11 ii
For Your
Fourth
of July Celebration
LIFE OF PAUL SWAN IS
STORY MORE THRILLING
THAN STRANGE FICTION
Nebraska Boy Runs Away From Nebraska Farm to Seek
Ideal and Returns Celebrated as Painter,
Sculptor, Actor, Dancer and Apostle
of Physical Beauty.
I , f J
i .
; : ; - V 1
If
By JOHN H. KEARNES.
A ragged, runaway boy, who left
liis parental roof on a farm near Crab
Orchard, Neb., to realize an Ideal,
lias been hailed and worshiped by
Greek pagans in the city of Athens
as the reincarnation of Hermes of
Prexiteles, the Ephebus and Catheron.
This has been the experience of
Paul Swan, farmer boy, painter,
sculptor, magazine illustrator, actor,
interpretative dancer, apostle of phy
sical beauty, scenario writer and au
thor of minor verse, one of the most
peculiar characters Nebraska has pro
duced, and a man with a rife history
stranger than any fiction of romance.
Born on a gravelly farm in Johnson
soa county, of unimaginative parents,
the boy while almost a babe dreamed
of a future of almost mystic great
ness. He desired , an education which
would bring out ' his latent artistry
but his parents were unsympathetic,
and to realize a part of his ambition
one Sunday, while the family was
away, he left home with all f his
earthly possessions bundled up in a
bandana.
Goal Is Tecumseh.
-His goal was the county seat, Te
cumseh, to him the center of the
universe. As he was trudging along
the dusty road he was overtaken by
the family of W. A. Apperson, who
gave him a ride in their vehicle. Dur
ing the journey to Tecumseh they
questioned the. boy, learned of his
aspirations and arranged it so that
he was able to live in their home and
work his way while he attended high
school.
. Mrs Apperson, who later became
president of the Nebraska Federa
tion of Women's clubs, became inter
ested in the young fellow and real
ized he had many qualities of genius.
She encouraged his ambitions and
when he graduated from the high
school at Tecumseh she induced him
to enter the state normal at Peru.
Swan had an ambition to be a
painter and a sculptor. Like Benja
min West, one of the earliest of
American painters, and Ary Shafer,
the great Dutch artist, he was al
most born with sketching crayon in
his hand. He cannot remember the
time when he first began to cover
the sides of the old barn at home
with-infantile sketches of familiar
things, it was so far back in his
childhood. As he grew in understand
ing he grew in skill and unconscious
ly manipulated colors so as to form
perspective, foreground and subject
almost without crudity.
Rides on Stock Train.
5 After finishing at Peru he found op
portunity to ride to Chicago, his next
goal, on a stock train and was lit
erally dumped out in the stock
yards.
After suffering varied vicissitudes
of fortune, most of them on the re
verse side of the shield, he worked
his way through the Armour jnsto
tute where he took his first tech
nical studies in art.
New York was his next ambition
and he arrived in the city with $20
as the sum total of his wealth. Here
again he was confronted with almost
absolute penury and found hard sled
ding. He saw Mme. Nazimova in
one of her plays and became inspired
with the ambition to paint her in char
acter. He wrote letters pleading with
her to sit for him but all the impas
sioned appeals were ignored. Finally
he secured a photograph of her, and
with this as his model, painted her
as "Nora" in Ibsen's "Doll House."
This he sent to her theater in New
York, Charles . Frohman instantly
declared it to be the finest piece of
portraiture that he had seen and the
fortune of Paul Swan was made.
Invited to Home.
He was invited to the summer home
of the ereat actress where he painted
portraits of her' in her six great char
acters and with the money realized
he went abroad.
Fortune smiled on him lareelv from
thence on. He wept to Egypt where
he painted the portrait of bir John
Gorst. Kovernor of Egypt at the time,
and members of his family. In Eng
land he oamted portraits of Hon.
Alexander Nelson Hood, treasurer of
Queen Mary of Great Britain, and
many other notables, including the
cousin of the king of Spain, Marie
Louise de Bourbon, Duchess de Se
ville. In Paris he was a familiar figure in
the Quartier Latin, where he sketched
and studied for several years, and had
several pictures hung in the Salon.
