MAIM
NBAY
PART TWO
SOCIETY SECTION
PART TWO ,
SOCIETY SECTION
VOL. XLVI1I NO. 33.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 26, .1919."
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
-7 : . ...
Pretty Actress Leaves Stage ta Become, a
Door "Man" in Omaha During Wartimes
Miss Helene Rahn, Petite Blonde Singer Is As Anxious to Make Good As Door
Man In a Local Furniture Store As She Is to Hear the Applause of An
"0
H, but I must make good,"
said pretty Helene Kahn.
with a determined little
shake of her blonde head. .7 "The
men were unlovely to us when we
stepped into the places left by the
boys who had joined the colors.
They were dubious, a bit skeptical
and sometimes a little unkind, and
I've just got to show 'em.",
And she has!
Behind her pretty little desk, just
inside the door of onef the largest
Jurniture stores in the' city sits this
attractive bit of femininity and with
one glance of her big blue eyes she
decides whether you are "shopping"
or "buying."
Miss Rahn is the official "starter"
of this big concern for she turns
your wayward steps into the right
p?ths. It matters not what you
wish to purchase, carpet tacks or
buffets, you are in her hands the
in you nave oeen surrenuerea 10 me
salesman. So expert is she that
very often she can determine just
what you wish to buy. Perhaps the
flowei in your buttonhole spells
cretonnes or perhaps the 14th but
ton on your spat by some mysteri
ous means denotes, a tea wagon for
by some psychic power she reads
your innermost thought.
Not alway has Miss Rahn dwelt
in an atmosphere of Jacobean tables
and I many vases, for not so very
long ago she smiled at you over the
footlights. The possessor of a
charming voice she was a member i
a sestet and traveled over the
Orpheum circuit for several seasons.
With war unsettling the lives of the
stage' folk she returned to her home
- - . t. ' TL. !
cuy 10 cnitr uuswess. me young
man who formerly occupied her po
sition at the local store enlisted and
opportunity knocked at the door of
this pretty miss.
Will she ever be contented to
stay at home, indulging only in the
little gaieties of life? Let her speak
for herself.
"Oh, I never could stay at-home
and do nothing. I love people, they
are a bit difficult at times, but I do
love them, especially in my stage
work. You know immediately if you
are a success, and how we listen for
the fir$t little ripple of applause"
Miss Rahn is the daughter of Mr.
and-Mrs. George( Rahn and spent
her school days in Omaha. After
a few months' study in the east she
accepted an engagement for the
Orpheum circuit and now after .sev
eral months as a business girl it is
hatd to decide which career attracts
her most. Her position is such a
unique one and she performs her
duties so well that she has become
a true student of human nature.
Each salesman in the concern has
his own particular talents and thrs
little "doorman" must decide which
one will best suit the customer.
It is quite as delightful as attend
ing an afternoon tea to enter this
store for Miss Rahn is really an at
tractive little hostess and her smile
of welcome brings a warm little
, glow to your heart. Your shopping
completed she smiles you out, in
viting ycv to come again and you
do!
Will "she ever go back to filmy
evening gowns and the makebelieve
world of stage land? Or will she
decide to cling to blue serge and
time clocks? this attractive little
mailt who so successfully fills the
place of a departed soldier. It is
a vital question to Jlelene Rahn.
For, on stage or in store, "Her
bright smile haunts you still" , and
you want to go back formore.
The War God
By Louise DriscolL t
The War-god has walked in the
wheat fields ''
And eaten the children's bread.
The War-god went through the or
chards And all of the trees are dead.
The War-god came through the
whole, wide world
Like a dragon that must be fed.
Now how could we speak to the
War-god?
And what could our prayer be?
For never a prayer we know and
love .
Would be heard by such as he.
And we had no altars mad for him.
Nor any psalmody.
We stood in the way of the War
god. Where the little streams ran red.
And we swore we would kill the
War-god
Or die for the word we said.
We have sworn that the fields shali
be green again
And give the children bread.
Oh, the earth
is a
strong, o!J
mother, '
And we look to the hour when
She will give us fields of clover anu
grain
And good, green trees again, --nd
fathers, seek'ng a window light.
In the old, old way of men.
For now there is no more War-god,
And out through the Milky Way
Goes the host of men who have
fought and died
To carry his name away,
And drop it into the bottomless r!t
To wait for th Judgment Day,
Reprinted from Nw Turk Time
Audience
: ' 1- '.AI
i Im&mmm ' ! ... . -. 1
" Vv JT . , ' V . ' -
? , ; ' - , ' r " : : - -
SPus Ce7ensiiit
Washington Society .Returning to "At
Washington Bureau of The Bee I
w
ASHINGTON society is but
slowly returning to its nor
mal state in the matter of
calling . which in former, days
amounted to an exacting
business proposition of . how
many'xalls could be made in a cer
tain number of hours every day ex
cept Sundays and the day of one's
own receiving. The congressional
circle, the wives of representatives
and senators, are for the most part
observing their Tuesdays and
Thursdays, respectively, at home,
but only two of the cabinet hos
tesses are observing their Wednes
days "at home." These are Mrs.
