davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-28
Utility the Keynote

1t is no mean evidence of the conquering ego of the master
spirits that were and are so largely effective in Omaha, to find here
business structures that rival those Of cities whose age is generations
greater in years. Utility was the first keynote of their work, but in
recent days there has been a branching out along finer lines with a
broader purpose. An incident indicative of this very desirable ee-
ment n practical minds is available today in The Bee building. The
mNA Who conceived it's characteristics in his busy mind placed behind
grSGh5 walls an interior comprising a large proportion Of the cubical
contsnts wherein the estheuc side OF life might in time to come find
a fled for display. With every business building occupied that might
accommodate such an enterprise, the large court Of The Bee building
is now providing comfortable space for a great fair or bazaar Of the
evangelical churches. Many people can thus be given room for a phil
anthropic service in a busy hive OF workers. without seriously incom-
moding the users of the building who pay its rents and by right enjoy
its facilities.
Another example OF a similar character is the main expanse Of
the Brandeis store, where a good deal was conceded to elegance as
against the old practice Of using every possible inch Of space for
trade alone.
In the case of the new court house, Omaha will present such a
building and grounds as will delight the heart Of those who rebel
against forbiddng fronts and lot-lne foundations for public build
sings It's main doors on Farnam street will open onto a parked space
1Of onethird the depth OF the building site. Winding walks, flower
keis and fountains will present a gratifying ensemble; and in the
yeaEs TO come. II honor Is to be paid in disunguhL ling form to some
manor woman of note, the opportunity for congenISl and digniied
setting IL at hand.
This nnrODdOrar SEn of Douglas cOuntys prosperity and pub
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-28
IL 9TREfTFMNT Or BRANOEI5 THEATRE.

hshment. This will constitute a showplace for visitors from other
sections the like Of which is hardly to be duplicated in the land.
An ordinance is now on its way through the city council to tax
this and all other subways on the square feet of space used. The n
terprise of the Brandeis brothers is sure to be emulated by other
Omaha merchants sooner or later. and eventually the city will be
receiving a goodly sum from hitherto unused parts Of its streets, be-
meath the pavements. Modern constructive science has made 1t pos
sible to build such subways as safely as sidewalks. r.
Vacant corners in the business district. some of which had taken
on a disreputable appearance because OF neglect, are every week be-
ing covered with substantial new buildings. For about every corner
of this character some great structure has been planned, If not ac-
tually begun It this writing. Notable among sites of this description
are the Grossman corner, at Seventeenth and Douglas; the Hanseom
corner, at the west end Of the same block; the southwest corner Of
Nineteenth and Farnam. Many others could be enumerated wherein
new construction has been carried out this year and last. In other
instances substantial, creditable appearing homes have been RACED,
as at Douglas and Nineteenth, where the new Kennedy building
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-28
Surprise for the Wanderer

Any oldest inhabitant who moved away in the busted-boom days
arriving in Omaha today would be surprised out of his knobbly old
CREASED boots. With every passing season busting innovators are de-
stroying the ancient landmarks that he and his crOnies knew in the
dark. Coming from the drafting rooms OF architects. or we'll along
toward completion, are plans that will eventuate in graceful, costly
buildings. Some of these will cover eligible corners where now there
is only debris or undghtly old structures. But in other instances
some rather big buildings will have to be removed to make room for
the better type. This will be the case at Fifteenth and Dodge, when
the Union Pacific gets ready to improve that corner with a sky
reaching headquarters for its western staff 1t will be true, too, II ne
gotiations shall be completed to put the new mllion-donar Woodmen
OF the World headquarters q Fourteenth and Farnam. 1t is still a
question whether either or both OF these will go higher than the two
buildings Z, A. Cudahy is considering for the northwest corners Of
Douglas and Seventeenth and Douglas and Eighteenth. Mr.. Cudahy
is a man Of big ideas, and the fraternal order and railroad major gem
erals are not a whit behind in that particular.
We are seeing great enterprises carried to completion in Omaha
today, by business captains, and no less by men OF more modest pre-
tensions. Unless all signs fail, the years just ahead will develop other
advances that will put the plans Of today in the shade. An awaken
ing to the splendid natural location OF Omaha, with absolutely i'm
measurable opportunity for growth in good things. has come about,
by slow process. It is 3 real awakening, though, and as the city has
made good all Of its earlier promises. so its citizens in every walk OF
life are proving their faith IN it's future by their investments In WAYS
that are permanent, useful and Of solid character.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-28

