11
OMAHA HIT IT JUST RIGHT
The Condemnation Passed Upon an Indecent Song in "Aladdin" Drives It Out.
San Francisco Compels the Discontinuance of "Her Golden Hair Was Hanging Down Her Back."
A Warfare on This Tough Production, Begun by Mrs. Peattie, Results in a California Uprising.
When Dave Henderson's glittering extravaganza appeared in Omaha, a few weeks ago, Miss Boyd, the plump and pleasing prima donna, sang a song, "Her Golden Hair Was Hanging Down Her Back." She half chanted this ballad, which recited the exploits of a maiden from the rural districts, who met and drank with a stranger, who supposed her to be unsophisticated, but who found, upon leaving her, that he had been despoiled of his valuables. The song was full of disgusting insinuations, and was felt by many who listened to it to be of the sort that could appropriately be sung only in the place. However, the gallery whistled, the decent young men in the dress circle blushed, the young women looked absolutely bewildered, and certain positive-minded members of the Woman's club were with difficulty restrained from hissing.
MRS. PEATTIE BEGAN IT.
The World-Herald had a half column article by Mrs. Peattie upon the impropriety of singing such a song in the presence of respectable and pure minded ladies and gentlemen. This started conversation concerning the matter, and it was quite generally agreed in certain circles that if the song was attempted here again, the manager would be requested to eliminate it from his program.
That is exactly what has been done in San Francisco. "Aladdin Jr." was presented at the Baldwin theater in that city, and the women, who formed 80 percent of the audience, were shocked, and a deputation waited, on the manager and asked him to have the ballad out out of the program.
Miss Boyd was very much astonished and said: "I didn't see anything improper in the song, but I was told some of the society ladies of San Francisco though it was broad and so I was glad to stop it. It really seems to me though, a case of to the pure all things are pure," I expect to sing the song when we go east again, but if San Francisco thinks it is improper I'm sure I don't want to appear in a wrong light before anyone."
OMAHA WOMEN WERE AROUSED.
This statement of Miss Boyd's was shown Mrs. Peattie today,
"Miss Boyd," said this lady, "is mistaken as to the beginning of opposition to the song. Had Aladdin Jr. remained a day longer in Omaha the same opposition would have been offered her Miss Boyd will search in vain for any person so pure that a ballad of street flirtation, drinking and theft, with all attendant insinuations, can be made to seem innocent.
"The dramatic critics do not, as a general thing, object to such songs, because the audiences appear to be entirely acquiescent, and the critics have no warrant for saying that these vicious ballads are offensive to the public. As they may or may not be offensive to the dramatic critics, comment is usually avoided.
"I see that in San Francisco the critics seem to have kept clear of the discussion, but the men about town are clamoring to have the song restored."
Mr. Henderson is confident that the east will not object to the song. He said: "When we go back to Philadelphia, Boston and New York we will put on that song again. There will be no complaint there. I know those cities well enough to predict that. The truth of the matter is San Francisco has too many restaurants which tolerate improprieties and too many back rooms to the saloons. So some of the people see impropriety where none is intended."
MR. HENDERSON'S IDEAS.
"Mr. Henderson," said Mrs. Peattie, in relation to this, "seems to think that where there are no back rooms to saloons, theft and the drinking together of men and women unacquainted with each other would bot be regarded as an impropriety. Perhaps not. He might try the song at Tabor, Ia., for example where there are not and never have been any saloons, and see how it is regarded there. The brilliant tout ensemble of the modern spectacle hangs on the ragged edge of indecency at any time - the magnificent scenery, esthetic costumes charming hodge podge of music and clever specialties making an alluring background for these artistic and moral pyrotechnics, "But in the opinion of most "Her Golden Hair Is Hanging Down Her Back" did not linger for one moment on the ragged edge of decency. It bounded over with magnificent bravado, and was thoroughly indecent - and glad of it."
12
FAREWELL TO MRS. PEATTIE
Large Reception Tendered Her at the Commercial Club Last Evening.
Friends in the Sundown and Woman's Club Present Her With a Very Elegant Present.
W.H. Alexander Makes the Presentation Speech -Nearly Five Hundred People Present Decorations Graceful and Pretty.
