Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, June 16, 1901, Page 17

. - Reminiscences of Old-Time Hustlers for The Bee P . | EDWIN DAVIR GEORGE B. TZSCHUCK CHARLES €. ROSEWATER NAHUM PFELL CHARLES P ROWILLEAM b o REQUE from the managing edi- o4 wope. The writer recollects one rather reported to the police. The details were porter in Omaha knew the first thing about propose to lose 1. The crowd yelled | tor of The Bee for a reminiscent pynyy guair which illustiates this point, scon secured, aithough the authorities made riding one of the maching However, con him to stop, but he, thinkng that the or | article of an early period of the iy Kent was doing the local on the @ strong effort to suppress the matter, and siderable enthusinsm was aroused over the were those of cncouragement, redoubled L writer's service on The yNorning Bee, single-handed. Giles and a the next morning The Bee came out with event and several newspaper men went into efforts. The Herald representative wa \ Bee brings back thronging memories young cub reporter were gathering up ciiy ©one of the best police stories that bad training. Every spare moment was utii- much disappointed man when the situntion of from fifteeu to eighteen ycars ago. Omabha jyrelligence for the long-since defunc. been published in many a long day. The jzed and the result was that when the finaily dawned upon hine and he slowed had a live, hustling set of local news- Morning Republican. Now Fred R., al- Republican sensation, on the other hand, eventful evening came off three contest- down his wheel, 1t is needl v th .|« satherers then, cach with one great ambi- though a first-class newsgatherer and a fell flat. It proved to be a story of an ants faced the starter, Harry Hunter of this event effectually damperod the ard tion and that to scoop “the other fellow.” pemarkably fine writer, had one tault--he @lleged crime of poisoning and was wholly the Morning B | meroy of the Herald of the newspaper racing enthusiast In those days there were the Evening and wus somewhat addicted to boasting., One unwarranted by the facts presented-—a case upd the writer of the Evening Do I'he Omaha was a W held for news in thos Morning Bee, the Herald and the Re pub- evening in the presence of a number of of “going off balf-cocked, The Repub- puilding was jammed with spoetito tor days Among other inatters the writer e lican, the Evening Dispatch and jater the rpeporters he made the emphatic assertiop lean was promptly sued for libel, although o varied and world, and among the boys who gathered that on the following morning the Repub- 'he suit was withdrawn later, after an provided up the local news the writer recalls Fred lican would scoop its loathesome contem- Numble apology had been published. 1t 4 gor the R. Giles (who died three or four years ago poraries by publishing the “biggest news Was & long time before Kent finished iq00) | in a New York hospital after an eventful sensation of the year.” Kent quietly sepa- Chuckling over the amusing sequel to that career in Chicago and New York journal- rated himself from the group and at once Iidle boast of a rival reporte exciting pro ram had been calis the teial and conviction of City May I made up nis mind shat Guthrie for accepting bribe from the medal and when the starter’s gamblers, the famous John Lauer murder popped he shot out ahead, pumping cas e both trinls of which Johin M iy for dear life. The three contestants Thurston and General John Cowin were strung out and Kept up a pretty even pace pitted against each other, the building of Pomeroy he * ism), Frank Allen, Joe Ryan, Ed O'Brien, started out to puncture the scoop by locat- A laughable event of Omaha NeWspaper (. (ho firse two laps. On one of the the first packing houses in South Omaha Lee Helsley, W. T. Jackman, poor old Joe ing the sensation. He carefully canvassed "‘-“"‘{'-" that occurred about this time Was yug of the third lap the hind wheels of and the deve lopment of that market as a Hamwmill, Harry Hunter, A. R. Fenwick, every news center, big and little, visiting the first—and for aught I know last 1« the bicycles pedaled by Hunter and the stock center; the facts of the famous W. C. Pomeroy, ‘“‘Pope’ Gregory, “Billy’ every place which he thought by any possi- Porters’ bicycle race that ever occurred in Kent, later of Laramie Boomerang memory, bility might afford him a clew. Supper the city. Along in '85 or '86 Jack Prince, and, of course, ‘“Sandy” Woodbridge, the time came and no result. With his evening Tom Eck and several others of the old noblest Roman of them all, and the only meal disposed of and a few minor news time racing men landed in Omaha and be /IN | survivor, in the present Omaha newspaper items turned into copy, Billy started out &an to stir up interest in wheeling matters world, of that ancient band of item on the warpath once more. This time he A well-constructed, eight-lap track was chasers—not a few of whom are now in a was rewarded, for late in the evening he built in the old exposition building on Cap land where scoops are presumably an un- ran across Captain Jim Neligh, who for Itol avenue and a series of racing tourna- writer collided and both riders were thrown Omaha boom, which at that time was al ten or twelve feet with terrific foree Both it height, and numerous other aftair machines were irretrievably damaged and among which, by the way, let usg not for cach contestant was thoroughly nors du get Marshal Ton: Cumming combat. Hunter, indeed, was rather seri famous ukase against the wearing on the street of ously injured, having been violently hurled the Mother Hubbard gown, a subject which against a steam radiator. That broke up was bandled by newspaper paragraphers the riace, of course, but the funny feature from the Atlantic to the Pacific known quantity. ~ many years conducted a private