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History of Nebraska - Chapter 35
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CHAPTER XXXV
GREATER OMAHA -- CHRISTIAN SCIENCE IN NEBRASKA -- AK-SAR-BEN OF OMAHA --
DEVELOPMENT OF THE POTASH INDUSTRY
GREATER OMAHA. A history of Nebraska would not be complete without the
recent enactments, and ordinances which have resulted in the consolidation
of various suburbs of the city of Omaha -- the whole being popularly
called Greater Omaha.
Omaha proper comprised an area of 24.50 square miles, which, generally
speaking, included about six miles north and south, bounded on the east by
the Missouri river, and extending west about four miles. The organization
of the South Omaha Land Company, and the incorporation of the Union Stock
Yards Company, in the early '80's, located at what, down to this time of
annexation, was known as South Omaha, now called South Side. Necessity
meant the founding of a city which was destined to grow as the enterprise
which gave it birth expanded.
The village of Dundee, adjoining Omaha on the west, was incorporated in
1894. It was, from the first, a residential suburb. Situated on sightly
hills commanding a view as far as the Little Papio, it attracted many of
Omaha's citizens, who in the years of its existence, have erected many
elegant homes. Ornamental shade trees, shrubbery of various kinds, paved
streets, electric lights, and sewers have made Dundee an ideal city of
homes. Its population at the time of annexation January 20, 1915, was 2,
500.
Benson, adjoining Omaha on the northwest, was incorporated as a village
December 4, 1897. It occupies some of the highest land in Douglas county,
and is situated on the old Military Road. Adjoining it is the Omaha
Country Club with its splendid golf links. Its population at the time of
annexation, May 25, 1917, was 5,000.
Florence, annexed May 25, 1917, has a population of 2,500. It lies
seven miles due north of the original Omaha. From one viewpoint, it
antedates any other city in Nebraska. as it, with Fort Calhoun, was
"Winter Quarters" in the great Mormon migration in 1844. Its early history
has been recounted at length elsewhere in this work.
The total of the territory thus annexed, together with the statement of
the bonded debt of Omaha proper, and its constituent suburbs, their
population and several areas as of January 1, 1918, is here presented:
Water Dist. School Dist.
Annexed Sq.Mi. Est.Pop. Bond Debt Bond Debt Bond Debt
Omaha Proper 24.50 174,500 7,925,250 7,000,000 2,492,000
South Omaha 6/20/15 6.40 40,000 1,011,188 220,000
Dundee 6/20/15 .70 2,500 195,000 83,000
Clontarf
Precinct 4/25/17 .04
Elmwood Park
and
Vicinity 4/25/17 1.04
Strip --
Benson
limits to
Spaulding 500
Strip --
Between
48th and
52d St. 4/25/17 .77
Levi Carter
Park and
Vicinity 3/31/17 .69
Benson 5/25/17 1.40 5,000 74,500 53,000 110,000
Florence 5/25/17 2.24 2,500 86,000 16,000
Totals for
Greater Omaha 37.78 225,000 9,291,938 7,053,000 2,921,000
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The city of Omaha adopted the commission form of government in the
spring of 1912. Its affairs down to that time had been administered by
councilmen, two chosen from each ward, and a mayor. They are now entrusted
to seven commissioners selected by the people, each commissioner having
charge of a separate department. These departments are public affairs;
accounts and finance; police, sanitation, and public safety; fire
protection and water supply; street cleaning and maintenance; parks and
public property; and public improvements. The commissioners meet regularly
every Tuesday morning for the transaction of public business, and special
meetings are called when necessary by the mayor, who is ex officio
president of the city council. The mayor is elected by and from the
commissioners.
Inseparably related to the growth of Omaha, is its system of parks and
boulevards, inaugurated and developed principally within the past two
years. With twenty-one parks, large and small, and thirty-five miles of
boulevard, unifying them into a connected and constituent whole, this
feature of her civic growth and development is one which, for natural
beauty, accessibility for enjoyment, and possibilities for development, is
the envy of all the cities of the middle west.
Nature and art have combined to bring about this result: for, strange
to say, the total amount expended upon this system has been less than $2,
394,000. The generosity of wealthy citizens accounts in part for this
remarkable fact. The actual value of this property exceeds many times its
original cost. Hill and dale, woodland and prairie, river, lakes, and
springs, all have lent themselves to the creation and beautification of a
park and boulevard system which can be said to be almost ideal.
Levi Carter park is, in area, the largest in the city, comprising 303
acres. Its distinctive feature, perhaps, is Carter lake of two hundred
acres, affording splendid boating, swimming and fishing facilities.
West of Sixtieth street lies Elmwood park, containing 208 acres. Nature
has lavished upon this spot her gifts: landscape, level ground, and
natural forests, with deliciously cold springs of clear water, making it
an ideal recreation resort. Magnificent evergreens and white birches stand
guard along its principal drives. Part of this tract was donated to the
city of Omaha and part was purchased at a cost of $135,000.
The largest natural park is "Riverview," containing 111 acres. It lies
in the southern portion of original Omaha, and rises in tiers of plain and
woodland, like a majestic amphitheater, from the west bank of the
Missouri. From the far spreading prairies and picturesque bluffs stretched
along its Iowa side, it affords a magnificent prospect. All that was
necessary to obtain a perfect park was to erect a fence around this 111
acres. A large swimming pool and bath house, and a "zoo" are among its
acquired attractions.
Fontenelle park lies in the northwestern part of the city and contains
107 acres. Only recently has this park been improved. A four-acre lagoon
furnishes splendid bathing facilities.
Miller park, the "Pride of North Omaha," is named after Doctor George
L. Miller, a pioneer of the late '50's and one of the few fathers of Omaha
still living. It contains seventy-eight acres, was formaly a cornfield,
and exemplifies most strikingly the transformation which time and money
and the art of the landscape gardener can accomplish. Through it, concrete
paved driveways have been built. A large lagoon with a wooded island has
been made, and birch, evergreen, and other trees, planted years ago,
beautify the gently undulating ground. Its golf course and play grounds
are well patronized. The Florence boulevard, containing "Omaha's prettiest
mile," unifies it with the park system.
Hanscom park, the oldest in the city, contains fifty-seven acres. When
donated to the city by A. J. Hanscom and S. A. Megeath, it was on the very
verge of the city of which it is now the heart. Its natural beauty has
discountenanced rather than invited artificial adornment. It has been
called by experts one of the most beautiful parks in the United
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States. In the greenhouses of the park, more than 350,000 plants are
propagated and raised yearly. These are used in ornamental flower beds
planted in the various parks, hospitals, public schools, and fire stations
of the city.
Scattered throughout the city are numerous smaller parks, and breathing
centers, some located in South Omaha, and most of them the gifts of public
spirited citizens who have been enriched by the marvelous growth of the
city. Among these, many of them sylvan retreats, sequestered from the
composite noises of the city's life, yet at once accessible, are the
following parks: Bemis, 10 acres; Deer, 19 acres; Kountze, 11 acres;
Curtis Turner, 8 acres; Harold Gifford, 2 acres; Mercer, 4 acres;
Jefferson square, 2 acres; Hixenbaugh; Burt playground; Bluff View; Spring
Lake, 11 acres; Highland, 6 acres; McKinley, 5 acres; Clear View, and
Morton.
In April, 1915, the city council organized a board of public
recreation. It works in conjunction with the board of education, and the
superintendent of parks to supervise children's play, and to promote
various forms of recreation and enjoyment among the people of the city.
The installation of playgrounds in the parks and schools relates, of
course, to the recreational activities of children. The attendance on
these in the 1916 season totaled 262,878. An annual appropriation of $18,
000 is made for their support. The other phase of the board's activities
interests the general public. Under it, various recreations and sports
have been provided. Among these are the establishment of free bathing
beaches and pools. In the summer of 1916, 292,815 persons availed
themselves of these privileges. No charge whatever is made for them. Among
the sports, facilities for which are provided, are: baseball, football,
soccer, cricket, golf, and tennis.
Still another phase of its work has been the establishment of
"community centers," the general object of which is the bringing together
of the children and citizens of these communal organizations, and
providing among them, athletics, community music, drama, lectures,
concerts, moving picture exhibitions, social entertainments with literary
programs added, and discussions of municipal questions. Once a year or
oftener, the different communities meet in the municipal auditorium in
friendly contest, vieing with each other in some prominent feature of the
year's activities. The attendance at the centers in 1917 was 34,000.
Community gardens have been established in some centers to assist the poor
in their vicinities.
Over $1,000,000 is spent annually upon its public schools and it shares
with its sister, Lincoln, our capital city, the pride which naturally
attaches to the development of an educational system, which has attracted
to these cities, parents and students eager to avail themselves of the
advantages thus freely offered. With respect to what may be called Omaha's
material growth, and its development along certain lines in recent years
much could be added.