Most Beautiful Mao.
Paul Swan has had the misfortune
of being described as the "most beau
tiful man in America." He says he
has the same aversion to the title that
any normal man would have and he
has been trying for five years to live
down the distasteful notoriety.
Nevertheless he has a perfect phy
sique, classic features and a person
ality that is indeed striking. He vis
ited Athens while abroad and had one
of his strangest experiences.
In the ancient capital of the Hellen
es there are still many pagans who
worship as their ancestors did in the
ancient temples of the golden agi. In
the strange visitor from America they
saw an incarnation of Hermes, an an
cient god, and he was followed through
the streets by reverential crowds. He
was compelled to hold levees daily in
his studio, became the subject of
poets and painters begged him to
pose as a model for their pictures.
He became a vogue and was tue
most popular visitor to Greece since
the days of Lord Byron, whom ha
in so many ways resembles.
Also a Sculptor.
Swan is also a sculptor and is now
engaged in making a heroic bronze
statue of Inez Milholland Boissevain,
which is to be erected by popular sub
scription among suffragettes all over
the country, on the campus of Vas
sar college.
There seems to be an atavistic re
version to type in Paul Swan, one
probably tracing back to some Greek
forbear, for he is a living apostle of
the old Greek philosophy it is his
religion.
His joy in living is almost pagan and
finds its expression in his dancing.
In this he is an expressionist of cre
ative genius. He cannot be likened to
Mordkin or any other great classic
dancer for he has originated his own
mode of expression through the po
etry of motion. He says he likes
dancing the best of any of the arts
for the reason it shows the working
of the trained mind, through the
body in rythm of movement, inter
preting the joy of living and the as
pirations of the human soul, . This
he does without sensuousness or pru
rient suggestion. He says his art in
dancing appeals to hundreds where
his art as painter or sculptor makes
only an indirect appeal to individuals.
Swan is a writer of verse and he
frankly states he has a volume to
which he has given the title of "Mar
ble Dust," which has gone so far as
to have been rejected by seven pub
lishers. Writes Scenario.
He has appeared as principal in
several classic cinema productions
and has written the scenario for the
"Pied Piper of Hamelin," in which
he will appear in the role of the pied
piper. This will be a great spectac
ular production and he goes from
Omaha to New York City to re
hearse and appear in the production,
which will be startling in its novelty.
He is stopping at the Blackstone ho
tel here. '
Paul Swan is a many-sided man.
That he is a man's man is evidenced
by the fact that he has John Bur-
roughs, the great naturalist; Frank
Vanderlip, the great capitalist, and
William Marion Reedy, the great
publicist, as his intimate friends.
His father is still a farmer living
near Dab Orchard and Swan recent
ly appeared at his home town and
gave there the same interpretative
dances he gave in the Metropoliatn
Opera house in New York without
shocking the sensibilities of the con
ventions of his parents and old-time
neighbors. He was also the guest
at her home, in Lincoln, of the spon
sor of his youth, Mrs. Apperson.
During the spring he has been
touring the country giving his inter
pretative dances for the benefit of the
French Food fund and has had many
triumphs as well as having raised a
small fortune for charity for Ameri
ca's sorely stricken ally.
William Marion Reedy of St.
Louis, who is one of America's fore
most critics, says that Paul Swan has
in him the elements of greatness and
that he will go far in the expression
of his genius and will soon be one
of the really great men of the coun
try. His life, so far, has been a ro
mance as strange as any pictured in
fiction and, from present appear
ances, the time is not far distant
when he will be the leader of an Am
erican cult of ancient Grecian aesthe
ticism. He is married, has two children,
a town house in New York, a sum
mer cottage in the Adirondacks, near
"Slab Sides," the home of John Bur
roughs, and is quite wealthy.
