News Items from The Kansas City Journal ~ Old News That's New to You from Vintage Kansas City.com

January 22, 1910

REEDER PICTURE MOVED.

For Half a Century It Has Hung at

Coates House.

For the first time in several years the life-size oil painting of Andrew H. Reeder, the first governor of the territory of Kansas, which has graced the walls of the Coates house for half a century, was removed from its place in the lobby yesterday so that steamfitters could get at a defective pipe. The painting will be cleaned and re-hung in its old place.

The removal of the picture yesterday resulted in a flood of questions at Clerks Mong and Preston. Each told the story of the picture at least a score of times during the day and evening. The painting was made at the direction of Colonel Kersey Coates, the founder of the Coates house, from a photograph. The painting pictures Governor Reeder in flight.

It was back in 1856 that Governor Reeder had much trouble with the pro-slavery men and was forced to hide in Kansas City. He was a close friend of Colonel Kersey Coates, and Colonel Coates successfully hid the governor for two weeks at the Gillis house and other places about the city, finally furnishing him with a disguise in which he was able to escape as a deck passenger on the Missouri river steamer, the A. B. Chambers. When he arrived at St. Louis he had a photograph taken and sent it to Colonel Coates.

Labels: arts, boats, Coates house, Kersey Coates, Missouri river, photographs, St Louis

January 1, 1910

HILARIOUS DINERS

HAIL THE NEW YEAR.

Thousands at the Hotels and

Cafes Watch Passing

of 1909.

"It's 12 o'clock," said "Billy" Campbell, electrician at the Hotel Baltimore.

Frank J. Dean, manager of the hostelry, whose hand was on one of the big switch levers, gave it a pull, and in an instant the lights in the five dining rooms, the Pompeiian room, the grill room and the lobbies were extinguished. Bands in the dining rooms struck up "Auld Lang Syne," 1,200 diners blew souvenir horns, congratulated one another, and the new year was on.

Capacity crowds filled the dining rooms and cafes of the hotels and restaurants of Kansas City last night. At the hotels the lights were extinguished for a minute at midnight to indicate to the diners that the new year had been born. Special orchestras furnished the music and at most of the hotels the old Scotch refrain was sung.

The crowds this year were larger than last. The hotels began making reservations for last night over two weeks ago. A week ago practically all of the lists had been filled. Even at that, last night found hundreds at the big hotels, who waited in lobbies for an opportunity to get into the dining rooms before midnight.

A check system similar to that used in theaters, in which the tables were numbered and the diners held numbered checks, was inaugurated at the Hotel Baltimore this year. This avoided confusion. After dinner scores of men were put to work on the dining rooms. The tables were arranged for their guests and the decorations were put in place. The favors or souvenirs consisted of horns, in the base of which were bits of confections. The color scheme was red, roses and carnations being used in the decorations.

COFFEE AT MIDNIGHT.

The doors to the dining room were opened at 10:30, but dinner was not served until 11:30. The dinner was timed to last half an hour, with the service of coffee on the tables just at midnight. Orchestras were hidden behind banks of palms and ferns in the dining rooms.

The largest crowd was in the Pompeiian room. It was also apparently the jolliest. Long before midnight hundreds of would-be diners thronged the lobby and pleaded vainly for room in one of the dining rooms. As the midnight hour approached the doorways were crowded by those who would look in, even though they could not cross the portals. The balconies above the marble room and the main banquet hall were crowded early in the evening by those who could only watch the revelers.

SING "AULD LANG SYNE."

At the Savoy hotel the dining rooms were thrown together and the orchestra was placed in the hall so that the grill room, with its quota of stags, could be entertained. Dinner was served here at 11 o'clock. At 12 o'clock the lights were extinguished and the familiar Scotch melody was sung.

The Hotel Kupper dining room was crowded an hour before midnight and those who could not gain entrance filled the lobby and joined in the chorus of "Auld Lang Syne" when the lights were turned up after midnight.

At the Sexton hotel the crowds overflowed the dining rooms and were taken care of in the grill room in the basement.

