Everybody Has a Hobby!
Can You Tell What's Yours?
George Holmes,, judge in the Mun
icipal court, being first duly sworn,
deposed that he has a hobby and is
not ashamed of it.
"What is your hobby?" counsel in
quired. "My hobby is hobnobbing with
the oldtimers," he replied. "Instead
of hieing out to the golf links, or
. joining in a game of Kelly pool, I
enjoy meandering around in my lei
sure time and living over again some
of the scenes of my childhood days in
Omaha," the judge continued.
"Sunday afternoon I happened along
where a corner-stone was being laid
for a new Catholic church at Twenty-
fourth street and Poppelton avenue.
There I met Dan Shull, who lives west
of Twcntyfourth street,' on the av
enue. We talked over the old times
and of the transformation which had
taken place in 50 jxars in the old
southsidc. Dan must be nearly 80
years of age now. An addition here
bears the. family name. We watched
the traffic racing both ways along
Twenty-fourth street and recalled this
street as it was 30 and 40 years, ago,
more of a country road, then. Wc did
not think in those days that we might
stand together on a Sunday afternoon
in 191 ? and watch hundreds of horse
less vehicles -soeediue to or from one
of the greatest packing house cen
ters in the world. It kind of brought
hack old times and this makes a fel
f low stop, look and listen now and
then in the busy rush of present-day
afairs.
"A few weeks ago I was standing in
front of the Merchants Hotel when a
man in the group said his name was
Delong. We talked and talked and
finally it developed that he attended
the old District No. 3 school, . lo
cated on or about the site of tlie pres
ent Union Pacific depot in the South
Side. Ever hear of District No. 3
school? Well, it was a regular school
of those early days. This man De
long and I recalled Sergeant Kelly,
who was teacher for a while. Kelly
had been a sergeant in the ' British
army and, after coming west to grow
up with the country, turned his Tiand
to school teaching while waiting for
his ehip to come in. He was an ex
emplar of the old belief about sparing
the rod and sp6iling the child., He
could whip any pupil in that school
and some of the pupils were not Lil
liputians, either. He had an, impres
sive way of making it known that he
was the master" of the school. If you
wanted to know- who was master,
all you had to do was to start some
thing. So, as I said, Delong and I
tecalled school days at District No.
3, .tf early. SO years ago.
"As 1 was saying, my hobby is talk
ing over the old days with thpse who
have lived the old days. Some folks
may say this is living in the past, but
that is not true. Remembering those
days of the long ago makes one ap
preciate all the more the many good
things we shave today. Yes, those
were the happy days in memory
but who would want to go back to
, thentf" V
' ' . . " ' . ' '
Dr. J. B..Fickes, when he is not
repairing teeth, loves' to be a master
of ceremonies and actor. lie is pos
sessed of. a sense' of humor and a
droll manner that gets the crowd go
ing every time?' , . . t v
At a rfccen wiener roast down near
Glenwood "Doc" put on a grand mov
ing picture -drama.' He-s. appointed
VValter Fisher, South Side merchant,
to be "Douglas Fairbanks." W. E.
low
io :0ecdme ilVe
By A. EDWIN LONG.
At one time he made his - home
under a high board sidewalk on the
South Side in Chicago. Still M. R.
Murphy was hot a ' tramp. No, it
was not that at all. The Chicago fire
.of 1871 devoured the little store the
Murphy s were ogerating along with
about everything else . Chicago had
except a few sidewalks. So the Mur
phys lived under the sidewalk for
two weeks. ' t
M. R. .Murphy, , who 5 was . then
known as Mike,, was only ,11 yews
old. While his mother and father
worried about a new location for the'
little grocery store,- and while his
inother tried to cook the family soup
in a tin can over a little bonfire, lfttle
Mike thought it was fun. , ' ,.
