August 24, 1898

A touch of prudery was manifested when guards were sent to round up thenetoscopes and artoscopes that have been displaying views of livingpictures and reproductions of famous paintings and statuary. It wasstated... that the pictures were immoral. In view of the fact that nonebegins to compare with some of the sights in several concessions, theaction occasioned considerable comment.

One of John Keys paintings of the Exposition grounds is on display at theWhitmore gallery on Dodge Street. He is about to publish twelve viewsof the Exposition.

Too near the buzzsaw... One of the operators of the circular VenetianGondola got too close while it was in operation and received a blow tothe head that required stitches.

Value of Expositions... they bring together all people of differentlocations and of different sections of the country. These people see andhear, examine and study, and their minds develop and grow by what theyhave fed upon... the splendid exhibits are not the only educationalfactors of the Expo. Various conventions and gatherings daily wield aprogressive influence whose value cannot be calculated...From an address by W.T. Howard of the Schuyler Sun

OMAHA WORLD-HERALD AND NEBRASKA EDITORS' DAY

The Omaha World-Herald had requested and been granted a special day in which tocelebrate the achievements of this progressive daily newspaper. The occasionof the celebration was the 13th anniversary of the founding of the EveningWorld, which grew to be the World-Herald. The day was the same as that setaside as Nebraska Editors' Day and the two services were therefore merged twocelebrations were therefore merged. The exercises on the grounds were aluncheon served at the Markel Cafe at the expense of the editor of theWorld-Herald. G.M. Hitchcock, proprietor of that paper, presided. Afterluncheon the speech-making was started by Mr. Hitchcock, who spoke of the manypleasures the Exposition afforded his friends, and of the many trials and greateffort by which this grand spectacle had been made possible. He thenintroduced President Wattles, who spoke briefly of the history and progress ofthe exposition and in closing, referred to the grand Peace Jubilee which hadbeen planned for the month of October. He referred to the fact that CaptainJones of the 22nd Infantry was present, carrying a Spanish bullet in his leg. His reference to Captain Jones was the occasion of great cheering, which calledfor a short acknowledgment from the Captain. Dr. George L. Miller, founder ofthe Omaha World-Herald, responded to the toast "Seed Time and Harvest ofNewspaperdom". He spoke in his usual felicitous manner and elicited muchlaughter and applause.

W.S. Day, of the Aurora Register, responded to the toast. "Nebraska, She LeadsThem All". He spoke in part as follows:

In some respects I am unfitted by nature to make response to the toastproposed, being of an argumentative disposition and accustomed to reachconclusions only by exhaustive and exhausting discussion. A question with onlyone side to it and not end at all, is a very difficult one for me to handle. When a boy I remember reflecting on the awful consequences of a supposedencounter between an irresistible force and an immovable body, but they arelikely to prove mild in comparison with the result when an interminable talkercomes into perihelion with an inexhaustible subject.

That Nebraska leads them all is a self-evident proposition. Who would producestatistics to demonstrate that the sun shines or the wind blows. (Especiallywould it resemble the carrying of coals to Newcastle to attempt to prove byfigures or diagrams that the wind blows in Nebraska.) The people of this statehave acquired a reputation of being a little extravagant and given toexaggeration when speaking of its advantages. I shall, therefore, weigh wellmy words and be ultra conservative in every statement made, preferring only themodest claim that Nebraska has the richest soil, the purest air, the best waterand as manly men and womanly women as can be found on this earth.

One has but to breathe the lifeless air of the lower altitudes; note thestunted products of the red and yellow putty called farm land throughout theeast and south; attempt to swallow the lukewarm solution of clay which hundredsof thousands of good people must use as a beverage, to be keenly sensible ofsome of the every day, yet priceless blessings in which Nebraska leads themall. No person who has sweltered through the long night and until 4 o'clock inthe morning for a refreshing breath, or who has felt a touch of malaria in hissystem, would be willing to exchange our climate for all the big red apples ofthe universe.

