'I
ioW
le came to us from
Freepori, Illinois
ikvouK
ana i
By A. EDWIN LONG.
It' almost a miracle that Omaha
ever got Charles-E. Black at all. -'
It's a greater wonder that it ever
kept him as long as it haa. For he
is a man of many adventures. Sev
eral times he was sent for by the
venerable long-bearded character with
the sharp scythe, but each time the
. scythe missed its stroke.
The Pecatonica river sucked him
i down twice. Then it yielded him Hp
' pan ions yanked at his coat collar'.'
t ' , The great fire in the Elms hotel in
J .Excelsior Springs was certainly
sneaking up on him, and he was sound
' asleep, too. But he sniffed smoke,
1 leaped to his feet, threw on a coat,
1 kicked out a window, sash, frame and
!hasp, and leaped for life after the
clattering glass. He fell on the roof
, of a building' below, all skinned up,
but he saved his life and pajamas.
, The tornado in Omaha smashed
' bis house flat about his ears, bruised
I and gashed all the members of the
' family, and cut a firrrow in the back
of Charley's head as long as a man's
hand; but still this famous hatter, Ak-
Sar-Ben governor, general hustler and
booster, survives, and stands on both
i feet like a thoroughbred. . A
Why Black did not become a ro
' fessional stock gambler in the east
instead of an Omaha business man no
one can say.
In Jreeport, 111., wnere ne was porn
Little Stories
Planted Cottonwood Fifty Years Ago.
'; George Redman of the park depart
ment takes a stroll every now and
I then over to the home of his Aunt
' Addie, on the old Redman homestead
' at Forty-second' street and Redman
'avenue. In front of the home is a
, stately Cottonwood tree, nearly six
. feet in diameter and towering up in
its majestic height far above the
, bouse. ,
' "I planted that tree more than
' fifty years ago it must be about fifty
two years. I remember it very well
My grandfather, Daniel Redman,
owned the old homestead. I was a
. lad of about twelve years when we
drove Over to Hazzard s sandbar, back
of Florence lake and pulled up some
small cottonwoods with eur hands.
We brought the trees borne in a bug
gy and I planted this1 large one you
see, in front of the house, where Aunt
Addie still lives," said Mr. Redman.
Daniel Redman, the founder of the
Redman families and fortunes in
.Omaha, drove from Blair county.
Pennsylvania, in 185S in a buggy. He
was in quest of a western farm and
he located on a tract on the avenue
which now bears 1) is name. A man
.named Mucktebone started to settle
. on this homestead, but Redman
traded bis horse for the land.
Where Wild Turkeys Abounded,
If you had lived in Omaha half a
century ago, according to affidavits
furnished by some of the oldest citi
zens, you could have shouldered a gun
and sneaking down around Child's
Point, you mighhave brought down
, wild turkey. You could not have
. done anything of 'the kind in recent
,' years, simply for the reason tltat the
birds have not been here.
, In Omaha you would have consider
able difficulty in finding many people
I who have shot wild turkeys in Ne
braska. However, there is one person
here who has the distinction of hav
ing killed a wild turkey, right within
the city limits. This individual is
Mis. Jack Brengle, 210? Pinkney
. street, and less than a month ago she
shot a fat- wild gobbler out of the
top of a tree in the front yard! of her
borne. . ....
- Jack Brengle travels out of Omaha
tor a jobbing house and Missouri is
part of his territory. During one
of his trips into Missouri this win
ter he got down into the Ozark
mountain country, where wild turkeys
re still found in limited number.
He suggested' to one of his custom
ers that he would pev a good round
um for one of these birds. The cus
tomer informed him that' he would
capture the turkey and send it to
Omaha alive and he did so, it arriv
ing here recently.
Wild turkeys in their native thicket,
especially are not overly fat. At
' least the turkey, coming to Mr. Bren
gle was not a fat one. To put flesh
on the ribs, following a time-honored
custom in the matter of fattening
turkey, Mr.. Brengle shut this one
up in a dark corner of an outhouse
and proceeded with the stuffing plan.
