Representative Officials of Douglas County
. , - .
Ever Been
iGartooried?
f
Story by Victor Bosewater
In The Bee March, 1912
, How does it feel to be cartooned?
Well, that depends upon the car
toon, and also upon whether it is a
"first experience, or you have become
-used' to it by repetition of the of
, fense. - .
5 The cartoon may produce in the
1 - subject either a feeling of elation or
!; of disgust
If it is a good cartoon, laid on a
e broad foundation of humor, and the
. nnlnt ! wl mad, it ihonld arouse
. no resentment A person ought to
V be able to take a joke ana a cartoon
cnnnntoH trt he a. inVe neroetrated
I in picture when the joke is on him,
as when it is on the other fellow. If
I the cartoon is a distortion, breathing
I maliro nr rl1ihrrate misreoresenta-
vtion in every line, why, it stimulates
a '(jesire to get signt oi tne anist ana
; hay a brick handy about the time he
cornea within hitting: distance. But
. the ambition to retaliate on the car
) toonist will fade away when you real
tKaf ft ic iiiat wnrfnr at fii nrn.
,-- tttUh UW jUHt T V - Q -I ..... I" -
! fuGflinn ftn4 nrfthiMv Hraurinor nirtiir
as he is told to draw them, possibly
i : At . j i. .1. v
orated on the drawing-board.
Bryan, who unquestionably hold the
record for having been the target for
more cartoons tnan any otner per-
inn no rarth T Vlifv T have fidirwl
in a larger number of such pictorial
portrayals tnan anyone else now nv
inor in NhraQta. This hnnnr. or dis
rrar. Tutiirhvr wav it is viewed.
-"-f - -----
is due to the persistent practice of
personal pontics pursued Dy tne op-
nActtinn in this ritv and state, hv
luhirti T. as was m v father before me.
have been singled out personally to
. e
41 tn hitman ex vrv ramnaicrn
I instead of the candidates whom I
may be favoring. Never an election
passes in which a stranger judging:
1, vu th Mrtnnnc micrht nnt easitv he
led to imagine that I was running tor
at least one, if not every, office on the
ticket, although I have never sought
election to public office of any kind
Perhaos it is sheer vanitv that has im-
J e11eH tne tn save the rartnnns in
(which a pretended likeness of myself
figure if so, I admit the charge but
' 4the collection makes an interesting
'record of past politics and current his
t ,tory, more interesting to me, no
l ;floubt, than to anyone else, i nave
row nearly iuu ot these drawings m
my possession, and more a-coming
every little while.
That Memorable First Cartoon.
Yes, I remember the appearance of
my first cartoon, it was just a mue
j one. but the artist "hit it off," as it
! ' were. I had been on the ground at
; the legislature of 1901 in Lincoln
t actively en paced in suoer-
vising the job of electing two United
States senators, assisted by, or as
listing, a number of similarly self
sacrificing patriots with like purposes,
among them then District Judge
"Ben" Baker. The judge and I offered
the cartoonist just the sort of con
trast that he revels in. I measure five
,LM ii?ct fur an a ha" mches, which is
'ji pelow tne average, ana weign arouna
(125 pounds, while "Ben" is large of
lheicrht and eirth and tins the scales
""Ifluite eenerously. I have a head of
hair that makes me get my money s
worth whenever I patronize a barber
hop, while "Ben" combs his cranium
with a washrag and, except for the
mall space occupied by an invisible
View
RoSEWATEJq
jrmQK-.JBEN 'BAKER AND- "DOC'
VICTOR ROSWATJKK.
(DicuMlng .the: situation.)
ix run A
farm
fringe near the neck, keeps a roller j
skating rink for flies all the year
round. I do not use tobacco in any
form, while "Ben's" most constant
companion is a big black cigar, so you
can readily see what the cartoonist did
to us. There is "Ben" with feet on
terra firma as against me perched
high on a soap box placed on a chair,
and then just able to get my mouth
on a level with his ear. "Ben has
his cigar at a rakish tilt and wears
clothes that bespeak th man of the
world, while I am made to look like
an immature boy just out of college
it might have been kindergarten.
Of course, I was all puffed up by
that cartoon. I thought I must be
beginning to amount to something to
attract that much attention. I show
ed it, without attempting to conceal
my pride, to friends and acquaintances.
I even felt complimented by being
associated with such a great man as
r..A Roier and tn he able to rise as
high as he did, even though I had to
pile a soap box on top of a chair to
do so.
Working On a Famous Toga.