And it Mas fun. Hadn't het and
the boys been; digging caves, kind
ling bonfires, and trying, to be , sav
ages for years? Sure they had,, and
, here was a chance to be a . real sav
age, living in the open air, sleeping
under a half-burned sidewalk, drink
ing soup out of a tin can, frying meat
on a stick and cuddling down to
sleep at night beside a stray dog and
the store cat. ,
All too soon the. elder Murphy
found a new location and went into
the store business aariln. so that little
Mike had to come back to. sleeping
In a real bed and eating out of a
white plate. '
. , Murphy was .-torn at Elgin, III,
Reed, Squth Side commission man,
made a splendid "Charlie " Chaplin,"
Janet Reeves was "Baby Osborne."
Xata Prescott was "Clara Kimball
IT M -rt
roung. eert Keeves posed as;
"George Walsh." Mrs. Frank Ken-!
nard "vampired ' as J'Theda Bara".
Under the tuition of Director
Fickes some wonderful acting ,was
done. v When "Baby Osborne" -was
plucking flowers in the' dell,. behold
"live Mexican" sneaked in on her and
kidnaped the, cheeild.v But, aha I
"Charlie Chaplin', happened to be
skid-walking; through that same dell.
He sees the base deed. He hears
the cries of the cheeild. To the res
rue! Baml Charlie gets the wicked
Mexican ngnt on tne Bean, not with
a custara pie eitncr, nut with a
stout hickory club. And then he
Jakes the child to. her parents,!
It was a great success.
Frank Ekdahl, the well-known ar
chitect, has a hobby of automobiling.
He and his gentleman friend, Art En
holm, used to have a Ford touring
car in which they toured to Papillion,
Council Bluffs and other pleasure re
sorts. They finally sold this car and
bought another.
Their new car is a runabout. It
looks more like a roustabout. It is
of the vintage of about 1903, one of
the early pioneers of the Ford make
and has evidently seen much hard
luck in its day. In some places-traces
6f paint can still be found.' But'this
doesn't dctraOirom its general "cam
ouflage" of brown rustiness. ?
' The light have no lenses. The mud
guards are battered to a shap that
would delight the cubists. The wind
bhicld is cracked but still serviceable,
Frank, however, proudly calls at
tention to the fact that tne machine
has four 'wheels. "Every one of them
equipped with a tire," he says.' "Be
sides," he says, "there is no. need of
a horn. The machine makes so much
noise that jthere is no danger of per
sons getting run over."
It is understood that the police have
prohibited him from driving it any
where within three blocks of a hos
pital. It disturbs the patients. When
he. first got it neighbors rushed for
the cellar when they heard him drive
up in front of his home. They thought
another tornado was coming. They
have become used to it now and even
the children are no longer frightened
when Frank drives past in his flivver.
"Some cars may be speedier, some
more powerful than mine, bit-n&ne
can make more, noise," says Frank
with pardonable pride. .,- ' (
Charley Compton of the traffic de
partment" of the Omaha Grain , ex
change' and Peter ' Paul 'Murray,
chief of the traffic bureau of the Com
mercial club, had '4 beautiful little
hobby, which they enjoyed together
for a long time. Now they may have
to forego - that pleasure, perhaps until
the war is over, or' at-least until the
state goes. wet again. No, fio, do n6i
misunderstand, please, do not mis
understand, St was not drinking at all.
It was' making a lunch on a certain,
German sausage, which greatly de
lighted the palates of these traffic
wizards. -This German sausage com
birfed all .the' flavors of -all the best
sausages in the world,, the epitome
of all that delights the dreams of
sausage-lovers, a ' surpassing marvel
in casings, ,a paragon of wur.stdom.
Then came the war and the election
two . death blows to this German
wurst. Either the war or the elec
tion might have been enough t6 put
the sausage out' of business in Ne
braska, but. the two coming at'once,
simply annihilated., it. . Wheri , Comp
ton and Murray could no longer get
May 14, 1860. ..The family rnoved to
Chicago wherf the' lad was .3 years
old, but when the elder Murphy hd
stuaiea me town a wnnejje ccciaco
Elgin would eventually be. a greater
city, so back to Elgin the family went.
