Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, October 1, 1916, Page 63

We-zal Bull” THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: OCTOBER 1, 1916. 5—M (_*__________________’-———*—**—_:______———— ~ Coronado’s Hysterical Bull and the Boys Who Made Him Be Good T FELL to the lot of some tens of thousands of per- sons from divers parts of the western hemisphere, principally, however, from the commonwealth of Ne- braska, to be entertained during the courge of the summer and fall, by the (musical travesty known as “Coron- ado's Hysterical Bull” in the vast and echoing halls of King Ak-Sar-Ben's den, Twentieth and Burdette streets. Every year tens of thousands are entertained here by some phantasma- gorical production by the home talen wonders, who come |camperinf ou of the various occupations of lifc every Monday evening during the season, just to entertain Nebraska's popuylation, and let them know that an Omahan will work without pay at any time for the entertainment, enlightenment, edification and gen- - eral smerriment of Nebraska people. Sa: 282 men, boosters every mother’s offspring of them, appeared at this den -Monday evenings for a period of nearly four months and staged this :magnficent production, half his- torical phantasmagoria, half blood- curdling initiation, just to give Ne- braskans and other visitors to Omaha something pleasant to think about for & month or two. The vehicle pn_which their work was:hung was “Coronado’s Hysteri- Of course, the bull didn't ay.as big a part as did Coronado. he:plot, props and effects were de- signed by Gus Renze. The lyrics werg, emitted by Miles Greenleaf. George F. West was responsible for the ritual with which thevisitors were all gworn in as loyal knigll‘ns of the vealm, Prof. Sigmund Landsburg, concocted the music and Oscar Lieben was the architect of costumes. Ben F. Thomas was grand mufti this' year, There must always be a gra mufti in every Ak-Sar-Ben show, and the grander the man chosen, the grander the mufti. F. Fitch was the scribe who trailed alorg with the mufti to see that none of august words were lost to posterit ert C. Miner and William ' Wappich took turns in the part of the prophet, for what is a court of a mufti without a prophet or an oracle? Oscar Lieben, J. R. Caitt. jr, and William Wappich, were interchangeable in the part of the ‘seer, with Lieben and Wappich takigg the part most of the time during the season. NG sooner had the thousands of visitors been duly rolled in.the stu- pendous barrel, marched through the concéntrated cyclone on the second story of the den, hammered through plate-glass windows, and bumped on nsg. steel screens, than the bugler announced the coming of the grand mufti. Every head in the vast hall was instantly bared, and visitors and local ‘members alike stood at atten- tion.-. The mufti with his retinue of attaches appeared, preceded by bug- lers,~banner bearers, and in a gen- eral flourishing burst of magnifi- cence. When they marched to the great stageé: at the north end of the hall, the mufti took his position back of @ small altar, bade the multitude be scated, and then and there made 'ihun all loyal knights of Ak-Sar- en: . Here the seer, usually Oscar Lieb- en, came slowly upon the scene, an aged and bent figure, leaning his tof tering form upon a staff. In hi hand he carried a crystal globe as big “as a man’s head. He tottered over to a little table, placed the globe upefi’ it, whereupon it instantly be- came- illuminated in bright red. As the seer gazed into the crystal depths of the globe, he began to see ngam the great drama of the progress of Nebraska from a treeless desert uport which the red eye of the sun looked pitilessly for ages, to the mod- ern day of agricultural plenty, a mil- lion and a half of people, and a high degree of ci ation, educational and gengral culture. All these things he reviewed in a dramatic speech as he staréd wild-eyed into the bright red crystal. As if his eye was sweeping \ the ages, his oratory slashed through he centuries, and brought the listen- ers down to the modern date, the birth of Ak-Sar-Ben as a booster organiza- tionaand its twenty-two years