, 1898-09-28

BAD reputation.
The following is from the pen Of
William Lightfoot Visscher and was
published in he Chicago Times-Herald
of last Thursday. 1t will prove of in
terest to many old-timers. as it con
tains a great many facts not hitherto
made public:
Cne evening about twelve a ago
| sat at a table in the most famous of
the old-time cafes Of Omaha, in COM
pany with Eugene Field, Bill Nye, o. II.
Rothrauker and Humphrey Moynihan.
All of those are dead.
Everybody who reads this journal
knows who Field and Nye were. AS to
RothakeT. he was the most brilliant
nan | ever met. and have met many
hundreds Of men distinguished in all
the letter walks of life. and some who
were famous for very wicked con
pliShments. RotEacker died young. and
before he became world famous. which
he would had he lived a reasonable
length OF time in his maturity. Those
who knew him best called him 1.-The
American Huge" He was an editor by
profession. a literary artist by instinct
and cultivation: a combination of Poe
and Hugo, in a setting Of modern bO-
hemianiam OF the highest order of men
tally, culture and d,baniar. Moynihan
was a mar about town. as much at
home in Chicago as elsewhere. and very
much at home anywhere. Rothacker
had chosen him as a companion, for
was that Moynihan read n did not
write, Thought and listened and did
net talk. He loved Rothacker because
he knew the Bohemian was great.
This Incident is made the preface
here because at the same table, and in
the same place, a few months ago, |
sat with another cortere. and all had
been friends and admirers of those
llmeh above. and they talked of Those
others. Here sat Joe" Teahon, who
is an ancient railroad landmark from
Chicago to Omaha and beyond. He is
happy in the possession of three photo
graphs that were given him with an
inscription by Rothacker, dying. They
are portraits of Rothacker, his mother
and W children.
Teahon is and has been for twenty
five years a soliciting agent at Omaha
for railroads. The greatest thing for
modern progress that he ever did was
that. as an express messenger running
into Chicago, he made the first railway
transfer of a sack Of mail, thus origi-
mating what has since become the
wonderful railway postal system. That
is another story, but it occurred in 1858
at the Chicago central station.
Bill Root was at the table. He is
known throughout the great west as a
freighter in the wagon train days.
Indian freighter, ]raconteuT extraordi-
nary, promoter of Bill Nye, etc.
Root lived in Laramie City when Bill
ANSo Stdl GU III " JIG q ldNsVi l.
also had a ranch, beautiful and well
stocked. a few miles up the Laramie
river. Nye vas poor and was about to
become a father for the first time. The
Nyes were the guests of the Roots or
the ranch, and the baby was born there.
1t had been Mrs. Nye's ambition for
Edgar" to become a lawyer-as great
a lawyer as "~Timberline" Jones, who
was the greatest lawyer in Wyoming.
Root had told Nye wonderful stories
of men and things and doings in the
Laramie region, and Nye had written
Of them in his funny way. So it came
about that Nye wrote some of those
things for Rothacker's newspaper. then
the Denver Tribune, wnere Eugene
Field was managing editor and making
himself famous with his Primer"
where E. J. V.Skiff and Ed Cowan were
reporters and this writer a utility
man"
One morning on the ranch. about the
time that the first young Nye was as
sorting baby royalty whereabouts. Nye
came to Root with a twenty-dollar note
that Rothacker had sent in payment
for one of Nye's pieces" He said:
Root. you are a pretty l~evel-headed
fellow, and l want your advice"
You can have it. Sweet william; I've
got more advice than / know what to
do with
Fanny wants me to be a lawyer, but
l want to be a hewmorist. l have never
had a cent from law, but I've got this
fromhumor. Which Dad shall take?"
Root examined the bank note and
replied:
"Nye, you are about te worst start
for a lawyer I ever saw. and ii you can
get such stuff as this for writing the
kind Of rot you print, my free and I'M
trammeled advice is that you take the
h%ew-morist route"
Nye took the advice. and eventually
the road. and Mrs. Nye took Edgar and
the baby and a large mao back to Lar
annie.
Because OF that advice" says Root.
Fanny didn't speak to me for three
years afterward. But when they lived