Omaha daily bee., 1917-11-18
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BY Victor Rosewater

A LETTER received this week from an oil
u friend Thomas Rees, now manager of th
A. Illinois State Register, published at Spring
field. ILL.,, enclosed copy OF The Bee of Febru
ary l9, 1872, recently found among his old papers
How this came into my possession | do no
know" he writes. II was visiting in Omaha abou
| that time and made the acquaintance of youF ia
ther who had established The Bee short time
previous. ! feel little hesitancy at sending thi:
old paper, as we are frequently in receipt OF ole
copies of the Register but feeling it would inter.
est you | send it with my best compliments
quote from this letter to explain how my
attention has been drawn to this 45-year-old
| issue OF The Bee. which we also have in our files
but which | otherwise would probably not have
before me. In its four small sx-column pages
the paper contains lot of curious and instructive
matter, especially so in the light of subsequent
events and present-day conditions.
Remembering this was Just in the wake of the
! Franco-Prussan war, we find it carries a cable
message from Rome to the effect that the pope
! intends to denounce the Concordat so far as it
relates to Alsace and Lorrane-yes, the same AL
SAGE and Lorraine that had just been forcibly
taken over from France by Germany and whose
| return to France today is one Of the big stakes
OF the war
Still another cabed news item tells of the dele
CATION OF royasts from the French assembly 60
ing to Antwerp to submit to the Count de Cham
archy in France and endeavor to secure his sane
ton, CONCLUDING: But there is little hope of sue
cess, tor~it IS certain the count will refuse to
make concessions
AS usual with old newspapers, the advertise
ments furnish information of as great interest as
the news columns. The announcement of Mark
Hansen whose establishment was located at the
corner OF Jones and Eleventh streets, offering
"choiee groceries cheap" gives us an idea of the
retail prices that prevailed at that time some of
which are worth quoting:
Best Woodbine -four, Der sack $3.50.
Best New York standard crushed sugar, Is
cents per pound; 6H for $l0O
Best New York "a" sugar, Il cents per pound;
pounds for Sl00
Best New York &C" sugar, 71l pounds for
$10O
Best New York standard brown sugar. 8
pounds for $l00.
Best Rio coffee, rs cents per pound; pounds
for $l00.
Best Java coffee, 80 cents per pound; 8 1-3
pounds for $100.
Best new Turkey prunes, l2H cents per pound:
8pounds for $l00.
Best dried apples, l21l cents per pound; 8
pounds for $1O0.
Best Caroline rice, 12H cents per pound;
pounds for $l00
Best pure starch, 10 cents per pound; u
pounds for $l00.
Best corn starch, l2K cents per pound; s
pounds for $l.00.
Best New York cheese, 20 cents per pound;
pounds for $l.00.
Best golden syrup, $l00 per gallon
Fresh peaches, 2-pound cans, 20 cents.
Fresh tomatoes, 2-pound cans, IS cents.
In reading these prices the fact must not be
overlooked that in 1872 the country was still on
paper money basis and that these figures have
to do with inflated currency and not with gold and
silver coined realm.
Another unavoidable observation Is the out
standing fact that Omaha of As years ago must
hav been lottery mad. The way to get rich quick
evidently. was to buy a numbered ticket and see
II Dame Fortune, presiding over the wheel, would
look down upon it with favor
One announcement for example, tells us a
grand gift concert under the auspices of the Sis
ters OF Mercy, in aid of the Mercy hospital with
Slso,0oo in cash prizes" the grand prize being
$4,000 in gold COIN Tickets are to be had for the
.paltry sum of $3 each or two for $5 and agents
are wanted to sell them. The concert must have
been side line, for no information is given as
to the identity of the artists who to partici-
pate. This was one of the famous "Pattee &
Gardiner lotteries"
But there were also others, almost as daz-
cling. For III gifts valued at $4,000, for which
10000 tickets were to be sold at So each, were
also to be distributed about the same time under
the immediate management of G. Fl. Collins to
say nothing of "a free gift of $500 in gold to
the poor of Omaha The advertised list of pre-
mums is topped by the "house and lot corner
Nineteenth street and Capitol avenue the resi-
dence of G, H. Collins. containing nine rooms,
gas water, cistern. well, stable, etc, command
ing view of the city on the handsomest corner
lot in the city of Omaha, listed at $lo,000;" the
second prize was "house on the corner of Eight
eenth street and Capitol avenue containing eight
rooms, listed at $780," and third prize, another
house, on the corner of Eighteenth street and
Capitol avenue containing seven rooms listed
at $500" As assurance that he would carry out
his part of the arrangement Mr.. Collins appends
as reference the names of score of the most
prominent business men of Omaha and the north
west
A third grand gift concert and musical jubi-
lee is scheduled to take place at Burhops opera
house, tickets limited to $4,000 at ST each," with
chance at "any of the gifts that may be awarded
there" the principal one being the opera house
itself, including stage, scenery, gallery, gas fix
lures. 400 chairs, front and back entrances, with
ground belonging thereto" listed at $4,000. And
the next three prizes each one of the three brick
stores. in Burhop's block, aggregating in the list
$4,000. II - =
No doubt later publications tell what hap
pened to these grand gift enterprises 1t is his
tory that the Pattee people got into all sorts
OF trouble Some day somebody with time and
industry on his hands will write history of the
lottery in the United States.
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