Omaha Goi
Waiei? , five
and where his bare feet tramped down
the weeds of the school grounds, he
was the greatest marble player in the
town. He sent all the boys home
weeping for lost agates,- while his
own pockets bulged, constantly until
his broken suspenders were a steady
problem to his mother.
"To this day," says Black, "I can t
play billards, pool or golf, and I'm
the rottenest whist player in the town,
but at shooting marbles my challenge
is always out to the world."
Yes, Black; was a regular boy back
in Freeport. He cried for bread and
butter and jelly at his mother's apron
strings for a time, wore bandages, on
sore toes, played marbles, went swim
ming, and, oh, yes, got pushed off a
raft in the Pecatonica river. That was
the time the river sucked him down
twice. .
He was out with a bunch of kids.
Spme of them were excellent swim
mers. Black could not swim at alL
They were determined to teach him
how. They had an improvised raft
The way to teach a kid to swim, they
thought, was to push him off the raft
in the middle of the current
So they heaved young Charley off.
Next: instant he was trying to (drink
the muddy river dry, and was wallow
ing among the clams and turtles on
the bottom.
It was an awfully long way to the
surface, but he finally poked his head
out, gurgled for help, .drank more
Picked Up
He and his wife fed the turkey morn
ing, noon and night, and between
times. ,
All went wen with the turkey until
one day when it was about ripe for
the table. That particular day Mrs.
Brengle was sitting in the living room
of hep home when she noticed a dark
object flit past the window, a short
distance above the ground. She in
vestigated and quickly discovered that
the turkey had escaped from imprison
ment and had, after circling around,
settled in the top of a large maple
tree in the front yard. The bird was
at least seventy-five feet from the
ground. It was too far to climb to it
and being of the wild variety it could
not be coaxed down.
Mrs. Brengle is something of a
markswomen when it comes to shoot
ing a rifle. She remembered now that
upon several occasions in a shooting
contest she had hit the bull's eye and
as she thought it over she could see
no reason why she could not hit a tur
key, tnougn she Dad never taken a
shot at one. Getting her 22. caliber
rifle, she went out into the yard and
securing : i advantageous position,
Ia in..!0.? l tu'k7nef nl1
fired. Instantly the bird came I rum
bling down through the limbs of the
tree, falling stone dead at her feet
She bad shot it squarely through the
head and death was instantaneous.
The Brengles bad wild turkey for
dinner the next day and several of
their neighbors partook of it with
them.
Figuring the Mushrdom Crop.
A. half section of good Nebraska
land as clear profit every year, is
thought by Carl James to be a whole
some income.
No, no, Mr. James' income has not
yet reached that point, but he is
looking toward it . Mr. James is
just starting in the business of grow
ing mushrooms in his cellar at home.
Of tours this is to be a side line, for
James is employed in the traffic bu
reau of the Commercial club in
Omaha. He lives south of Fairmont
park in Council Bluffs, and each
morning before he takes the car for
Omaha he scrtaches around in the
nice warm dirt beds he has made on
the ledges in the basement, looking
for the mushrooms to sprout.
Now, as to the half section of lan(f
he is to make each year, that is only
one way to express the profit Of
course it is conceivable that this could
also be expressed in dollars and cents.
In such term it would be about $32
400 per year.
Here how "Jesse," as Mr. James
is familiarly known to his friends,
has it figured: "I know-an old fel
low in Council Bluffs who takes 100
pounds of mushrooms out of his base
ment every morning and markets
them at 90 cents per pound. That
looks like good pin money to me." ,
So three weeks ago "Jesse" carried
a lot of rich dirt down into the base
ment, fixed up the warm beds near
the furnace, paid real money for some
muchroom spores, and buried them,
according to directions in a little
book. Eevery morning he digs down
muddy water, and sank again.
When he came up the next time
he was so full of water he could
no longer gurgle, so two of the boys
twisted his collar and pulled him
aboard the raft
"Yes, r learned to swim after
wards," says Black, "bat not that day,
nor in that particular way. I shall al
ways insist that is not the way to
teach a boy to swim."
When he was graduated from high
school he learned the printing trade.
For ten years he fed printing presses
in Chicago, Denver ami Colorado
Springs. In Colorado Springs he was
a printer on the Gazette for a time.