ing been mulcted of tobacco for depriving
the people Of the opportunity to watch the
sufferings of their friends and ~neighbors.
Severe laws were directed against Quak-
ers. Prior legislation had attempted to put
a damper on being any kind of a ''separa-
tist,' which meant any fellow who didn't
agree with the Established Church. Evil
IDENTIFY a little further law on the subject
was thought necessary, for in 1868 the Vir-
ginia Assembly passed the following acts:
Amy PERSON inhabiting this country, and
entertaining a Quaker in or near his house,
shall, for every time Of such entertainment,
be fined 5000 pounds of tobacco, half to
the county, half to the informer.
Even Virginia hospitality might well
have paused in the face of such a flying
start toward bankruptcy.
That a stowaway might prove costly is
demonstrated by the following:
Every master of a vessel that shall bring
any Quakers to reside here after July l OF
this year shall be fined 5000 pounds of to-
bacco, to be levied by distress and sale Of
his goods, and he then shall be made to carry
him, her or them out of the country again.
The following act shows an effortsOn the
part of the Assembly to at least teach the
Quakers and "separatists" the value of an
sltruistic and communistic spirit, even
though they did not practice what they
preached:
II any Quakers or other separatists as
semble themselves together 70 the number
Of five or more, OF the age Of 16 years, IN
der the pretence of joining in a religious
worship, the parties so offending shall be
lawfully convicted by verdict, confession or
notorious evidence, and shall pay a fine for
the first offense Of 200 pounds of tobacco;
CONTINUED on Page Three.l
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-28

lister who doth marry contrary to this act
shall be fined 10, 900 pounds Of tobacco.
If this fine was in proportion to the aver
age clergyman's salary at the time, the
clergymen Of that period certainly Jared
better than their brother workers of the
present day.
If the Virginia husbands agreed with
Kipling that "a woman is only a woman,
but a good cigar is a smoke" the following
act must have been the occasion of much
domestic infelicity.
If a married woman shall Islander a per-
son the woman shall be punished by duck
ing, and if the damages shall be adjudged
more than 500 pounds of tobacco her hus-
band shall pay, or the woman receive a
ducking for every 500 pounds so adjudged
against her husband If he refuse to pay the
tobacco.
Unless a man was we'll stocked with the
divine weed it was worth while to attend
church with prOmptness and regularity:
Enacted that the Lords Day be kept
holy and no journeys or work done thereon,
and all persons inhabiting in this country
shall resort every Sunday TO church and
abide there quietly and orderly during the
penalty of being fined fifty pounds of to-
baccO.
Devices for public instruction and amuse-
ment were not to be neglected with i'm
punity, even by the courts of the colony, as
witness the following:
The Court in every county shall set up
near the court house, in a public and con-
venient place, a pillory, a pair Of stocks. a
whipping post and a ducking stool. other
wise the Court shall be fined 5000 pounds
OF tobacco.
There is no record Of the court ever hav-
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-28
Old Order Changeth

