a polished writer and experienced Journal
ist. Mr. Thomas hailed" frotn-DTrtberfy," Mass., had
received' a cofteglate education, and for a number of
years had been editor of several New England papers,
notably the Worcester Spy. After considerable cor
respondence we engaged Mr. Thomas for the position
of editor-in-chief of the Omaha Tribune.
In . une, 1870, the prospectus of the Tribune was
Issued and the. announcement made that the paper
would be published every afternoon, except Sundays,
and Its first copy was to appear on Monday, July 25.
In due time Mr. Joseph Hall, with his Monitor Job
printing plant, landed In Omaha and was Installed in
very commodious quarters in what was then the most
central portion of the city, on the west side of Four
teenth Btreet, near the corner of Farnam. By the mid
dle of July everything was ready to begin publica
tion of the Tribune.
Experience as Temporary Editor.
About that time a literary genius by the name of
Harry Gerald drifted into Omaha and was added to
the editorial staff. Harry Gerald was an Irishman by
birth and had' held a lieutenant's commission in the
British army In India. He waa a polished writer and
had served an apprenticeship w)th William Cullen
Bryant on the New York Post and with Horace Gree
ley on the New York Tribune.
The 25th day of July dawned upon us, but Mr.
Thomas had not reached Omaha. The high-sounding
prospectus had set everybody on tip-toe to see what
a swath the great New England editor would cut, and
a great dilemma confronted the board of directors. A
council of war was held and my offer to edit the pa
per in conjunction with Harry Gerald until thte ar
rival of Mr. Thomas was accepted. Promptly at 3 p.
m., on Monday, July 25, the Omaha Daily Tribune
made its appearance. It was a handsome sheet in its
typographical make-up, in fact, too costly for a town
of the size of Omaha. For a whole week the editorial
columns were filled by myself and Gerald, and no one
in Omaha had discovered that the great Massachu
setts editor had not yet arrived. It goes without say
ing that I felt flauered by my first editorial experi
ence. Within thirty 'days from the appearance of the
Tribune It dawned upon me that the paper was sure to
be a great , sink-hole. Its expenses had by far outrun
its receipts, and its circulation was less four weeks af
ter it had started than it had been on the first day.
As a member of the board of dlrecters I requested In
formation from the manager concerning its financial
condition, but he declined to go into details. My resig
nation from the board was thereupon tendered, and I
was fortunate enough to induce other members to take
my stock without loss.
Campaign Sheet
The campaign of 1870 was intensely exciting, as it
Involved the election of a United States senator. The
stalwart or Grant wing of the republican party was
marshaled to the support of General John M. Thayer,
who was then serving the last year of bis term.
Thayer was a very popular party leader, and in spite
of the most bitter opposition succeeded in carrying
the republican primaries and nominating a legislative
ticket pledged to his support. A rival legislative ticket
was put in the field by the faction opposed by Thayer,
and this bolters' ticket was supported vigorusly by the
Tribune. With unparalleled Imbecility and pusllanim
lty, the Omaha Republican remained neutral in the
fight for fear of offending the leaders of the bolting
anti-Thayer faction. The Thayer stalwarts were
therefore compelled to issue a campaign -sheet, edited
promiscuously, in several languages, by a dozen ac
tive republicans, including myself. This campaign
sheet was issued from the job office of Redfleld &
Bros., where The Bee was subsequently ushered Into
life.
The regular republican legislative ticket, on which
I had accepted a nomination for the lower house, was
triumphantly elected, and I was thus launched into the
political arena, in which I have since played a more
or less conspicuous part.
The re-election of General Thayer to the United
States senate would have been a death-blow to the
Tribune, but it was decreed otherwise.- A coalition of
all the democrats with the anti-Grant independents,
cemented together by a large amount of boodle, re
sulted in the retirement of Thayer and the triumph of
the faction of republican renegades that had sup
ported Andy Johnson and his policy.
Inf Inentre'-orPoirtlcs." ' "
The outcome of the senatorial election, followed by
the Impeachment of Governor David Butler; in which
I had taken the initiative, had a far-reaching influ
ence, not only upon Nebraska politics, but Omaha
journalism. The ascendancy to power of the anti
. Grant bolters' faction infused new life into the Trib
une, which had by - that time nearly swamped
the men who had embarked in the venture: The Re
publican was correspondingly weakened. In March,
1871, the Tribune changed from an afternoon to a
morning dally, thus forcing the fighting which culmi
nated In the consolidation of the Tribune, with the
Republican. The controlling Interest in the dam
moth consolidation, as the paper was then called, was
in the hands of the new senatorial dynasty, with C. E.
Thomas as editor-in-chief and St. A. D. Balcombe as
manager. The part I had taken in the impeachment
of Governor Butler and my pronounced hostility to the
man who had suddenly come into power, subjected
me, very naturally, to constant attacks from the
Tribune and Republican. Dr. Miller's Herald was not
very friendly, either, although it had expressed prefer
ence for General. Thayer as his own successor in the
senate, and had endorsed the course of the Douglas
delegation in the legislature in voting for the impeach
ment and removal of Governor Butler, and in purg
ing the state house of corruption.