S. F. Gilman came to the Springs
one summer to see his family; Black
knew the family, and through them
met Gilman. He fished trout and
shot chipmonks with Gilman for a
few days in the mountains, and Gil
man took a liking this young
printer.
"What the devil are you doing here.
About Town
looking for .sprouts, but has found
none yet
"I'll give them thirty days to come
up," he says, "and then I'll get some
new spores and try again. I'm not
going to drop out of the game with
merely one trial when I know 'that
some fellows are. jerking down $90 a
day in this business.", .
Catching the Bootlegger Red-Handed.
Just as prohibition has sharpened
the wits and stimulated the ingenuity
of liberal-minded Iowans, so also will
it sharpen the wits and stimulate the
ingenuity of liberal-minded Nebras
kans who have not cast aside the ban
ner of J. B. C. and taken up that of
W. J. B. Here is a yarn, vouched tor
by John Eddy, contractor of Water
loo, la., which illustrates how sharp
ened have become the wits and how
stimulated has become the ingenuity
of at least one liberal-minded Iowan.
Some time ano some certain resi
lent of Carroll ordered shipped to
that point by an Omaha liquor dealer
a barrel of 100-horse power whisky.
l Ar.1 .1. .. . . V. . . . . . . I.
she-Lttention or incite the .usp,, of
some vigilant bootlegger chaser, he
instructed the shipper to coat the cask
with tar and otherwise treat it to
make it look as common and inoffen
sive as possible.
Some few days later such a bar
rel, consigned to one "John Smith,"
was unloaded at Carroll. For sev
eral days it stood on .the platform
unclaimed and, as days passed and
still it was not claimed, the agent
grew suspicious. The. oftener he
looked at the cask the more suspicious
he became until at last he decided to
tap it
With the use of a hammer he
started the bung and, alas his sus
picious were confirmed. The worst
was true. "Licker, demon licker," he
muttered through his teeth, and at
once notified the town marshal. "Let
'er Uyj let "er lay," advised the sleuth,
"and if any got domed bootleggers
call fer it we'll nab 'era."
. But the agent was not a close
mouthed as the occasion demanded
and the news leaked out. But he ."let
'er lay" for several days he "let 'er
lay," and each day he wondered if
anyone would ever call. Meantime
the marshal had planted himself near
by and lay in breathless suspense
while he waited for some one to call
for the barrel But no one called.
One day, however, a newly em
ployed chauffeur of a man-power
baggage truck lost control of his ma
chine. It sped, straight as an arrow,
for the barrel, and crashed into it
The keg was thrown lightly aside by
the impact, and directly in the center
of the spot where it had stood there
was uncovered a neat round hole in
he platform.-
Some bird that was half smart had
crawled under the platform and had
bored straight through the planks
and into the bottom of the barrel. He
probably carried away the contents
in buckets.
"Ba Goshl" said the marshal ,
"Ba Caml" echoed the agent v
Him
poking around at the printing busi
ness?"' said Gilman. "Come on with
me."
"What dor" asked BlacJt.
"Come along to Nebraska and I'll
show you," answered Gilman.
Next Black found himself on the
road selling flour for Gilman, for this
Gilman had a-mill at Pierce. Soon
Gilman started a mill at Neligh, one
at Valentine and at points in Iowa.
One day he called Black in off the
road, and said.
"You know that town of Omaha
looks like a comer to me. I want to
start a wholesale flour house down
there. What dcTyou think?"
Black didn't exactly know what he
ought' to think to hold his job.
i So Gilman thought for him. "You
go to Omaha and manage the whole
sale business for me," he said, and
that's all there svas to it
So Black came to Omaha and for
nearly a dozen years managed Gil
man's wholesale business. Then this
wholesale establishment was sold to
McCord-Brady, and Black was again
open for suggestions.
Black looked around for a few days,
not long, for he is a man of quick
Judgment and ready decision. He
opened a hat store in 1900.
"What did you know about hats
when you opened the store?" he was
asked recently. '
"Nothing," he answered, with char
scteristic vivacity. "I- didn't even
know what size I wore myself."
