Omaha daily bee., 1919-06-15
Views and Rev1ews
What the Demolition Of the
Bond Theatre Means

BOYG IHc0tTC means
/ The definite announcement that Boyd's
] theater is to make way this year for fine mod
ern store building foreshadows not only strik-
1 ing change in the confguration Of the business
/ district OF Omaha but also the demolition OF
what, when it was opened, was probably the
/ finest amusement house in the west. When
Governor Boyd put up this building, being the
second show-house he had erected here it was
/ far in advance of all others, and it is tribute
to his foresight and enterprise that it should
| have held its own for nearly so years and would
still be serviceable were it not crowded out by
the march of business.
happened to be away at the time the New
| Boyd theater was opened and so was not present
at the initial performance which, as has been
stated, was Alabama war comedy, written
1 by Augustus Thomas, and put on by A. M.
Palmer's New York company. 1t was very
! brilliant occasion, with all Omaha turning out
| to make acknowledgements to the man who
| had made it possible. From that time on, all
| the noted players and operate performers en-.
| its stage could write history it would be a
| real contribution to the story of the drama in
| America.
1t is worth recalling that when the Boyd
| was built It was on the very edge of the down.
| town district. The site had to be graded Is or
| 20 feet and the theater stood for years sur
| rounded by high clay embankments, the streets
| approaching it were unpaved and it was like
| crossing sea of mud to get to it in wet
weather. More than once have seen 'hacks"
carrying gaily dressed parties, stuck" trying to
get up to the entrance. The interior OF the
theater was several times redecorated and was
always artistic and attractive until, to every
ones disgust, the drop curtain was dishgured
into checker-board of hideous advertisements
The regretable part of the destruction Of the
of Boyd, which has been blazoned day and night
to the inhabitants of Omaha and to the stranger
within our gates SO long that the city will not
seem the same without it..
The stories OF Fred Thompson appearing in
eastern papers make reference to his Omaha
connections in such confused way as to mis-
lead lad !; In Pr partnership with the E late Skip"
Island and the Hippodrome in the city, Thomp-
son became top-notcher among showmen, but
the chief part Omaha played in his rise and
career was that his relations with Dundy began
here. It may be reliably stated that Thompson
opening of our 1898 exposition as a stranded
architect. He had an introduction to Howard
H. Baldrige who with some friends, had been
interested by man named Roltaire in a mid
way concession known as THE Sinking Of the
Maine" a beautiful scenic motion panorama
which those who witnessed it will never forget.
To help Thompson out, he was engaged to
draw the plans and superintend the construc-
Z ton of this miniature theater and, while dis
cussng it, met Dundy in Baldrige's Office.
Dundy employed him also for one, or two other
concessions he had at the exposition, but
Thompson had no interest in any production
here. \
When Dundy caught the exposition fever
along with the money he made at the Trans
mississippi and went to Buffalo to do it over
again, he took Thompson. in with him for a
giant Ferris wheel stunt and spectacle known
as "A Trip to the Moon" Buffalo proved i'll
fated in more ways than one, involving in a
financial disaster nearly everyone who invested
there. The Omaha bunch considered them
selves lucky, as Skip" himself told me, to pull
out with the money they had put in. The
Tor was it first to Atlantic City? and then the
two partners developed the idea Of moderniz-
ing the summer amusements of the metropolis.
The result was Luna Park, named after one of
the Dundy girls, built on capital of $25,000
supplemented with borrowings Of 100000,
stupendous success from the jump-of. People
who visited the place when it was at its
height could easily imagine themselves back
here on the Omaha midway, to say nothing Of
the familiar faces they saw in the office and
around. the grounds. When Thompson went
into other ventures, and particularly after he
lost the financial backing and business judgment
of Dundy, things did not prosper so we'll, and
the chances are he leaves but a small, if any,
estate
In the death of former Senator John c.
Spooner, one of the great constitutional lawyers
OF his day, has passed out with but scant notice
The first time looked in on the senatelat Wash
ington, now more than 80 years ago, Wisconsin
was represented by Philetus Sawyer and John
c. Spooner, two men of as opposite types as
could be imagined Sawyer, an aged, tottering
lumber millionaire, who had made his money
despite his lack of education amounting almost
to illiteracy and spooner, keen, sharp, dapperr
young attorney, smartly dressed, ready and
George F. Hoar pays tribute to Spooner's high
legal talents. Years afterwards I happened
quite by accident to be in the senate chamber
when Spooner escorted LaFollette, long his
implacable political enemy, to the vice presi-
dents desk to be sworn in and again was struck |
by the appearance of the Wisconsin senator's
as two widely divergent types. Spooner was
than the grave and serious senator-LaFo oil |
lette, brusque and bristling, in fact, one of the
clever cartoons the next morning depicted these
two walking arm-in-arm, caricaturing LaFo- |
Spooner soon after resigned his place in the |
senate on the plea that as poor man he owed |
it to his family to take up his profession in |
which his earning power would be much |
greater. He removed to New York and was in |
many big lawsuits, among them appearing |
for the Union Pacific in the merger case, and |
gradually dropped out of public life His death |
comes as reminder of the political prominence
he enjoyed before his retirement from the
senate. @
a. a.