davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
Life in Omaha

Mr.. Whitney bought a farm which is now comprised between
Thirteth and Thirtyeighth streets and between Farnam and Daven-
port streets. He lived on this place five years. Then the civil war
broke out and he left the farm to become a clerk in the general store
operated by Sam" and Jim" Megeath on Farnam street, between
mercial ventures which were at times very profitable and at other
times equally disastrous. First he bought a grocery store from a
Frenchman. Then he went into partnership with Samuel Megeath in
the wholesale grocery business at Fourteenth and Douglas streets
under the firm name of Megeath, Whitney & Co. He bought out his
partner in 1871 and in 1878 after other changes, he handed over his
farm to creditors and retired. Later he was engaged also in the COM
mission business, which he conducted successfully for many years.
He has lived for a number Of years now In a handsome home
at 500 lizard street. He was married in Appleton, Wis, July 81,
1851, and Mrs. Whitney is still living and in as good health as her
venerable husband. They have had five children, of whom two are
still living. They are Burt H. Whitney, broker, who resides next to
his parents, and Mrs. Walter G. Clark, who lives with her parents.
Mr.. Whitney was very i'll a dozen years age and finally in despair
decided to live without meat. The result was that he is a hale and
hearty and active man, and physicians have told him he has the pulse
of a child, though he is more than 80 years old. All of which he
Odd Fellows lodge and is of the Unitarian faith. Three of his
and is S3 years old; Andrew Whitney lives in Burlington, Ia, and is
70 years of age, and Edwin lives in Chicago, a mere boy of IT.
If old "Uncle" ElIhalet Potts could see David Whitney today he
would be compelled to admit" that he has lived a truly broad life full
of events, full of strife and action and yet tempered by that phuo-
sophy which looks farther than the petty material things of the res
ent day. 81 never worshiped money or any of the temporal things of
earth. tried to get them honestly, but failing to get them II losing
them after I had succeeded never worried me" says Mr.. whitney
and therein lies perhaps a goodly part of the secret of a long life
through many strenuous years.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
Volcanic Scenes Rarely Beheld by Human Being


the hot rock of McCulloch peak. and all the water
around is turbid and hot.
The remarkable prevalence Of life among these
scenes astonished the explorers. The hot earth
was heaving and ~heaping, but hundreds of sea
lions disported themselves in the waters and lay
along the shores of the new lands, and the cliffs
were alive with innumerable sea birds that seemed
to luxuriate in the volcanic warmth, and even
amid the steam and heat and sulphur of McCul-
loeh peak they were laying their eggs in the hol
low OF the rocks and rearing their chicks. In
places even land grasses were beginning to grow,
and beetles, mites, ticks and flies were found.
There was another great CONFUSION after the
technology explorers left. and it was destructive
rather than constructive. On September 1 the
people living on Iliuliuk saw a dense black cloud
rising and the air was full OF sulphur fumes. Then
volcanic ash and sand began to fall and there were
rumblings in distant Bogoslof.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
When the Trouble Started

The troubles began 112 years ago. Bogoslof,
as the Russians named it, rose above the sea with
a turmoil that frightened the folks on Unalaska,
forty miles away. II is now known as Castle Rock
and is much smaller than formerly.
During the recent eruption it was so bonn
barded by falling stones and volcanic sand that
its pinnacles are much sharper than they were a
little over a year ago. Another interesting fact
is that the whole island was lifted during eight
months of 1906 and 1907 about twenty-five feet
higher above the sea than it was before. Prof.
Jaeger says that this means either that a large
mass of lava is spreading sidewise below and lift
ing the volcano on its back, or the whole sea floor
is slowly w~arping upward and carrying the chain
of islands with it.
This lonely rock had no companion until 1883,
It's fires had left 1t and 1t was the home of many
sea lions and guillemots. Then another great
CONFUSION came and a new islet was born about
a mile and a half away.
1t kept changing it's size and shape until 1t
finally became an extinct, nat-topped rock, now
known as Grewingk. the name OF a Russian geog-
rapher. Vessels have long steamed between the
two islsts and they have mmon been known
to mariners as the Bogoslof islands.
Early in 1905 things bssAmA lively again. and
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
Another New Peak