What do you suppose is Harry
Zimman's hobby?
Picking up odds fools.
Whenever our erstwhile city mayor
and councilman passes a .hardware
store he just can't resist the tempta
tion of going in and looking about
to see if there isn't a new tool he can
add to his collection.
He just pesters his-mother to dis
traction to find Jiaa some odd jobs
to do, so he can use his tools. If
she bam t a doorbell that won't ring,
or a rocker that squeaks, or door
jamb that has swelled and needs a
plane or an adz to shave it 4own the
subject ot this politi (beg pardon 1)
Mr. Zimman goes down into the cel
lar where all his tools are stored and
putters about, oiling them, etc., etc.
When spring "comes, he is in his
glory. Then he can haul out the
garden tools, the sprinkling cant and
the lawn mower and get a chance to
do something besides gazing raptur
ously at his miscellaneous kit
Who would believe that R. A. J.eus
sler, vice president and general man
ager of the Omaha & Council Bluffs
Street Railway company, is a butter
fly chaser? Chasing the elusive but
terflies is his bobby.
In the merry springtime, when the
birds and the bees and the trees are
awakened to new lifv Mr. Leussler
hies forth afield with his net to catch
the pretty winged creatures. He has
made a study of mounting and clas
sifying butterflies. He knows the
many varieties and is quick to recog
nize a rare specimen.
The butterfly part of H Is, however,
not all. This bobby is the incentive
(lint Vk "How Omaha Got W. H. - ' ... ' ,
Bivhoii.) The city smallpox hospital is on the
mmssnx-iL n arc . tt
The Omaha Sunday Bee
Comb Honey 1
By EDWARD BLACK.
A Dundee man pf erudition writes
in to tell us that Greater Omaha needs
i society for the prevention of hack
leyed words and phrases. In the
lords of Bill Bailey, "He-said a
nouthful."
The expression, "foul play," for in
;tanTe, is' used to cover a multitude
A happenings. If a man is assaulted
ind robbed on his way home, we say.
he met with foul play." We might
consistently use the expression in
referring to children disporting thera
elves with a segment of limburger
c heese, for that would be "foul play,"
in fact as well as in fancy. But when
i man is struck over the- head with
in object harder than'Tiis head, and
hen deprived of his money and other
valuables, wc think it is violating the
.anguage of our fathers to say he
"met with foul play."
Then, again, this expression has
leen worked out, by the jokesmiths.
They have used it in reference to
playful fowls They have referred to
the leisure time and activities of
-hiekens as "fowl play." That is a
foul joke and should be barred by the
rules.
The -city council sliould pass an
ordinance, declaring it a misdemeanor
for any person of sane mind to use
the words "foul play" in connection
with some dire misfortune such as
the one mentioned.
We should like to hear from Charles
Wooster on this subject.
Why not change the name of the
city hall to "the city workhouse?"
During the week an infant was born
in a home on the Prettiest Mile. It
was a "Pretty Baby."
Ike Zimman has a new automobile.
He says it is a nice automobile when
it runs.
A little service, please t We crave
service 1
Civil service is in the atmosphere.
The city hall is going after it It is
a poor rule that won't work both
ways.
What we need is civil service for
the conduct of those who are served
by the servitors.
When we enter a store we should
not think that we are the only thing
that happened and that everybody will
stand at attention just as soon as we
enter.
"We should not imagine that the
street car system is run for our indi
vidual benefit nor should we think that
those operating the system are striv
ing to discommode us.
We should remember that when we
have taken our leave from this mun
dane workshop things will go on just
about the same, or perhaps a little
better, mayhap.
Everybody is talking about leaks
these days. We know a few Oma
hans Who believe their gas meters are
leaking. This rumor lacks confirma
tion. A week ago a large water main
on th,e north side sprung' a leak. A
leaky roof is not a desideratum. That
is a new one, to say that a leaky roof
is not a desideratum.
Is the postoffice Colonel Fanning's
tamninff irrniinrf? Is it? If not.
why not? A man wishes to know.
Here is a suggestion for getting rid
of the ashes in your basement with
out paying for having them hauled
away: Save all of your paper boxes,
fill them with ashes, tie each box
neatly with a string and then some
dark night toss them into the alley.
of many invigorating journeys in the
world of nature.