But Chicago kept making good, and
the Murphys were eventualty sucked
into, the mighty city again. It was
then that Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked
the lantern over, laid the city in ashes,
and drove the Murphys' to a residence
under the sidewalk. '
Young Mike used to swim in the
Chicago river when that: stream was
as clear, as Lake Michigan--before
At.- ' -f j . r. i j 'it . it.
iuc nun ui v.uu;agu uciucu u. xic
remembers the good . old river af
fectionately; and regrets the way its
character lies been besmudged. -
.When, he got tired of weighing out
beans, and - selling prunes in the
grocery store, he went t&.work for
Armour In Chicago in . 1878. "I work
ed theYe when hogs sold at 2 cents
a pound and when 'people 'wondered
it .they ' would .ever reach"- 3 , cents
again, said Murphy.
The Armour-Cudahy company was
getting under way. in Omaha about
this time; and Murphy, wanted to go
west. Likewise he wanted to work at
the packing business, so in order to
work at the packing business and go
west too he had to select Omaha.
" He arrived in 'Omaha 'in the black
,of night ' He crawled oat of -the car
Omaha Gp-qliTO.
fet t'W r., Ift '
. m uiiii r . in mw m . mm mm r . i . m n -s, -mm- r m m MMmt i- r
ISZZ "j7cMg ? mC If metier coutl 4
r
V:
aw? kis "Batk-Ttx
their "Buckwbrths", at their .favorite
lunching place, they appointed them
selves a committee 'of two to; wait
upon the butcher on North Sixteenth
street to learn why no more of thaie
b. ill ' - L . 1. - A 1. . .
tavonics were on xne iuncn coiinicr.
Quit makin 'em, snapped the
butcher. - h ' ' ' f
"When will vou make them aeain?"
asked the committee:.
"When the war is overnd the state
goes wet. said, the butcher.
HEARD EN PASSANT.
"I got a nickel for two papers.
"When he talks, you can hear him
all over the building." . , N
"Say, Maggie, did yon ever liave a
good cry and then feel better?" , '
"She looks as old as I do, don't
you think so?" . i i ' .
"I. like those' Brlnging-up-Fathcr
pictures." ' , ',r N
"Gee, he's a handsome brute."
&tiofiae7 OS.
and found a place to sleep until morn
ing. ; -'-:.;v :
! fNext mornintf when' I went back
to eee that, car, said ' Murphy, "I
found the danged thing full of cattle."
That was another, way of informing
his friends be did not "come in a Pull
man. No; it was not a Pullman; but
Murphy is touchy about Jhis point of
how be came to Omaka. Once when
a friend said to him, "I understand,
Mike, that you came to Omaha in a
box car," he quickly straightened up
and corrected, "No, sir; 1 came to
, Omaha In a cattle car."
Cattle car or no. he soon had his
job with the packing house, and when
' Err WXS ST n ! L ! : ; : ' ' ' !-
v i . m as7v rr sv m i w
m . mm mm... m . m ' mm i n w &
The Omaha Sunday Bee
o ?
Comb Honey,
V . By EDWARD BLACK.
Home" Life of the Leffirlgwells.
The Leffiijgwells had just concluded
their evening repast and were resting
themselves at table, in that twilight
period between the day's work and
flic quiet evening hour. Henry Lef
fingwell, the sheet-anchor and pay
envelope of the domicile, was due to
make one of hisssage or philosophical
observations. Mrs. Leffingwell was
f;atliering up uneaten portions of
rovender for another day, mindful iof
ler food conservation cledge.
"We are going to have community
singing in this house,K announced Lef
fingwell, with a suddenness and. .air of
finality which caused three attentive
faces to turn automatically.
"We are going to have what?" asked
mi&pfiy:'
the Armour-Cudahy company became
the.Cudahy Packing company, . Mike
Murphy, became the hag buyer, and
bought the first hog ever, killed by
Cudahy in Qnuiha.
He was Cudahy'a chief buyer for 16
years, and now tor the last 14 years
he has been general manager of the
plant on the South Side. -
He is not only an efficient packer,
but a healthy fellow well met, and
has been a colonel of tlye staff of three
governors of Nebraska, Shallenberger,
Morehead and Neville. ;
' "And I'm a democrat, I might add,"
said Murphy. , ' ;
Kxt la TUs Srlf Uow Omaha Gt A.
