Omaha daily bee., 1896-06-19

stitute the toiling masses. l have referred
to his lifelong association with telegraph
men, although he years ago permanently
abandoned the telegraph service as his own
occupation. The same characteristics are
shown in his firm attachment to faithful
friends of former days. 1t is true that
there is not today, outside of Mr.. Rose
water, a single man employed upon The
Bee who helped to get out its first few num-
bers, but many a man who has contributed
toward making the paper what it is has
time and again left it to follow more ~flatter-
ing offers ewher and returned to his
original place as if the service had been
Uninterrupted.
Tireless, alert, with an almost limitless
capacity for work himself, he expects a
great deal of his employees and frequently
complains If they do not come up to his
expectations. II he has one fault that is
more noticeable than another, it is that he
has a habit of carrying his complaints to
the wrong market, airing, for example. in
the editorial rooms his objections to the
manner of doing business in the counting
room, and, as | suppose, pointing out in
the counting room the mistakes made by
the editorial and reportorial forces.
The inevitable tendency of man is to
gauge the work of his fellows by what
he himself would do. "Rosey works while
he sleeps was the remark / overheard
during a recent campaign, from a political
corner caucus, and while the remark is con-
siderably exaggerated, it Is expressive of
the mans activity. No wonder then that
he occasionally imposes tasks which his
men regard as unusually burdensome. Yet
he has a strong appreciation of efficient
work by his subordinates. even though
he does not always give expression to it.
A large employer of labor, his sympathies
are nevertheless with the just demands
of the working classes and while he has
on several occasions had clashes with the
trades organizations to which his employees
belonged he has on the whole pro-
crossed with comparatively little friction
with the wage workers on the paper.
Naturally OF a charitable disposition, Mr..
Rosewater is regularly called upon to place
his name upon subscription lists, to lend
financial and other assistance to the UNI
fortunate, to help alleviate distress Of all
kinds. In the course of his charitable
enterprises he has been the victim of the
usual number of impostors, and I believe
has the reputation among the professional
mendicants of a man easily worked"
l remember, when visiting with him in his
native village in Bohemia he presented a
silver dollar to an old man who claimed to
have worked for his father before the fam
lily had emigrated to America. In
mediately nearly every old man and old
woman in the village presented himself
or herself with a story of having served my
grandparents in some capacity and each
went away happy with a silver dollar
which he probably converted without delay
into the deprecated currency of the realm.
Better help a dozen professional beggars
than let a deserving person starve, is one
of Mr.. Rosewaters notices, and often have
| been chided when protesting against a
fragrant case of imposture with proceeding
upon a scientific theory of charity that
would never work in practice.
Many a time has he given men employ
'ncnt when he did not need their sery-
ices, merely in order to help them along and
make them believe they were earning their
Iiyings until they could find something to
10. In one noticeable instance, he en-
Dloyed for six months, a man formerly. an
agent, upon whose bond he had
been, who had just completed a sentence |
n the penitentiary, and who, because he was
IN ex-convict, could get no one to assist
aim. He later went to California TO en- ,
leayor to build a new home, and at last !
accounts, was leading an honest and upright 8
ife. In 1892, when the financial returns {
If The Bee were at their highest, Mr.. Rose .
voluntarily distributed in cash diyi- :
lends among his employees over $1,000. and u
I was his intention whenever the profits OF I
he institution justified it, to repeat the dis :
on a sort of proft-sharing plan.
In a similar category to charity must be
placed that characteristic known as public ,
spirit. 1t will be denied by no one that t
edward R~Osewater possesses public spirit '
N a marked degree. His patriotism clings a
first to his country, next to his state, and !
next to his city Not an enterprise of !
public importance, not a movement for the G
general welfare has been undertaken in !
omaha since his residence here which he !
las not actively encouraged, If not one of !
Is leading spirits. The erection in Omaha I
# The Bee building, one of the finest news q
PAPER buildings in the world, at a cost Of u
,yer a half million dollars. is the best y
evidence of his sublime confidence in the =
uture Of this city and his willingness to y
lind up In its growth and prosperity every !
hing material which he owns, the fruits
II more than twenty-five years OF unre-
hitting labor and personal e~xertion. i,
As to Mr.. Rosewater's personal appear e
nee, he is such a familiar figure in Omaha Il
nd Nebraska that IL seems to be almost a
uperhuous to attempt to describe him. A :
rifle below the medium height-he meas !
res about five feet. four inches, ! believe p
is broad shoulders and rugged frame make s
i'm appear shorter than he really Is. a G
ound head. once covered with thick, black U
air, but now fringed with a rim OF thinned- a
ut gray-a heavy moustache curling II