The same statement will apply to many lots in the middle of a
block, especially along upper Farnam street. shacks or mansions of
the olden day have been torn down or moved to new locations further
out, actually by the dozen. Automobile garages have taken the place
of many such buildings that had outlived their usefulness. Some of
these garages are costly, running az high as $4,000. Half a dozen
of them are big enough, in floor space, to serve as drill sheds for a
battalion at least.
There is another development in Omaha building that should be
noted here. Quite a few structures that have been up but a very
brief time are now being added to. The Hamilton flats, at Farnam
and Twenty-fourth, is one instance of this call for modern living
rooms, and the twOyearod Wead-Baldrige building at the northeast
corner of Twentieth and Farnam, is now under serious consideration
for an additional story or two, which will be added next year. These
are cited merely as samples of building development that indicates
the demand locally is not yet by any means filled.
New places Of worship are yearly dentng the view from the
high places with their spires. Schools, too. are going up, at consid-
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-28
Home for the Arts

The magnificent companion building to the Brandes store will
likewise D q something more than q mere home of business. in its
architecture and general character. A very large proportion Of its
ouLk Ill be dedicated to the drama in exquisite surroundings. This
combined theater and home of business is to be notablenot s much
o III originality as for the lavish manner Of its execution The
theater will be as distinctly a playhouse as If it stood alone. while at
a va inns It's patrons can enjoy beneath one roof many modern
ad1uncts OF city life usually to be sought at scattered points
The roof Of the theater is now practically finished and the front
Is being Dricked up. Heat is being furnished to the interior. so that
the fathers and plasterers can get busy. Thus the interior work will
D Q rushed along without much pause, and the contractors still insist
that they will have the new playhouse ready for opening On time
fore next summer.
IL may be OF Interest to some people to know that when the new
brandels oock Is In readiness for Use the firm will have a store
extending from the front door on Sixteenth and Douglas right bact
u the stage space of the theater. Seventeenth street is now being
eAcaVateu 1or a subway that Will be forty feet wide, connecting the
great buildings below the ground, and this subway when Pin
ished Will not be distinguishable from any other part of the estab-
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-28
BRANOE3 THEATRE ON DOUGLAS STREE"

cradle cost OF the churches, the new St Ceciliats cathedral, Catholic.
at Fortieth and Burt, will be of a high type of church architecture.
In the school group the south wing of the high school, built in strict
conformity with the classic design of the main structure, will at once
occur to the mind as especially worthy of note. The Forest school,
at Fourteenth and Phelps, and the new Omaha View school, at Thir-
tieth and Binney, are buildings any city would be delighted to own.
The cost of the two will fall but little shy of 100000, when
complete.
Apartment houses which speak the very latest word Of archi-
tectural science and modern equipment in every suite are becoming
is common in Omaha as plain houses used to be. They are found in
every part of the city, far out on the street car lines, on quiet side
streets in walking distance, and some within the shadow of the prin-
cipal buildings of the town. Finely finished and elegantly arranged,
they bring high rents, with few If any vacant at this time.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-28
lGRAHAn- BRIDGES HOTEb RI0ING~]

lie spirit Will continue to rise throughout the winter without a halt.
IL one end of the basement is stored sand and broken rock in suf-
ficlent quantities to meet all requirements until warm days come
again. BY means of artificial heat this material is to be kept at
proper temperature for daily use where needed as the building rises.
FRAMED workers Will continue their labor n the Job without regard
to prevailing weather, unless it be unusually severe and turbulent.
At the new City National Bank building the steel workers are
pledged to carry their welded, jointed skeleton to its full height by
the first of March; and in their wake will come the masons. filling
In the open spaces with solid walls. Much of approved and pleasing
and decorative art will distinguish this money mart,
from the main entrance and principal banking floor to the skyline.
and Its interior will shine and glisten with marble, tile, brass and
polished woods. The permit calls for an expenditure of 500 900 on
Its eighteen stories, but beyond doubt a million dollars will be closeIv
Appropriated in the final receipt for money paid out.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-28

