The wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-????, 1910-09-23

l
ic for household" and ben" in the
Hebraic is literally translated as fam.
lily" or brothers of household"
Thus there is a touch of Oriental
enchantment about the word. There
is Ak, the head Of the household. or
the king; sar, the board Of twelve gov.
ernors who manage the affairs OF the
festival; last there is the family called
ben, which embraces the body OF
knights. and every true Nebraskan is
knight of Ak-Sar-Ben whether he
has been able to journey to the den in
Omaha and attend the ceremonial or
not
The same spirits who organized Ak
Sar-Ben made the Trans-Mississippi
and International exposition possible
in 1898. and this enterprise marked the
close of stagnation and opened the era
of prosperity in the middle-west; the
period OF the '90's.' dark with industrial
gloom and commercial disaster, be-
came history and the star of Nebras
Ia began its ascendancy.
The men who have continued Ak
Sar-Ben for sixteen years and made il
the most enchanting festival the north
has ever known. are the men who have
planted the boom seed deep in the soil
and nourished it until Nebraska and
Kansas are second to none in the indi.
vidual prosperity of their people. and in
the amount of food contributed annual
ly to help feed a hungry world.
Ak-Sar-B Ben has two distinct seasons.
The first comes in the summer and is
for initiating candidates. The second
Is festival time in the fall
Beginning early in June the unknown
king who is to be revealed and
crowned in the fall. holds limitations
in his great den every Monday eve.
ming. Business men of Omaha join
each year and pay substantial intia-
ton fees. Some $500 contribute thus
annually. Every stranger within the
state is knighted without paying a
fee if recommended or accompanied
by some Omaha knight.
The limitations are unique, change
each year and are originated and exc
cuted entirely by Omaha talent. Some
of the ceremonials would linger in the
memories of your great great grand
children" to use an expression of a
distinguished visitor who knows.
Three presidents, Mckinley. Taft
and Roosevelt, have been initiated and
Colonel Roosevelt returns this fall as
a private citizen to renew his alleg-
lance to the king. Foreign ministers.
cabinet members. senators, army Off
GERS, governors of almost every west
ern state and many eastern states.
have journeyed to Omaha, been knight
ed and experienced the mysteries of
Ak-Sar-Ben.
All this mystery vanishes in the fall
It is a season of great events. AS the
carnivals of Venice became famous in
history because mo less than seven
foreign princes and thirty thousand
foreigners" attended them, so have
the festivals of Ak-Sar-Ben attracted
attention because one hundred and
fifty thousand people attend them an
nually and men more then foreign
princes have been guests of the organ
ization.
/ Last year the event of the festival
was the visit of President Taft. This
year it is the presence of Colonel
Roosevelt
The electrical parade of King Ak.
Sar- Ben is excelled nowhere in the
world. The scores Of floats, different
each year. move through the streets
bearing hundreds Of actors appearing
as the men and women of song and
story or as the oddities and pleasant
creatures of fairyland. All these
floats are brilliant with tens of thou
sands of electric lights which from
the first succeeded the smoking and
pickering torches in the parades.
Then at the coronation ball comes
the cry. 1.-THE King. the King" and for
the first time in the season the rea
personality Of the king becomes
known. He is always a gentleman Of
position and consequence as the Rex
OF MardiGras. and it. is an honor high
ly esteemed to be selected king of Ak
Sar-Ben. so the mystery with which
his personality is hidden all summe
is merely for the sake \of romance an,
not an account Of the police
During the summer and fall festiva
the country west Of the Missouri rive
Is referred to as the Kingdom Of QuI
vera. This is explained by Samson
Lord High Chamberlain cf the realm
Coronado. Spanish grandee and ad