Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-05
WHEN BEN HUR CAME TO TOWN
Busy Night for Stage Hands and the
Company in General.
PEOPLE HUSTLE FOR PLACES TO SLEEP
Subjects of the Great Caesar
Have Hard Time to
Find Beds.

Mr.. Ben Hur of jerusalem, Palestine, ar
rived in Omaha from Minneapolis at Z
o'clock last night, accompanied by his
mother, his sister, Tirsah, his erstwhile
friend, Messiah, old Arrius, the galley mas
ter, the three wise men of the east and four
coach loads of other folks. With him there
came also seven baggage carloads of the
Roman empire, four 100-to-1 shots from
the running stable of Shiek Ilderim, eight
other, but less speedy, chariot horses from
rival stables in Rome and Louisville; four
camels for the journey Of the wise men;
sixteen property men with a reputation,
and a fierce, electric wired stage manager
with an Unsuitable desire for work and
worry.
Awaiting these arrivals there were at the
Boyd theater fifty special property men
under Stage Manager Clark; an orchestra
enlarged to twenty-four pieces; two sixty
horse power motors perched high in the
fly balconies; an army Of 125 supernumer-
aries Of sizes adjusted for every impersona-
tion from flower girls to Roman soldiers,
and a stage barred to accommodate sixty
drops (1our times as many as the average
well staged production); four carloads Of
set pieces and the cradles, tracks and
three panoramic eanvasses necessary in the
reproduction OF the CHARIOT race.
sunday Work Was Plenty.
All Sunday morning the musicians played
and replayed pieces. new to many Of them
because written especially to convey the
spirit Of the scenes of the Wallace book.
All Sunday afternoon and for several hours
Sunday evening the captain of supernumer-
aries drilled his raw recruits, the Roman
soldiers at the Creighton hall and the
flower children at the Schlitz hall. And
all day Sunday and for eight hours Sunday
night the stage crew worked, placing the
settings in the order in which they Will
be needed and experimenting with the
chariot cradles on the stage tracks. during
one Of which experiments a ball bearing
roller slipped from its groove and created
general havoc. This morning this whole
little Oriental world is to assemble on the
Boyd stage at an early hour for the most
stupendous and quaintest full dress re-
hearsal ever seen in Omaha.
The newspapers and the general public
have been making considerable fuss over
Mr.. Hur and his folks. yet Notwithstanding
this and the additional fact that he has
always been very particular In his choice
Of companions Except. OF course, while IN
the navy as an oar stroke), some Of his
closest companions had difhculty last might
in getting under roof in Omaha.
Lodging Places Were scarce.
Ben himself was all right because he Il
getting 800 Per week now and can AFFORD
to pay for the braid on a bell boys clothes
but some very distinguished Roman sena.
tors had to give up to some very obscure
Nebraska implement dealers who hat
spoken to the hotel men first, ald the three
wise men OF the East had to give up e
three still wiser men Of the same ma
tionality. but from points less far east,
ward. such. for instance. as New York
Utica and Yonkers. Amrah and TRIAL
found accommodation finally. but some O.
the other women and girls had as mucl
hard luck as II the leprosy were not al
out OF their systems. and they trampeC
about from hotel to boarding house unit
well into the night before the last foun,
places. Meanwhile the common. WRrt