Then in the spring Of last year Captain Dirks,
a local trader. brought news that a still newer
peak had risen beside Metcslf Gone. The cutter
McCulloch visited the scene in July and gave the
name of McCulloch Peak to the new steaming
heap.
1t also reported that Metcalf Cone had split in
two. half of IT collapsing. but the great lava spine
was still there and was revealed in all its grandeur
from the top to the sea edge. This was the stu
alton when the technology party arrived on Au-
gust Z.
Great changes were constantly occurring. Nc
Culloch peak was the most sensational object. a
steaming heap of lava boulders. Rocks were
tumbling. now and then, from the rising cliffs
above to the foot slopes. But on the whole, every
thing was quiet, though dangerous looking.
The steam rose In various places from RITA in
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

when the government steamer Albatross arrived
there on May 30 it reported that a new rock had
appeared from which immense volumes of steam
were escaping through new vents in the mass. 1t
was named Metcalf Cone in honor of the secretary
of the navy.
1t was assembled later by Robert Dunn in spite
of the steam and temperatures up to 212 degrees
at the steam vents, and he found it surmounted
by a great column of lava that formed a pinnacle
whose top was 800 feet above sea level. Prot.
Jaeger says that it was like the famous tower or
spine Of Mont Pelee. a mass of lava pushed out in
nearly a solid condition so that It could not dow
down like the lavas of Hawaii.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
In the Mexican War

Four years passed in the wilderness Then the Whitney boys
did something that would have caused old Uncle" Eliphalet, back In
Massachusetts,, to open his eyes still wider and shake his head still
harder. They enlisted for the Mexican war. The manner Of 1t IL
related by Mr.. Whitney, whose memory II as good a. though events
of 1S47 had happened yesterday.
"A neighbor of ours named Holmes became discouraged. having
lost his wheat crop, and, meeting my elder brother one day, said he
would enlist if he could get someone to go with him" says Mr.. Whit
ney. my brother discussed 1t with father and father, believing the
war was nearly over and that we would come tn for q land warrant
by enlistng, consented to our going We left homo ono Friday even
ing, striking across the prairie northeast for Milwaukee. The three
of s. walked through the night and at Q O'Clock next morning arrived
at he enlsung place where. after the usual examination. we were
all accepted. The company was nearly complete and the next morn
ing we were aboard a ship and started on our way to the far-away
battlefields. Hardly were we off when this man Holmes began to get
mopy. He was naturally OF q saturnine temperament I remember
he said that he would have been all right had we enlisted for only
five years. But we had enlisted for the war; and he thought the
war would drag on for fifteen or twenty years. Poor fellow, he never
got entirely over his gloom and died finally In MEXICO.
THE boat carried US a. far as Toledo. There we took train and
went to Cincinnati. where We secured our arms and equipment. Then
we embarked on q river boat and noated down to New Orleans,
where we were all loaded on a ancient sailing ship which had been
condemned for passengers but was considered good enough for sol
diers. The trip to Vera Cruz. Mexico, took eleven days. That city
had been invested by General Scott, who had moved on inland toward
the City of Mexico with his troops and was camped at Puebla, about
$50 miles away"
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
Home from the War

When peace was finally declared he went back with his regt-
ment, walking from Mexico City to Vera Cruz, where they took a
steamer, reaching New Orleans in four days; thence they came up the
river by steamboat and landed at Cincinnati and thence went home
by the same route by which he and his two companions had come out
He was the only one of the three to return. II was as yellow as a
saffron bag" he says.
His father died soon after his return, the loss of his son in the
war apparently doing much toward causing his death. David worked
for a time with a threshing machine. Then he utilized the land war
rant which, as a soldier in the Mexican war, he had received from the
government, and took up land near Appleton, Wis. He built a house
in the town and lived there six years. Then two other families In
the town decided to try their fortunes in the new commonwealth Of
Nebraska, which had just been opened for settlement. David deter
mined to join them. He left his wife and children snug in their
Appleton home and came with the other Appetonians south by boat
to Chicago, by rail to ST Louis and then by boat up the river. His
friends tarried in Kansas and he came on up to Council Bluffs.
81 stopped the first night at the Pacific house in Council Bluffs"
says Mr. Whitney. 81 asked the proprietor when l could get over to
Omaha. The hack goes over in the morning. he said. The next
morning / looked cut and saw an old hay rack drawn up before the
door. 1 thought some farmers were going out to haul hay. Just
then the proprietor spoke to me. Amt you going to Omaha?' he
asked. Yes, I'm waiting for the hack 1 said. Well, there 1t is he
said. So l got on the hay rack and rode over to Omaha. / stopped at
the old Douglas house and soon got work choppng wood up north
and rafting it down the river. In the fall returned to Appleton and
brought my wife and children out, making the trip in all the cold
of that very cold winter and reaching Omaha in January"
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