JT. 6te7kt . -
;
I
Omaha, sunday morning, November
Mrs. Leffingwell, as if her sense of
hearing, had played her falsely. Willie
straightened in his chair' and Mary's
face brightened with a new-born in
terest in her father.' , v
"I said we are going to have com
munity singing in this house," repeat
ed the commandant of the chauteau
"I have been thinking of this for sev
eral weeks and thought I-pwould
spring it as t surprise. Music, you
know, is the language ot the universe,
It makes the' world go round and
heartens the . weary soldier as he
marches onward to the- field of bat
tie. It is the music of the mothers
voice that soothes the babe to sleep
and music is nature's great panacea."
"Say, pa, can you sing 'Over
Tfyere?'" asked Willie rather untimely
and irreverently. Mary cast a reprov
ing glance toward her brother and
smiled approvingly toward the Lef
fingwell pater familias. '
: "I hope, Henry, that you are no't
ill. Don't you think I should put your
feet in hot water, or bathe your head
with a cold cloUi?" asked Mrs. Lef
fingwell. . "I never felt better in my life, but I
have been thinking that " we have
missed much enjoyment by not mak
injr community 6inging part of our
domestic regimen," added Fra Lef
fingwell. '
"What's the last word pa used?"
asked Willie in a reckless sort of
way. His mother reproved him for his'
lese majeste and bestowed a look of
r n ...... -
V ; ...
TheMeekly Bumble Bee
v OMAHA, . SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 25, -1917.
i i
WAR IS SHERMAN SAID
ABOUT IT; ASK LUCKY
SEVENTH FOR DETAILS
Colonel : 'evlUe Finds His
Omaha Battalion Beady
to provide .Plenty ot
' Beat Action, s
THE BUMBLE BEE.
K STINGER, EDITOR. :
Commtinreattona on any topic
received, without postage or
algnature. None returned.
NO ADA AT ANT' PRICK.
Colonel Keith Neville la to be
congratulated.
He can have all the war he
wants without going to France.
All ha needs to do Is come
to Omaha and witness proceed
ings of the borne battalion of
the so-called "Lucky Seventh."
That little affair at recruiting
headquarters, : where one set . of
officers broke into the desk of
another and seized the records,
la a splendid exhibition -of the
orderly methods of procedure
supposed to characterise mill
tary. , . ."'
Of course, something lurks be
hind all of this. Captain Mc
Glone may have had reason for
his objection to the attitude st
Major Abbott, and maybe the
public Vlu find, out all about it
In good season. One of the
most deadly blows that could
be struck has fallen, though.
Captain McGIone announces he
la through with, the democratlo
party forever. Some others in
the regiment may be before It
is all over. J
But when a check has been
cashed, something ought to be
delivered in return for the pro
ceed. . .
CONE. :
Death haa railed two more
men whose names will ba re
called with real pleasure by the
old-timers of the town "Jim"
Stephenson and "TonV Boyd.
We 'could fill The Bumble Bee
with stories ot this pair, but It
must, suffice to- say they ' did
their bit well while here, and
those' who knew- them best will
mourn theitl most. :
' . WELL?
The district court hs decided
that the city cannot grab the
street railway under the expired
horse rsllway company'- fran
chise. What next? Jtemember,
the lawyers have to live some
how. ,
v FAITH.
Some persist In belleviuf that
Kitchener la not dead, end oth
ers thtak they can lift them
selves by their bootstraps. One
of the glories of freedom la
that you can put your faith on
anything you like.
BTXG.
Almost all the funny writers
have taken a slam at him. but
most have overlooked the op
portunity of saying finish this
yourself, toi each of you haa his
own favorite joke on the name.
best!
Today will be a day of rest !n
Omaha. . So far as known, no
fund for war charity will be
started. .,' . ,
. Well, at that Ed Howard
could do worse than pick Art
Mullen for private secretary.
He will nt ba""e to trouble
himself with coming tip to
Omaha, so often if he can get
Art to corns to' Lincoln.
Commissioner . Shumwsy still
keeps things stirred up- at the
stats house. He has broKsa a
lot ot democratlo dreams.