Out of the senatorial campaign
of 1906 grew a ceries of cartoons in
which I figured, sometimes in the
foreground, and sometimes in the
background. In these I was exhib
ited as working on a toga lor iuy
Pa," and to emphasize tne relation
ship of father and son I was thrust
back into youthful apparel with
Un-kerhnr1rers Buster Brown col
lar and butterfly necktie, which were
entirely foreign to my regular cos
tume. I was depicted as industrious
ly sewing this mantle together, as
trying to protect it trom mutination
hv nnlitiral enemies and of carrying
it through the different stages and
vicissitudes of the contest, hnaiiy
tearfnllv hrineinff it home in tatters
at the conclusion of the convention
tryout- 4
The preliminary campaign for the
cimnnrt nf Nehraska in the reDublican
national convention in 1908 brought
trie more or less into the thick ot it,
and at the same time into the car
tnnn limelicht. Then, as now. Mr.
Taft1 was a candidate with whom I
had enlisted, while the opposition
likewise started out behind senator
LaFollette, and later, when they
found that they were losing ground,
tried to shift to former President
Roosevelt. The personalities of the
campaign could not be kept out, nor
the artists' pencil withstand the temp
tation offered. Then the republican
party became an infant with lusty
lungs, with a tag suspended by a
string around its neck labelled, "Re
publican Reform," which infant I
had kidnaped and made away with
Testimonials to The Bee
("Continued from Faga Three.)
Justice and Fair Play
Although I am not an "old timer"
fa the city, I have been here sufficient
time, I feel, to get the general trend
f affairs in this prosperous, growing
city.
'.i It has been a matter of pleasure and
atisfaction to note the interest The
Bee has always taken in matters per
taining to the great business of life
insurance. In spite of the fact that
life insurance is one of the four great
businesses of the world, ranking on
an equal basis with the other big
three; namely, banking, railroads and
th value nf annual manufactured
products, we have not always been
v-iven proper credit for the work we
ave done, but The Omaha Bee, with
rhararterictir cence nf instire and
.ail ytaJ t "a, uvv.ll aivvajr uiswm
give life insurance and life insurance
men due credit for the part they have
played in the upbuilding of this city,
and I feel quite sure I am only ex
pressing the sentiments of the rank
and hie of the fraternity when 1 wish
for this great publication 25 more
years of successful activity in our
midst
Trcsident Nebraska Life Underwrit
ers Association.
Imbues All With Faith
In observing the silver anniversary
of your quarter of a century of edi
torial management of The Omaha
Bee, I not only congratulate you per
sonally, Mr. Rosewater, but also
Omaha and Nebraska. You have
made The Bee a vital factor in
co-operating with every forward
movement that tends to the great
ness of the city and state. Its con
structive policies and the reliability
of its utterances concerning Omaha
and Nebraska imbues all with an un
shaken faith in the municipality and
the commonwealth.
Omaha Realtor.
despite the friendly effort of several
self-stylea reformers to retain pos
session of the child. At the next
turn I had boarded a lumbering old
automobile, inscribed, "Nebraska G.
0. P.," in which I continued to carry
the kidnaped youngster along with
me, unceremoniously Dumping oo
stacles in the path-
An interchange of correspondence
with the custodian of the LaFollette
boom gave occasion for what I con
sirler nn of the cleverest cartoons
that has been perpetrated upon me.
In my open letter l saia sometnmg
about "condescending" to reply to
persistent attacks previously ignored,
and so I was portrayed as coming
down from myntgn norse oy step
ladder route to deliver '.the political
enemy a slap on the wrist The equirie
with its elongated legs must have
drawn its inspiration from the wooden
horse of Troy sung by . the Greek
poets, and, while the portrait like
nesses would scarce be recognizable
without the name imprinted, the ex
ecution was not so deficient as to
obliterate a good idea altogether.
Drilling Delegate! for Taft
As the delegates were ejected and'
instructed for Taft, I became i
schoolmaster drilling them in a
chorus with a flail in one hand, rep
resenting the machine threatening
political castigation to those who did
not respond. The state convention
finally completed the work by com
missioning me, along with others, as
one of the delegates-at-large under
instructions that made it a solid Taft
delegation from Nebraska. I then
suddenly in the cartoonist's mind be
came the whole republican party, with
the elephant sticking his head out
of my pocket, and the "Thank you"
telegram from Mr. Taft displayed, to
say nothing of other emblematic or
namentations intended to epitomize
the interests charged by the demo
crats with contributing to the result.
In culmination came the presentation
by me to Mr. Taft, at the banquet he
attended here in Omaha shortly after
ward, of the Nebraska G. O. P., a
miniature elephant carefully bound up
in testimony of "delivering the
sroods."
Turning Tables on the Tariff.