Its bank clearings for the year ending December 31, 1917, were $1,873,
353,171. If this is a fair index of the amount of its annual business,
Omaha ranks as the fourteenth city in the United States. It ranks thirty-
third in population. It is the first city in the United States in butter
production. The second as a live stock market; and therefore, the second
in the world. It is the fourth primary grain market in the United States.
It is the first lead reducing center in the world. Gold and silver valued
at $39,000,000 are reduced annually. It is the first feeder-sheep-market
in the world, and the first range horse market in the world. In live stock
receipts, it handled 7,565,830 head. The value of its packed meats, during
the time mentioned, was $191,718,000. Its grain receipts were 66,462,100
bushels. Its smelter output amounted to $59,247,165. Its total factory
output for the year ending December 31, 1917, was $327,721,546. The volume
of its wholesale business was $236,137,067. Its new buildings represent an
investment of $7,737,047.
The oldest of the sons of Omaha are about sixty years of age. During
their span of life, the city has grown until now, in point of population,
it ranks thirty-third among the cities
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of the Union. Its growth in the very recent years, and now, has attracted
the attention of all who keep informed as to the great cities of the land.
The constant growth of its industries and manufactories, the ramifications
of its railway systems, the work and supplies they furnish the northern
and western country, the magnificent office and hotel buildings which have
been erected and the private and almost palatial residences to be seen
attest the stability of the city. All this is the more significant because
Omaha nestles like a jewel in the bosom of the Missouri valley. Everything
says the city is destined to pass on to a career of prosperity and success
even greater than has been enjoyed during the years which have gone.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE IN NEBRASKA
Fifty years ago a history of the state of Nebraska would have contained
no record of Christian Science either as a religious movement or as a
method of healing, for at that time even in Massachusetts, where it was
first brought to the attention of the few who would listen, those actually
interested in the movement numbered scarcely a score. When, in 1875,
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, was
published as the text book of Christian Science, conventional
Massachusetts had no welcome for the book or its author.
Two decades later, when the Mother Church in Boston had been dedicated
and the disciples of Mrs. Eddy's teaching were flocking to the city from
all parts of the globe, to attend a church meeting, held at that time
annually for non-resident and local members, the Bay State awakened to the
fact that it had, firmly founded in its capital, a Christian denomination
that had come to stay and Boston extended a cordial welcome to its
visitors and a recognition of the sturdy worth of the local followers. We
have witness of this in the attitude of the press of that date, numerous
clippings from which are to be found in Mrs. Eddy's book, Pulpit and
Press. Previotis to this event New England had acknowledged Mrs. Eddy one
of its leading and honored citizens.
The history of Christian Science in Nebraska properly begins in 1885,
when a student of Mrs. Eddy, after having been healed through Christian
Science treatment returned from her studies in the Massachusetts
Metaphysical College in Boston and began to practice in Omaha. She taught
her first class in 1887. She was the first Christian Science practitioner
west of the Missouri river. Prior to this time other teachers of Christian
Science had made visits to different parts of the state giving talks upon
the subject but there seems to have been no lasting results from these
attempts to introduce Christian Science in Nebraska.
The first church building to be erected in Nebraska by Christian
Scientists is at Weeping Water, gratitude for the healing influence of
Christian Science being expressed in the giving of the ground for the
erection of this church resulted in a building seating 200 and costing $1,
600. This church was organized July 13, 1891, and the building was
dedicated the last Sunday in September, 1892. In 1885 the first class in
Christian Science in this state was taught at Beatrice by a student of
Mrs. Eddy. About this time another student began to teach and practice
Christian Science in Lincoln. As the result of the healing of two people
the first Christian Science church in Nebraska was organized at Beatrice
in 1888. First Church of Christ Scientist of Beatrice dedicated the $4,000
church building May 27, 1901, a few months after its completion, and only
after all bills for its construction had been paid.
The first Christian Science services in Omaha were held in the
Unitarian chapel on Sunday afternoons. These meetings not receiving the
support of the public as it was hoped were discontinued after some months,
and for a season the Christian Scientists of Omaha were quite generally
attending the services in Council Bluffs at the home of one of Mrs. Eddy's
students. In December, 1890, the first move was made toward securing a
downtown location in which to hold services and to be used as a reading
room or dispensary as it was then called, and practitioner's
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office to be open daily to the public. A committee appointed for the
purpose of carrying out this plan decided upon rooms in the Bee building.
This was virtually the first office opened in the business center of the
city for the healing of disease through Christian Science. For a very
short time nearly all the students in Omaha attended these services. then
some withdrew, later holding meetings in the Karbach block and afterwards
in the New York Life building.
A number of students, believing that the time was ripe for church
organization, held a meeting May 11, 1893, in the Patterson block for the
purpose of organizing a church which was to be a branch of the mother
church, the First Church of Christ Scientist, Boston. As the result of
this meeting, on the 18th day of the same month they adopted articles of
incorporation, with twenty-eight charter members, and became known as
First Church of Christ Scientist, Omaha. At the same time a reading room
was opened in connection with the church, for the benefit of the public.
Those not yet seeing the need of organization continued to hold meetings
as heretofore. The Sunday school was formed January 20, 1894, with seven
classes for adults and one for children. There were eight children in this
class, ranging in age from four to thirteen years, representing three
families.
In those days the services in the Christian Science churches were
generally in charge of one person recognized as pastor. This church called
a pastor in December, 1893, and preaching continued until April, 1895,
when the order of services was changed and the Bible and Science and
Health with Key to the Scriptures were established as the only preachers
of the Word in the Christian Science churches throughout the world.
Midweek meetings for the general discussion of the Bible and Science and
Health were soon replaced by the inauguration of testimonial meetings, at
first held Friday evening and later changed to Wednesday evening as is the
present custom in all Christian Science churches. Services were continued
in the Patterson block until early in December, 1895, when the old
Congregational church building on St. Marys avenue and Twenty-seventh
street was engaged. The reading room was moved at the same time, a side
room in the church being fitted up for that purpose. Later, deeming it
advisable to have the reading room more centrally located, it was moved to
the Paxton block where it remained until 1902 when it was transferred to
the Dee building and later to the Brandeis building where it remained
until January, 1917.
At the time of the organization of the children's society in Boston,
known as the Busy Bees, whose contributions helped to furnish the mother
church and keep it supplied with flowers, the Sunday school children of
this church were identified with this movement until a notice from Mrs.
Eddy recommended that they disband as a society, drop the name of Busy
Bees, and turn their energies to broader achievements. The children then
voted to start a church building fund.
After the First Church moved to the old Congregational church building
on St. Marys avenue, students from the New York Life building gradually
came to the church, sometimes one or two at a time, until the number there
was so depleted that services were discontinued. In December, 1898, the
society in the Bee building, seventy-six in number, considering an
invitation from the church, voted unanimously to disband and join the
organization. The January communion service of 1899 saw all these united
with the church under one roof, with one aim and object, to further the
cause of Christian Science in Omaha. With this unity came a strengthening
of forces. It was voted that the sum of money ($106.50) turned over to the
church treasurer by the society from the Bee building be added to the
nucleus already accumulated by the children, and thus form a general
building fund. This fund was steadily increasing and in 1903 a lot was
purchased at St. Marys avenue and Twenty-fourth street upon which to erect
a church building.
Early in 1904 came a demand for larger quarters and not being ready to
proceed with the building, another change was made to
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Chambers Academy at Farnam and Twenty-fifth street this being the only
available place. The church remained here until the building was ready for
occupancy.
At that time it looked as though the question of building might be
considered at an early date, but as the extension to the mother church in
Boston was in process of erection, and it was of vital interest to
Christian Scientists all over the world, it was voted at a church meeting
on July 3, 1905, to send the sum on hand to help with that work, to
continue contributing, and that nothing be done toward local building
until such time as the treasurer of the mother church should indicate to
the field at large that no more funds were needed. When this word came
this church had contributed $10,945.34. Then the members cheerfully set to
work to start another building, knowing as they did that the supply is
unlimited and every need met by a gracious and loving Father, that parting
with all they had only meant an increase. July 5, 1907, with only a few
thousand dollars on hand, the church requested the building committee to
proceed with its work and by October 6, 1909, the foundation was ready for
the corner-stone which was laid at 7 A. M. on that date.
The cost of the church building, including the ground, was about $106,
000. On Sunday morning, September 3, 1911, services were held for the
first time in the new church with this sum paid, except about $37,000,
which debt was entirely cancelled during January, 1914. This structure was
dedicated February 1, 1914, according to the general custom among
Christian Scientists -- absolutely free from debt.
During the winter of 1914-1915 the First church became so crowded that
it was decided to organize another. The Second church was organized as an
outgrowth of First and held its initial service on Easter Sunday, 1915, in
Dundee Hall, Fiftieth and Underwood avenue; the hall, seating about 250,
was well filled. At the present writing the Second church is holding
meetings in Dundee theater. A lot has been purchased and excavating
started for the building of a church at Forty-first and Davenport streets.