Baker, wife of the secretary of war,
and Mrs. Daniels, wit's of the secret
tary of the navy, who stay at home
quite informally each Vveu.iesdny af
ternoon. Mrs. Lansing is in Paris;
Mrs. Ilousfon has made frequent
trips out of town -throughout the
season: Mrs. Burleson does not care
for the social (hities of her position j
as wife ot the postmaster general,
Mrs. Gregory has been in mourning
for some time and is leaving the cab
inet circle shortly; Mrs. Lane is con
tinuing her work with the Red Cros3
and with the Walter Reed Hospital j
annex, wmcn is practically ner own
convalescent home. - ; ,
1 ' . if:'" , " 'X....-
'If.
.La
. Mrs. Carter Glass, wife of the new
secretary of the treasury, a native
Virginian, nas recently Decome es
tablished in her Washington' home at
1523 New Hampshire avenue, where
she was at home informally on
Wednesday of this week, with her 1
two daughters and three or four
assistants. The two daughters of
the new secretary, Miss Mary Ar
cher Glass and Miss Augusta Chris
tian Glass, axe welcome additions to
the cabinet circle, which has lost
two "cabinet girls" this season. The
f;rst one was the elder daughter of
the postmaster general, " who mar
ried Ensign Grimes of Dayton, Ohio,
and has now removed to his home
since he was honorably discharged
from the navy, and the other is Miss
Jane Gregory, whose father resigned
this month, fol'owins Mr. McAjdoo
because of the insufficient salary of
a cabinet official. ,
Brilliant Occasion.
Mrs. Marshall, wife of the vice
president, acting-first-lady-of-the-
land, had her second and iast recep-J
tion on Wednesday afternoon. Ihey
were both really brilliant occasions,
her apartment in the Willard being
filled with the distinguished men and
women of Washington, resident ai
and
1 visiting, all trie atternoon. the vice
'president and Mrs. Marshall are in
- te sznger
a continuous round of dining and
are, quite properly, the leaders of
the, season's gayety. Mrs. Marshall
is looking particularly young iand
handsome this-winter. ,
Captain v Nelson, son-in-law of
Senator and Airs.': Norris, who .was
A Comeback
. pn the front page of the Tuesday" morning Bee there appears
an article, by Mile. Yvonne, a Chicago opera-singer, in which she
states that at least 250.000 Yanks are going to marry French girls.
Mile. Yvorme admits that the French girls are not as clever and lhat
they do not possess-that irresistible charm with which their Ameri
can cousin is blest.
But she says the French girl is lovable, appealing, a follower;
not a leader, a helpmate, not her husband's slave driver. She says
our American soldiers are struck by the home life of the French girls.
We would suggest that any frue American, yes, most any man thou
sands of miles from, home and country, livL'g in the battle trench,
would be touched by a little peek into home life even if it were only
among the French, peasants.
But "When the hurly-burly's done, when the battle's lost and
won," tHey will return to their true b!ue American pals the girls
. who waited and suffered, worked and prayed at home. - Don't worry,
girls, our American boys don't want to be followed by a faithful
slave, but in their desire for progress, their striving for future suc
cess, they will turn , toward the women of, America to help them, to
lead them on toward that distant goal success 1 '
If indeed there be that element that prefers the slave type, let
them remain in France, girls we don't want them. A READER. ,
A
(
.i
aziJjAe cfoot
expected -back in his family
circle by the Christmas holi
days, -has been detained in
France, and has not yet sailed for
this country according to the last
word received from him, which is a
matter of disappointment. Mrs.
At Yvonne
Into Y6ur Ears Gabby Whispers a Bit of
Jnteresting Gossip About "Belles and
Beaux" and a Few Other Things
fey CABBY DETAYLS
GOOD gracious, AnnabeJIer;Who
would have suspected it of
Irene-espccially M s s r s.
Ward Burgess and Charles T.
Kountze! Oh, wclcnow they were
perfectly innocent and 'never
dreamed that Irene well, listen
while we chatter and
The doors of-gossip have been
opened just a wee bit, and strange
weird tales trickle through under
the signature, "Latfv Mary" of the
grimness of "dope," and she 4ells
awfully personal things about its
victims. Britishers m general
(and "dope" as a whole) do not in
terest us to any great extent, but
when the long, slender fingers of
death, caused by drugs a,nd riotous
nights, scratch(one of our own pop
ular heroines we sit up and take
notice.