detective ments was hl.lll.mll‘illl Prince conceived of jt was that Pomeroy, who still had that PAaR ALV 10 ‘ALl thbse ‘wafe BURy dRy | Those were days of flerce competition in agency in Omaha. The captain gave him the idea of getting up a reporters’ bicyele yo1q medal glittering before his eyoes R el R T TR \ pursuit of newspaper stories, and each re- a quiet tip in ard to a singularly daring race as the central feature of one of these Lunping away. He knew nothing of the one who :A”;' ipated (n the .II‘I'| S for ¢ away . articipate »oseramble (o porter carried his tomahawk and scalping diamond robbery that had been committed evening programs. Those were the days of cident and merely supposed that he had pews at |II||l l|nlu~ can well attest knife ready to lift the topknot of his rival, that very evening and which had just been the old high wheels and not a single re- ined a comfortable lead and he didn't Port 8mith. Ark A ) KENDRICK . . o g% » The Bee Building--Magnificent Home of The Bee - The Bee in its infancy was not a very years and grew to a great metropolitan As the great structure of granite, iron preteniious newspaper. newspaper, and marble rose from its foundutions no de When The Bee had attained the age of For some time prior to 1887 Mr. Rose- (4i] was so small that it was overlooked three months and given some prom of water had contemplated the erection of a und as the work progressed many chang 8 becoming a permanent institution it leased newspaper building in Omaha that would (4 u4dd to the beauty and solidity of the a new home—another frame building on not only provide every facility for the pub- pyilding were made from the original plans Twelfth street, just to the south of its lication of a mode Journal, but would pega;tess of the extra expense incurred birthplace. This second home of The Bee stand as one of the lasting architectural The Bee building occupies one-fourth of was totally destroyed by an incendiary fire triumphs of a growing city. In June of . antire city block, with a frontage of 132 on the night of June 11, 1872, that year he engaged S. 8. Beman of Chl- ¢oet on Farnam street and the same on ¢ Without any interruption to its regular C480, nous as designer of large offic: goyenteenth street Its distinguishing appearance The Bee was moved into u bulldings, to prepare the plans. While the roaqure is its impressive appearance of two-story and basement brick building on genius and technical skill of Mr. Beman gojjgity and durability. Its beauty is in Farnam street, between Ninth and Tenth evolved the plans in detall, the general jig jmposing walls of granite and brick, the streets, which had been erected by Mr. scheme of construction was sug wted bY nassiveness of its richly colored columns Rosewater in 1869. In this house, re- Mr. Rosewater Work on the building ,pnq (he absence of frivolous ornamentation modeled and enlarged from time to time as commenced in the fall of 1887 and it was ., itg exterior finish was necessary, The Bee lived for sixteen pushed rapidly to conclusion The bullding rests on an impregnable STAIRCASE PARAP THE MARBLE ARCH HE finest newspaper building in foundation, five feet thick at the base, witl the country” is the g u-l:n. ver= assisting piers eight feet thick thyam: thal dict passed on the home of The base the walls taper to a thickness of Bee Some of the largest twenty inches at the parapet Theit American cities have newspaper buildings strength is augmented by iron columns, in that cost more money and are more ornate closed in the brick piers above the first in design than The Bee building, but none story. The walls of the basement and first Irpa It n real beauty, \thhl'\ and story are of rock faced pranite from wdaptability to purpost Waupaca, Wis., considered fully cqual in g Iu this era of architectural triumph there color and textile qualities to the famou o perhaps a score or more of large, mag- Scottish granite The granite | bu nificent and costly newspaper buildings in tressed at the corners of the building, and the United States and among the number above cach a beehive is suggestively carved The Bee building stands as the pioneer in the pilasters The main front on Far When construction was begun in 1887 nam gtreet §s supported by elevin polished Omaha took the lead of even the imperia!l pillars of the same material ity of New York, for at that time the Beginning at the sccond story the granite golden-domed house of the World and the 2lvos Way to hrown obiglaian nre ST great granite structure of the Times wer trimmed with terra cotta of a similar color not in existence \\].. n The Bee ‘i\llvl‘llllllL' wid - brown stons Moulded bricl i was completed ]»-n‘lllux s \~lml _I~-‘-«l~ yl'"l,'” carved terra cotta relieve the monotony of ifter it was the largest, handsomes ( tha vast atratoh of masan: a4 best arranged newspaper house in the world T P -Ix'.h"'h‘ \‘H“ ." “"“ I’ ‘;"” i l-nlu,\l|| still holds its place in the very ixty feet along the center of the bullding front rank ind serves to break the effect of the long Thirty years ago The Bee was born in a lines of windows which streteh across the rough, unpainted two-story frome house at main wall Above the cighth story two the corner of Twelfth and |m].|u. .-'...:l; ORI 1intata iniRat oA ARt AL A then the business center of the city ! above the sidewalk, and between them the this building the printers who did the work . inscription, *The Bee Bullding in :,1..‘.. ’ . on the first floor by day lodged on the - i " . o mu.jmJufia..» Roman letters, graces a terra cotta panel, Passing into the building under the im mense granite arch that gives ingre from ‘ second floor by night, it being a sort of combination print shop and boarding house Indec it was an humble birthplace, but THE BEE BUILDING-—Photo by Heyn Farnam street, the visitor finds himself .