About a year after the Second church was formed it was deemed advisable
again to send out members from the First church to organize another. The
Third church was organized in the north part of the city and on the first
Sunday in June, 1916, the first service was held in Druid hall on Ames
avenue near Twenty-fourth street. A little later reading rooms were opened
on the corner of Ames avenue at Twenty-fourth street under the auspices of
the Third church for the accommodation of people living in that part of
Omaha. The Third church has selected, at Fowler avenue and Twenty-fourth
street, the site for a church building and has made substantial payments
upon it.
The First National Bank building being finished and ready for occupancy
in January of 1917, the Christian Science churches of Omaha decided that
the reading room should be situated there. New furnishings were purchased
and reading rooms in keeping with the growth and advancement of Christian
Science in Omaha were established there as soon as the building was ready.
Shortly after the year 1885 a student of Mrs. Eddy located in Lincoln
and began to teach and practice Christian Science. Another of her students
from Milwaukee taught a few classes in Lincoln about this time. The first
Christian Science services in Lincoln were held at 1210 Q street in 1886.
In 1888 the Christian Science society opened a reading room and held
services in the hall over King's grocery store. First Church of Christ
Scientist was organized in 1891 and continued to hold services in this
hall until 1895 when quarters were obtained in the Salisbury block on
Twenty-first and M streets where they remained for some time.
About this time another society was formed, holding services in the
Farmers and Merchants building and remained as a society until in October,
1900, it was reorganized as the Second Church of Christ Scientist,
Lincoln. In 1897 the First church decided to purchase the old Christian
church on Fourteenth and K
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streets. They arranged to buy it and remained here a year or so when they
found they would be unable to meet the payments upon it so gave it up and
held services in the Funk theatre for about a year, when they moved to the
Jewish temple on Twelfth and D streets. On October 10, 1902, both the
First and Second churches surrendered their charters and disbanded for the
purpose of uniting in the organization of the present First Church of
Christ Scientist, Lincoln.
Shortly after the organization of the new church it was seen that more
commodious quarters would be needed, and the building of a church was
considered, $700 having already been paid into the church as the nucleus
for a building fund. The present site on the corner of Twelfth and L
streets was bought for $7,000 and in a very short time the church owned
its building lots. Work was then started on a fund to build a church, but
shortly after this the building of the extension of the mother church in
Boston was undertaken and the work of raising money for the local church
was suspended in order that aid might be more freely given to the mother
church. Plans were adopted for the erection of a building and on February
21, 1907, a contract was let for the construction of the Sunday school
room and basement. On Thanksgiving day of that year the first services
were held in this part of the building. On July 6, 1911, the church
ratified the action of the building committee in letting the contract for
the completion of the building. The corner-stone was laid on October 6,
1911. The first services were held in the completed building on Sunday
morning September 1, 1912. The church building was formally dedicated free
from debt in October, 1917, having cost about $100,000 including site and
furnishings.
According to the Christian Science Journal for February, 1918, there
are churches or societies also in the following Nebraska cities and towns:
Alliance, Bancroft, Bloomfield, Broken Bow, Central City, Chadron, Cozad,
Crawford, Exeter, Fairbury, Firth, Fremont, Grand Island, Holdredge,
Kearney, McCook, Minden, Nebraska City, Neligh, Norfolk, North Platte,
Plattsmouth, Red Cloud, Scotts Bluff, and York. Besides these regularly
organized and advertised churches and societies, meetings are being held
regularly in many other places in the state where they have not yet
perfected an organization.
Christian Science was discovered in 1866 by Mary Baker Eddy; the
details of this discovery and the circumstances leading up to it are set
forth in Mrs. Eddy's own writings and in her personal history by Sibyl
Wilbur. In 1875 Mrs. Eddy presented her text book on Christian Science,
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. She introduced the Journal
in 1883, this publication being the official organ of the mother church,
the First Church of Christ Scientist, Boston. Later a weekly paper called
the Christian Science Sentinel was published, followed by Der Herald der
Christian Science, a monthly magazine pubished in the German language. On
January 1, 1918, Le Heraut de Christian Science, a monthly magazine in the
French language with the English text on the opposite page, was
established. Beside these periodicals a great international daily
newspaper, the Christian Science Monitor, has been published since the
year 1908 with a worldwide circulation and recognized by publishers as a
model of clean journalism.
A board of lectureship was inaugurated in 1898 by Mrs. Eddy, and the
members of this board are giving free lectures upon the subject of
Christian Science to an interested public under the auspices of local
Christian Science churches. Omaha has been honored by having two of her
citizens appointed to this board and one of them is today lecturing
wherever he is called upon to do so. He has recently returned from an
extensive lecture tour abroad, including England, Australia, China, and
South Africa.
A committee on publication with assistants in all the cities and a
number of the smaller towns is supported, in Nebraska as in all the states
of the Union and a large number of foreign countries, by per capita
contributions from the organized churches and societies. It is the duty of
this committee "to correct in a Christian manner, impositions on the public
Page 837
in regard to Christian Science, injustices done Mrs. Eddy or members of
this church by the daily press, by periodicals or circulated literature of
any sort." (Church Manual.)
When this great war of Prussian militarism thrust itself upon the
world, the mother church established a fund for the relief of sufferers in
the theater of war and several hundred thousand dollars have been
collected by the Christan Scientists, all of which has gone to the relief
of the destitute in Europe, regardless of their creed or nationality. Many
expressions of gratitude from those receiving this monetary benefit are
being received daily, in Boston, and some of these are being published in
the current numbers of the Sentinel. Collections taken in the different
Christian Science churches and societies in Nebraska for the benefit of
this fund are being forwarded to headquarters in Boston continually and
these moneys are freely distributed to those found in need.
All the churches and many of the societies in Nebraska maintain free
reading rooms where all Christian Science literature may be read or
purchased. Free lending libraries have been established in some of these
reading rooms and all may avail themselves of this opportunity to read
Mrs. Eddy's books.
The history of Christian Science in Nebraska as elsewhere is largely
found in the work done by individuals in healing all manner of diseases
and and destroying all sorts of sinful habits. Students of Christian
Science are encouraged to study the Bible thoroughly and Science and
Health and it is the exact or scientific knowledge of God gained through
this study which enables them to work out their life problems, to heal
sickness and sin. Until sufficient knowledge is gained the beginner may go
to a professional practitioner for heating and spiritual guidance.
One of the landmarks in Christian Science history in Nebraska is known
as the "Buswell Trial" and this is the title of a pamphlet which has done
a great deal of good for the Christian Science cause everywhere. The title
of the case is "State of Nebraska vs. Ezra M. Buswell," and the trial was
held in the district court of Gage county, February 28, 1893. Abundance of
evidence was adduced to prove that the practice of Christian Science by
the accused had been successful in a large number of cases, and only two
failures were found. The practice of Christian Science was shown to be
based on the Bible, and its method was proved to be silent and solemn
prayer to God, and sole reliance on Him for health as well as salvation.
Mr. Buswell was acquitted, but the case was carried to the supreme court
of Nebraska on exceptions by the county attorney. And while no judgment
could be rendered against the acquitted defendant, the exceptions of the
county attorney were sustained. As this was the first case ever decided
against a Christian Scientist in a court of last resort, for the practice
of praying for the recovery of the sick, it would certainly have been
followed as a precedent by the courts of other states if the law had been
correctly stated. But this opinion of the Nebraska commissioner stands
alone, and the courts of other states have decided that statutes
regulating the practice of medicine do not make prayer for the recovery of
the sick a criminal offense, and the decision, even in Nebraska, has been
a dead letter for many years; as the liberal views of the Nebraska people
are opposed to prosecution for prayer.
Several other cases against Christian Scientists were brought in
Nebraska, at Omaha, Lincoln, and Pawnee City, all of which ended well for
the Christian Scientists, and none of them ever came to trial in the
district court. A lady in Omaha was charged with insanity for treating a
man who had been thrown from a buggy, striking his head against a log. A
physician pronounced the accident fatal, and promptly brought proceedings
in insanity against the practitioner. The injured man, appearing sound and
whole as a witness for the defendant, the board discharged the lady thus
establishing the proposition that healing accidental injuries by prayer is
not insanity.
In the few years since the first Christian Scientist came to Nebraska
the movement has gained favor until now it is generally recognized, by the
people of Nebraska, as a mem-
Page 838
ber of the family of religions and Christian Scientists as a working and
growing body of Christians.
Under the heading "Christian Science in the Navy," the New York World
on Tuesday, February 5, 1918, printed the following as an editorial:
The appointment by Secretary Daniels of a Christian Scientist as a navy
chaplain denotes a significant change in the public attitude toward the
faith founded by Mrs. Eddy.