One of the measures in which I bad taken an active
7 tn
V
Thanks of Typographical Union Thanks from School Teachers
Omaha, Ireeka,Teb.'4th, 1906.
Mr. I. Rosewater,. (Editor Omaha Bee) S0 tiiAnAj X-ndtort
'mm. , "
"BIcuyvcIuu TTtuApAxf
On behalf of Omaha Typographical Onion Ho, 190,,
we, the undersigned, desire to thank you for the position
taken by The See la the present controversy, between the
International Typographical Union and the employers of job
printers on the subject of the 8-hour work day, and are
especially gratified at your course because it Is taken
by en employer of printers .who from years of association
with thea has oome to know them-their strength and their
weakness
That 'your position lathis matter" Is Sinply In
keeping with your well known polloy toward wage earners.
renders it sore worthy of ooroendetion., as the printer is
always anxious to .praise his friends.
Trusting that we nay be able in the" future to
prove the sinoerlty of our expressed good will, -we are.
Arrangement Completed.
In April, 1870, negotiations were entered into with
Hon. Joseph Hall of Portland, Me., proprietor of the
Tours truly.
Interest was the reorganization of the public schools
of Omaha. At that period the graded schools of
Omaha were under the control of a common school
board, elected In the primitive school house meeting.
This board had a salaried treasurer and secretary.
There was also a board of regents of the Omaha High
school. Chartered by the territorial legislature, this
body was entirely Independent of the common school
board. Its original design was .to create an academy
on the grounds occupied by the territorial capltol and
to make It an exclusive, somewhat aristocratic, educa
tional institution. When the bill came before the leg
islature authorizing the issue of bonds for the erection
of the Omaha High school building I made the propo
sition that the board of high school, regents should be
consolidated withthe common school board, or that
the board of regents assume the management of all
the schools. These propositions were contemptuously
rejected, as was also the proposition that the direc
tors of the common schools should assume the man
agement of the high school as well as of the graded
schools. ' "
Thereupon I set to work to frame a bill for the
creation of a board of education for the city of
Omaha. The bill was modeled after the laws govern
ing the boards of education in the cities of Detroit,
Cleveland and Cincinnati. In conferred upon an elec
tive board of education, the control and supervision of
all the public schools, Including the high school, and
made the city treasurer of Omaha ex-offlclo treasurer
of the board of education. This bill was pushed
through the legislature by me in spite of all opposi
tion and remonstrance from the regents. The only
concession I was forced to make was that the ratifi
cation of the act was to be submitted to the voters of
the city of Omaha at the special election called for
voting on the bonds for the erection of the high school.
T had taken great pride in the measure and felt a deep
interest in having my work endorsed by the people.
Neither of the existing Omaha dallies were disposed
to favor the change. The Omaha Republican vigor
ously opposed it. It also became apparent that much
of the opposition was due to the fact that the control
of the $200,000 to be expended on the high school
building was to pass out of the hands of the Board of
Regents, several of whom were prominent bank of-'
fleers.
The Bee Appears.
I'was still manager of the Atlantic & Pacific and
Great Western Telegraph companies, and could not In
the nature of things take an active part In public agi
tation. There was no way open to exert Influence
upon the public mind in support of the board of educa
tion bill, except by circular letter, pamphlet or paper!
It so happened that Harry Gerald, who had so ably
assisted me in editing the Tribune during the first
week of its career, was then foot-loose. My proposi
tion to him to start a fly sheet for general distribution
In the business portion of the city and in the Omaha
Academy of Music, then occupied by a theatrical com
pany, was cheerfully accepted by him. I made a per
sonal canvass among my business friends and acquain
tances for a few advertising cards, and arranged with
Redfield Bros., Job printers, for the type and press
work of the new dally.
On Monday morning, June 19, 1871, Harry Ger
ald and myself stood over the forms which made up
the new two-page paper, or rather theater program.
At the end of the first page, in large, black type, ap
peared "The Omaha Punchinello."
"What do you want to call It The Punchinello
for?" exclaimed Gerald.
"Oh," said I, "what should It be? We can't call It
the Gazette, the Commercial, the Chronicle or Intelli
gencer. It's only a little funny gram and I don't ex
pect it ever to be a newspaper. I can't give It a po
litical name, either. Punchinello la odd and suggestive
of pun, wit, sarcasm, and my Idea is to punch up some
of the old fossils."
"Well," said Gerald, "why not call It The Bee.
That would also be suggestive. The Bee glvea honey
and it stings. It is also an emblem of Industry. After
all this may become a newspaper and you might want
to retain the name after it once Is started."
"We will call it The Bee. then," said I. "It mat
ters very little to me anyhow, because I don't expect
to have much to do with It after the school bond elec
tion." So the heading of "Punchinello" was taken out and
that of The Omaha Bee was Inserted In its place.
Another question presented itself: "Who's to be
the responsible editor?" I did not want my name con
nected with the Insignificant sheet, which would at
best perish within a few weeks snd might subject
me to ridicule and contempt. So we Inserted at the
bead of the editorial column on the second page,
Harry Gerald, editor and proprietor.
June 18, '98. E. ROSEWATER,
