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VOL. 10, NO 40.
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' Siriglecbpies 5
I OBSERVATIONS
Ex-Governor Furnas, secretary of the
state board of agriculture, is a won
derful old man. He Is now some years
past seventy, and is hale and hearty.
He has done some excellent work in de
veloping the state fair and on more
than one occasion I have joined the
chorus of praise which, annually, has
been bestowed upon the venerable fair
manager; but there are one or two lit
tle things that cause me to defer this
expression. In the first place if Mr.
Furnas was correctly reported In the
Bee, and I have seen no denial, he has
made a wilful misstatement in connec
tion with the state fair, and gone out
of his way to strike Lincoln, a city
that has always entertained the friend
liest feelings for the ex-governor. The
late fair, in Omaha was, it is now well
known, a financial failure. Inseeking
to take off the edge of this disappoint
ment"' Secretary Furnas said: "The
Nebraska state fair has usually been
a losing business. Last year's exhi
bition at Lincoln left us considerably
behlnd, and In fact left us in the same
shape nearly every year that the tatr
was held there." There are three dis
tinct propositions In the above. One of
them is true. The other two are false.
Last year the fair was not a success
financially; but usually it has been a
paying business, and in Lincoln it
more than paid for itself nearly every
year. Had It not been for the tens of
thousands of dollars which Secretary
Furnas donated to the State Journal
company, and other special beneficiar
ies of his extravagant management
there would have been a big balance
in the fair treasury when the exhibi
tion was taken away from Lincoln, a
good deal more than enough to make
up the loss last year and the bigger
loss this year. It will not do for the
secretary to cast upon Lincoln the dis
credit of his own improvidence. An
other thing that has always interfered
with the success of the fair, and which
in part accounts for its failure this
year. Is the policy of the secretary In
scattering passes broadcast. Think of
it, 14,371 passes Issued this year!
These are his own figures. These pass
es were not given, as many suppose, to
newspapers for advertising purposes,
but were presented to jack leg politi
cians and general roustabouts and also
to some respectable people, who ought
to have gladly paid their way.
The State Journal has profited too
richly at the hands of Secretary Furnas
for it to tell the truth now; and the
Omaha papers are constitutionally un
able to tell the truth, but nevertheless,
the fact has leaked out that the fair
was a fizzle, from the money point of
view. The small number of paid ad
missions and the deluge of passes tell
the tale. It is said the loss will be be
tween $10,000 and $13,000. possibly more.
How the Omaha patters did lie about
the attendance! The Bee said there
were 40.000 people on the grounds
Wednesday.
Accord ng to Furnas figures, the to
tal attendance. Including 2.99S dead
heads, was 17.5S9. On Thursday, the so
called big day, the Bee said there were
fully 60,000 people at the fair at one time.
The official figures are 31.211. The total
attendance for the five days was only
78.391. The Omaha papers said the rail
road companies were,not able to carry
all the people'wrio wanted to go to
Omaha to attend the fair. After see
ing these figures I don't believe any
body went to the fair from out in the
state, except a few Lincoln people, and
the ladies invited to take part in the
Ak-Sar-Ben bail. Omaha alone ought
to have turned out more than 18,000 peo
ple in five days. In Lincoln, if we ac
cept Secetary Furnas' wrrd for it, the
attendance on a single day has reached
beyond 50.000 If Secretary Furnas
takes exception to any of the above
statements The Courier columns are
open to him.
The people in Lincoln who attended
the court ball In the den of Ak-Sar-Ben
in Omaha Thursday night of last week
were much impressed with the im
mensity and other notable features of
the entertainment. Omaha has a
weakness for big things, and the court
ball was really the biggest thing of the
k'nd ever seen in the state. No fire
men's ball ever given in Omaha or
Lincoln coulJ be compared to it. Peo
ple from everywhere were at the ball
There were society beaux and belles
from South Omaha and from dozens of
other places. And all of the chinks and
corners of the big building were filled
with gay hnmanity. It was not only
Immense. It was swell, as well. The
committee were detrmlned to have ev
erything swell, and so they decided to
admit no one not in evening dress. No
plebeian high necked dressesor cuta
way coats could pass muster. Of course
ivith this provision a perfectly swell
affair was insured. For only swells
have evening clothes. Omaha people
say. with much pride, that everybody
present was in evening dress. To be
sure some of the spiketalls were of
ancient ana picturesque design, and
some cf what the Omaha papers called
"toilettes" were unlike anything ever
seen before any place on earth. But
they were evening dress, and of course
their wearers were swell, and the com
mittee were well pleased. The ball was
unquestionably a success. As one dis
tinguished Omahan. one of the re
splendent knights, said, "it was a
howling success." The gentleman, con
tinuing, remarked: "Why, every
body was there, and I tell you all the
other soirees I ever attended wasn't in
it with the court ball. The men all
wore swallowtail coats and all that I
noticed wore white shirts and collars
and cuffs. They were dressed fit to
kill and the women, why some of them
were gorgeous with their silk and satin
and long trains and low necks and
diamonds ai:d flowers. They were
swell and no mistake. Years ugo we
used to have big times at the skating
rink in Omaha; but there was nothing
like this bail, it win bigger and grand
er than all. And Jerusalem. It was
swell.'
Xo resident of Omaha has stoken of
the ball without calling It swell. There
can really be no doubt that It was
swell. Just as swell as the very swell
people of Omaha could make It, and
when It Is known that a requisition was
made on South Omaha for a large por
tion of the culture and brilliancy of
the entertainment even those benight
ed individuals who were not present
hae some idea of the swellness of the
ball.
