davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11

the couLtry in the course of which she
played fifteen Shakespearian roles-Juliet,
Rosamond. Viola, Beatrice, Portia, Imogen.
Ophelia, Julia, D~esdemona, Lady Constance.
Queen Catherine, Hermione, Isabel and
Lady Macbeth. 1t is of course as the last
named that she is best known, but il was
not her favorite part. Best of all she liked
to play Mary Stuart in the Schiller drama,
One of her children she named for the
Queen of Scots.
1t is asserted that Modjeska was the first
who played lbsen in America. Certain It
Is at any rate that she put on 9TH Dolls
House" under the name of "Thora" in
1881. 1t met with a cool reception With
Suderman's 'Heimath," given as "Magda,'
she had better luck and kept it in her
repertory for some years.
IllustrIous as Nine. Modieska was pro-
fessionally, she will be longest remembered
by those who knew her best for her noble
character in private life. A never-failing
spring of energy and Inspiration in a pro-
fessional way to her associates on the
stage, she was by these and other friends
beloved as few men or women in any age
for her kindness and thoughtfulness.
Her son, Ralph Modjeski CHS name ends
with the masculine 'I") was sent to Paris
10 study at the Ecole des Points ct
Chausses. He graduated at the head of
his class and soon came back to America
TO practice engineering. His professional
work, begun in Omaha, has served to place
him in the very front rank of civil en-
gineers who devote themselves to bridge
designing. His work in Omaha lasted
through 1885 and 1886. 1t had to do with
the widening of the Union Pacific bridge.
Assistant engineer Of the Union Pacific
at that time, he rose rapidly thereafter.
He became consulting engineer Of the Hi
nois Central and has since designed among
others the great bridge at Thebes. H.. the
Willamette bridge over the Columbia in
Oregon, which will take the Northern Pa
cific into Portland, and a great suspension
bridge at Louisville, Ky. Two honors have
come to him recently Of the highest rank.
On is his appointment as a member of
the International commission of three TO re-
build the bridge over the st. Lawrence at
Quebec. The other is his selection as
consulting engineer for the new structure
to replace the Williamsburg bridge across
the East river at New York.
During his two years in Omaha Mr..
Modjeski occupied a residence on Burt
street near North Twenty-third. In later
years he became a warm friend OF Clement
Chase Of this city, whose wife has been a
friend of Nine. Modjeska from before the
time that woman her made her debut in
Adrienne Lecouvreur. Mr.. and Mrs. Mod
jeski and Nine. ModIeska have been fire.
quent guests of the Chases in Omaha and
the actress always stayed at the Chase
home when her company played here. Mr..
and Mrs. Chase named one of their daugh-
tiers after the Polish woman.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11

all the cotton mills work both day and
night, and that this custom is a great
benefit to the spinning industry. AS 1t is
now, the demand for cotton yarns is so
great that night work is a necessity, but
in times of depression 1t is possible TO stop
the night work until the demand requires
1t again. BY this double work the Japan
mills are producing twice as much, per
capital and machinery, as mills of other
countries where day work only is used.
This fact ma be one of the reasons for
the big dividends which nearly all the
companies are now paying.
| asked as to wages of the mill hands
and was told they are from twenty
two to sixty sen a day. This means from
eleven to thirty cents of our money, or
from a little more than one to three
cents for each working hour. At that
they are higher than in some other mills,
the general wage of cotton splnners
throughout this district being about twenty
one cents for women. thirty cents for
men and six cents for children.
AS l went through the mills 1 saw a
great many children at work and many
of the child workers were under fourteen.
l had a photograph made Of myself stand
ing beside some little Acknowledged tots
who could not have been more than ten.
According to the government reports,
there are now three hundred and twenty
five thousand hands in the textile fac
tories, and of these almost two hundred
and ninety thousand are females. There
are also twenty-six thousand girls and
two thousand boys who are under four
teen years of age. This is not a large pro-
portion Of children and the number grows
less from year to year.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11