The reception given Mrs. Peattie last evening at the Commercial club rooms by the old Sundown and the Woman's clubs fell not short of being an ovation.
The house and home committee of the Woman's club had in charge the decoration of the rooms which was graceful and unostentatious. Pals and ferns arranged to form a background to punch table, at which were seated the women of the committee. The line of receiving ladies was formed of ex-presidents and vice presidents of the club. Mrs. Peattie received in a simple white gown and was very pretty, with a red rose in her hair. With her were Mrs. Towne, Mrs. A. B. Somers, Mrs. F. F. Ford, and assisting about the rooms were Mesdames Draper Smith, Hoobler, E. E. Bryson, F. F. Porter, B. F. Weaver, C. E. Squires, Frank Marsh, Wagner, Robson, J. J. Dickey, Alexander, Tukey, Keyser, Lyle Dickey, Mary Fairbrother, and Summer.
MR. ALEXANDER'S REMARKS.
Before 9 o'clock the rooms were completely filled and nearly 500 people were present. At this time there was a lull in the small talk and Mr. W. H. Alexander in the following graceful speech presented Mrs. Peattie with and oak chest, gold mounted, of silver for the table:
There are some good-bys, from the sadness of which the heart never recovers. There are others, weighted for the moment with sorrow, because of the ties they are breaking, which, spoken at the threshold of happier scenes, are really God-speeds in disguise.
When the anxious disciples were met on the Mount of Ascension, fearful of losing their Lord, they were cheered by the promise that his going away would bring them the comforter. These friends who are gathered about you tonight, and for whom I am speaking, are prone to believe that you are standing on your Mount of Ascension; that your future is budded and waiting to blossom, and that some time soon we shall catch the fragrance of the opened flowers and rejoice in your new exaltation. It does not seem very long since you first came amongst us and began, without ostentation, to impress upon this community a unique and delightful personality.
Gifted beyond most women, with conspicuous intellectual graces, you have awakened the interest and challenged the approval of the brightest minds in the country. You have done more than this, forgetful of personal convenience, you have ever been ready for service. In the church, in the school, in the club room, wherever your voice and your pen could be useful to others, they have both been employed. It will give you some pleasure, we are sure, when you stand on the heights of the future and turn your thoughts back to your Omaha home and your Omaha friends to know that for all of this service they were grateful. You are going away tomorrow, but the poet says that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and the earnest wish and prayer of your friends here will be that Time, that hoary old knight of the glass and the sickle, will deal gently with you and with yours.
And, now, Mrs. Peattie, as an evidence, but in no sense a measure of esteem, we have something to give you.
On behalf of the Woman's club of Omaha, that splendid institution whose 600 members in honoring you with its presidency, equally honored themselves; on behalf of the Sundown club, which your husband had the honor of starting; on behalf of the personal friends who have added their mite to the occasion, and on behalf of the legion of others who would wish me to bid you Godspeed, I am pleased to present for your acceptance this beautiful token of regard, and may God add his blessing to ours.
MRS. PEATTIE'S REPLY.
At its close Mrs. Peattie said: "You cannot expect me, Mr. Alexander and ladies of the club and members of the Sundown club, to speak. I cannot tell in words how your presence here tonight has affected me more than this beautiful gift - and it is beautiful. It is the prettiest thing that I have. I shall feel, when I leave Omaha, like a barnacle rubbed off a ship."
