JB E
THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: SEFTEMBKK iv, 19ZO.
Ak-Sar-Ben
Founded in
Hard Times
Little Group of Far-Sighted
Men' Formed Organization
In 1895 Society Hai x
, Helped Omaha Grow.
"Behold, who great ! this our
Ak-Sar-Ben grown I"
Thus might the words of Shake
speare be paraphrased to describe
the progress of the unique and now
nationally famous Ak-Sar-Ben en
terprise. Founded by a few men who were
almost desperate in the "hard limes"
of 1895, it has had a continuous ex
istence and an equally continuous
and astonishing growth. This year
it had more than 4,300 paid mem
berships. And it is now building a
great permanent exposition at a cost
of $2,000,000.
Omaha, together with the rett of
this. broad land, was pretty "dead"
in the early '90s. The city had a
considerable number of kicks from
which it had suffered. '
. The little group of forward-looking
and, far-seeing men in whose
breasts hope sprang eternal had
sought for a method of awakening,
the city from its dull sleep even be-
' fore the happy thought pt Ak-isar-Ben
was"hit upon.
Fair Blossoms.
The first prescription was the
State fair. Omaha business men
went down to the capital and took
that annual institution away from
poor, old Lincoln, ine lair dios
somed forth on fair grounds" several
miles outside of the city. Many
people visited it. But this didn't
helo Omaha much. v
In 1894 those who were seeking a
cure for Omaha's troubles agreed
that something must be done to
v , brincr oeoole to the metropolis itself,
i something to entertain the people,
something to make them "go home
thinking and talking about the good
time tnev naa nere.
The remedy being decided upon,
a committee was sent to St. Louis
to study the ''Veiled Prophet" and
to New Orleans to investigate the
modus operandi1 of the Mardi Gras.
On the committee were Dudley
Smith. E. M. Bartlett and W. K.
Bennett. .
Spread Discoveries'.
These men visited the two festl
vals in the southern cities, so inv
nrcssed were thev with the parade
in New Orleans that they bought the
paraphernalia for use in Omaha, ay
the,time they arrived bacjk in Omaha
they naa agreea tnai a permanent
organization, was needed in Omaha.
Ihey spdead their discoveries,
observations and suggestions before
the business men here and hope be
gan to send forth the buds of en
thusiasm. Ihe suggestions of the
committee were , approved. The
name. "Ak-Sar-Ben," being "Ne-
i ,. 11. j ......
adopted and the Knights of Ak-Sar-
" Ken became an institution. i- M.
i 7 Rheem, then local manager for the
American District leiegrapn com
.' l it... ., .:i..1
pany, picpartu mc mat iuuai.
i Formal announcement of the or
gsnization of the Knights was made
' April 21, 1895.
The first board of governors was
composed of the following: Dud
Jey Smith. R.'S. Wilcox, C C. Bel
den, W. L. Dickev, L. M. Rheem,
C C. Chase,. E. E. Bryson, T. A.
Frve and M. J. Peloid. '
The second year of the state fair,
near Omaha, saw the Knights of
Ak-Sar-Ben ready to entertain the
1 visitors, and they sent them away
happy in a new idea of Omaha and
its people, '-;v
' First Were Crude.
Contrasted with the elaborate en
- tertainments of later years, those of
1895 and the years immediately fol
lowing rather crude, but in
those days they were considered
marvelcfus and their fame sprer.d
, throughout the state and neighbor
ing states, bringing i larger iind
larger crowds each year.
After five years the state fair was
put back in Lincoln and Ak-Sar-.
Ben became linked inseparably with
the name of Omaha, flourishing and
growing greater with the passing
' years. .
Gus Resize, the great artificer of
Ak-Sar-Ben, was living in Omaha
at the time, as good luck would
have it. Gus has been the presiding
genius of every year's Ak-Sar-Ben
shows and parades. He is recog
nized as without a peer in this line
of work in this country.
He worked with the New Orleans
-... floats the first year. And the next
year the floats which Vie designed
. and built were more wonderful than
the New Orleans floats. J
Develop Pageant :
The wagons purchased with the
New Orleans floats were used for
three years. Then W. S. Jardine
suggested that wagons be built with
; wheels gauged to fit the street car
tracks. This idea was executed with
admirable results. This was the first
move in developing the old-fashioned
parade of floats into the brilliant
modern pageant
, The first electrically-illuminated
. floats appeared in 1898. .
