Omaha daily bee., 1917-02-25
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--By Victor Rosewater
As A RESULT Of this last weeks fire.
"A Omahas business district shows the big
gest hole that has been burned in it for
long time and the rebuilding, as it comes about,
is sure to make a most marked change in the
city's topography ard aspect. In the very early
days the block frol' Fourteenth to Fifteenth fac
ing Douglas strhet, was an aggregation OF
wooden stores and frame shacks, the first brick
building being on the second lot from the east
corner. probably part OF il still remaining The
Fourteenth street corne. was occuied by big
barn-like building housing drug store, sup
planted later by the brick structure in which J.
A. Fuller conducted his drug business. There
a hardware store to the west run by the
Dukes and about the center Of the block was
Madame Hickman's famous Millinery Emporium,
that set the styles in headgear for all the women
OF Omahas most fashionable set OF those days.
Or course, there was a saloon or two, restaurant,
and few other shops, but no pretensons to
architectural achievement even comparable with
the uniform blocks on both Douglas and Farnam
below Fourteenth until the Continental building
blos3omed forth among the other acquisitions OF
our first boom period When originally erected
the Continental building was the pride of the city
and with the fine buildings on the three other
ners made Fifteenth and Douglas the real retail
center OF Omaha, which prestige it long held. 1t
was just half way between the postofice and the
opera house and it was the focus of nearly every
thing, especially the street corner meetings, circus
parades, and carriage traffic, for let it be remem-
bered that Douglas was paved with smooth as
phalt all the time, while the rough granite blocks
on Farnam drove business away. | know, because
an uncle of mine had an Office in the Continental
block, which | used to frequent when wanted
preferred perch in corner street window.
My reference to captain Jack" Crawford, 'the
poet scout" has brought me letter from some
one who can speak about Captain jack with au-
itv iptfp atelu fAd
the carly days Of The Bee. The letter comes
from John H. Pierce, now at Oakland, Cal who
signs himself again. Ranger" as he did when he
was The Bees correspondent.
Oakland. Cal, Feb. 20.-My Dear Victor:
1t is customary to minimize the services of pub
lie men and thereby the writer secures credit
for showing how fame is but cobweb. Cap
tain Jack Crawford, the poet scout is said to
be dying and Senator Sorensen brushes away
long stretch Of his years, devoted to removing
the bars to civilization by the words, He has
ever since been doing Chautauqua work
During that time Crawford fought every
band of hostiles, and they were numerous, that
killed, raided and destroyed in the southwest
and at Fort Craig, n M. He was not only chief
Of scouts, but he was the chief business man
OF the post.
There is not in the War department a
shoulder strap to mark the chief Of scouts, but
1t is a title, like wagon master, recognized
wherever the army uses either. immediately
following the Custer campaign against the
Sioux, Captain Jack was where he could watch
the hostiles, who had fed to Canada. His
headquarters at Baraboo, B. c. When the
Klondyke was opening to civilization the |
Alaska gold fields, Captain Jack was pioneer
there
and when he dies l hope no one will shorten
his honorable record one item, and if they do I
will be glad to arise and cry hold, =, Yours for
the whole truth. RANGER"
All this is very interesting, but so far as I |
have yet heard, Captain Jack" has not yet |
kicked the bucket" and it would be welcome |
irony Of fate for him to pull himself together and
come back at his biographers with the true story |
Df his life.
! am moved to wonder II folks nowadays still |
keep scrapbooks as repositories of things they
read and want to keep and refer to again. The
scrapbook habit ought to be incucated In young
folks for they can draw big dividends OF pleasure
and satisfaction out of it afterwards. For example
OF what | say, read this memorandum that was
submitted to me not long ago by a friend en-
gagged in newspaper work, who evidently reads
this column regularly:
There is peculiar fascination in browsing
through old scrapbooks Some time ago l was
given volume of newspaper and magazine
clippings. The book was prepared by woman
who lived for many years in St. Louis and who
died in Omaha a few years ago. 1t was only a
few days ago that | took time to peruse the
pages Of this interesting book
"Glancng hurredly through the pages |
noted some articles relating to the fate Robert
G. Ingersoll, another article by Ouida, ser
mon by Rev. Dewitt Talmage and then | came
upon an article from The Sunday Bee, under
date line of Craig-y-Nos Castle, Ystradgyuais,
South Wales, June a. 1891, signed by Victor
Rosewater. That article was pasted in the book
more than quarter of a century ago.
"On another page is an illustrated article of
Great Journalists including Joseph Med
George w. Childs Murat Halstead, Charles A.
Dana and Henry Watterson. Which reminds ME
that one OF the early assignments had when
beginning newspaper work was to meet Mr.
Halstead at the Union depot one cold night
after the hour of midnight. recognized the
distinguished newspaper man when he alighted
from the train, told him was from The Bee
and then directed him to the Paxton hotel He
asked after the late Edward Rosewater that
can recall, but l do not remember anything of
particular interest that he may have said in the
way OF an interview"