Could such a selection of a spiritual adviser been conceived of in
Dewey's navy? Christian Science then and long after was anathema to the
regular religious denominations of the country. Legislation was invoked to
restrain it, medical societies prosecuted the practitioners, and it was
made to bear the brunt of powerful opposition everywhere. Now the
government gives it full recognition and accords its readers an equal
status with the ministers of other creeds. Beside the navy chaplain, there
are two Christian Science chaplains in the army.
So have the old antagonisms subsided and the earlier intolerance given
way under the spirit of religious freedom. History has repeated itself
once more, and the new kirk fought its way to a place alongside the old
kirk. It has been an interesting process, and the outcome is notable as an
illustration of the liberalizing tendencies of modern opinion, whether
religious or political.
AK-SAR-BEN OF OMAHA
Famed the country over for its novelty, its interest, and the work it
accomplishes, this order, if such it may be called, is mystical in its
workings, and yet clear in purpose.
"Ak-sar-ben" is Nebraska, spelled backwards, and was founded in 1895 by
a small number of business men of Omaha, for the purpose of welding the
diverse interests of the city into one great organization for the
advancement of Omaha, and for the special purpose of cultivating
harmonious relationship and friendship for both those within and without
the gates of the city. Its object has been more than realized, and each
year has witnessed a closer coöperation between the people of the city and
those in the territory tributary to it.
The direction of the organization is vested in a board of twelve
governors, elected by the members, and serving gratuitously for a period
of four years. The expense of the organization is borne through a
membership charge and through direct contributions by all the business
houses of the city. The season's expenditures are approximately $100,000.
From June until September, regular "Monday Nights" are held at the
"Den," a large auditorium of peculiar construction, owned by the
organization. These initiations are spectacular and of a theatrical
nature, each year presenting a special theme around which the work
revolves. The participants in the Monday entertainments, usually
consisting of from one to two hundred in number, are chosen from the ranks
of the membership and donate their services as a part of the loyal support
that is everywhere shown within the order. The Monday night performances
are attended by the regular paid members and by visitors to tile city.
Every convention held in the city is so arranged that its opening date is
fixed for Monday. The accredited hotels, also contributing members of the
organization, are allowed to issue non-resident tickets to their guests,
whilst special excursions are run every Monday night from some of the
tributary cities within a radius of two hundred miles of Omaha. The
attendance at these meetings ranges from two to three thousand people. A
dozen or so of the visitors usually run the gauntlet of the initiatory
work and form fitting food and fun for those in attendance. At the close
of the meeting, representative speakers from the visitors are called upon
to make a little "talk," whilst some able orator from the ranks of the
Knights themselves makes a fitting reply, after which a buffet luncheon is
served, and at the conclusion the visitors are furnished special street
cars to carry them to the heart of the city.
The season's gayety at the "Den" is concluded with "Carnival Week,"
during which two daylight parades are given, consisting of specially
decorated floats, whilst a gorgeous electrical night parade follows
thereafter, formed of some twenty or more spectacularly designed and
lighted floats with out-riders exemplifying the theme and subject of the
year.
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Omaha was the first city in the United States to utilize electricity in
the illumination of floats.
The festivities of the season culminate with a grand ball, held at the
"Den." This is looked forward to as the society event of the season. Two
hundred Knights in gay armor lead the opennig march, heralding the
approach and entry of the queen and her retinue of attendants. The queen
is usually chosen from the debutantes of the season, her identity being
strictly withheld from everyone up to the moment she enters upon her march
to the throne, where she is joined by the king, chosen anew each year from
some of the prominent men of the city. The Ak-Sar-Ben ball is always
looked forward to as the great event of the year, and with its coronation
features and grand setting, is very beautiful.
What characterizes the work of Ak-Sar-Ben more than anything else is
the loyalty and enthusiasm accorded it by the entire city of Omaha, and
the tribute paid it by adjacent cities. It not only has created a spirit
of friendship and good-will amongst its own membership, but it has
showered its benign influence upon the people throughout our state, who
have in turn copied its precepts and teachings, and they have inculcated
the same spirit of cohesion and friendly spirit amongst themselves. Hence,
it is not only a benefactor for Omaha, but for the state as well. Past
kings have grown gray in its service with never changing loyalty. Never
were kings of old more faithful to their subjects than the much honored
though democratic kings of the realms of Ak-Sar-Ben. Selected anew each
year, they yet are kings to Omaha forevermore, whilst their faithful
subjects from the ranks, the real workers of the year, sacrificing their
time and energy season after Season, are ever ready to begin the work
again, knowing full well that their efforts mean a Greater Omaha spirit.
The progress which Omaha has exhibited of late years towards a
quickened spirit and wonderful growth, has been marvelous, and whilst its
geographical position, its virile people, its golden grain, its enormous
live stock industry, and the natural heritage of wealth with which the
Creator endowed it, are all contributing factors to its success, yet the
school of loyalty begun in the old days of panic and adversity, by that
little band of loyal Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben, has now matriculated into an
order, most unique, a part of the fiber of the city itself, exerting a
greater influence as years roll by, making possible the fraternal and
cohesive spirit so strongly characteristic of the people of Omaha today,
and known now throughout the United States as the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben.
Its officers for the present year, 1917-1918, are: President, E.
Buckingham; vice president, Gould Dietz; secretary, J. D. Weaver;
treasurer, Chas. L. Saunders; board of governors, Chas. D. Beaton, C. E.
Black, George Brandeis, Randall K. Brown, E. Buckingham, Gould Dietz, W.
B. T. Belt, W. D. Hosford, F. W. Judson, L. C. Nash, J. DeF. Richards, C.
L. Saunders.
Following is a list of the kings and queens since the organization of
the society:
1895 E. M. Bartlett and Meliora Woolworth Fairfield.
1896 Casper E. Yost and Mae Dundy Lee.
1897 Edward Porter Peck and Gertrude Kountze Stewart.
1898 Robert S. Wilcox and Grace Allen Clarke.
1899 William D. McHugh and Ethel Morse.
1900 Fred A. Nash and Mildred Lomax.
1901 Henry J. Penfold and Edith Smith Day.
1902 Thomas A. Fry and Ella Cotton Magee.
1903 Fred Metz and Bessie Grady Davis.
1904 Charles H. Pickens and Ada Kirkendall Wharton.
1905 Gurdon W. Wattles and Mary Lee McShane Hosford.
1906 Gould Dietz and Margaret Wood Cranmer.
1907 Victor B. Caldwell and Natalie Merriam Millard.
1909 Will L. Yetter and Brownie Bess Baum Rouse.
1909 Arthur C. Smith and Jean Cudahy Wilhelm.
1910 Everett Buckingham and Frances Nash.
1911 Joseph Barker and Elizabeth Davis.
1912 Thomas C. Byrne and Elizabeth Pickens Patterson.
1913 Charles E. Black and Elizabeth Congdon Forgan.
1914 Charles D. Beaton and Frances Hochstetler Daugherty.
1915 Ward M. Burgess and Marian Howe.
1916 John Lee Webster and Mary Megeath.
1917 W. D. Hosford and Elizabeth Reed.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE POTASH INDUSTRY IN NEBRASKA
The name "potash" is of comparatively recent origin and is derived from
the fact that the potassiferous solution from
Page 840
wood ashes was boiled down or concentrated in pots. The most important
source of its supply has been the region near Strassfurt, in Prussia,
where two minerals containing potassic compounds have been found in
abundance and mined on a large scale. From these potassiferous compounds
all the various salts of potash used in the arts are manufactured, and it
has been by using the potash salts obtained at Strassfurt that the Chile
saltpeter (nitrate of soda) is converted into common saltpeter, a
substance important as the principal ingredient in the manufacture of
gunpowder. Potash compounds are also numerous and of great importance in
the arts.
The potash industry of Nebraska, originating with some small shipments
of alkali crusts collected from the shores of McCarthy lake, in Morrill
county, and shipped to Omaha, represents an investment and value of
several million dollars. The potash area containing the producing lakes
extends about thirty miles north and south and between twenty and thirty
east and west, and production at the present time is confined to Sheridan,
Garden, and Morrill counties. The district is in what is known as the sand
hill region, and occupies nearly equal areas north and south of the C., B.
& Q. railroad. Lakes with more or less of potash occur in other counties,
but of all discovered, at least seventy-five are known to contain potash
in paying quantities. The lakes occur in two physiographic regions; the
table lands, such as Box Butte table, on the sand hills, but mostly in the
bottom. The presence of the railroad has in a great degree rendered
possible the advantageous prosecution of the industry. Towns such as
Hoffland, Antioch, and Lakeside mark the principal locations of the potash
plants. A few of the lakes have an area of 600 or more acres, while others
are mere ponds, and alkali and fresh lakes are found side by side. The
strong water is called brine, and in determining the value of brines, two
things stand out prominently; the percentage of soluble salts and the
percentage of K2O in the salts.