Bicycles were the principal mean
of quick mechanical locomotion in
189S and the first parade of festival
wek that year was oije of bicycles, f
tu me tuiuran were o.suu wheel
men and wheelwomen. Nearly every
bicycle in the city was in the parade.
The "wheels" were decorated with
flowers and flags. One body of rid
ers was dressed entirely in white and
and the bicycles wrapped with white
cloth. These riders changed con
tinually fromlose formation to ex
tended order, producing a wondrous
effect ,
Parade a MarveL
The parade was a marvel for
those days when automobiles were
still almost unheard of.
The second parade of that initial
year was one in which the tow...
and counties of the state were rep
resented by floats. This served the
purpose of showing that Omaha was
interested in the rest, of the state
and appreciated the value of outly
ing counties and cities to its own ad
vancement The third parade was civic and
military affair, in which drill teams
of fraternal organizations and com
Vnies tht Ntbraika National
Guard and other military organiza
tions took part.
On the night of. the fourth day
there 'was the triumphal entry of
King Ak-Sar-Ben I and his knights,
with the coronation ceremony and
the grand ball at the Den. E. V.
Bartlett and Miss Meliora Wool
worth were the first king and queen.
Since those days Ak-Sar-Ben has
staged some of 'the most elaborate
parades ever sefcn in the world.
Thousands of Visitors.
The Trans-Mississippi exposition
in 1898 and the Greater America ex
position of the next year saw great
development of the Ak-Sar-Ben idea.
Tens of thousands of visitors from
all over the land came here.
The Den at Twentieth and Grant
street was bought by the Knights
in 190S for $11,500.
The first street fair or carnival
was held, in 1900 and the proceeds
of this helped to defray the heavy
expenses of the elaborate street pa
rades and other entertainments.
This feature has been continued with
great success ever since.
And so, from a small organization
with, a few hundred paid members,
facing a doubtful and not encour
aging future, Ak-Sar-Ben has de
veloped in a quatrer century into
a rock-founded institution of incal
culable value to Omaha in a busi
ness and social way! Its expendi
tures are more 'than $75,000 a year
and it is now fostering a $2,000,000
enterprise.
The hopes and ambitions of the
little body of men who had to do
with the establishment of the organ
ization have been more than realized.
As the years have passed Omaha
(0
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Re-Sale Shares
First Mortgage
Serial Bonds
Returns Paid
Semi-Annually
Tax-Free in
Nebraska
Put your money in
these seasoned, tested
securities, where it
will be safe and re
turns sure.
We Build
We Finance
Board of Governors of Ak-Sar-Ben , ' -: ' '
: : - h : &j2&&-8z .1 It'
and Nebraska. Iowa, northwestern
Missouri, southern Minnesota, the
Dakotas, eastern Colorado and
Wyoming have developed a co-operative
spirit that, has resulted in
wonderful development for all.
Jiig Frontier Town.
There have been good times and
hard times, but on the whole the
tendency , has been forward at an
astonishing rate. Omaha's commer
cial institutions in both the whole
sale and retail lines have grown by
leaps.' i - .
It is impossible to recoernize" to
what extent Ak-Sar-Ben has been
responsible for Omaha's growth.
But its effect has been very great.
A quarter century ago Omaha was
a big frontier town. Today it is a
metropolitan city. Bank clearings
in that day in Omaha were less than
$200,000,000. This year they will ag
gregate $1,500,000,000.
And Ak-Sar-Ben, with 4,300 paid
members and many 'thousands of
pther members from out of town,
is entering on an even greater de
velopment than ever before. ,
Denies Offering Wife
$75,000 For Divorce
Boston, Sept 18. Davis H. Co
hen, doing business as the Boston
Stocking company, denied, in the
superior court, offering his wife
$75,000 to allow him to obtain- a di
vorce, so that he might marry the
manager of his factory, . Miss Flora
Prussian. i
Cohen admitted that such a sum
was namid for separate support,
but declared that he went to Reno,
Nev., solely for his health.
tringlsOut
Visitors in Omaha are cordially in
vited to call on us during their stay
in the city: t
Do not he discouraged hy the torn
up condition of Dodge and Eighteenth
streets. Our office will seem just so
much pleasanter m contrast with its
abnormal surroundings. ' Imagine the
work of grading and paving Complet
ed, and you will appreciate the fine
location of Home Builders' building as
a place of business. -
In constructing the building we an
, ticipated the new grade; We selected
the site for its future possibilities.