THE greatest show place in this country
in 1905 and last summer was at the
southern edge of Boring sea-, a little
northwest of Unalaska island. where
one OF the most wonderful volcanic
e~ruptions on record was in progress. Two new
islets were lifted above the sea between two old
islets, and the outpouring of hot lava continued
till they made hand all around the four high rocks.
The new cones, from 400 10 500 feet high, were
steaming like p~uddingA
1t was a wonderful spectacle. A scientific
nology arrived just in time to see it last summer
at its best In two aspects the scene was one upon
which human beings rarely gaze.
The party had reached a place where the earth
was alive and lands were in the making. Only
sixteen months earlier the water was sixty feet
deep between the two outlying rocks. where now
was land.
Another aspect of the spectacle was equally
impressive. These rocks stood right on the edge
OF a ~precipice where the water suddenly deepens
to a depth of 5000 feet. What the explorers saw
above the surface was merely the top of an inn
mense conical mass beneath the waves. They saw
only the vents OF crater openings of a volcano
that in course of time had risen from the bottom
of the sea TO a height of 5000 feet. This volcano
is 900 feet higher than Vesuvtus or Mont Pelee.
The place was already famous. because when
the two outer islets rose above the sea their birth
as bits OF land was witnessed and recorded. The
latest eruption began in 1906, and the technology
party was sent out last year to see what was going
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
Marching in the Tropics

After camping at Vera Cruz tve days the regiment IN which Mr..
Whitney and his brother were began it's march inland to re-enforcs
Scott and participate In the great campaign whose object was the
capture OF Mexico City. The line OF march lay along a narrow road
bordered on each side by the thick vegetation of the tropics. The
sun beat down from directly overhead with all its torrduy. The
American soldiers were heavily loaded with gunA ammunition,
blankets and knapsacks. They had not gone far before some Of the
soldiers began throwing their blankets aside But these were forced
to 20 back and take them up again. Within a few days they had
begun 10 ascend the Cordilleras. a high range of mountains, and
with the increased altitude the temperature fell until the soldiers
could hardly keep warm at night even in their blankets. Nearly two
weeks were required to make the march to Puebla. But they were
two weeks full of wonder. The historic interest alone was great in
that country, the home of the Aztecs, that unchanging race which
sits today idly, dreamily, languidly. generation after generation and
watches the pageant of pomp and power, the rise and fall of strug-
Cling peoples. OF ambitious men, and seems to say. Vanity, vanity,
su a. vanity. What's the use Of struggling. Live, eat, sleep, die.
That n the best plan to be happy" over this same road Cortez had
led his tnvincibles of Spain 500 years before and conquered the an
eestors Of those same Axtecs who now watched in idle wonder the
\ advance OF the American army.
The city Of Pueblo itself was set in a position unique in all the
world. A plateau 1000 feet above sea level is the site OF this beaut-
1I city Of Angels" so beautiful as to be fit in hot imagination at
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
Peak Had Disappeared

When the McCulloeh again visited the group
in October it found McCulloch peak absolutely
gone, a steaming lagoon in its place and the rest
of the island that embraced the hills piled high
with fallen debris. The half of Metcalf Gone as
well as the two older rocks was still standing.
We do not know what has happened since.
Perhaps other cones have arisen. II is unfortu.
nate that no observers have been in that neighbor-
hood since October last 10 study the remarkable
processes of volcanoes among these islands. The
news that this year will bring from the Bogoslof
group will be awaited with interest
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
y Adventures and an Old Age of Peace and Plent

bearer put them to flight, ran pell nell toward the city. The actual
fight lasted only seventeen minutes and put us in possession of their
position"
The next fight of the busy day was at Cherubusco, a fortress
at one end of a bridge in the causeway leading to the CITY,
This was built of stone. Within the main wall was a castle and back
of the castle a church rising to a great height Early In this engage
ment David missed his brother from his side where he usually stayed
even in battle. He found him shot through the knee. After Cheru-
busco had been taken there was a call for some to remain behind and
help the surgeons and hospital corps. David returned, therefore,
and attended his brother. He was taken to a hospital and after the
city was taken was removed thfther. But he died soon after this re-
moval, the ride over rough roads in a sprtngless wagon being appar-
emily too much for him. After this David fell sick with fever and
was in the hospital for a number of weeks. When he recovered he
was engaged for a time in skirmishes with the guertlas.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
Capture Of Contreras