The brines contain compounds, principally of potassium and sodium, and
traces of magnesium; calcium, iron, etc. The compounds are principally
sulphates, carbonates, and chlorates. The relative amounts of sodium and
potash vary considerably in the potash region. By the percentage of potash
is meant the per cent in the water, or in the solids of the water. For
example, a brine running 16 per cent solids and 28 per cent of that as
potash (K2O) would be reported: potash 28, or as potash, 4.44. Both of
these are correct, but they refer, in the one case, to the solids, and in
the other, to the water and salts combined.
The following compounds occur in the alkali lakes of Nebraska, but in
varying proportions:
Potassium carbonate, K2CO3 -- called pearl ash.
Potassium bi-carbonate, KHCO3.
Sodium carbonate, Na2CO3 -- called soda ash.
Sodium bi-carbonate, NaHCO3 -- called cooking soda.
Calcium carbonate, CaCO3 -- called lime.
Potassium sulphate, K2SO4.
Sodium sulphate, Na2SO4 -- called Glaubersalts.
Magnesium sulphate MgSO4 -- called Epsom salts.
Calcium sulphate CaSO4 -- called gypsum.
Potassium chloride, KCl -- called sylvite.
Sodium chloride, NaCl -- called halite or common salt.
Usually the brines of producing lakes contain about equal percentages
of potash and soda salts. A sample collected from a well in Jesse lake
contained the following:
Potassium oxide (K20) 28.18%
Sodium oxide (Na2O) 27.79%
Sulphur trioxide (SO3) 11.97%
Carbon dioxide (C02) 27.19%
Chlorine (Cl) 3.38%
Total ... 98.51%
Page 841
the west. This seepage supply, though constant or nearly so, is most in
evidence as a rule, in fall and spring. The water entering some lakes,
passes out at once. In others it is held back by a sand dam, or by the
natural form of the basin. In case the water is retained, the principal
loss is through solar evaporation which becomes very heavy in the summer
time. It is safe to state that about five feet of water would evaporate
from one of these lake surfaces in a year.
The alkali solutions are concentrated by evaporation. Alkali lakes
deposit salts in their beds as the water lowers. This gives a fringe or
belt of incrustations [sic], the color of which varies from white to
yellowish.
The methods used in leasing potash lakes and oil lands are similar. The
work is done by private parties, or by the representatives of promoters
who expect to turn the leases to some company, or by the operators
themselves. In either case the person going to the field supplies himself
with information concerning the ranch owners, and the names and locations
of lakes. He visits the owners and urges the desirability of leasing
according to his terms. The leases bind the lessor and lessee to a number
of conditions relating to testing, erection of a plant, pumping, etc.
As most potash is derived from the beds of lakes, that is, from the sub-
surface, it is the practice to test out the waters below the lakes proper.
This is done by putting down wells fifteen to forty feet by drilling. At
first the production of the brine was from lake waters, but now the
principal production is from the sub-surface sands. Production is by
pumping and the brines are delivered to the reduction plants through pipe
lines. High suction pumps are required to remove the brine. From 100 to
200 wells are connected with each pump.. The pumping is done by motor-
driven or gas engines. Pipe lines lead from the producing lakes to relay
stations, and thence to the reduction works; some of them are wood,
wrapped with heavy wire, and about six inches in diameter. The brines are
treated in reduction plants.
The evaporation of brine is the main process in potash production. It
requires extensive equipment and about seventy-five percent of the coal
consumed in a plant.
In its simplest form, evaporation is done in open pans and by the use
of direct heat. This method, used by small operators, is slow and wasteful
of fuel.
The large plants use multiple evaporators -- in double and triple
effect. The evaporators are operated part under pressure and part under
vacuum. Each evaporator consists of a steam chest, a liquid circulating
space and a vapor space. Live steam enters the chest of the first body in
the series and causes the brine to boil. The vapor given off in this
evaporator is carried to the second body and so on through the series. The
boiling point becomes lower in each succeeding evaporator. This is due to
vacuum brought about by means of a pump and condenser.
In most plants the brines are evaporated to some extent by the use of
solar towers. The condensation of vapor in the last effect or effects is
produced by pumping water through a condenser, from which it goes to the
cooling tower or to a spray pond. The tower is essentially one of the
effects.
The Potash Reduction Plant, the first in the field, is at Hoffland,
eleven miles east of Alliance, and has by changes and improvements
developed works costing many thousands of dollars. Mr. John H. Show
deserves credit for inaugurating the enterprise. Associated with him was
Mr. Carl Modesitt, a graduate of the State University. Messrs. T. E.
Stevens, W. H. Austinberg, Hon. William A. Redick, and Dr. H. Reinbolt,
financed the field examination and the erection of the first plant.
Messrs. V. I. Jeep and C. C. Denny, former University students, were also
associated with the company. This plant represents an investment of
between $500,000 and $600,000, and an output of about eighty tons a day.
The Hord Alkali Products Company operates at Lakeside and has large
holdings of ranch lands, on which are its ponds and lakes. The plant
itself cost more than $200,000 and has a capacity of about fifty tons a
day. Its offices are at Central City. Heber Hord is
Page 842
president and W. E. Richardson, manager. Its output is shipped principally
to southern states for use in the manufacture of fertilizers.
The American Potash Company is located at Antioch. Its office is in
Omaha. Its president is Arthur English and A. J. Dunbar is superintendent.
Its capacity is about eighty tons a day, and its total production for 1917
was sold to the American Agricultural Chemical Company.. It is capitalized
at $250,000.
The Nebraska Potash Works Company is also located at Antioch, and has
pipe lines extending to various lakes.
The Alliance Potash Company, at Antioch, is owned chiefly by the Krause
Bros. and Alliance people, and is said to be the most modern plant in that
region. Its central office is in Alliance and the plant has a capacity of
100 tons, or more, a day.
The Western Potash Company is capitalized at about $500,000 and holds
valuable leases. It has erected a very modern plant at Antioch. Its
central office is in Lincoln and W. E. Sharp is its president.
The National Potash Company contemplates the erection of a plant at
Antioch with a capacity of 100 tons a day.
The cost of production of the potash varies in the different
localities, and is difficult of definite ascertainment. The mean average
of the cost of production is said to be $30 per ton, or more. Before the
European war, most of the fertilizer potash used in the United States
came, as indicated above, from Germany. As this supply decreased, the
price of the domestic product greatly advanced. Nebraska potash now sells
at $4.50 or more per unit, a unit meaning one per cent of potash (K2O) in
a ton in the material marketed that is, a product carrying 28% K2O may be
sold at $4.50 a unit, which would be $126 a ton for the material marketed.
The reduction companies pay the freight.
The high price of potash has been a great incentive to the development
of the industry in Nebraska. Without this the industry would not be in its
present condition. Most of the producers are deeply concerned regarding
future prices.
Nebraska produces about seventy-five per cent of the entire potash
output of the United States, and with the exception of Searles Lake, in
California, is the only place in this country where potash is produced
from alkali lakes.
Page 843
CHAPTER XXXVI
SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION -- THE WORLD WAR
ONE of the most interesting and profitable pages in the history of the
state is the semi-centennial celebration of the admission of Nebraska into
the Union. This celebration took place in 1917 under the direction of the
State Historical Society. The Honorable John L. Webster of Omaha, who had
been president of the society for a good many years, appointed a committee
of one hundred members to take charge of the celebration. This body of
citizens was appointed to provide the means and to suggest a general
program for a fitting commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the
admission of Nebraska as a state. The dates of these two important events
are March 1, 1867, and March 1, 1917. Gurdon W. Wattles of Omaha was made
chairman of the committee of one hundred. The plans for the celebration
included a pageant at Omaha in October, 1916, in connection with the Ak-
Sar-Ben for that year. The committee of arrangements for Omaha consisted
of Gurdon W. Wattles, Gilbert M. Hitchcock, E. E. Buckingham, C. E. Yost,
Victor Rosewater, Norris Brown, Rome Miller, A. L. Reed, W. H. Bucholz,
and W. A. Fraser. The celebration which the committee planned and guided
was much greater in size and in its attractive features than anyone
thought possible. The ceremonies were witnessed by more than 100,000
people. President and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson from Washington, D. C., were
present and reviewed the pageant and President Wilson made an address.
The celebration in Lincoln took place in June, 1917, at the time of the
commencement of the State University. The committee of arrangements for
Lincoln was made up of H. M. Bushnell, H. B. Lowry, E. B. Sizer, and A. J.
Sawyer. The plans were made on a large and imposing scale. One of the most
significant and attractive features was the address of ex-President
Theodore Roosevelt.
The celebration was statewide and at almost every place was worthy of
the people and of the occasion. The general committee for the state at
large was made up of A. 0. Thomas, at the time state school
superintendent, Paul Jessen of Nebraska City, and Ross L. Hammond of
Fremont. For each county in the state the committee was composed of the
county superintendent, the mayor of the county seat city or town, the
president of the commercial club, and the president of the woman's club.