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! POPE DRUG GO. J
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1 1 3 th and Far nam Streets 1
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j Headquarters for Nyal Remedies j
! Soda Fountain Cigars Candy t
I Satisfaction Every Time I
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FIREV'ORKS
President Wilton on tha Fourth of Julys ;
"I should be very sorry to sea Fourth of July celebrations
omitted this year of all years. But at the same time, I think they
should take the simplest and most dignified form, and that it would
be in the public interest as well as eminently good taste to make
them as inexpensive as possible. As July 4, 1776, was the dawn of
democracy for this nation, let us on July 4, 1918, celebrate the birth
of a new and greater spirit of democracy." i v
What would the patriotic boy or girl do without . their Fire
crackers, Sparklers, Torpedoes, Snakes and many other small, harm
less Fourth of July Fireworks? Remember, we only sell Fireworks
as allowed by the United States government.
HERE ARE OUR PRICES
HOTEL LOYAL
"At the Sign of the Red Arrow."
A .BEAUTIFUL UP-TO-DATE
Commercial Hotel
Offering a Real Home to Its Guests
RATES WITHOUT BATH, $1.00 AND UP
WITH BATH, $1.50 AND UP
RALPH BRYANT and 0. E. CARNEY, Props.
EUROPEAN PLAN : FIREPROOF
Good Firecrackers, 8 in a pkg.le
Mandarin Firecrackers, 24 in a
package 2e
Tiger Firecrackers, 64 in pkg. Se
Mandarin Firecrackers, 62 in a
pkg. 4c
Bilz's Best Firecrackers, 62 in
a pkg. ..i 6c
Bilz's Best Firecrackers, 62 in
a pkg. 8c
Mandarin Firecrackers, 60 in a
pkg 10c
Peerless Firecrackers, 20 in a
pkg 10c
Extra fine Chinese Crackers,
fancy stock, 162 in pkg.. . 30c
Chinese Pistol Crackers, 72 in
pkg. 22c
Chinese Pistol Crackers, 72 in
Pkg. 25c
Salutes, 2-inch, 8 in a box. , . ,5c
Salutes, 214-inch, 7 in a box. Be
Salutes, 3-inch, 6 in a box. Be
Salutes, 2-inch, per 100..., 50c
Salutes, 2-inch, per 100.. B5e
Salutes, 8-inch, per 100.... 60c
Japanese Torpedoes, 10 in box 3c
Japanese Torpedoes, 25 in box 6e
Serpents
Nigger Chasers ..
Grass Hoppers . . .
Vesuvius Fountain
Bengal Sticks . . . . .
1
c
Each
Pin Wheels
Flower Pots
Sparklers, 8-ineh. per dot. . . .Be
Sparklers, 10-inch, per doi..lOc
Sparklers, 21-inch, each..... .5c
Sparklers, 36-inch,-each , . . .10c
Paper Cap Cannons, each. 1 10c
Paper Cap Pistols, small, ea . 4c
Paper Cap Pistols, large, ea. . 10c
Paper Caps for Pistols, 60 in a
box, each lc
Paper Caps for Pistols, 160 in
a box, dozen boxes ...... 10c
Kilgore Repeating Pistols, ea 1 0c
Boy Scoot Repeating Pistols.
each .................. 10c
Caps for Kilgore or Boy Scout
Pistols, a box 4c ..
Red or Green Torches, each 5c
Red Bengal Fire , . . .Be and 10c
Vesuvius Torpedoes, each...le
The Big Noise, per gross. .$1-20
Ring Snakes, a dozen. . . . . , 7c
Magic Snakes, a dozen...... 10c
Boa Snakes, a dozen 10c
Mines of Shooting Stars, $io.
1, at ...4c
Mines of Shooting Stars, ,
No. 4 10c
A large line of Novelty Fire
works, for ........ Be and 10c
Son-of-a-Gun Torpedoes, each
le, 2c and 3c
Flags with Gold Spears
9c, 12c, 15c, 22c, 33c.
