Omaha daily bee., 1884-03-17
,yyTy WALKS AND TALKS.

CITY h6LhO dNO A61hps
--"You gave us an interesting sketch of
early theatricals a few weeks ago" remarked
an old settler the other day; but you missed
giving us a notice of the first one we ever had
in the city. That was held in the dining
room of the old Herndon house some time in
the summer Of 1860. / won't be quite certain
as to the year, but think IL was in 1860. There
must be quite a number of people still in the
city who attended the entertainment. l won
der you have not met any Of them before. i
recollect distinctly of being present and talking
with some one in the audience about the cir
cumstance of its being the first theatrical rep
resentation given here. The leading actress
was Julia Dean Hayne, who stood pretty
well up toward the head OF the profession in
those days. One of tho sisters married Col.
John Y. Chopper, and resided in Omaha for
several years Immediately following the close
of the war. i don't think | can call to mind
anything more about this entertainment that
could interest you. ] have wholly forgotten
who the other actors were or what the play
was. / think the company were not on o pro-
~fessional tour, as they had no scenery: They
borrowed q bolt Of muslin at Tootle Il Jack
sons store to make into curtains. l remem'
Der the first circus that ever set up a tent in
Omaha. It WAS on the 9Th day of July, 1865.
TIL tent was put up at the northwest corner
of jackson and Twelfth streets, on the ground
now occupied by the G arneau crackery factory.
That locality was then q smooth, level piece OF
prairie, and there were no houses IN the way
and nobody living near erough TO be disturbed
by the noise and crowd, | don't ~recollect
whose circus it was but IL was a very good
one and drew q large audience. The Orton
Brothers exhibited the second circus in Oma-
ka, that same year, or the next, and ON the
same year"
'--''I can't stand the racket Such was
the remark made by an old-timer, who came
here when the Indian and the buffalo had pos
session of the land. 81 can't stand the rack
ct" no repeated, and then the BEES Man
About Town, who overheard him, asked him
what the racket was. twenty-five years ago
l used TO be able to sleep as sound as a log"
said he; 81 could lie anywhere and sleep all
night. There was nothing to disturb me.
Now 1 can hardly get an hours undisturbed
sleep, on account OF the racket of the church
bells, the fire bells, steam whistles, the strik-
ing clocks, the telephone bells, bands OF music
and numerous other noisy nuisances. There's
the seven o'clock Union Pacific whistle in the
evening, then again at midnight, and one
o'clock, and again at six and eight in the
morning. Then there is the Smelling Works
whistle at midnight, and some big whistle at
half past three in the morning. Add to all
this the numerous locomotive whistles, as well
as those of the shops and factories, and you have
pretty much of q whistling nuisance. The
fire alarm bell strikes at nine o'clock, and HUI.
bermann's clock strikes at every hour and half
hour. Early in the morning some church bell
is kept ringing for fifteen minutes as If some
maniac had hold of the rope and couldn't lose
Il hta 0rtn I'm SupIau morning IL ia much
worse. as several church bells are then turned
loose on a suffering community. Frequently
the fire bell breaks m all up at night. The
telephone is another nuisance, and 1 am going
to order it taken out of my house. The whis.
ties, the bells, the rumbling of carriages and
wagons, and other noises give me no rest, but
q headache. 1t was not so twenty-five years
ago. Omaha has become too noisy for me,
and / believe I'll move out of town either to
Florence or Beilevue-where l can be beyond
the reach of the city racket, and get some
sleep and rest" And the old moss-back seemed
to be in earnest, and sighed for the good old
days of $3.50,
--"How old do you think that nan ISL
asked a gentleman, pointing to Mr.. Charles
Childs, as he passed by the Wabash corner.
about fifty years of age" was the reply of a
by-stander. "You are way off. That man is
seventy years old, I" said the first speaker, who
came to Omaha in 1856, 'hut he certainly does
not look a day older than fifty years. He is
as active and full of life as a man of forty.
His remarkable preservation I ascribe ts his
temperate and regular habits of life. He is as
regular as clock-work, and takes life easy and
and comfortably. He can well afford to do SO,
because he is well fixed financially, and has
nothing to worry about. Socially he is one of
the most pleasant and agreeable gentleman in
Omaha, is full of fun, and enjoys q Joke or q
good story. BY the way, there goes the oldest
man in Omaha" said the speaker, as he
pointed to Col. Lorin Miller, who happened to
be crossing the street just at this time.
There's a man who came into the world with
the present century, continued the gentle
man; go. Miller was born in New York
state in 1900, and of course is now "a years
old. He has seen many wonderful changes in
our country. He is yet hale and hearty, and
is a very pleasant and Intelligent old gentle
man to talk to. Colonel Miller served as
mayor of Oman for two terms. Another re-
markable old man in this city is Mr.. j.. NJ.
Clarke, who is rs years old. He is a Vir-
ginian by birth, and was born in 1908. He is
very sprightly, is always full of business,
writes a splendid hand, and has a clear head.
A. ID. Jones, who delights in the fact that he
's@' sAo hAAb W bAaAA NAAa sAAAb
his hat was the first postoffice, has reached
three score and ten, and apparently is good
for many years yet. Talking about old men
reminds me of several others. There's G. w.
Holman. who is q Long Islander by birth. He
is n years, but to hear him talk one would
think him to be less than fifty. He is youth
full in spirits, if not in looks. General Esta-
brook Is II ye rs old. DIR. Graf is over 70
wears of age, yet he is as active and ambitious
to make a strike as a man of 45. For several
years he has been endeavoring to develop his
oil lakes in Wyoming, and / understand that
at last he Is about to accomplish his pet
scheme. There's millions in it, and no mis-.
take. Those oil lakes contain an inexhausti-
BILE supply of the very best lubricating oil. All
that is needed for the development of the en-
terprise is capital, and that DIR. Graf will
soon obtain from English capitalists whom he
has interested in the project together with
some of his Omaha friends. The question OF
transportation Is one thing that will have to
be solved. If cheap transportation can be
secured gan immense refinery will be estab.
lished in Omaha, but il the railroad canno
afford to haul the oil at rates that the oilmeu
can afford to pay, then in all probability a
pipeline will be built from the lakes directly
TO Omaha, as 1t is Town hill all the way"
WHEN Elder Lemon appeared upon
the stage at Boyd's Opera house, at the Clark
son memorial meeting, I was struck with his
remarkable resemblance, in almost every par
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