Local committees were encouraged to have, in addition to the county
celebration, gatherings and exercises in honor of the occasion. The
following is an outline of the plan in nearly every part of the state:
1. By way of special preparation and to create interest in the
celebration on the part of all people the committee encouraged a study of
Nebraska history, collection of historical data, and marking places which
have been connected with the history of the state.
2. Making maps by the children and high school pupils of historic
trails and of places of note during pioneer days.
3. Celebration on February 12th in all the rural and village schools of
Nebraska. The committee suggested that the program include patriotic
songs, the Nebraska patriotic ode, a brief account of the purchase of the
Louisiana territory, a sketch of Nebraska as a territory and the place it
occupied in the purchase, essays on various phases of local history,
stories of the pioneers told by themselves wherever possible, and brief
addresses by local speakers.
Page 844
[image caption: JOHN L. WEBSTER]
Page 845
4. Exercises fitting for the occasion to be held in the churches and
Sunday schools February 25, 1917 -- the Sunday nearest Washington's
birthday in that year.
5. The general or county celebration to be held March 1, 1917, by
schools, commercial clubs, historical societies, churches, women's clubs,
Daughters of the American Revolution, men's clubs, and civic societies.
6. The following is a copy of the program suggested by the committee:
(1) March 1, 1917, to be observed in a formal way by the state
legislature as Nebraska Day.
(2) Moving pictures where they could be procured, showing local
schools, local history, and local scenes of community and state
development.
(3) Dramatization of local and state history.
(4) Addresses on the pioneer days and the stirring scenes which
confronted our fathers in transforming the wilds into a garden
of beauty.
(5) Nebraska, present and future, by local speakers.
(6) Historic carnival or pageant covering local and state themes.
7. County exhibitions and contests from all schools, spelling contests,
ciphering matches, essay and oration, local contests, compositions on
local history, collections of historic relics, and general school work.
8. Unveiling of pictures and statuary in court-houses, public
libraries, and schools, of important characters who had to do with
upbuilding of the community and of those whom it is a delight to honor.
To make all this the more valuable to the people as a whole and
especially to children, pupils, and students Professor C. N. Anderson of
the state normal school at Kearney prepared an outline for the guidance of
teachers and others in collecting material on the history of the people of
Nebraska. Among other suggestions are the following:
1. Collect real first-hand material on the history of the people.
2. Make a record of what is learned and as near as possible in the
language of the people.
3. Get, as near as possible, exact names, dates, places, and order of
events.
4. Secure, when possible, old papers, letters, and diaries.
These directions were followed by others relating to the form in which
they may be preserved.
To stimulate interest in the celebration the Honorable John D. Haskell
of Wakefield, Nebraska, offered a prize of $100 in 1916 for the best poem
adopted as a state song for Nebraska. One of the conditions was that the
ode to Nebraska should be written by some person who at the time was
living in the state. The judges of the contest appointed by the state
school superintendent were Dr. L. A. Sherman of the State University,
Professor W. E. Nicholl of Bellevue College, and Miss Mary Crawford of the
State Normal School at Kearney. The judges awarded the prize to the Rev.
William H. Buss of Fremont. Mr. Haskell gave, also, a prize of $100 for
the best musical arrangement for the poem. This award was secured by Mr.
John Prindle Scott of New York City.
THE ODE TO NEBRASKA
REVEREND WILLIAM H. BUSS, FREMONT
Now laud the proud tree planter state,
Nebraska -- free, enlightened, great;
Her royal place she has in song;
The noblest strains to her belong;
Her fame is sure.
Then sing Nebraska through the years;
Extol her stalwart pioneers;
The days when, staunch and unafraid,
The state's foundations, well they laid,
To long endure.
The land where Coronado trod,
And brave Marquette surveyed the sod;
Where red men long in council sat;
Where spreads the valley of the Platte
Far 'neath the sun.
The land beside whose borders sweep
The bill Missouri's waters, deep,
Whose course erratic, through its sands,
From northland on, through many lands,
Does seaward run.
Page 846
The foothills of the Rockies lie
Afar athwart her western sky;
Her rolling prairie, like the sea,
Held long in virgin sanctity,
Her fertile loam.
Her wild-life roamed o'er treeless plains,
Till came the toiling wagon-trains,
And settlers bold, far westward bound,
In broad Nebraska's valley found
Their chosen home.
Now o'er her realm and 'neath her sky,
Her golden harvests richly lie;
Her corn more vast than Egypt yields;
Her grain unmatched in other fields;
Her cattle rare;
Alfalfa fields, by winding streams;
And sunsets, thrilling poets' dreams;
There all we sing, and know that time
Has ne'er revealed a fairer clime,
Or sweeter air.
O proud Nebraska, brave and free;
Thus sings thy populace to thee.
Thy virile strength, thy love of light;
Thy civic glory, joined with right,
Our hearts elate.
Thy manly wisdom, firm to rule;
Thy womanhood in church and school;
Thy learning, culture, art and peace,
Do make thee strong, and ne'er shall cease
To keep thee great,
(To be included when desired)
Her heaving bluffs uplift their heads
Along her winding river-beds,
And, pleasing far the traveler's view,
Well guard her Elkhorn and her Blue,
Encrowned with wood.
And there, by landmarks, ne'er to fail,
Upon the ancient westward trail;
Or graven stone, securely placed,
By eye observant may be traced
Where wigwam stood.
Her honored cities grow in wealth;
In thriving commerce, public health;
Her first, the gateway of the west;
Her Omaha, that will not rest,
Nor take defeat,
Her capital of worthy fame,
That bears the mighty Lincoln's name,
And thousands of Nebraska's youth
E'er summons to the fount of truth,
At learning's seat.
The semi-centennial celebration, for its form, scope, spirit, success,
and influence, owes much to the members of many committees and to many
citizens of the state, but more by far than to any other one person, to
the Honorable John L. Webster of Omaha. For many years he had taken great
interest in the history of the state and in the welfare, progress, and
usefulness of the State Historical Society. During the period prior to the
semi-centennial Mr. Webster had been president of the society. When the
state was approaching 1917 he proposed to the members of the historical
society the propriety of holding a celebration, the chief feature to be an
historical pageant. His thought was that this should be of such a
character that it would symbolize not only the development of Nebraska
but, also, show the relation and position of the state to the opening and
settlement of the great West. The idea and purpose appealed to the members
of the society. All were in sympathy with it provided Mr. Webster would
take the chairmanship of the committee and the responsibility which the
position and undertaking carried with them. It is well known beyond the
limits of Nebraska that Mr. Webster is a collector of art treasures and
one of many people in his city who cultivate the best there is in art and
in art ideals. He is known as the founder of the Friends of the Art
Association. This love of art in part gave shape and color to the pageant
in Omaha and to the celebration in the various parts of Nebraska. While
much had been done by the Historical Society in collecting and preserving
treasures of value and interest relating to the people and to the history
of the state during the years since its organization, much more will be
done in the future because of the semi-centennial celebration.
THE WORLD WAR
BY J. A. BEATTIE
Every true American takes a just pride in that which the United States
helped France, Great Britain, and the other allied nations to accomplish
during the last years of the World War. Likewise, every loyal, patriotic
citizen of Nebraska appreciates to the fullest extent
Page 847
the courage and valor of the soldiers and sailors who went from this state
to the camps, trenches, and storm-centers of Europe when the country
called and when national freedom was in danger. The same spirit and
devotion inspired the Red Cross and those who were helpers in other
divisions and organizations.
But at this date we are too near the beginning and ending of the great
struggle to know all the facts and to appreciate the zeal and work of
those who went from Nebraska. When time shall reveal all the facts and
shall establish the rightful place of group and division, in so far as
that can be done, some historian will tell the story of the work and
sacrifices of those who went from Nebraska. This story will include the
struggles, the privations, the sacrifices, and the songs of victory of
those who went, who saw, who fought, who conquered, and who returned to
the homes and communities from which they enlisted. Likewise the story
will contain a faithful account of the soldierly conduct and the deeds of
valor of those who sleep where the "poppies grow" and whose graves are in
the care of the allied nations beyond the seas.
While we are wating for time, study, and research to make all things
clear and for some one to put them down by the side of those from the
other states in the Union, we may with great profit study some of the
causes of the war and learn some of its important lessons -- lessons which
are taught by this school of experience. The lessons taught by the war
ought to inspire us to be still more loyal in the future than we have been
in the past to every principle of right and duty and still more loyally
devoted to everything truly democratic in life and purpose. One of the
things it is worth while for us to learn is the extent to which the world
was involved in the war and the extent to which we are to share its
consequences. Perhaps the best and easiest way to get the right conception
of the variety and vastness of the interests which the war involved is to
make a group of the nations and peoples who were directly engaged in the
conflict. By this method we shall be able to measure more accurately and
appreciate more fully the meaning of the life and death struggle, Not only
so, but we shall come to know how far the forces of evil intended to carry
the false and fatal doctrine that "might makes right." In all, twenty-
eight nations were engaged in the war. Four of these were on what is
called the side of the Germans and twenty-four made up what are called the
allied nations. It will be an aid in understanding the war to know the
nations engaged. Space will not permit the area, the population, the
military strength, the financial ability to supply the army with the
necessary equipment and many more important things to be recorded in such
a way that they can be compared. That the student may have the names
before him whenever he desired to consult a map or to look up any facts,
the states on both sides are put down. For convenience they are arranged
in alphabetical order. On one side, besides Germany, were Austria-Hungary,
Bulgaria, and Turkey. These four were strengthened by the peoples who
lived in the possessions of these four nations.