At the ba.l theie were diamonds and
beauty and much fine raiment and all
sorts of glitter, but the feature and
attraction par excellence was the ac
tresss In the $750 gown, or "toilette,"
as the Omaha people called it. The
beautiful actress, In drawing powers
general sumptuousness, was a bigger
thing than the Feast of Mondamin at
the state fair or a it other one element
of the great Omaha carnival. Every
per-ii n from Onuvia who was at the
ball and with whom I have conversed
said in breathless enthusiasm. "And
Isadore Rush was there. And she
wore diamonds and a toilette that cost
$750 " Nearly always they have added.
"and she was swell." In fact many
persons have proved that the court
ball was swell by th presence In a $750
gown of Mr. Roland Reed's dazzling
leading lady. In many cities the pres
ence at a select and proper social func
tion of Reed and Rush would not be
quoted as an evidence of its tone, but
it is a well k own fact that many cities
are 'way behind Omaha. Omaha peo
ple were not foolish enough to give any
consideration to the social position of
Mr. and Mrs. I beg pardon, Mr.
Reed and Miss Rush. They saw that
Mr. Reed was fitted out with an even
ing coat and Miss Rush "had on." as
the South Omaha papers say, a $750
gown, and with unerring wisdom they
knew Reed and Rush were swell. Oma
ha young men will not soon forget the
time when they danced with Isadore
and $750 in dry goods, and the young
ladies will remember equally well
tripping the floor at the court ball
with Roland Reed In a swell evening
coat. Orr-ih is swell ball has indeed
left a lasting Impression.
The Hon. William Dustln Robinson,
member of the legislature, of this city,
is sometimes mentioned as a candidate
for governor and other high offices. He
is also mentioned in an article in the
Arena, which proves that the fame of
our young statesman extends far be
yond the precincts of his own bailiwick.
It traverses the hills and valleys and
fetches up In old Boston town. Mr.
Robinson is certainly to be congratu
lated. Very few of us are quoted down
in Boston. I doubt if the people there
ever heard of Col. Phllpot or Bud Lind
sey or the State Journal. So the dis
tinction shown the Honorable Mr. Rob
inson, M. L., is considerable.
A writer In the Arena who has heard
of Mr. Robinson, but who does not know
him as we. his constituents, know him,
thinks our young legislator advocates
for wearing apparel for mankind, only
the clothing that nature provides, and
that he believes In eating raw meat.
Now this is doing Mr. Robinson a great
Injustice, and the Arena should hasten
to correct its error. Mr. Robinson has
a certain amount of consistency, and
if he advocated the kind of clothes that
were in use In the Garden of Eden, prlof
to the little forbidden fruit episode, he
would himself go In nnd out among us
attired In this fashion, viz.. clothed In
nature's dress, but I do affirm that I
have seen Mr. Robinson many times,
and I do not recollect ever to have seen
him dressed In clothes differing from
those the rest of us wear." They may
be a little better, but they are after the
same pattern, and are certainly not the
kind that nature provides. Nature's
clothes do not have hip pockets and
turned buttons. And then that raw
meat accusation really that Is going a
little too far. Mr. Robinson may like
his meat a little rare. Just so the red
blood shows on the plate, but I have
seen him dine and I know he does not
tako any of his food raw.
And If he doesn't eat raw meat
himself he surely does not advocate
raw meat for other people. There Is a
grave misunderstanding.
v
It seems that when the age of consent
bill was before the legislature last win
ter. Mr. Robinson Jumped to the
floor legislators, and particularly
young legislators, always Jump to the
floor and hurled a few epigrams at
the transfixed multitude. One of them
was this: "Nature, not the statutes,
fixes the age of consent." That was a
unfortunate epigram. It never ought
to have been hurled. For it attracted
the attention of somebody who wrote
to the Arena, Mr. John O. Yelser, and
placed our representative In a false
light. Mr. Yelser argues that If Mr.
Robinson thinks nature fixes the law of
consent he also "probably advocates
wearing the clothes that nature pro
vides, and eating food in the raw state
as nature produces it." Mr. Rob
inson doubtless sa.u what Mr. Yelser
said he said, but the deduction Is
most erroneous. Mr. Robinson wears
proper clothes and he does not eat raw
meat or uncooked food. Probably In the
future our representative will be a lit
tle more careful with his epigrams.
It Is with considerable regret that
I see my good friend, Jerusalem Gus
tavus Perseverance Hildebrand embark
in the newspaper business on what he
would doubtless call, "his own hook."
If there be any glory and profit In be
ing a newspaper man these times it Is
In being a newspaper man without a
newspaper. A newspaper man who
owns a newspaper Just now Is a good
deal like the fated Individual who
found himself the posessor of a white
elephant. As long as you don't own a
paper you can extract no end of en
joyment out of life; you can get most
of the perquisites and read all of the
exchanges you want to. and never get
nearer th the next block to trouble
Jerusalem Gustavus Perseverence
Hildebrand Is a good natured. happy
hearted soul and It is too bad that he
voluntarily exchanges his merry free
dom for the thraldom of newspaper
proprietorship. I am afraid he wont
smile as of yore, and that would be
a misfortune. But here's to the reju
venated Herald! Long may It wave;
may it live these many years, and ena
ble Its owner to live In pomp and ori
ental splendor. Co.l Hildebrand will
make a good readable weekly paper
out of the Herald. There isn't much
for the straight democrats in this
county to cleave to, and they certainly
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