of prog- res Again this feeble patriarch’s mind sufféred a lapse, and he seemed to hear'again the bells of the royal court of the fabled King Tartarrax, the mythical kirig toward which the In- |8 dian~guides in centuries gone by, led Coronado and his band of Spanish cavaliers. Even as the old seer vanishes from | § the foreground the bells of the fabled court, chimed, the curtain was with- drawn, and there was this fabled court itself lying before the gaze. . In rushed Jack Alvord, taking the part-of the fabled King Tartarrax. Chatley Gardner ph#d tl';g part equ)i z is big musical |3 in the season, and voice was much applauded. Then he had to drop out for a time, and Chief | 8 Henry Dunn took the part as well as | 3 he could for a time, but since he had | 8 the pperation a year ago, he has not been especially enthusiastic for these laborous stage stunts. was then decided upon, and Jack made Bood. Not so huge in stature as unn or Gardner, his voice neverthe- less ‘tarried well, and he made a very <reditable king of the fabled tribe of | J red men. So’in rushed King Tartarrax roar-|§ ing about the jangling of the “infernal bells,” for he was growing tired of them. Likewise he was tired of gold fish, for he had fed on them until he : longed for something more sub- utanm_l, say a nice fat fried spring dog. o he sang: *Oh, .please take my money, Won't-someone take my dough, ete, ete. “For ‘I eat gold fish On a silver dish, When I'd rather have sour rum.” Ever the squaws and braves joined |8 bim-in the chorus, and such a clever |8 bevy of squaws they were in buckskin | @ dresses with delicate fringe. F. H. Hanson was the fattest squaw in the lot. “Before Hanson joined this par- ticular aggregation, it was necessary to @se padding to make up this rotund figure, but when Hanson was discovered, all the pillows and cush- fons-were superfluous. R. C. Wilson and ‘E. L. Livingston had a particu- larly clever step in the dance that went with this chorus, M. H. Vance, Will Fox, H. V. Smith and Harry Benford were not averse to introduc- lng.lo'me of the modern tango and hesifation into the Indian squaw dance of five centuries ago. J. Jack Alvord |& 1 Meyer, A. E. McLarnan, P. Romenek and Clint Miller could be depended upon to keep the squaw dance in per- fect unison. Jack Alvord and M. C. Brown now come storming in over the bank of the river in the costume of Lewis and Clark. They are on their way to the northwest coast, exploring the vast reaches of the Louisiana purchase. They are thirsty and are shown to Tartarrax's bar. Another shout goes ug and Peter Sarpy is sighted in the distance, ~lowi’y approaching in his prairie schooner drawn by a decrepit mule, Harry Johnston played the part well, and looked every inch the hardy old trader who braved the wilds in the early days to trade with the Indians and early travelers and pioneers. The historical crank again consulted his book to see if Peter might be ad- mitted to the gathering. “Probably some old bootlegger,” exclaimed King Tartarrax, “but let him in.” . So Peter Sarp{ drove his mule be- hind the scenes, leaped off the wagon, snatched out an American flag, hauled down Coronado’s Spanish colors, and hoisted the Stars and Stripes amid the applause of Indians, Chinese servants, and the multitude of candidates and visitors. Alex Reed and Harry Gaetz were the two efficient white wings of Quivera, and always created a laugh, especially when they became dis- gruntled, dumped their cart in the middle of the street, and turned out a real live candidate. Coronado, Peter Sarpy, Logan Fon- tenelle, Tartarrax, and Lewis and Clark having all congregated together at the court of Tartarrax, a feast was spread and some of the visitors at the Den were invited to eat. A monstrous bird flew to the table, snatched up the table c.oth, dishes and all, and soared away, before their astonished eyes. Other candidates were forced to wash themselves before eating ,and were terated to a mysterious ducking be- fore they even got their fingers wet. L. A. Stalmaster, as Boot Leggo, the waiter, made a very efficient servant about the tables, and Kenneth Hatch, as Lumbago, another waiter, was