Have a soldier In yonr home
on Thanksgiving. It won't do
htm any harm, and may do you
a whole lot of good.
Something .must be going on
over at the court house; things
are too quiet for safety.
Byng put a dreadful damper
on some local effervescence.
Colonel Welsh's weatSer seems
ts bars gotten loose again. -
. PATRIOTISM.
Te Editor -met a good friend
from upstate one d,ay last
week, and naturally congratu
lated him on . progress being
made In his home town.
"Yes." said the visitor, "we
are going ahead new buildings,
mors business, plenty of money,
and aU that It's a'gosd little
town. I'll tell yon the prettiest
new I can get ot It, though." It
la the one I see from , the back
end, of a ' train headed ' for
Omaha."
IITINU . . , ,
War's horrors are, accumulat
ing, especially in Europe. Latest
news from stricken Scotland is
that usquebaugh -has risen ' to
nlnepsnoe the nip. If you do
not entirely comprehend this,
ask Jim Lindsay the first tlms
yon meet him. u
CONFIDENCE. ' V
The Intercepted . boose mer
chant who-bought his confis
cated - fllwer back from the
government at the price, of a
new one, must have done so be
cause he knew its way and had
become attached to It. -
' - Awrru -:
Emit Kuaebaum says the Ger
mans are taking Parana,' But
Emit Is only an advertising
man, and N Isn't expected tn
kAS aucsv - .
19 17-
growing
band.
"I remember the time, Sarah Lef
fingwell, when I wouldn't have had to
ask you the second time to join me
in song. Don't ycu remember the old
singing school we attended back in
Indiana? Don't you remember Prof.
Leach and Vhe good old songs we
sang with all of the enthusiasm of
youth? AVe sang 'Flow, Gently, Sweet
Afton,' 'The Vacant Chair,' 'Sweet
Alice, Ben ' Bolt,' 'Johnny Sands,'
'Come Where My Love Lies Dream
ing,', 'Then You'll Remember Me,'
'The Old Folks at Home,' 'Beautiful
Isle of the Sea,' and 'Listen to the
Mocking Bird.' How I do love those
old songa, They awaken memories of
other days; they carry me back to
the days when you and I were care
free." - , -
"Say, pa, did you anoV mother ever
sing 'I'm a 12 o'Clock Fellow in a
9 o'clock Town'?" asked Willie
throwing all discretion to the winds.
"My boy, when yonr mother and I
were young we did not have the
friyoloufi ditties the young folks sing
tocray. We had songs of sweet senti
ment, of home and country," replied
Mr. Leffingwell. '
. "I am afraid my singinjr days are
over. Henry," replied Mrs. Leffing-.
well,-whose husband had .turned her
mind reminiscefttly to the'days when
she could sing with any of the merry
villagers of Weatville. " Y6u would
have the neighbors talking about me
if you succeeded in getting me to try
25,
PERCY'S PATCH PROVES
PROVES A GOLD MINE;
STORY OF A WAR
Vacant Lot Made to .
Plenty Jy Man Who Gar
dened In Response to'
Fnblte Crge.. "
we tola you some weeks ago
how Percy was rejoicing over
the big . potato crop he had
raised on his vacant lot farm.
Well, he's feeling even better
than teat, now. He has just
negotiated the sale of $71 worth
of-vbeana from the same
and says he lost quite a few
beans because- of ' amateurish
methods of threshing. He
didn't lose a day's work all
summer because of his farming:
paid the rent of the lot, has his
cellar full ot spuds, a
canned goods, 7 in money and
all the garden truck his family
could eat through the summer.
This experience perhaps
could be repeated several times
but it shows what can be done
In the city on a bit of ground
that otherwise would have
grown up tn weeds and have be
come a, nuisance.
BILKED. "
Omaha is not the only city on
the map that entertained a
fakir who posed as a hero from
the other side. It Is recorded
in the secret archives of another
great metropolis ot the middle
west that a gent who set up to
be an officer from the firing
.lne received great social atten
tionand succeeded In cashing
a considerable number ot more
or less worthless checks before
he was exposed as a camofleur.