I'VE were very doubtful about Contreras," he says. EVERY
thing seemed against us. The Mexicsns were strongly intrenched on
the heights and General Santa Ana had put so many men there that
he thought there could be n chance for u ID to gain the position. II
rained hard the night before. The ground over which we stumbled
was covered with rocks, pricky pear and cactus; there were bitches
filled with water and lined with the maguey plant. But this only
seemed to make us the more anxious to do something and when the
signal was finally given at 8 O'Clock in the morning W e sprang up
the heights in the rear and on the flank of the astonished Mexicans
And they, terrified like the Phinsines when Jonathan and his armor-
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

least. for celestial inhabitants. So high is the plateau that corn
wheat, barley and other products of the northern zones flourish there.
Around It all is the sublime range of the Oordnleras. Only six miles
from Puebla were the ruins of the ancient city of Cholula, once filled
with the seething life Of 200, 900 Inhabitants, now lying silent as the
tomb in the white heat of the sun. After camping In Puebla several
days General Pillow proceeded toward the valley in which the City
OF Mexico Is situated. there to join with General Scott in the final
blow which It was hoped would result In the fall of the capital.
I'VE left Puebla," says Mr.. Whitney, ION August 10. The
marching was rough q great part Of the way. The country was
barren, with nothing in It but rocks and cactus. And then suddenly
one day we topped an eminence and came in sight of the great valley
of Mexico. with the beautiful city in the center of 1t, like a diamond
In the middle of a sheet of green velvet. The city was surrounded
by dtverging shady paseos. bright fields and picturesque haciendas
The great lake Tezcuco lay Immediately beyond the city, shaded by
a floating cloud which concealed the bases OF the volcanoes, Popo-
catapetl and Izucacfhuatl, while their snowy SUBMITS glowed brightly
above in the sun. 1t was a magnificent sight, but it also marked the
place where strong Notifications were to be stormed and where the
enemy, almost four times our own number, lay behind intrenchments
ready TO NOW us down and seemingly able to do it"
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
Descendant of the NOmans

The ancestral tree Of the whitney family Is exceedingly interest
Ing. 1t possesses that absorbing fascination that comes from a asso
citation with great names, q participation IN the brilliant scenes and
traces his descent from Eustace Whitney, who went to England with
shire. He y the ancestor OF a long line of knights who we're dis
war Of the Roses. Sir Bustace de whitney ws born in 1880; Sir
then came Sir Robert whitney, member Of Parliament in 1877; his
son, Sir Robert, was knight marshal TO King Richard II; Robert
Whitney was sheriff Of Gloucester In 1897; John whitney lived in
London and smigrated TO the United States in 1895, settling at
WATERFOWL, Mass; Moses Whitney was a soldier in King Philips
war in 1852: then came SUCCESSFULLY Abraham Whitney, 1922; Abra-
ham whitney, 1874; Captain Abraham whitney, a soldier in Wash
ingtons army, born 1859; Jonathan Whitney, born 1877, and then
the generation to which David Whitney Of Omaha belongs.
Upon the maternal side the family has made all kinds Of noble
alliances. The wise men who trace lineages say the Whitneys are
connected In maternal line with such soveTeigns as William the Con-
queror, Henry ], Henry II, King John. Henry III. Edward l. Edward
II, Edward III, Malcolm III of Scotland, Ferdinand III of CASTLE
Robert, the pious king of France, and others. Upon this list, how
ever, MI. whitney looks through smoked glasses, and while he has no
objection to receiving the gltter1ng array Of crowned heads into the
family, he regards his claim to this distinction conseFvahveiy.
April 6, 1927, was the date Of David whttnSys birth and Inns.
N. H, was the place. It was in the heart Of the conservative district
where there are few human rolling stones and whore nearly every
body seems to gather moss throughout a long lifetime. But the
Whitneys began to migrate early, for when David was sMl & sman
child they moved to Stow, Mass q town formerly owned by their
ancestors. There the father opened a general store and prospered
Then came the panic OF '37 and he found himself pennness. Then
It was that he went to the far west and soon thereafter the Whitney
boys followed him, in spite of the dire prophecy OF Uncle" EiuhGIet
Potts
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

on. Prof. T. A. Jaeger of Harvard, the geologist
of the party, has written an account of the erup-
ton for the Bulletin of the American Geographical
rative.
Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09