News dispatches disclosed the
fact immediately after the death of
"Billie" Carleton, the English ac
tress in London, that Miss Billie
had spent the evening before her
death ih company with Irene Castle,
-
4
' QittieAattt--Jteffens
?4 -PJtotoS
"mart
Homes"
Norris had an enthusiastic meeting
of the Nebraska Girl's Knitting club
last Monday. It bids fair to con
tinue its work and maintain its mem
bership, for of all the war workers in
Washington the Nebraska girls are
the most faithful, few of them re
turning to. their homes since the
armistice was signed. They are
the best looked-after girls of any of
the great army of war workers of all
the states, the wives and daughters
of the members of the delegation in
congress having made it their per
sonal business to look after and
keep in touch with girls from Ne
braska. Not only these official
women, but other womenVfrom that
state have felt the obligation. Mrs.
William E. Andrews, "who is return
ing to the official circle on March 4,
has been one of the most active and
practical of these, having almost
turned her house over to them. Mrs
Susie Root Rhodes too. has done al
most the same, for the sake of her
native state and her "old home
town."
Holiday Dance.
The holiday dance matfaged by
Mrs. Norris and Mrs. Reavis for the
Nebraska girls,' was so successful
and so much enjoyed that theyare
planning another one, probably a
' (Continued on Page Two)
1
w
' 1
our beloved will-o'-the-wisp, who
danced her way into the iiearts of
millions of Americans and a few
particular ones in Omaha, whose
names we would give right here ex
cept that we do not repeat.;.
Society stood aghast! We Opened
our eyes and our moutlfs & the
same time, but no words adequate
to express our surprise relieved us
and we all, in chorus, "said "Now,
what do you think ot that? Irene
Castle a dope fiend I We wonder
if Messrs. Burgess and Kountze-
well,- anyway, a-hem suppose they
did or did not!
Yet, there is quite a circle of ar
tists, writers and professional peo
pie in New York who knew, or said
they knew, or believed, or had evr-
dence of the fact, and could have
told us that Irene Castle resorted
to stimulants and narcotics. And
this reminds us of a story told fre
quently at gatherings in "The Vil
lage" when the writers and actors
gossip over tea. It is usually re
lated with little variation, which
leads us to believe that it is either
a "well-made" story or else it is
True. '
It seems that a certain dancing
couple believed themselves quite as
good as, if not better, than The
Castles. So . strong did this con
viction grow in the ego of the dam
sel viemg with Irene mat sue ap
oroached a veteran manager who
employed The Castles and said:
"Irene is a dope fiend it's dope
that makes them so light, etc." But
before she had concluded her
"boost" for Irene the manager
broke in: "Find out what kind she
uses and get some."
To those of us who live in the
past, or have good memories for
notables in scandal, will be re
freshed (?) by what Lady Mary
has to say of the mysterious death
of Billie Carleton:.
"While the "drug habit that
has recently been responsible
for a terrible tragedy in the
midst of pleasure-going society
has provided a subject for dis
cussion and grave considera
tion that cannot have its im
portance overestimated, the
drug habit had had a very de
cided impetus given to it since
the war. Without a doubt the
' most awful dramas, are con
stantly being hushed up in our
.'midst, and one feeli that soon
er or later there is going to he
a denouement that will bring
forth revelations involving
people whose names are well
knonw and whose addiction to
drugs re matters of half-public
knowledge throughout a certain
set
- "The death of the very pretty-22-year-old
actress called "Bil
lie Carleton, which has been
engaging the attention of the
authorities ever since her tragic
i end after the victory ball at the
Albert Hall a few weeks ago,
has given considerable impetus
to official investigations. I am
interested in noticing thehame
of a certain man who has been
the most severely questioned
witness in this case, for it has,
brought back to my -memory
another drug-taking case with
which he was connected. I
cannot mention -the name of
thjs individual ..because at the
time of writing the investiga- '
tions concerning Miss Billie
Carleton's death have not been
concluded, but I think he is
very well known in New York
as well as in London. At any
" rate, my memory goes back to -
the time when poor Anna Rob- ,
inson (who married the earl
of Rosslyn, from whom she ob
tained a divorce about eight
years ago), was a friend 6f this
same man, who is now being
questioned in connection with
drugs and the Sale of drugs in
London. " '
"It was well known about five
years ago that Lady Rosslyn
was addicted to' drugs, and her
special "dope" was veronal,
which at that time could be "ob
tained at druggists' shops for
an indefinite period if a doctor's
prescription could be produced.