' Dodge and Eighteenth streets promise'
.to be two of the main arteries of traf
fic in the very near future.
The long look ahead is one of our
working principles. ' That "is what
makes our securities so safe. They are
predicated upon a sure outcome.
-You will find that we are in a posi
tion to render very helpful service in
the matter of investing your surplus
profitably. Call and find out what we
' have to offer. Ask for some of our
interesting literature.
tcopoiurrt9
Dodge,
Omaha,
C. C. Shimer, President.
O. A. Bohrbongh, Secretary.
American Security Co.
TISOAl AGENTS.
How Ak-Sar-Ben
Was Given a Name
Committee of Thre.e, Assisted
by Priest, In 1894 Chose
Moniker for Order.
A committee sent in 1894 to New
Orleans by Omaha business men
was on its way home, convinced that
a permanent organization was just
what Omaha needed to "pep" things
up. The committee consisted of E.
M. Bartlett, Dudley Smith and W.
K..; Bennett.
Discussin? the auestinn of a mm,
Mr. Smith suggested that the name
of the state, Nebraska, spelled back-
ward would make a catchv and an
propriate name. This was adopted
eventually. f
at 18th
Nebraska.
B8ANDE15
On the same train was a Catholic
priest, Father Enright of Kansas
City. He was interested in the dis
cussion. It was he who suggested
that the domain of Ak-ar-Ben be
known as the Seven Cities of Cibola
which . Coronado sought.
Father Enright's knowledge of
languages also served to show a re
markable significance of the several
syllables of the word "Ak-Sar-Ben."
He pointed out that these syllables
have the follovw'ng meanings:
"Ale," in Syrian, means "head of
the household." "
"Sar" in Arabic, meant "house
hold." , f
"Ben" in Hebrew means "brother
in the household."
The whole word the, signifies the
king, his domain and his retainers.
Ak-Sar-Ben
Visitors Welcome
Omaha Liberty Fire
Nebraska National Insurance Company
P. F. ZIMMER, President and Manager
Second
Gus Renze, Boss
Of Float Designs,
Is Work's Nemesis
- , .
Man "Who Directed First Ak
Sar-Ben Parade Now Chief
Artificer for Or
ganization. Gus, the Great Artificer of Ak-Sar-
. Ben.
Peculiarly fortunate was Ak-Sar-Ben
in having residing in Omaha
when the new order started, a man
who is a recognized genius in con
struction of floats and the making
of shows such as Ak-bar-Bcn
needs.
This man is Gus Renze. He was in
the decorating business in Omaha
when Ak-Sar-Ben yas launched in
1895. He was chosen to remodel the
floats bought from New Orleans for
the first parade. And, like the man
in the ballad.
He did his work so doggone,
darned well then.
"That now he is the chief gazabo of
the Ak-bar-Ben den.
The result of his remodeling of
the 'New Orleans floats gave the
board of governors a hunch that he
was the very man they wanted. And
the floats he built for the following
year's parade were so much better
than the New Orleans examples
that the board of governors knew
their hunch was decidedly right.
And he has been at the head of the
artificing department ever since, and
stands pre-eminent in the United
States in this line of work.'
Even 'several years before Ak-
Sar-Ben was thought of, Gus had
tried to start some sort of fall pa
rade in Omaha.. But the financial
end of the project didn't work out
well enough to make the parade pos-,
sible. 1
He is a fat, jolly, tireless sreezer,
Who gets through the mountain of
work, connected with his joa on
schedule time
$11,500 Was Paid for
Ak-Sar-Ben Show Den
; ,12 rears ago
The, Ak-Sar-Ben Den was bought
by the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben in
1905.