upon the blue laws of the Puritans
and in an even ratio upon the high
living and frivolities of the Vir-
ginia Cavaliers of the same period that it
may be suspected that those scholarly gen.
tlemen have overlooked a few bets. AS a
matter OF cold fact the Virginians of the sew
enteenth century had a habit OF e~nacting in
digo-tinted laws, and likewise enforcing
them that might have made the Puritan
fathers sit up late at night to beat them at
the game.
Aside from the stern and vindictive in
tolerance which finds u~tterance in the acts of
the Virginia Assembly between the years
1862 and 1850, the most striking element in
them is the tremendous remium placed
upon spying and informing. In almost
every case in which such a reward is posi-
BILE the law encouraged the man to spy upon
his neighbor. A strange state of affairs.
surely, In a colony whose descendant pride
themselves on the honor and chivalry of
their ancestorsl For instance, in 1862 the
following laws were enacted:
Every person who refuses to have his
child baptized by a lawful minister Church
OF England) shall be amerced 1000 pounds
OF tobacco, half to the parish, half TO the
informer.
To steal or u~nlawfully kill any hog that
Is not his own the offender shall pay TO the
oWner 1000 pounds OF tobacco, and as much
to the informer, and in case OF inability to
pay shall serve as a slave two years, one to
che owner, one TO the informer.
No marriage shall be reputed valid in
law but such as Is made by a minister ac-
eording TO the laws Of England The min
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-28
Transformation is Striking

Taking as a viewpoint the generously planned court house, fast
rising as a central example of better building, in no direction can the
eye be cast without revealing improvement, growth, a changed land
scape and cherished plans of many years realized in varied structures
OF most pleasing design.
%over on the hill where you see the great Clarkson hospital
standing out like a refuge in the Alps used to be our picnic ground
when was a youngster," said a typical man of middle age. And he
went on to locate former sw=mps, the sites of antediluvian hills, van
ished clumps of timber, spots once thought inaccessible and useless
\ all now occupied by commercial buildings, municipal and county
buildings, great centers Of service. churches, schools, theaters, and
[he modest places wherein the minor, but very vital, activities of civic
life are carried on.
"one day, that my boy and girl will very likely see, from this
building or that will be starting air craft for astonishing voyages
that we think of in half humorous fashion" continued the citizen
4wAo has seen wonderful things transpire in Omaha. That sight will
hot surpass, for wonderful achievement, what l have witnessed"
And the man was right.
In Omaha hills have been leveled, depressions have been filled,
crooked features of an originally inhospitable stretch OF ground have
been made straight, until grades are easy and no place is waste.
Cheap corners of the old days have become vastly valuable on the as
SCISSORS rolls, through enterprise. The spirit of unflagging faith and
zeal that would not be denied has worked it's way through a whole
mass Of difficulties that would have daunted races other than those
that gave their sons and daughters to the young west that was held
TO be largely desert. unpromising and Improbable. From nothing
has been created something that wins the need of high congratula-
ton, even from old world dlettantes.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-28

TWTWTT
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-28
New MILLION DOLLAR COURT HOUSE"

+ ~ o SAY that Omaha this year has beaten by G good margin
~ all building records heretofore made in the history of the
city, with a total of over 100000 in permits issued to
date, conveys merely the idea of bulk in money. 1t Is the
concrete thing that fixes the attention of the casual reader
or inquirer on material progress and solid city advancement, and so
serves a useful purpose.
Back Of these figures, and back of the thousands of permits
issued during 1908 year of glorious achievement in every line of
human endeavor-is a meaning and a significance that looms large
in the minds of those who lee more than figures in a citys push for
the head of the line.
Men with the true idea of perspective, the royal imagination for
picturing the future, feel that to say we have spent 81, 200, 900 on
buildings this year is to state a fact that can only begiven its full
Rmplincaton by analysis.
AS a city builds, so will it live, is the sentient axiom Of some
wise old mortal who realized that original Rome was built for luxury,
and in luxurious rottenuess faded from useful influence among ma
tiOns. Truly, kind hearts are more than coronets, and simple faith
than Norman blood" Kind hearts plan and build homes in the blank
spots, beautify for us, and use with benehCent purpose, in striking
contrast to the flinty impulse for exclusive castles and monumental
manifestations of the pride in riches.
In the west-part of the warm, throbbing heart Of which Omaha
is-simple sturdy faith has created many a city that from honest
roughness is taking on substantial finish. but with becoming patience
and positive intention to have things right. This city is one Of the
living examples of that kind OF building.
OF our millions represented by new structures this year a good
half or more has gone into homes. They n homes of taste; abodes
of sincere good citizenship; cradles OF conscientious living, wherein
thousands of women and children are blessing the men of kind hearts
and honest pride who have through work won the right to kngship
in their cozy castles. There is not a block, perhaps, where a new
home does not mark progress; not a street but has gained a happier
look from some added group Of comfortable dwelling places. Some
are pretentous to a degree; many are attractive beyond the common;
AL are indicative Of settled satisfaction with Omaha a 8 a city worthy
Of confidence and permanent fealy.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-28
Blue Laws of Old Virginia in Separate