After the tickets were in the field
and I became one of the managers on
behalf of republican candidates wun
special charge of the publicity work
in the west, it goes without saying
that I continued to be a mark for my
cartoonist friends. An incident, or
rather an accident of the campaign by
which, during my absence, one of
the editorial writers on The Bee
failed to recognize a quotation by
Mr. Bryan from the tariff plank of
the republican platform and pro
eeded tn dress it down with charac
teristic ridicule, gave an opening that
could not be passed up. i nao no
more to do with it, nor was I justly
to be held responsible for it any more
than Senator tiitcncocK tor tne ami
f.ran d Armv of the Republic editor
ial in the World-Herald, which he
ha Keen nerindicallv explaining, but
that did not prevent the "break" being
put uppn me as one of the Taft cam
naien factotums and the changes
r.incr nnnn it on the stumo bv Mr
Bryan himself and in the democratic
newspapers. Chairman Mactc put mt
professional medicine mixers, at work
on it, and the cartoon they evolved
and syndicated appeared in news
papers, big and little, fronv ne end of
the country to the other. ( It was a
good stunt and injected a little harm
less ginger into the campaign just at
a moment when it threatened to be
come acrimonious and did no one any
great damage. .
My appearance in away-trom-nome
newspapers, except as already noted,
has been chiefly in the form of pen
and ink portraits with, as a rule,
rather doubtful likeness. The Chi
cago Record-Herald once gave me a
large part of a page along with a
humorous sketch of doings at the re
publican national campaign head
quarters, written by Kichard Henry
Little, in which I was dubbed "the
man with the incandescent smile."
The New York Herald artist has also
contributed a snapshot taken along
with others during an Associated
Press meeting, in which it would take
an incandescent light to find the trace
of a smile. Good, bad and indifferent,
however, or complete!? devoid of re
semblance, they give the experience
of being cartooned of being held up
to the public eye with personal char
acteristics distorted to make the point
or draw the laugh, and in time to
cauterize whatever sensitive spots a
man mav have. V. R.
Its Fearless Way-
it is a pleasure for the Omaha
Grain Exchange to extend hearty
congratulations to The Omaha Bee
and its editor, Victor Rosewater, for
the splendid work it has done in the
past 25 years, not only in the upbuild-
, ing of the Omaha Grain Exchange,
but of the city of Omahl and the state
of Nebraska.
No part of the United States has
shown such improvement as our city
arid the state of Nebraska has dur
ing the past 25 years, and The
Omaha Bee, in its fearless way, has
been a factor in these wonderful improvements-
With best wishes for
its future success, I remain
V President Omaha Grain Exchange.
' f W A
Thomas O'Connor
County Commissioner
Chairman of Finance
Committee
of Douglas County
Mr. O'Connor has been a resident of Omaha for 32 years. Ee
has always been a prominent figure in GROWING OMAHA.
At the present time the finances of DOUGLAS COUNTY are
practically on a cash basis with all obligations paid up. Prompt
liquidation of maturing bond issues Is the soundest policy and
1430,000.00 of County bonds have been redeemed within the last
few years.
As a result of this policy Douglas County Bonds today are giltj
edge marketable securities. This is one cf Mr. O'Connor's many
proud achievements.
R; "if vfcn
'5 '
t
SOPHUS F. NEBLE
COUNTY
COMMISSIONER
HARRY PEARCE
Registrar
of Deeds
Harry Pearce, reg
istrar of deeds, in the
office of the county
clerk, has been a resi
dent of Omaha for 35
years. He is now serv
ing his first term in
his present office. He
is the proud father of
two sons in the serv
ice of their country.
One is stationed at
Fort Dodge, Des
Moines, Ia.t and the
other has already ar
rived "over there."
ti'.'-cV v" -i-'mfi
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Louis E. Adams
County Surveyor
Congratulations to Victor Rosewater and
THE OMAHA BEE
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w
"MIKE" CLARK
Sheriff of Douglas County
and terror to evil-doers, is serving his first term,
but his friends and supporters, who are legion
and from all walks of life, say it will not be his
last
Michael L. Clark was elected sheriff on the
republican ticket'
Few. men are more widely known or more
popular than Sheriff Clark. He has earned the
reputation of being fearless, with justice and fair
play to all and favoritism to none. When he
became the chief law enforcer of Douglas coun
ty Sheriff Clark surrounded himself with an ef
ficient staff of deputies and proceeded to "clean
up" all places under his jurisdiction.
Sheriff Clark has made the Douglas county
jail a model bastile, remarked by visitors to be
the cleanest in the United States.
Sheriff Clark for many years was associated
with the Omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railway
company.
FRANK DEWEY
County Clerk
f " ; A
It - ajjgnJMi
Frank Dewey, county clerk, was born in
Cedar Rapids, la., and is descended from early
New England ancestry. The family has been
represented in every war this country has had
from early 1700 down to the present time; a fact
which indicates that patriotism is one of the
marked family characteristics.
About the year 1840 his father helped to
found the beautiful city of Cedar. Rapids, la.
Frank came to Omaha in 1878 and has made
Omaha his home since. He began his first term
as Country Clerk in 1912; was elected again in,
1914 and re-elected in 1916. lie is also Ex-Of-ficio
County Comptroller and Superintendent of
trie City and County Tax Office. His duties are
manifold and important and are discharged with
the utmost capability and fidelity. He believes
that a Public Office is a Public Trust and it is
well known that no trust reposed in Frank Dewey
is ever betrayed:
1"
s
n.