Ha ts now. decorating the In
terior ot a Canadian Jail, while
Omaha's entertainer will watch
the tides go sweeping by Angel
Island for . many months to
come.
"JOLTED, -f
Bootleggers arev beginning to
find out that the busx saw
actually has teeth. - It Jook
semething of a jolt to get this
fact intot their heads, but they
have been jolted.
MAYOR.
Our good friend, Mrs. Draper
Smith, says she has no notion
of running for mayor or any
other office, but what she wants
ts votes for ; women. Political
equality and not office ts the
goal sought.
60-30. -"This
is a great country," says
Hon. Jim Walsh. "Hers the
poor man gets his Ice free In
the winter, and the rich man has
to pay for his in the summer."
'N SHORT.
Time for Christmas shopping
is dally getting shorter. Just a
hint. A
to sing again," she continued. "Mrs.
Whatshername is just dying to get
a chance to talk about me and, good
ness knows, the last thing I am trying
to do is to get neighbors - gossip
ing. They haven't quit talking about
you trying todo some turning-pole
stunts with tne boys out there in the
yard, and I do think you might let
that scandal die out before you ex,
pose my musical decadence."
"Gee, ma can use some big words,,
too," gleefully exclaimed Willie.
"Well, I insist, that we are --going
to have community, singing if I have
to be the whole community and do all ,
of Jhe singing myself. I contend
if the heart is young the singing Wl
follow without effort,',' added Leffing
well, pere. "Community singing will
develop our spiritual natures and will
draw the neighborhood Closer together-in
the bonds of amity."
"Vou do not intend to ask the
neighbors in, too, do you. Henry?" !
"That 1s the very truth." V "
"Well if that is the case, you have
to, buy me a new carpet for the front
room and then, I will agree to join
your community singing," rejoined
Mrs. Leffingwell. .
Thus did Mrs. Leffingwell. drive a
hard bargain, and, the Leffingwell
neighborhood reverberated with the
echoes ot "Songs ot the days of 'Aula,
Lang Syne.' f '
Speaking About Signs.
A cute little sign for a bakerv
would be, "Postively No Loafing."
PLOT
r
Produce
IN OUR TOWN.
Lew Adams says he had a
lovely time at Hastings.
Will Burgess has been on the
sick list He is off again. .
Ward Burgess will be host at
a dinner party Tueedayovenlng.
Otis Renze was seen at large
Thursday evening, but be was
headed tor the Den.
Henry Krueger gave a supper
party last week, but had to get1
the Den to entertain In. -
Jim JlcKlnley was down from
Stanton for a couple of days.
Jim says, barring, the dryness,
things couldn't be better.
Oscar Lleben thinks ' It a
mighty mean man who, will steal
an auto when the ownerjli at
tending a Shriner ceremotrrll.
-Joe Maser of Oklahoma. New
York and the United States was
in town last week visiting old
and making new friends. Come
again, Joe. : '
farm.
lot of
ST.
Charley Fanning -will havea
new brand of stamps for sale
pretty soon. They won't - be
worth a darn utll you get Si
worth, and then Uncle Sam will
pay you Interest en them as
long as you hold them. It's a
grand little devle4 to help folks
save. . . -,
SPORT.
We are to have an exhibition
on Thursday ot what the boys
at Dodge and Funston have
learned about war. It doesn't
seem possible to make foot ball
any more deadly, but maybe the
soldiers pan do it
THOUGHT.
If some of hs time spent In
writing letters about It were
given over to the actual work
of shucking corn, a great deal
more headway would . be made
n the matter of getting In the
' CARS.
Signs ott street cars are of
vast Service to visitors and
strangers, but a lot of home
folks would prefer mors cars
to mors signs. The - strap
hangers' union Is crowing ranld-
ly In numbers. .
I MERCY.
If you meet a friend with a
happy lock and walking with a
limp, don't pester him as - to
reasons. The Shrlners had a
ceremonial, Friday.
USEFUL.
lllght as well make the G
man home a hospital; It lost its
home-like qualities on the first
I
oi May ' . i