Making chocolate fudge, divinity,
pinuchi and other toothsome sweets is
generally associated with slender lit
tle wisps of high school girls, curly
haired and generally baby-dolled of
expression.
But here is the Hon. George E.
Haverstick, Ak-Sar-Ben governor,
viw president of the United States
National bank and last week widely
heralded as foreman of the grand
jury. , i
Haverstick's hobby is making
candy. He would rather beat up the
whites of eggs and mix them with
milk and sugar and boil the ingredi
ents until they spin a thread from the
end of the spoon far better than
Nserve on the jury, ride a prancing
pony all dressed in a white suit (I
mean himself dressed in the white
suit, not the pony) in the Ak-Sar-Ben
parade, or even sit at his magnificent
mahogany-topped desk, speaking
lightly of millions and stocks and
bonds and securities and such like.
- Weeks before Christmas his friends
begin to anticipate the candy they
know he is going to make for them.
The greatest tribute is paid him
by Mrs. Haverstick.
"He cleans up the kitchen, too,
when he is through," she says.
The hobby of John A Rine, city
attorney, is mushrooms. Every spring
he hies away over glen and moor in
quest of his fungus friends. He knows
them by their first names and by
their scientific names.
"And be it known that I never ate
a toadstool in my life," remarked
John Albeit when Cjuizxctl on this
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 4, 1917.
Nebraska Birdman Makes Good
With Regular Army Squadron
Lieutenant E. W. Bagnell, the Ne
braska National uard aviator who
has made good in the government
service, is at home for a few days
visiting his parents in Lincoln, and
has been assigned to assist in the mus
tering out of the Fifth Nebraska when
it reaches home. At the completion
of this duty he will be assigned to the
aviation squadron either at Columbus,
N. M., or San Diego, Cal.
Two other Nebraska men, Lieuten
ants Westover and Boyd, are now
with Ruth Law and will probably
qualify before the year is out. Lieu
tenant Hillburg is in Florida and will
return to Nebraska as soon as he
qualifies. Lieutenant Bagnell made an
especially gftod record in his tests. In
his 'climb out of a field 2,000 feet
square to attain an altitude of 500 feet
within that square and in his test on
right and left spirals with motor
throttled the tests were marked by
the judges "satisfactory."
In the test where he was 1,000 feet
in the air and required to. cut off mo
tor and land within 200 feet of a desig
nated point he landed within sixty
feet of the point. In the test to land
west Center street read,
welcome every Friday.
Visitors
Eighty-five days until May 1.
Three hundred and twenty-four
days until Christmas.
Forty-one days until St Patrick's
day.
A minute with Mr. Shakespeare:
"This is the unkindest cut of all."
declared a young woman as she re
turned a tough piece of steak to her
butcher.
"Now is the winter of our discon
tent made glorious," by the thought
that the ice harvest has been a suc
cess. t
"Out, damned spot!" exclaimed the
clothes cleaner as he attacked a diffi
cult job.
You can write a joke about any
thing if you just try. Take, for in
stance. Jay Bums, the amiable baker.
who gives us our dailv bread. It might
be said of him that he can raise the
dough." Or one might say, "He is a
loater, because he makes loaves.
Omaha now has thirtv-seven va
rieties of colonels, to say nothing of
the Boy Scouts, the Daughters of the
American Revolution, a boycott on
eggs, legislature in session and trains
running to Lincoln every day. No
wonder New York is jealous of us.
0W5.
sensitive noint of his ontdoor activ.
ity. Of all of the flora and fauna of
this neck of the woods he believes
the mushroom is the most interesting
specimen of natural history. He
likes the mushroom because it is un
assuming and also because of its edi
ble properties.
Mr. Rine recently took unto hlm-
seli a new gasoline vehicle, which he
expects to use to fine advantage next
spring when on his forays for mush
rooms. '
"This is the life," exclaimed Mr.
Rine on a morning last spring when
he returned from a matutinal mean
dering in quest of mushrooms. He
knows the history of mushrooms from
the earliest times of the world. He
is their friend and they are his friends.