This poor, pretty woman, who
died so tragically in New York
about 18 months ago, would ab
sorb veronal in large quantities
. and then she evidently required
some - stronger stimulant, and
ness n the present drug case,
used to take her6in and other
poisonoufc compounds. When
Lady Rosslyn went back to
New York about three years
ago the man who was her part
ner in this drug-taking duet re
mained iif London, where he is
now one of the best known de
signers of dresses for stage and
society. I saw him in the street
with his lawyer a couple of'
days after the' first hearing of
the case 'relative to the death
of poor iittle Billie Carleton,
and I must say I have never
seen a more terribly nerve
shattered looking creature. His
appearance gave one to sup
pose that no amount of "dope"
could silence the fears that be
set him; and his face was posi
tively ashen-hued and his eyes,
with their large, distended pu
pils, looked as if he were haunt
ed. And yet he is going about
London in the same old way,
and'I saw him recently being
spoken to by quite ,xcputable
people at a first performance at
a fashionable theater.
"I suppose every great city
has its quota of these people,
who fatten upon the weakness
es of others, but it seems
strange that they should be al
lowed to move about, spread-
ing their poisonous practices in
every direction." ,i
Omaha seems a long, long way
from New York, especially froni
London, but there is a bit of high
life right here among s. We werej
trying, to recover from the shock!
of an Oriental-Occidental marriagej
when newsbegan to filter through
the suppressed -avenues that one fj
our popular and extremely daring)
yoring matrons defied wefstern con-
ventionalities and smoked a cigaretj
right o,ut before God and every
body, at a downtown club.
Sh-s-s-! Pfsist! came from un
der many breaths. And it is now
town gossip that women of Omaha,
smokfe quite as gracefully as New
York and European womerf, once
they get started. And is it being
done in our exclusive little coteries?;
Oh, my, yesf But we have been)
wondering who -would have the)
'temerity to start such a thing right!
out in public. One l of our con
servative matrons tells us that she
does many things before her Godi
that; she wouldn't do under thel
eagle eyes of club diners and othen
society folk. 1
Some of these same matrons, who
have not yet recovered from the
shock of the cigaret, laughingly ad
mit that "before the war" they in
dulged quite freely, on special occa
sions, in liquid refreshments with a.
90 per cept "punch" or "kick" to
them. So while we are neither for.
or against anything the other woman
wishes to do, we are still deep in the',
mire of thought, trying to figure out
why the cigaret is more disgraceful'
and harmful than cocktails and high--balls
used to be. And we remem
ber with a giggle that many a won
derful grandmother smoked a pipe
and thenwe lose our count alto
gether. Girls! Girls! What shall we do
about this tight skirt vogue? A
friend of ours came rushing in the
other day. She had just been to a
party and had worn a short skirt
which was wide enough to permit
free pedal locomotion. This wide,
short skirt caused her much shame
and humiliation and she foSnd it
necessary to remind herself con
stantly that she was not a ballet
dancer, but a nice, quiet, respecta
ble Omaha matron. - Sh; gasped:
"Fride must suffer, I know, but re
ally, was frightened every minute
for fear one of the girls, encased in.
a sausage-skin skirt, would skid1
r'something and spill' a plate of per
fectly delicious sandwiches." -
We know what' we know,; but if
we could prove all we hear about
our society neighbors gay Paree
or wild New. York wouldn't have a
single little thing on provincial
Omaha except in quantity.
Ndtice Friends and enemies,
please don't come flocking into our
office Monday, or Tuesday, or any
other day, to ask us wherewe got
our information orwho smoked the
cigaret, or anything. We tattle,
but we don't tell. '
Ever the Same
By Lucy Lyttleton.
"Child
What wind is this across the roofs
so softly makes his way,
That (hardly makes the , wires to
, sing, or soaring smoke sway?
Wind
I am a weary southern wind that
blows the livelong day
'Oyer the stones of Babylon,
' Babylon, Babylon,
The ruined walls of Babylon, all
fallen in decay.
Oh, I have blown o'er- Babylon,
when royal was her state,
When fifty men in gold and steel
kept watch at every gate;
When merchantmen and boy and
maids thronged early by and
late
Under the tates of Babylon,
Babylon, Baybylon,
The marble gates of Babylon, when
Babylon was great. ,
Child
Good, weary wind, ' a little while,
, pray, let your course be
stayed
And tell me of the talk they held,
. and what the people said;
The funny folk of Babylon before
that they were dead,
That walked abroad in Babylon,
Babylon, Babylon.
Before the towers of Babylon along
the ground were laid.
Wind " '
The folk that walked in Babylon,
they talked of wind and rain,
Of ladies' looks, of learned books,
of merchants' loss and gain;
How such a one loved such a maid
th?t loved him not again
(For maids were fair in Babylon,
Babylon, Babylon);
Also the poor in Babylon of hunger
did complain.
Child
But ,this is what the people say as
on their way they go,
Under my window in the street T
heard them down below.
Wind
What other should men talk about,
five thousand years ago?
For men they were in Babylon,
Babylon, Babylon.
That now are dust in Babylon I
scatter to and fro.