The allied nations were as follows: Belgium, Brazil, China, Costa Rica,
Cuba, France and her possessions, Guatamala, Great Britain, including
Canada, Australia, South Africa, and her other possessions, Greece, Haiti,
Honduras, Italy, Japan, Siberia, Montenegro, Nicaraugua [sic], Panama,
Portugal, including her possessions, Rumania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia,
Siam, and the United States.
The peoples whose governments had not declared war and were, therefore,
not officially on the one side nor on the other, were within the circle of
war prices, war hatred, war spirit, war dread, and war tendency.
Although Holland and Switzerland and the other neutral nations did all
in their power to keep within treaty limits and to maintain peaceful
relations, they suffered in many ways. Their food, clothing, shipping,
building material, and almost every other thing which entered, in any way,
into life and industry, commercial and manufacturing, have been subject to
the prices, demands, and unrest of the war. While all peoples were not
under arms and were not represented by battle-ships,
Page 848
all nations and peoples have suffered and that in ways and to an extent
that history may never be able to record.
Another phase of the war is seen and the destruction of war is realized
when we ask and answer the question: What were France, Belgium, Serbia,
and the other nations in July, 1914, and what was their condition in July,
1919? A little study of the difference in the conditions at these two
dates will teach us that while the war was a necessity in order that the
democracy of yesterday and the civilization of today might not perish from
the earth, the war from the first to the last was destruction and that of
the most ruthless and destructive kind. While there may be worse things
than war this one which began in August, 1914, needs to be studied but a
little to know that destruction of life and property was upon so gigantic
a scale, was so great that the number of dead and wounded and the millions
of money seem only so many figures on the printed page -- that and nothing
more, to the average mind that tries to comprehend the figures and the
results.
That we may realize as fully as possible what it all means and how much
better it would be for mankind if "nations would not learn war any more"
let us ask what France was in July, 1914?
The position of the Republic of France in the midst of the monarchies
of Europe made it a necessity for her to fight for her existence. Because
of the situation France came very near being overrun and occupied by the
foreign foe as were Belgium and Serbia. The French, as a whole, are a
practical, patriotic, and home-loving people. It was the courage and
fortitude of her soldiers, sustained by her patriotic citizenship and
inspired by the aid and spirit of the allied forces, that saved France
from complete subjugation. France and her soldiers were sustained while
passing through this furnace of fire by the memory of her heroic past. The
background of her history contributed very greatly to her spirit and
conduct during the war. The glory of Joan of Arc, the greatness and
military genius of Napoleon, and the patriotic fervor of Lafayette were
seconded by the devotion of the French people. The memory of the spirit
and action of the French girls after the close of the war of 1870-1871 was
a part of the heritage of this most worthy people. Some of the girls from
France were working in homes in Boston, New York, Philadelphia,
Washington, and Baltimore when the treaty was signed in 1871. This treaty
demanded an indemnity of one billion dollars to Germany, besides the loss
of Alsace-Lorraine. We are told, on good authority, that some of these
girls from France, for the honor of France and because of their love for
the home land, saved parts of their wages and sent them back to aid their
fathers and mothers, their brothers and sisters, their friends and
neighbors to pay the indemnity Germany had demanded.
It was a knowledge of the heroic past joined to a realization of that
which was involved in the issues of the present which inspired the French
at Verdun, and at the Marne to stand in solid phalanx and to count their
lives not "dear unto themselves" if the glory of the past might live in
the present and that the fields and cities of their fathers might not be
trodden under the heel of the foe of political freedom and democratic
civilization. What France was in July, 1914, is indicated by the diversity
of her soil and climate, by the variety of her agricultural products, by
the relation 90,000,000 of people sustained to her 207,107 square miles of
surface, by the fact that about three-fourths of the people live in the
country and about one-half of the people live by growing wheat and corn,
rye and oats, barley and sugar-beets. To these industries they added the
raising of cattle and horses, mules and sheep. Before the war began in
1914 France rivaled the world in the production of lace and jewels,
carpets and porcelain, and she stood at that time first among the European
nations in her educational advantages. In July, 1919, many of her fields
and farms were a desolation and many of her towns and cities were in
ruins. Add to these material things the broken families, the deserted
homes, the anguish and hopelessness of women and children who are waiting
Page 849
for the sound of footsteps which shall be heard not again, and to all this
add the thousands upon multiplied thousands of her youth and men of
strength who sleep in unnumbered and in unremembered graves, and you have
simply a beginning of that which the war has cost one of the fairest
countries of the earth. In the light of the contrast well may we ask: What
is the lesson America and the world ought to learn concerning war and its
destruction?
But France is not the only country to feel the weight and strength of
the iron heel of Prussian autocracy. It does not require much knowledge of
Belgium and that which took place in that little country to count the cost
of war and to measure the worth and opportunities of peace.
Belgium is only about one-eighteenth as large as France. When the war
came on, Belgium had a population of about 8,000,000. In the peaceful days
of July, 1914, there were 703 people for every square mile of surface.
Measured by the number of square miles and the number of persons for each
square mile Belgium was the most thickly populated country on the globe.
Something is known everywhere of her great cities -- Brussels, Antwerp,
Liege, Louvain, and Ghent, and of that for which they stood and for which
they gave promise in 1914. Before the war Belgium was the home of great
industries, great public libraries, great schools of music, great schools
of science and of the arts, and of four great universities. To her praise
be it said, so far as we are able to judge, it was the courage and
promptness of the Belgian King and army that enabled France to gain the
time and to make the preparation in the beginning of the war which saved
Paris from falling into the hands of the enemy. During the greater part of
the 1559 days war existed Belgium's soil, with the exception of surface
enough to make three or four townships, was occupied and her people were
subject to the will and dictation of Germany. By means of a small paper in
the form of a public document King Albert kept in communication with his
people. The King and Queen, for much of the time, were in one of the small
towns of France. From the beginning of the war to its close the King and
the army were inspired with lofty purpose and were animated with undaunted
courage. As in the case of France so in Belgium a comparison of the
condition in 1919 with that during the first half of 1914 shows the
desolation war has wrought and asks the civilized world to make such
destruction of life and property impossible in the future.
To understand the lesson taught by a comparison of Serbia in July,
1919, with what she was in July, 1914, and to know how she became involved
we must go back a little distance in time.
Serbia, considered as a martyr nation, teaches us and should teach the
world that all honorable means should be employed before a call to arms
against any responsible people ought to be made. It will be sufficient for
the present purpose to state that through the changes caused by the Russo-
Turkish War the independence of Serbia was secured in 1882 and a youth of
thirteen years was placed on the throne. This young man ruled, as regent,
under the name of Alexander I until 1893 when he took full control as
king. In 1903 the King and Queen Draga were assassinated and Peter
Karageoraevich was declared king. He was the ruler when war broke out in
1914. That which furnished the excuse for the war on the part of Germany
was the assassination of the Austrian crown prince while he was in Bosnia.
At first Serbia was able to withstand the blows of Germany. But in a very
short time the German army sent into Serbia was so great in number that
she could not stand the shock. The spectacle of the enslavement of some of
the Serbian people and driving others of them into exile are among the
most pathetic and heartless of the barbarities of the war. The Serbian
government and people did every thing a brave, courageous, and capable
nation could do. A glance at the map will show how difficult it was for
France, or Belgium, or Great Britain or any of the other allied nations,
in the early part of the war especially, to come to the aid
Page 850
of Serbia. The only one of the allied nations who could have rendered
material aid was Russia and Russia, even then, although not generally
known, was almost within the throes of a revolution. While the Serbians
were accustomed to war, having taken part in the Balkan wars in 1912-1913,
and had an army made up of all the men able to bear arms between the ages
of twenty and fifty in a population of about 2,500,000, they were not able
to cope with the numbers and strength of the German military power.
The contrast in Serbia between the condition in July, 1919, and that of
July, 1914, teaches America and the world the same lesson which is told
and is impressed by the suffering and sacrifices in France and Belgium.
CAUSES OF THE WORLD WAR
The lessons which the world war emphasises for us and for all may be
learned by knowing the causes, and from these determine the things yet to
be done before right and reason, justice and humanity, good-will and
consideration, shall rule among the nations of the earth.