LID UNCLE" ELIPHALET POTTS, back in Massachusetts
shook his white head slowly and frowned when he heard
that the whitney boys and their father were going away
out to the wnds of Wisconsin. That was back in 1913.
AS he sat in his accustomed place in the corner store a
Stow, Mass, he delivered himself of wisdom thus, after his accus-
toned manner:
There amt going to no good come to folks that beant satisfied
to stay where the Lord put EN-. l was born here and 1 stayed here
all my life and here 1 be waitin' for the Lord to call me hum"
1t was true EIphalet had stayed there all his life and there he
was. But beyond that nothing much could be said IN his favor. He
had been one of the most rampant opposers to the railroad. He had
pointed out that when the steam car were started It would put all
the horses out of business, to say nothing Of the keepers of taverna
along the high road. Eliphalet wa a conservative Of the hardest
shell.
The whitney boys" Of whom he prophesied such a dire future,
we're the rising generation of a family which has achieved much all
over the world and which at that time had been a leading one In
New England affairs for two centuries. In spite Of Uncle" Eli
phalets calamitous crosking, the Whitney boys went west in 1913,
going by rail from Springfield, Mass, to Albany, N. Y, thence by
canal boat to Buffalo and there on a propeller" one Of the first
steamboats, in use. to Southport, Wis, on the west shore Of Lake
Michigan, whore their father had taken up 400 acres of government
land.
Today one Of the whitney boys, David Whitney, is a citizen OF
Omaha He came here in 1856 and has lived here continuously since
then. But between the time he left his New England home and the
time he settled in Omaha he went through one of the fiercest and
az the same time most picturesque conflicts In the history Of the
world, the Mexican war.
The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1908-08-07
Entered In The New Era once y. arst elias,
reading matter.
COLE 6
Editors.

That lovely odjusiobie-end couch
sold tbs week. w can get you one
lie II II you wisb.
We took a pleasure trip last Tues
day 10 deiioe, a large load Of fusnifurs
at Greenwood.
We boue onoibe, second hand seu-
Ing machine that UiN do any ordinary
wonk. for sale at $500.
No complaints from our hish-grsde
White Rose gasoline. Its all right.
Did you take notice Of those carpel
sweeper ne haze on display. They
are just The thing 10 ssceep those CAPPED,
and rugs we haze sold 50 many Of.
During the hot weotbe, one Of oul
camp chairs o. iaun seftees Is just he
thing. So easy TO handle and cary
around.
The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1908-08-07
Ordered By commiss;on

On July 80th the railroad com
missioners Of the state ordered
the Milwaukee road TO put In .
side track between here and
Avon, - petitioned for By E. S.
Mayo add others, aud ordered
that work on the same be com.
menced within ten days, or by
August 9th. II the railroad
company fails TO comply with
this order, they must appear on
the grounds and show cause
why they have not complied
with the order.
We are informed that . com.
pany Of farmers have raised the
necessary money TO put up an
elevator Is soon a. the track is
in, 30 Is TO begin buying gram
this coming fall.
The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1908-08-07
FURNITURE NEWS
WAGNER, S. d., FRIDAY, JuLy 81, 1908

One more neUls married cssple
fitted out wak furniture Jos bo9sekssp-
ing ihh Seek. And ne ksoe . fall
supp4y Of mast scepthass n Msf ltss
on hand.
TIE ise dsys' ce!ebssAon ~ Lskss
Day sM seea be kss. II yss senl
anything h ess linz such = ~. nsl-
i-sesses. spnises. cob. chain. A~ssssevs.
cospsts. ss-cssts. sar.. coll n md II
a.. knoS h iisee 10 ks psepspd {ss ~
occasion.
We con- me . issl II kav sMi =
jess bushels II sssin snisJsS eAiak-
ems h srcbanss (es Jsrndtnse es ~
account
II could seem that Wssnu b ssase
d.y. q the council kss shut 81 ~ pak-
Ii Saterins plsce II ear saess.