Among the many who filled the rooms these prominent people were noticed: Mr. Z. T. Londsey and Miss Lindsey, Judge Wakeley, Miss Wakeley, Judge and Mrs. Ferguson, Rev. John Williams, Colonel Chase, Miss Fannie Butterfield, Miss Julia Knight, Rev. Mary Andrews, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Charlton, Mrs. M. H. Kincaid, Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Carter, Mr. and Mrs. G. M. Hitchcock, Miss Lydia Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. George Marples, Miss Suzanne Walker, Dr. Cuscaden, Miss Minnie Wilson, Miss Mary Fairbrother, Mr. and Mrs. William J. Connell, Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Alexander, Mr. W. H. Wilbur, Mrs. Joseph R. Clarkson, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Ringwall, Mrs. S. D. Barkalow, Mr. and Mrs. Short, Mr. and Mrs. George Clabaugh, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Haller, Mrs. E. S. Dundy, Mr. and Mrs. C. S. Potter, Mrs. Henry Jaynes, Miss Herberia Jaynes, Mr. Sands F. Woodbridge, Mrs. Peters, Mrs. Dale, Rev. and Mrs. John Gordon, Mrs. Littlefield, Dr. and Mrs. Rosewater, Mr. and Mrs. Neely, Mr. and Mrs. Boss, Mrs. Herver, Mrs. J. F. Wagner, Mr. and Mrs. Kilpatrick, Mrs. Alee, Mrs. J. Stewart White, Mrs. W. H. Roberson, Mrs. C. W. Allen, Mrs. E. T. Baldwin, Miss Alexander, Miss Livesey, Mrs. Henry Drexel, Mrs. M. Maul, Mrs. Henry Jordan, Miss. Hawley, Mrs. S. E. Howell, Mrs. C. R. Howell, Mrs. Frank Emerson, Miss Misner, Mrs. Misner, Mrs. J. Northrup, Mrs. Wood, Mrs. George Patterson, Miss McCauge, Mr. and Mrs. McGilton, Herbert Mann, Mrs. Garrett, Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Gibson, Mrs. L. A. Harmon, Mrs. J. J. Lownes, Mr. and Mrs. James B. Meikle, Mrs. C. D. Delamatre, Mr. Robert Douglas, Dr. and Mrs. Gifford, Madam Powell, Mr. and Mrs. Archibald Powell, Miss Millard, Miss Anna Millard, Mr. Gahm, Mr. and Mrs. C. Clay, Mr. and Mrs. Nott, Mrs. George Kelley, Mr. and Mrs. Sudborough, Mr. and Mrs. McKelvey, Miss Hamilton, Mr. Victor Rosewater, Mayor Broatch, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Harmon, Mrs. and Miss Stone, Mrs. Clinton Powell.
13
A CHARMING STORY.
Lincoln Journal; That charming and able writer, Mrs. Elia W. Peattie of Omaha, has a story in the June number of the Cosmopolitian called" Jim Laney's Waterloo." It treats of the experiences of a bride who is taken directly from her Illinois home to her husband's mortgaged home in Nebraska. The first year the crops are good, but prices are low and the year is ended with a net loss of several hundred dollars. Her husband becomes so much interested in the theory that the railroads and the money loaners are responsible for the low prices that he becomes a roaring populist, runs for the legislature and has no time to check the mental and spiritual starvation of his wife. The second year the hot winds destroy the corn, her baby dies for want of care while she is slaving around the house and the barnyard and Jim is balked in his political ambitions. the tale closes with a separation, the wife returning to her mother and the husband spending his last dollar for a ticket to Omaha, where in a short time he is registered as a "plain drunk." at the city jail.
The publication of such a dismal tale with the scene laid in Nebraska will cause keen regret among the people who have at heart the welfare of the state. The cleverness of the story and the skill and finish with which it is told only adds to the damage that will be done by its general circulation. It does not describe a typical case by any means, but it will be considered typical where the state is not known, and the tale is just strong enough, just vivid enough to make an impression upon the average mind that cannot be wiped out in years. Mrs. Peattie had a perfect right to prepare and publish the story. Her efforts are produced by legitimate means. Cases like Jim's have been occurring on the frontier ever since the earliest settler began to beat the frontier back from the ocean. It is really a tribute to Mrs. Peattie's strength as a writer to say that the selection of Nebraska as the seat of her tragedy will really injure the state among people who are ready to believe anything that they read about the great west. One can't scold her for writing it, but a good many folks will wish down in the bottom of their hearts that a thing of this kind may never happen again.
14
MRS. PEATTIE'S SUCCESSOR
Mrs. William P. Harford Elected President of the Omaha Woman's Club.
Madam Reuben Gaylord an Early Settler in the West Made an Honorary Member.
Project of Building a Club House Is Taken Up but Nothing Definite Is Decided Routine Matters.
Mrs. William P. Hartford was yesterday elected president of the Woman's club, to succeed Mrs. Peattie.