equally nimble. T. B. Dysart, as The 1 Turk, Coronado’s advance agent, ably . personified this notable character in Coronado’s expedition, » Cleopatra had no better, abler, and sturdier boatmen to row her perfumed barge down the mystic Nile than Ed Shavlik, F. A. Waldman, I. Finken- stein, M. L. Hamann, K. H. Jones, and T. H. McNamara, who were the boat- men rowing and piloting the famous barge of Cremo down the Muddy Mis- souri to the court of Tartarrax. When the dinners of the visitors proved failures for various reasons, a chuck wagon was sighted in the dis- tance, drawn by a magnificent team of oxen. The wagon was loaded with visitors, often as many as thirty sturdy sons of Nebraska were piled into’ the wagon, The Indians under Chief Afraid of Firewater, who in real life is John Hogan, made a rush at the wagon, and surrounded it. Eight sturdy braves danced about the wagon. Th)?’ were Louie Storz, Carl L. Abbott, M. . Gibson, E. A. Arriens, Dr. L. A, ermody, J. E. Archibald, W. H. Metcalfe and Bert Tanner. Thé_driver of the chuck wagon, Bert Fox, was overpowered. The driver of the ox team, E. L. Potter, was hog-tied, and the candidates were pulled roughly from the wagon. They were seated on the driveway and treated to a most hair-raising shock, while the Indians wailed weird songs | Bake Ice Machine Co. 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They flung tomahawks at him, dozens of them, which stuck amazingly close to his face and body with a horrifying thud, and clung there quivering with the shock of arrested flight. Yes, and they shot arrows at him and into him from a distance of ten paces, and that was desperately close. Then they set fire to a pile of brush directly in front of him in order to put him to the slow torture. But— here the cowboys came clattering up the trail on fiery bronchos. They emptied their sixshooters into Edmund George McGilton Former Lieutenant Gov- ernor, who exerts a p o w e rful influence for good business in growing Omaha. ATTORNEY AT LAW 1004 City Nat'l Bk. Bldg. the ! | pack of Indians and sent them scam- pering into the underbrush. They galloped to the side of the roasting individual, cut the thongs, stamped out the fire, made camp for the even- ing, and then resolved themselves into a quartet, while one of their number, Lee Kennard, twirled the rope in all the devious and graceful writhings that would make Irwin Brothers’ best ropers look up and no- tice. Charles Taylor, Dr. Gladstone Der- by, Harry Watts and John J. Hoffman constituted the cowboy quartet and the rescue party. While the twilight was glowing in the western hills of a beautiful scene arranged at the den, these fellows always made a ten- strike with their clever little song, | ISIDOR ZIEGLER Attorney-atLaw 407 Ware Block E. G. McGilton MYRON L. LEARNED. 800 BEE BUILDING Harvey W.v Morrow Attorney at Law 815 Brandeis Theater Building “Only a cowboy, only a cowboy, laid in a cold, cold grave.” Just prior to this Indian escapade the “Zeppelin” plunged into the den, carrying always one of the visitors in a most unthinkable flight. The “Zeppelin” was manned by Victor Roos, Otto Ramer and James Fisher. It was none other than a stout mo- torcycle with a third wheel and a basket seat. The candidate was put in the basket, and Victor Roos, the "~ expert driver, whirled him about the. - stage, keeping the third wheel off’ the floor half the time, and the bas: ket with its frightened occupant sail~ ing high in the air over the edge of!’ the platform and above the heads of * © the audience. A military drill and a beautiful tab ~ leau wound up the svening’s perform- (Continued on Page’Six, Column One.) ALBERT W. JEFFERIS . of the firm of Jefferls & Tunison, is one of the bnt.hm attorneys in Omaha. wWas He was assistant county attorney for one term, and in 19! irty for congress in the Omaha district. niversity of Michigsn, in the bl from ment of e nominee of won prominence as an athlete, as well as & scholar, Louis J. Piatti John F. Moriarty - Piatti & Wear Attorneys and Counselors at Law 1017-1022 City National Bank Building Phone Douglas 4508 OMAHA N. H. LOOMIS, General Solicitor Union Pacific R. R. Co.