The Knights had occupied it for
years but only " as renters, paying
$600 a year for rent.
In the, fall, of 1904 a movement
for purchase of the Den was
launched and in J905 it was bought
for $11,500 an4 f3,000 was spent on
improvements. '
The Dennis a vast structure cap
able of seating many thousands,
with ' an immense stage and great
spaces for storage of floats and
other paraphernalia. It is located
on two square blocks of ground be
tween Twentieth and Twenty-first
and Grant and Burdette streets.
It is the scene of the brilliant cor
onation hall held i each fall and of
(the weekly shows given each Mon
day night during the summer season.
We wish to extend to
you a cordial invita
tion to visit us and
make our office your
headquarters dur ing
your stay in Omaha.
an
FIooi; Finance Bid?.
Ohio Towns Get Benefit
Of Fines on Bootleggers
Akron, O., Sept. 18. -Before na
tional prohibition came predictions
were made that many and dire -would
be the privations which
would follow in the wake of the loss
of revenue which the liquor interests
had been paying to national, state
and municipal authorities.
Apparently, there has been t rude
awakening.
It now appears that prohibition is
a big paying investment
Investigation discloses that munic
ipalities and townships in this county
are deriving a revenue three times as
big as during the days when, under
license, booze, hootch, et al, could,
be sold legally, and a portion of the
license money paid into the state
treasury by the liquor dealers was
distributed among the local political
subdivisions of the state.
Under an act passed by the Ohio
legislature all fines collected from
moonshiners, bootleggers, blind pigs,
speakeasies and other dispensers of
raisin jack are retained when col
lected, be it county, city or town
ship.
113 Rattlesnakes
Killed hy Trapper
Portland, Ore., Sept. 18. Rattles
from 113 rattlesnakes killed by one
man this summer form the lettering
on a belt which is the latest acquisi
tion of the .United States biological
survey omce nere. uompumcnis
of R. C. Fulkerson, 1920," is the
wnrdinsr formed bv the rattles. Ful
kerson is' a coyote hui.ter near Or
mond Wash., near Wenatchee. He
killed the rattlesnakes while attend
ing to his trapping. . 1
lis
oj riiyrassaser
333 3 3 3 3111131
5333333111319
Beginning September 1st
$1.75 rooms will be $2.00
$2.00 rooms will be $2.50
$2.25 rooms will be $2.50
$2.50 rooms will be $3.00
i n
Notice to Our Patrons
r , 1
Insurance Company
d -
1817 Douglas St, Omaha, Neb'.
rung rtK-oar-ucii
Has Many Titles
Royal Personage) Hai Five
Imposing Handles to '
His Name.
Potentates have many titles. And'
King Ak-Sar-Ben is no exception to
this rule. The citizen who will be
clothed with the1 royal purple and
ermine and crowned with the golden
crown in the Den, otherwise known
as XUC VJlCdl nail v, iuv ,ii6ti.
on the night of the cornation ball,
will have these titles: King Ak-Sar-Ben
XXVL, King of Quivera, Mas
ter of the Corn Belt, Prince of Nej
braska and the Fiefs Adjacent, Lord
Protector of Omaha and All Our
Smiling Cities.
Some title! Well, he's some king,
too, and rules over a territory much
bigger and much richer than many
an European king.
The name of the king, that is, his
name in piiviiic mc, is itci u..
deep secret until the very night of
the coronation. Only the board of
governors and the king himself
know it. This is a secret that the
king keeps even from his wife, be
cause, if he told his wife well, you
know how women are!
Dream Was True.
Providence, Sept 18. Frank Silva
dreamed he was being robbed. He
awoke to find a burglar had entered
and made away with his $500 roll.
Now he believes in dreams.
When the Hotel Con ant
was built in 1917 our
rates were fixed at "$2.50
aid down" and we have
bo maintained them in
the face of advancing
costs of everything per
taining to hotel operation.
As there appears no pros
pect of costs reacting to
former leveVs, we area
ui:j 4... j V
vuukcu tu uianc ail ttu-
vance in our rates.
We hope you will appre
ciate our position and that
this necessary advance
will meet with your ap
proval. Sincerely yours
i
Hotel Conant
. -
OMAHA
-)