Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-27

was not effective, and great became its
fame as the feeding place.
His Personality.
A third reason why they went there was
the personality of Benny himself and
this has become the great source of the
tavern's fame. He was a host Of the old
fashioned kind and was looked on as a
friend and crony. AS may be guessed, the
hero Of a song whose verses are legion
and are sung today all over the globe, was
a good deal of a character.
Old residents Of Highland Falls who
knew him as a ~neighbor. with that short
ness OF vision common when a prophet
arises, describe him as a plain, ordinary
sort OF man, but he was unquestionably a
host Of unusual parts and is said to have
been an accomplished raconteur. 1t Is re-
lated that Poe. when a student at West
Point, was infatuated with him and would
steal away from the academy and spend
hours converslng with him. In later years
Ravens told many a story in turn about
Poe, then famous.
The fame of Benny Havens is recorded,
OF course, primarily in the endless army
song, Benny Ravens, OH" Seldom, IL
ever, is It found in published form intact.
There is the official version and then there
Is what may be termed the ~unexpurgated
version. To the former 1t has long been
the custom to add a verse a year: TO the
latter there is no limit.
DR.. O'Brien, originally an assistant sur
seon in the army, is credited with heinz
the composer of the initial verses, With
the aid Of others these grew to five In
number, and the number has never ceased
to grow.
First Verse of Famous song.
O'Brien had just been commissioned a
lieutenant in the Eighth infantry, and be-
fore Joining his regiment he stopped at
West Point to visit a friend, Major Ripley
Arnold, then a first class man. They made
many excursions to Benny's, and then
arose the song, which was set TO the tune
of The Wearln' O. the Green" and of
which the opening verse is:
Come, iii YOU glasses, fellows, and stand
up In a row
TO singing sentimentally we're going for
TO gH;
In the army there's sobriety. promotion's
very slow,
So wen sing our "reminiscences of Benny
Ravens, oh!
Oh, Benny Ravens, oh! Oh. Benny Havens
oh!
Wen sing our "reminiscences Of Benny
Ravens oh!
A Renaissance relating to the death of
the author and OF Benny's manner OF re-
ceiving the news is one Of the many stories
which cluster about the old house now
standing in exile back In the mountains.
The description OF the conditions under
which the cadets had gathered at the tav-
ern throws also an interesting light on
the charm which made the riverside re-
treat popular.
The time was midwinter and the hour,
one before midnight. Three or four Of the
cadets had come down to the place by
land and as the snowcrust would not sup
port their weight had followed the road at
risk Of detection, instead OF the course
through the woods, sometimes taken. Two
or three others had made their way from
barracks to Gees Point, where the light
house stands, and there put on skates and
gllded a mile and a half down the frozen
Hudson to Havens' dock.
inside the house they sat around a log
fire that cracked Its merrlest Christmas
carol on Benny's hearth" while the flow
OF old and holiday wine, the still more CO.
p'ous flow Of Benny's paternal soul and the
audible somerssults Of the buck heats,
punctual to the hour, preparing in the next
apartment, babe avaunt to the hobgoblin
OF discipline"
Death of O'Bricn.
Soon the singing began, and finally came
this verse, dedicated to the originator Of
the Benny Ravens song. who had Just died
for his country in Florida:
There comes a voice from Florida, from
Tampa's deadly shore.
IL is the wall Of gallant men, O'Brien Is no
more;
In the land OF sun and flowers his head
lies pillowed low,
No more to sing Petite COduille" at
Benny Havens, Oh!
As all uncovered the host. with that
same pipe whose stem was proportion
ately as short as himself and one Of the
invariable emblems OF his Identity, con-
traeted that horizontally. expansive eoun-