.CHMOND, Va, Nov. 27.-So much
stress has been laid by historians
upon the blue laws of the Puritans
and in an ever ratio upon the high
The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-01-01

that the clubs New Years funds af.
fords and is a gorgeous sight on a fine
day.
The monarch who staggers along at
the front part of this great train Is
dressed from head TO foot in the costli
est of satin fabrics, with a crown to
match, and retinue Of pages dressed
I'm the same cOlored costume, so that
the effect in the bright sunshine Of
one Of these kings on his royal prog
ress through the streets of Philadel-
phia is one that can be surpassed no.
where else but In New Orleans or in
Rome during the gala season. So
heavy are some Of these robes that
the king, although he Is selected for
his stalwart frame and general klngly
appearance, has been known to faint
beneath the load. The pages who sup
port the train do their best to take the
weight from the shoulders of their
leader, but at times, when the street
narrows and the tension on the cords
holding the train taut has to be relax
ed, II is usual for the monarch to
groan beneath an almost insupporta-
BILE weight of flnery.
Behind the king and his courtiers
marches the motley crowd Of testers,
clowns, minstrels, ladies In waiting
with their enormous feet betraying
their SEX, knights, squires and the
rest Of the retinue. The only order
given TO the thousands who take part
in the parade is not to keep still or
look solemn for moment. Conse-
quently the spectators see moving,
whirling, jlgging mass Of brilliantly
colored beings dancing TO the music Of
the bands. challenging the iookers-on
and each other to any ridiculous an
ties that suggest themselves at the
moment, initiating the rush Of a band
of Indians on the warpath, giving an
impromptu scramble In panic times,
impersonating the participants In a
bargain counter rush with an I'm.
The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-01-01
The ksepsake Cabinet.

What could be more appropriate to
send as a gift at New Years than a
keepsake cabinet? The keepsake cabl.
net Is a dainty thing Of dark and in.
laid wood not more than eighteen inch
es high, standing on tiny legs, with
three drawers and a fascinating little
brass key that locks all the drawers
and suggests secrecy. Our grandmoth.
ers had their "chest Of drawers" Into
these, with the delightful bits of heir.
loom laces, Went the little gifts and
things that were kept "just to remeln-
Der by" The girl to whom your keep.
sake cabinet goes may have note
hurrledly written, a little ring that she
no longer wears or a faded rose or a
bunch Of letters or a photograph that
she will tuck away into one Of the
drawers and then turn the key, not
unlocking 1t again until some time
when she Is all, all alone. II may be
her holy OF holles, a source Of more
secret JOY than any other possession,
st. Louis Republic.
The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-01-01
Fate of Pins and Hairpins.

BY a series of experiments con-
Quoted in his back garden, a gentle
man has discovered the answer to
the conundruin, what becomes of
pins?" He has found that pins are
resolved into dust. Hairpins, which
he watched for one hundred and
fifty-four days, disappeared by rust
ing away at the end of that time.
Bright pins took nearly eighteen
months to disappear polished steel
needles nearly two years and half;
brass pins had but little endurance;
steel pens at the end fifteen months
had nearly gone, while their wooden
holders were still intact.