PAPER BALLOONS
Size 8, 42-in. tall, each... ,12c
Size 10, 61-in. tall, each. , .,17c
Size 15, 66-in. tall, each . . . .25c ' "
Size 20, 75-ln. tall, each. . 35c
Size 40, 120-in. tall, each.. 90c f
Air Ship Balloons, 60-in. long, '
each ......... 35c
Air Ship Balloons 100-in, Ion.
each COc .
m PNSE Please take notice, no license is required for goods
listed in this ad. Send us your order or do your shoppine early to
avoid the rush at the last minute. . .
No mail orders filled after July 1. Send your order at once.
DO It ROW. .
Remember, We Are at Oar Old Location.
B. G. B I IZ, 1411 Hern cySt
The Lariost Retail Dealer la Fireworks la the U. 3. A.
AMERICAN TENT AND AWNING CO.
We Furnish '
Designs y J
and Estimates. ,
, Cat Oac
Prices That Are
Right .
AWNINGS,
TENTS
and
Stack Covers.
Porch Covers.
EI
AMERICAN TENT AND AWNING COMPANY
J. 3. OPDAHL, Mutator.
For Immadlata Sarvka Phone, Harnay S022. 40th and Paraam Sta.
When Buying Advertised Goods
Say You Read of Them in The Bco
SPEND "IT
aregc
IE TOOT' A1
VALLEY
Mrs. M. W. Jacobs
Miss N. Jacobs
THE
iJEEJ
LUNCH and
TEAROOM
"I !
Open From 7 A. M.
to 7 P. M.
Closed Sundays and
4th of July
Phone Doug. 5772
1806 Farnam St.
ElBERTY INN
1509 Harney Street
Table Service ... Cafeteria
' Quality Food at Reasonable Prices
Newly Remodeled Cool and Comfortable
Our Special Plate Dinner 35c
Try It Once You Will Continue Eating Here
J. M. SOLENBERG and RICHARD HEDDLE,
Proprietors.
VALLEY
STATE BANK
F. C. KENNEDY, Pr.s..
F. WHITEMORE. Vica Pras.
J. E. NICHOLS, Ca.hUr.
Conservative Banking
tfr?
V i I
1 m l
1 ! h v, "msM8s
' . .
1 " $
f
) jl Vis,-- t
4S
V ' 1 t
if li $ L;
jtf1
FARMERS
STATE BANK
ANDREW WICKLUND, Praa.
ROY M. ERWAY, y. Praa. w
T. F. GREEN, Cuhkr.
Establish. 1899.
Capital and Surplus, $38,000.
M. Johnson Co.
Hardware
Harness
Implements.
Furniture
Undertaking
"Tha Largaat Stock of HaroVar.
and Furnitura in Waatarn
Doulu County."
VALLEY, NEB.
The Lincoln
Highway
Garage
"Quality and
Good Service"
A. N. PARSONS, Prop.
VALLEY, NEB.
McCANN LAKES
. . .
Sandy Bathing Beach Clear Spring Water
Good Shade, Tables for Picnic Parties
PROGRAM
Music Speaking, Baseball Races
A GRAND RE-UNION OF ALL
LOVERS OF LIBERTY
Come Early Stay Late
THE C. HERBERT COY
SEED COMPANY
Wholesale Seed Growers
C. HERBERT COY, Pras.
LAURENCE COY, Sae.
VALLEY, NEB. ;
Erway Drug Store
Drugs, Jewelry, Paints,
Oils and Wall Paper
R. M. ERWAY, Prop.
VALLEY, NEB.
CQMPUMEN TS OF
Valley Stock Yards and Grain Co.
25 MILES FROM OMAHA ON U. P. R.R. ' ;
Leads All in Grazing and Watering Facilities for Range Sheep.
VALLEY, NEB.
Egbert & Stoil
"The Quality Store" s
OUR BRANDS
Daylight Flour. ,
Butter-Nut Coffee.
Holsum Bread., .
Turtle Canned Goods.
A. A EGBERT,
HARRY J. STOLL
VALLEY, NEB.
JohriMonnich
Garage
Ford Agency
AUTOMOBILE
Accessories,
Supplies
and Repairs.
VALLEY, NEB. -