almost everything. The rooms OF the
houses are rectangular and their sizes are
estimated at the number of mats it takes
to cover them. When a man orders a
house built he directs that 1t be one of so
many mats, and the cost of construction
is based upon that stimat These mats
are bound with black cloth. and. as they
fit closely, the floor is covered with a
number of these white rectangles sur
rounded by black. Japan uses over 1900
600 such mats every year. and also 100000
or 100000 pieces of ordinary mating of
the same shape. The value of the whole is
several million dollars.
As to the mating for export, the manu-
facture of that began less than twenty
years ago, and it now brings in something
like 100000 a year. Almost the whole OF
this export is to the United States, our
purchases of Japanese mating annually
amounting to something like % ,OOO,O 900 yards.
The most of this is cheap and coarse. but
other varieties are as fine as a Panama
hat. They are now making new patterns
with raised figures. I have just ordered
a roll sent home, which looks like brocaded
silk woven of straw.
This mating is made out Of a reed
which grows about here. 1t has no knots
and Is much like rice, although its seed
has no value. 1t is planted and cultivated
In the same way, and is well dried and
bleached before II is sold. The mating Is
dyed with analine colors. 1t is woven like
cloth, but all the pieces have to be put
in by hand. The work is tedious and of the
finer varieties two men and an assistant
can make not more than three rolls per
month.
The Japanese are now weaving beauti-
full straw rugs in flowers and other pat
terms, and these are exceedingly cheap.
1 have bought some about six by ten feet
in size at so or 60 cents each and the high
est price I have paid for any mating is
less than 20 cents gold per yard.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11
Well Treated Workmen.

This company Is anxious to keep its men
In a good humor. 1t trains it's employees
for its work and does all it can to make
them loyal to the establishment. 1t takes
great pride in the fact that it has some Of
the best workmen in Japan. and leaves no
stone unturned to increase it's reputation
in this regard. Among the special insti-
tutions at the mills is a theater with a
large stage and a full equipment of scenery.
The house will seat, l should say, about
1000. the audience sitting on white mats
on the floor. There are galleries with
similar seats, and the floor rises under
them, so that the people can be uniformly
we'll. The company brings actors and lee
turers here at its own expense, in order
to amuse it's employees.
There is also a two-storied school build
ing in the works, a large part OF which
Is given up to a kindergarten for the
little children whose mothers are employed
in the mills, and there is a technical school,
where picked boys are taught the scientific
theory of cotton spinning and practical
mill work under competent teachers. This
is with the object of supplying intelligent
overseers and foremen for the future.
Another institution which all the Kane
gafuchi mills have is a flrst-class hos
pital with a corps of physicians and nurses,
who attend the sick without charge. The
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11

lean stage she made here some warm
friends, and partly because her son, Ralp
Modjeski, practically began here the engi-
neering work which was to lead him to a
position as eminent in his profession as
his mother occupied in hers.
Thus it came about that Nine. ModJeska
always stayed as long in Omaha as her
engagement would permit. and while her
son was living here for two years, his
mother came at times when she was not
actively engaged in dramatic work.
Modjeska was not a young woman when
she first came here, and neither was she so
old in this year 1909 as many would have
thought. She was born In 1874, in Cracow,
Poland. At that date this portion Of her
country had not yet been absorbed by
Russian, and Nine. Modjeska. born a free
Pole, remained one in spirit all her life.
She first saw Omaha in 1878, the year Of
her first trip across this country as an ac-
tress, andy was upon the occasion of this
first visit tina she and the late Edward
Rosewater became acquainted and formed
a friendship which lasted until his death.
Nine. Modjeska was an actress of renown
in Europe before she came to America. II
had been an amateur theatrical experiment
Wnlcn IlrSt directed her toward the stage.
In the year 1861 she was visiting in Bochina,
in Austrian Poland, and with some friends
essayed a little play in behalf OF charity.
She herself took the stellar role. II was a
successful venture, eminently so. and the
little company decided TO turn professional.
In three years Mime. Modjeska was engaged
to play the leads for a new theater in
Cracow, and II was now that the European
world began to know her.
For eleven years the Polish woman con-
tinued TO play in Warsaw and Cracow
and her fame spread all over the CONT
nent. Meantime her husband, the brilliant
NJ. Chlapowski, had become persona non
grata to the Russian government through
taking part in the ill-starred revolution of
1868 and was forced to suspend labor as a
newspaper man. His wife, torn by sor-
row for her native land and worry at the
enmity OF the government toward her hus-
band. at length broke down.
Just at this time a little band Of enthu-
%siastic, restless souls conceived the idea OF
finding a refuge In the United States. 1t
was planned along the line Of Brook Farm
OF New England memory, although none
OF the Poles had heard OF this first ex-
pertinent in communism. Two men were
sent to the United States. one OF them
being he who later has risen TO eminence
as the author OF Fire and Sword" and
"Quo Vadis," Sienckiewicz and his COM
panion pitched on a spot in southern Cal
ifornia known as Anaheim- II is near
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11
Native COttOns.