I am of the west, western. I have lived here for more than a quarter centuryand have passed from boyhood to manhood in a homestead country. I can rememberbreaking sod day after day when the highest object in sight was the ears of mytaller horse.

I have witnessed the development of our state form a barren, treeless plain toone of the most fertile and beautiful countries ever sung by poets or prosedover by historians. The labor of one generation of men has effected thistransformation, and next to the welfare of my family I have no stronger wishthan seeing Nebraska owned, free and clear of encumbrance, by the people whohave sacrificed so much to make what it is.

Long ago in the days of "hoppers",
When real estate agents dealt in whoppers,
House of sod with roof poles limber;
Buffalo Grass and cottonwood timber
People poor - with hearts of pity;
Each incipient town a city;
Hedge rows broke, but roads across 'em
Folks that let nobody boss 'em;
That's the West as I first knew it.

The settlers of those days may have had to live largely on "bread and with it",but no heroes have greater claims on the world's history than the pioneers ofNebraska. Earnest and indomitable, hard-working and self-denying, they laboredto make homes for their children, and they bore with fortitude - nay,unexampled good humor - all the misfortunes of frontier life.

One day in August, a forlorn, disheartened looking team, drawing a ricketywagon, passed through our "city", bearing a western family back east for awinter's visit to the "wife's folks." As they drove by a crowd of youngfellows gathered in front of the harness shop and it became apparent from thelooks and gestures of the spectators that they were poking fun at his rig. Quick as a flash the homesteader gave to his willing team the signal to stopand leveling his long forefinger at the boys, shouted earnestly: "Look here,strangers, I ain't so darned poor as you think I am. One of these horses isn'tmine."

Such citizenship is one of the resources of Nebraska. The best harvest ofwhich any land can boast is brave and worthy men and women. The best heritagewe can leave our children is an ancestry that merits their emulation. Thesethings have left their impress upon Nebraska. Springing from such stock,surrounded by such environments, who wonders that everything here is done on alarge scale. That our stock fields are so extensive that we are spoken of asthe "fodder land"; that we could furnish a necklace of corn cribs to encirclealmost any territory desired; that our commerce, both internal and external,exceeds that of any other commonwealth of equal age, and that in the lateSpanish skirmish we made a record that proves us worthy sons of the brave sireswho in the days of rebellion from a population of 30,000 -possibly 7,500families- sent 3,307 officers and men to fight for freedom.

To conclude, Nebraska is noted for her peculiarities, her possibilities and herproductions. The fame of our pure air, Poland China pigs and pop-pop-populargovernment has gone abroad in the land. Who has not heard of our bright women,brainy men, and Bry-an. Where can you find the equal of our cattle, corn orcountry newspapers? Our crops are world-beaters; our Exposition beats theWorld's Fair; and our World-Herald can't be beat.

The day has come when we can attune our voices not only to the melody ofpioneer days.

"A home, a home,
Where the deer and antelope play;
Where seldom is heard
A discouraging word
And the sky is not clouded all day".

But remembering the achievements of the years gone by, can catch the moremajestic strain:

"From Atlantic to Rocky Sierras,
No people more loyal or true,
Nebraska, the gem of the prairies,
The best 'neath the red, white and blue."________________________

G.W. Hurlbut, of the Aurora Sun, responded to the toast "A Country Yokel".W.J. Waite, of the Exeter Enterprise, responded to the toast, "The LateUnpleasantness".

W.T. Howard, of the Schuyler Sun, responded to the toast, "The Exposition as anEducator." He closed his eloquent address with the following words: "Thememory of the Transmississippi Exposition will ever remain an enduring monumentto western energy and civilization and of the minds who conceived and carriedthe project to practical results."

The program closed with the toast "The Country Press: Its Might and ItsMercy:" Responded to by Edgar Howard, of the Papillion Times.______________________