When the result of the ballot was announced by Mrs. Towne, temporary chairman of the meeting held in the afternoon at the Creighton, Mrs. Harford took in her arms the big boquet of American beauties presented her and made a most gracious speech, in which she said that the Woman's club was so thoroughly American in its make up, each department having so efficient a head, that she realized her duties would not be of great responsibility, but only to preside and keep as much as possible her opinions to herself. She said that she hoped to fill her position honestly and faithfully, but asked that no comparison be drawn between herself and the graceful and witty Mrs. Peattie, or the other clever presidents who had gone before.
Madam Reuben Gaylord was made an honorary member of the club, Mrs. Ferguson welcoming the pioneer woman whose residence in Omaha has covered forty years, in a few words. Thirteen names were proposed for membership. Mrs. Shuman of Nebraska City and Mrs. Riordan of Texas were guests of the club. During the afternoon Mrs. Johnson gave a vocal solo and Josephine Bell played the piano. An interesting report of the delegation to the Crete Federation of Woman Clubs was read.
DISCUSS CLUB HOUSE SCHEMES.
But after the election of president the feature of the meeting was the discussion of the building of a club house. Mrs. Mary Gerrard Andrews spoke against the stock company idea proposed by the committee. She related the sad state of affairs in Chicago, where the women of the Women's Christian Temperance union had allowed a slock company to build the "Temple," only to find that where the money of money women had been put into the enterprise the women now are having to face the possibility of relinquishing any interest in the building whatever, merely being allowed to rent it as any other tenant. She was in favor of waiting until the club be older and more established and could build a club house of its own without going into debt and until the women members could organize a stock company among themselves.
Mrs. Ford, the chairman of the club house committee, explained that if the members of the Woman's club bought the majority of the stock they were entitled to the control, and said further that no hard could come of soliciting for shareholders to see what could be done.
Mrs. Harford thought if anything is to be done, now is the time to do it, while a down town site can be purchased at a reasonable figure.
BELIEVES IT WILL PAY.
Miss Clary said the need in Omaha of an auditorium of proportions suitable to accommodate large audiences is so urgent that it seemed to her that the club which would provide such a building could not help realizing upon the investment. Mrs. Towne said that she and the secretary felt so kind of queer on the stage of the Creighton theater, so far from the other club members, who seemed to be in the dark from the stage, that she more than ever felt the need of a home for the club properly adapted to its use.
The matter was laid over the next meeting of the club. A reception under the auspices of the musical department will be given Maud Morgan at the club rooms next Thursday afternoon.
15
THEIR ANNUAL MEETING.
Women Belonging to the Club Federation Assemble in Fremont.
Special Dispatch to the World-Herald.
Fremont. Neb., Oct. 9-The annual meeting of the Nebraska Federation of Women's clubs, which met here yesterday, was a great success.
The session was called to order at 10 o'clock. The forenoon was spent in receiving delegates with credentials and assigning them to places of entertainment. The afternoon session convened promptly at 2 o'clock and was favored by an instrumental duet. The reports of the secretary, treasurer, auditor and librarian were then listened to. After a song by Mrs. F.S. Harrison, Mrs. J.F. Reynolds, president of the Fremont club, delivered the address of welcome. The president, Mrs. A. W. Field of Omaha, then delivered her address. Mrs. M.M. Ford delivered an address entitled "Responsibility of the Woman's Club Toward Public Questions." Mrs. H.H. Shuman of Nebraska City read a paper "Significant Phases of the Club Movement." The Lovelei quartet, composed of Misses Maud Oakley and Lillian Terry and Mesdames A.G. Edwards and A.D. Campbell, sang "The Old Folks at Home."
Miss Vesia Gray led the discussion, "Women Before the Law." Mrs. Elizabeth J. Travis that of "Property Rights." "Woman in Nebraska," by Mrs. Archibald A. Scott of Lincoln. The committees were then appointed and the secretary called the roll of delegates.
Among the delegates present were noticed: Mrs. Elia W. Peattie and Mrs. Judge Field, president of the federation, of Omaha; Mrs. B.M. Stoutenbourough, vice president; Mesdames S.H. Atwood, O.H. Snyder, J.G. Richey, Byron Clark, Judge Newall, Travis, Rawin, Elson and Butler of Plattsmouth; Messrs. I.N. Baker of Lincoln, Kate True of Tecumseh, L.C. Voss of Columbus, and about 200 others.