Captains Michael Dempsey and
Henry Hehfeldt of the local force
can hardly be termed Centaurs, or
even expert horsemen, but when once
mounted on their favorite "hobby,"
base ball, they can both perform
equestrian feats to delight the most
fastidious. E'en more accurate than
the postoffice barometer are the faces
of these two men. whether stormy
weather, or fair and warmer, will pre
vail at the station. But unlike the
barometer, the elements play no part
in their indications; a force more
tangible than these, causes their
storms and sunshine namely, Oma
ha's fortunes on the diamond. If the
team loses, reporters fail to bring
copies of the parent sheet to the sta
tion, but when Mr. Rourke's war
riorsop, the entire building is bil
lions with pink and green sheets.
When we win reporters are laden
with scoops, scajchcad and feature
over an obstacle and hit 1,500 feet
from same he landed 620 feet from
the obstacle on the second test. All
other, flights, including distance and
altitude, were all marked satisfactory.
Department oj
Family Debiliation
Superintendent Schreiber of the
Board of Public Welfare office in the
city hall is not easily disturbed or per
turbed, but his equilibrium was almost
placed out of plumb when a certain
man of mature years'entered the of
fice with a complaint against his law '
fully wedded wife.
"Is this where you keep the family
debiliation department?" asked the
visitor.
"You probably mean the family re
habilitation department," responded
Mr. Schreiber.
"I guess what you said is what I
am after,"' was the next statement.
The superintendent explained that
the family rehabilitation department
of the Welfare board office was re
cently established for the purpose of
mending domestic jars. He aroused
the interest of the caller when he
stated that many familv squalls were
due to comparatively trivial affairs and
the kindly intervention of a third
party usually results in restoration of
pacific relations.
"That's just my case. It was only
a trifle that came between my wife
and I. , She is a good wife, but she
does want to be boss on some things
and I kind of reckon a women should
not be boss all of the time," con
tinued the man of sorrow.
Mr. Schreiber noted the troubled
face, asked him to have a chair and
calmly relate his case.
"You may feel free to tell me of ,
the affairs between yourself and wife.
It wilt be held confidential. We are
here to help you. It is our pleasure
and duty to reunite husbands and
wives who are kicking over the mari
tal traces," added the superintendent
The stranger drew his chair up
closer 2nd assumed a confidential
tone. Mr. Schreiber was all attention.
"Well, I will tell you just how it
was. My wife, she done took my dice
away from me; that's just what she
done," vouchsafed the visitor.
Mr. Schreiber managed to maintain
his mental poise while he explained
to the husband that rule No. 235 of
the marriage code permitted the wife
to confiscate dice found in the pock
ets ot ner nussand.
matter; when a lose is forthcoming
which is the usual state of affairs
"the gang" carries a smalt cluster of
brevities to the insatiable maw of
their city editor. Base ball is a
grand old game, and when the two
captains are not exercising muscles,
in the strong arm of the law, they
are engaged in a fanfest with their
minions. If Pa gets tired of holding
the reins of his players, either of the
two will oblige. One thing is sure,
if such should ever be the case, the
Rourkes would ' either get in first
place or in jail. Think it overPa.
"Gosh, I haven't got any hobbies,
man," says Harry A. Tukey. "I'll
admit that nearly every fellow has
one, but I can't see that I'm afflicted
(that way. Unless, of course, you call
selling real estate a hobby, then I'm
guilty. Now, just a few minutes ago,
I finished up a deal that brought me
a pretty nice little score I mean,
commission. That's one for this day,
making one up, and, yes, two to play.
That last fellow was pretty hard to
putt but at that I made the deal in
less than bogey. You see I can drive
'em pretty well, when once I get 'em
on the T that's the hard part for
most real estate agents. Lots of fel
lows get a good deal on the green
and then iliey can't putt it. As for
me, it's my hobby when once they're
on the green, I've as-good as got 'em
in the cup. I can't land 'em on the
bunker. So, you see, my friend, I
haven't any hobbies; really I can't
think of one. Of course it's too cold
to Dlav these days, but come around
again and maybe I might possibly
think up real hobby for you."