The most beautiful cottons made here are
intended for native consumption. They are
not much more than a foot wide and are
artistically printed in designs far different
from the loud figures used on the goods
intended for the United States markets.
The cotton crepe for home use is beautiful
and it would have a big sale in the United
States for curtains II it were sent there.
The japanese use it for their everyday
summer kimonos.
Another interesting manufacture of cot
ton is that which the native people employ
here for toweling. These have gay figures
printed in white and blue. Every firm has
its own design and not a few of the native
hotels give away towels of this kind to
their guests. Within the last few years
quite a craze has sprung up among the
foreign ladies visiting Japan to make col
lections of these towels. and l know many
who buy pieces of them for use as fancy
tablecloths and napkins.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11

self to the study of English, and at the
end of that time secured, after some diff
ficulty, a hearing at the California thea
ter in San Francisco. "Adrienne Lecouv-
reur' was the vehicle and Nine. Modjeska
scored as instantaneous and complete a
success as she had on first appearances in
Warsaw and Cracow.
She was Immediately engaged for an APP
pearance in New York and at the Fifth
Avenue theater in December, 1877. she re-
peated her California victory. After that
her career was one of unbroken successes.
She made twenty starring tours across
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11

Los Angeles. Then they returned to Po-
land. Some of the enthusiasm had de-
parted. but Nine. Modjeska, her son Ralph
and Chlapowski, her second husband, were
among those faithful to the original plan.
The party sailed to New York, visited the
centennial exposition in Philadelphia, and
then sailed for California. going by way
of Panama.
The colony proved a failure in a brief
time. It's career was not even as long as
that of Brook Farm. 1t was now that
Nine. Modjeska determined to return to
the stage. For six months she applied her
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11
Obliged the Corpse"

An empty coffin rested on a truck on the
Atchison depot platform one day this week.
relates the Kansas city Journal. out OF
mischief one OF the employees in the bag
gage room crawled into the coffin box and
drew the lid Town. No sooner was he con-
cealed than a young colored mar with a
Jaunty swagger and tuneful whistle came
along and wishing 10 rest settled comfort
ably on the casket. He fell asleep and was
awakened by a distressing moan. The moan
was repeated, and then somebody said:
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11
Two-Cent Meals.

TwO-Cent Meals.
FROM here / went to one of the large
dining rooms which the company has es-
tablished for its employees. Here several
hundred men and boys were eating with
chopstieks steaming rice. vegetables and
fish. They were enjoying the meal and
were apparently satisfied. AS l looked the
manager told me that they furnished
board at a little less than cost price, and
that the men were given three meals for
5z cents per day. This is not quite 2 cents
per meal, nevertheless they work all day
and grow fat. The manager told me that
they lose about 2 cents per day on each
man in thus feeding them, and when 1
asked whether the food was uniformly
good the reply came quickly: "Of course
1t is, and we have to keep 1t so or we
should soon hear from the men,"
The company has also a store where
it furnishes its employees such merchan-
disc as they want at cost price. This
store handles all sorts of Japanese goods,
though the men may buy else where If
they will. 1t has food, clothing. notions
and everything that appeals to the taste
of such people.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11
Wife May Nag at Home.