In its beginning the head and front of the offending lay between what
are called the "Central Powers" -- Germany and Austria and the "Triple
Entente"-- Great Britain, France, and Russia. The clash of arms was very
sudden and to many people in all parts of the world it was unexpected.
Many prophesies of the war had been made during ten or fifteen years
before August, 1914. The anticipations of the war were based, for the most
part, on what, for the sake of clearness, may be placed in three groups:
1. The desire of Germany to extend her trade to all parts of the world
and the spirit and methods by which this desire was carried into effect.
2. The desire of Germany to acquire and to control naval stations in
great numbers and at places of the greatest financial and physical
advantage.
3. The desire of Germany to wrest from Great Britain her power in
western Asia and on the sea.
These plans of Germany were intended, also; to prevent Russia from
securing communication from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean by the
Bosporus and the Dardanelles, and by these ways and means on to the open
sea. The people and government of the United States were not particularly
concerned with these things, only, in so far as there was unrest, and as a
consequence there was a constant tendency to disturb the peaceful
relations which were sustained with all peoples.
Even after a German submarine, on May 7th, 1915, without any warning,
sent the Lusitania, a British steamer, to the bottom of the ocean and with
the ship more than one thousand men, women, and children, one hundred and
fourteen of whom were Americans, the government of the United States
withheld the declaration of war and made other diplomatic efforts to stay
the hand of the destroyer.
To prevent the possibility of Germany getting the Virgin Islands, and
by this purchase gain control of one of the approaches to the Panama Canal
our government bought the islands from Denmark. By this act our government
secured for $25,000,000 one of the best harbors and other valuable
considerations. This harbor on the island of St. Thomas is considered one
of the best belonging to our island possessions. Instead of these
diplomatic efforts and protests having any effect in stopping the war
during this period it became evident that we were becoming more and more
entangled with every passing day.
On the positive side three things were impelling forces in bringing the
American government to the place where the declaration of war seemed the
least that could be done:
1. Germany, by the exercise of her war power, had come into control of
a vast empire. Her dictation extended far into Asia, over Turkey and
Belgium, and from Austria to the North Sea.
2. The brutal treatment of the people who were in the parts Germany
occupied in northern France, Belgium, Serbia, Armenia, and Poland.
3. Germany proclaimed to the world by
Page 851
nearly every move she made after the first of August, 1914, that she was a
selfish and heartless aristocrat -- autocratic and despotic to the last
degree.
Germany was a government of military force and that force was in the
hands of a small number of "war lords."
This meant but one thing for America and for the world if Germany were
not defeated on the field of battle. It meant the control and the
dictation of ourselves and of all others by a government of a few on the
principle that "might makes right." It meant for France, Belgium, Serbia,
Great Britain, and for the United States and for all others that which may
be expressed thus: We have the power and therefore it is right for us to
use it whenever and wherever we please. We can, therefore we will, if we
please, to do so for "might makes right."
The tone, the spirit, and the arrogance of these two sentences were in
every proclamation of the "war lords" and from all that could be learned
they were seconded and adopted by all who were in authority. The first
manifest result was that on April 6th, 1917, Congress declared that
Germany had brought on war with the United States. At the same time
Congress authorized the necessary means and equipment by which the war
could be carried to a successful issue.
Among other things it is well for us Americans to know and to
appreciate, in connection with the great war, is the fact that in society
everywhere and always, there are constantly two conflicting tendencies.
One of these is the desire of the people to take more and more into their
own hands their government. The other is the desire of the office-holding
class to restrict more and more the rule of the people and to secure for
themselves greater and greater control and privileges. One of these is the
opportunity of the people to work out their own destiny and thus, by the
thought and effort necessary to take care of themselves, grow into larger
intelligence and greater sympathy. The other is the so-called divine right
of kings. This is the rule of a class, without any regard for the wishes
of the people. These two principles, which are always at work, had much to
do as direct causes in bringing on the war. It was the uprising of the
people which overthrew the French monarchy and established in its stead a
republic.
The same kind of a movement separated Greece, Bulgaria, Rumania,
Serbia, and Albania from the rule of the Turkish government. It was the
same spirit that separated Belgium from Holland and enabled other peoples
to take upon themselves their political destiny.
It was a counter-movement which caused the formation of the German
Confederation. Because Prussia was the strongest of the states and
Bismarck, the prime minister of Prussia, was a man of "blood and iron,"
the German Empire took on the character of the largest province and became
imbued with the spirit of Bismarck.
The spirit and purpose of the third French republic -- the government
of today -- in 1870 were directly opposed to the autocratic empire on the
other side of the Rhine. The same opposition to military life and
standards had prevailed for many year, in Great Britain. Before the
formation of the German Empire and its control by Bismarck, for hundreds
of years, England and Scotland and Ireland had prospered under
representative institutions and government. Changes and reforms of various
kinds had been brought about by lawful and peaceful means. Because of
this, Great Britain's old form and aristocratic spirit had been replaced
by a government resting on democratic principles. Because of her
obligations to Belgium, determined and entered into by treaty agreements,
because of the sacred principles for which the people and government
stood, and because of her investments in many parts of the world, Great
Britain did everything that diplomatic power and intelligence could do to
prevent the war. Like ourselves, Great Britain was not prepared for war,
on August 1, 1914, except upon the sea. The British navy was prepared for
any emergency because it had been developed to protect her merchant
Page 852
vessels which were to be found in all parts of the world.
Another thing which caused Great Britain to desire peace on the one
hand and to withstand Germany on the other was the relation she
sustained -- actual and implied -- to her colonies and the friendly
relations these colonies sustained to the nations and peoples of the
earth. Great Britain's colonial system had been so developed that while
there resulted a vast empire it was guided by the principles of English
liberty and the affairs were administered by representative government.
For one hundred years and more the policy of Great Britain had been to
organize her colonies into self-governing states. Thus there was what we
may call a federal government in Canada, in Australia, and in South
Africa. These governments are, in fact, three British democracies within
the British Empire. Because of this condition, because of the relation
Canada and the others sustained to the United States, and because Great
Britain felt the responsibility of a free people for the perpetuity of
free expression on the part of the democratic governments of the earth,
she called to arms when diplomatic efforts failed. The spirit and
attitude, the efforts and sacrifices, the loyalty to principle and
sympathy for the welfare of all, on the part of the British government,
soldiers and seamen, from whatever land or province they came, as well as
the generous support of the English people, will go down in history as
worthy of the highest praise. The British in this great struggle are
worthy companions of France, Belgium, Serbia, Italy, the United States,
and of the others whose swords were unsheathed and whose armies were
marshaled at the call of freedom. The sympathetic coöperation and
sacrifices of Great Britain, without hope of material reward, with France,
Belgium, and Serbia in their struggle with Prussian autocracy are worthy
of all praise.
No small consideration is due to the Red Cross, the Y. M. C. A., the Y.
W. C. A., the churches, and the social and fraternal organizations of
various kinds and to many, many individual men and women. These
organizations furnished much of the moral and financial support which made
victory certain. History will not let the world forget the uncounted
thousands of starving peoples of all ranks and classes in Belgium, Serbia,
Armenia, and elsewhere who have been kept alive by the contributions of
the peoples and governments of the sympathetic nations during the years of
this conflict.
The grateful peoples of the earth will long remember the ideals,
purposes, and coöperation of President Woodrow Wilson, Premier Lloyd
George, Premier Georges Clemenceau, Premier Villoris Emanuele Orlando, and
others on whose shoulders the burdens rested and to whom all looked for
direction and leadership. To many of those associated with them equal
honor is due -- a number so great that even the names cannot be recorded
in this connection.
The world will always owe a debt to Marshal Ferdinand Foch, General
Joseph Jacques Joffre, General Julian H. G. Bing, Marshal Douglas Haig,
General John J. Pershing, and to many other great leaders in the allied
armies and navies who made possible the armistice and the final day of
peace.
When the full text of the history shall have been written no less honor
and no less appreciation shall rest upon the rank and file -- the common
soldiers and seamen -- who fought and aided in winning the battles of
freedom. This will apply alike to those who did faithful service in this
land as well as on a foreign shore, to those who returned to home and
country with victory resting on their banners and to those whose bodies
lie in the lands beyond the sea.
That the facts and statements in the foregoing pages may have their
influence in making us the kind of Americans we ought to be, there is
added the following lines by Lieutenant Colonel John D. McCrea. They were
written during the second battle of Ypres in April, 1915. The author was
killed in Flanders, January 28, 1918. Before going to the army he was a
practicing physician in Montreal, Canada. These three stanzas will help to
keep alive in our memories the sacri-
Page 853
fices of the millions of the bravest and strongest sons of Europe and
America who sleep beneath the sod as one of the results of the World War.
In Flanders fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead; short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe!
To you from falling hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high!
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow,
In Flanders fields.
History of Nebraska - End of Chapter 35
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