1t may be very unpleasant for a husband
to listen to the nagging remarks made by
his wife. She may accuse him. of all sorts
of things, but as long as she confines her
remarks to the four walls of their home
the husband cannot sue for a divorce. That
is the opinion, at least, Of Judge Hacker
OF the circuit court of Bartholomew county,
Indiana. He was called on TO decide a de-
murrer in the divorce case of Aaron Wild
man, and he sustained the demurrer to the
complaint.
Wildman declared in his complaint that
he had been treated in a cruel and inhuman
manner. Then he specified that the treat
ment consisted in his wife making mean
remarks to him, accusing him Of unfaith-
fulness, wishing him bad luck and all that
sort Of thing. He did not allege that she
had ever struck him or used any sort Of
violence except with her tongue.
II the remarks made by the wife had
been made in public. Judge Hacker said
that they might be construed to show that
Wildman had suffered from the treatment.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11

make almost 100000 bales Of cotton yarn
annually; and have a profit therefrom of
100000 or 100000 600. I have before me
figures showing some OF the dividends paid.
In 1876 every cotton mill in Japan paid from
10 to 10 per cent, and in 1906 there were ten
companies which paid all the way from 10
to 45 per cent. In 1907 there were W
which paid so per cent; and the Toxic
Grand Yarn company has paid as high as
20 per cent. Nearly all these companies
are adding to their SURPRISES and are
charging off good amounts to the deprecia-
ton of their buildings and machinery.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11
Cotton weaving.

So far the japanese have not done a
great deal in weaving cotton, but they are
now making enough sheeting every year
to carpet a road as wide as Pennsylvania
avenue, in Washington, for a distance OF
10000 miles. Such a carpet would reach
twice around the world at the equator and
leave more than enough over to cover a
similar pathway through its center. There
are now a number of large mills with
something like 10000 looms. They grew
rapidly during the war with Russia, for
the army needed quantities of goods, and
the prices rose. The cost of blankets went
up 100 per cent, and some of the mills were
kept busy making kahki. OF what the war
required 1t Is estimated that Japan supplied
70 per cent and only imported 80 per cent.
In addition to the work of the weaving
factories, an enormous amount was done
In the houses on hand looms. There are
now almost 100000 homes in which weav-
Ing is carried on, and there are hundreds
of thousands of people who work these.
Tit number was more than 1000, 900 ten
years ago, but It is gradually decreasing
and more and more of the work is being
done in the factories. 1t is this houseweav-
ing industry which consumes a great part
of the cotton yarn manufactured here, and
it is on the hand looms that most of thai
which is exported to China and Korea is
woven. Many small mills are springing up,
some worked by steam and others by water
power and electricity. The center of the
weaving industry is about Osaka, which is
also the center of the spinning industry.
That city has more than 10000 houses in
which weaving is done. 1t has scores OF
large factories and the smoke from their
stacks makes the town seem more like
Pittsburg than any in Japan. Osaka is
now as big as Philadelphia, and it has
grown greatly within the past few years.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11
with the Cotton Hands.

AS l walked through the mills l asked
as to g and hours OF work. There
are two shifts, one during the day and
the other at night. TTe hours OF actual
work are ten. and there are rest hours at
3 q. m. at noon and 3 p. m. The rest times
consume about two hours. and with them
the working day is twelve hours long,
This company does not work its hands on
Sundays. as is common with many OF the
industries OF Japan. 1t believes In night
work. Its manager tells me that almost
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11

Japan are doing well. In addition to the
establishment which l have described there
are many others which work day and night
and which propose to increase their ca
pacity and TO extend their trade through
out the far east. They look upon China
as their especial market and say that
they have the advantage Of all other peo-
piles in understanding the written charac-
tiers used in the languages of the two coun-
tries, and also in their general knowledge
of the Chinese people and their customs.
There are now japanese going over China
investigating the markets for cotton; and
there are steamship lines which connect
Kobe with the big cities on almost all the
Chinese rivers. The demand for cotton
goods at home is steadily increasing, and
there a great effort will be made TO push
the trade in Corea and Manchuria.
At present there are 11S mills in the coun-
try devoted to spinning alone; and these
have more than 100000 spindles. They
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11

hospitals have spring beds and are thor
oughly ventilated and lighted. The one
here had a laboratory connected with it
for the study of microbes and the investi-
cation of special diseases. The company
proposes to build a sanitarium at Taxa
sago. one Of the seaside resorts, for its
convalescent operatives; it has appropriated
$4,000 for the building, and this is now
under construction.
In addition to the above. these mills have
a pension fund which now amounts to
$142, 600, a fund for the welfare of the en-
ployes of more than 100000 and a sanitary
fund of $25,OC o The workmen have also
societies organized under a company for
mutual relief and for the promotion of the
general interest of the members One of
these societies has a large income from its
members fees, including a subsidy from
the company, and another has a capital of
$780, 900.
l am told that all the cotton mills of
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11
Jnpanese Mating.

This region is the center of the mating
industry. There are many factories about
Osaka bay and here in Kobe which make
millions of mats for home consumption.
millions of mats for hame consumption.
The japanese do not use mating like that
exported to the United States. The most
common carpet here is made up Of white
straw woven into mats an inch thick, a
yard wide and two yards long. These mats
are the unit of surface measurement for
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11

ELENA MODJESKA, actress and
patriot, had q larger acquaint-
ance in Omaha than almost any
other woman on the state in her
time, This was partly because
early In her career on the Amer
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11

IIITII HUI NNNNIIVTUI u
Suddenly he was picked up by the betting,
whirled around the shaft many times and
hurled many feet. He was nude save for a
little strip of Undertaking around one
wrist and one ankle.
Companions who ran to pick up his
lifeless body were amazed to see him open
his eyes and hear him say:
Gee whiz! but that was going some. 4"
His hips were dislocated and he received
numerous bruises, but with these excep-
tons he is as good as ever. The space be-
tween the top of the shafting and the beam.
which he was crowded through, is not
more than twelve inches high.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11
Electrical Effects I'm water.

The electrical installations at the Alaska
Yukon exposition are so far advanced as
TO permit trial illuminations. One Of these
just held proved that the cascades, which
are the central feature of the exposition,
Will constitute a most beautiful spectacle.
Inc cascades extend for 1 length of 900
feet through the central court OF the ex-
position grounds. They carry 1000 gal
Ions Of water a minute, and when this
tremendous volume plunges over them It
Is broken into millions OF rainbow frag-
ments by submerged electric lights. The
submerged lights are protected by heavy
heads of col0red glass, so arranged that
they shade from lighter tones to the center
Of the stream 20 darker co,ors at the outer
ed6e. As the stream plunges over the
series Of dams In its downward course, II
takes on the varied colors Of the lights.
The cascades end I'm Geyser Basin. where
the "Old Faithful Geyser OF the Yellow
stone Is reproduced, squirting Jets Of water
10 feet In the air at intervals OF a minute.
The basin. like the cascades. is illuminated
by submerged lights which make OF the
Jets OF water thousands Of iridaSeent sprays.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11
Quaint Features of Life
''That Was Going some"

in underclothing, two
pairs of trousers, a heavy out
side flannel shirt, stockings and
rubber boots, Erwin Leonard
was working about a revolving
shaft in his Pennington saw
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11

During my visit l went through twelve
great cotton warehouses which are packed
full of bales, from the ground TO the
Roof. and the manage tells me that at
certain times in the year he has as much
as S,OOO,0 900 worth of raw cotton on hand.
The greater part of the cotton used comes
from india. although much is from the
United States. Kobe. which is one OF the
chief ports OF the empire, lands about
$40. OO.OO worth OF cotton every year; and
OF this, s2o,OO.OO0 from China and over
100000 from the United States. Our
cotton Is the best; but the Indian product
is cheaper, and the two are mixed in the
making OF these yarns. The manager com
planned to me about the bad packing of
our American. bales. and showed me some
Of them side by side with bales from
Bombay. The latter were beautifully put
up and SO wrapped that nc cotton could
be lost. Our bales were broken and torn
and the lint was falling out.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11

OBE-(Special Correspondence Of
The Bee.)-If you want to see
how wide awake the Japanese
are, come with me and take a
look at the Kanegafuchi cotton
mill, which lies on the outskirts