The actors and actresses about the city had their celebration at the Century hotel. Immediately after the curtains were rung down at the various show houses a rush was made for street costumes and the members of the "profession" gathered at the Century hotel. The tables had all been reserved, and an orchestra greeted the crowd from each theater as they appeared.

The cafe of the Coates house held a capacity crowd. It was quieter than those at the other hotels.

At the Densmore, the tables in the dining room had been reserved for several weeks. Scores were turned away last night. Special music was the rule here also.

Labels: Coates house, food, holidays, hotels, Kupper hotel, New Years, Savoy

December 23, 1909

FOR 27 YEARS A HOTEL MAID.

Death Ends Margaret Sullivan's

Long Service at Coates House.

Margaret Sullivan, 65 years old, maid in charge of the parlor floor of the Coates house for twenty-seven years, died at St. Joseph's hospital yesterday morning of pneumonia.

Among her effects in the room at the Coates house which she occupied almost continuously while employed there, were found some papers indicating that she left a considerable estate. It is known about the hotel that she lost a large sum of money in a bank failure ten or twelve years ago. At that time sh e told the housekeeper that she would not deposit another cent in a bank, but this resolve was forgotten, for it developed yesterday that she had a certificate of deposit in the National Bank of Commerce for several hundred dollars. Just what her estate amounts to will not be known until the arrival of her two sisters, Mrs. C. R. Helbing of Grand Crossing, near Chicago, and Miss M. Sullivan of Ogdensburg, N. Y. Mrs. Helbing wired the hotel people yesterday afternoon that she would arrive this morning.

Quiet and unassuming, Miss Sullivan worked steadily day after day, never allowing herself a vacation and making herself a veritable fixture in the first big hotel of Kansas City. She would not allow an y of the other maids to assist her and was on duty regularly.

"It is supposed that Miss Sullivan had some money when she came here," said Manager Firey of the Coates house yesterday afternoon. "She received $25 a month and her board, room and laundry. She was of simple tastes and I suppose saved much fore than her salary, for the parlor floor is supposed to be worth something in the shape of gratuities to the maids, as well as to the bellboys. Her death is regretted by everyone attached to the hotel who knew her."

Labels: banking, Coates house, death, hospitals, probate

December 13, 1909

STODDARD MEETS STODDARD.

Joplin Drummer and Utica Salesman

Akin in Seventeenth Century.

"Mr. Stoddard, I want you to meet Mr. Stoddard," said Clerk George Mong at the Coates house last evening as he introduced Rock Stoddard of Joplin, Mo., to G. L. Stoddard of Utica, N. Y. The latter had just signed the hotel register, and Rock Stoddard was waiting to pay out.

Both Stoddards are traveling men and it developed that back several centuries their forefathers were related closely. In the seventeenth century three brothers crossed the ocean from England. One settled in New York state, the other in Connecticut and the other in Canada. The descendants of the brother who settled in Connecticut and New York fought in the revolutionary war.

G. L. Stoddard, whose home is in Utica, N. Y., said that the brothers who settled in the States finally drifted together in New York state. Several of the descendants have since gone West and South. He is a descendant of the brother who settled in Connecticut. Rock Stoddard, whose home is at Joplin, is a descendant of the brother who went to Canada.

Labels: Coates house, hotels, New York, visitors

October 29, 1909

NO MORE "RATS" FOR

THE POSTAL GIRLS.

DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT'S

ORDER EFFECTIVE NOV. 1.

One Will Declare Hair Real, Will

Take Such Commands Only

From Husband and Dares

Investigation.

"On and after November 1, all lady clerks and employes must discontinue the wearing of 'rats' in their hairdress. Please govern yourself accordingly. -- A. B. R., Supt. Dist."

Will the Postal Telegraph Company whose district manager issued the above order, insist that it be obeyed, or will it hearken to the murmurings and declarations of their female employes and forget it?

This is the question which is bothering the girls ever since they received copies of what is declared to be the most famous order ever issued by the local office. That the officials of the company will have no easy time enforcing his order goes without saying. In fact, one of the pretty wire girls declared last evening that she, for one, would resign, and that in a hurry, before she would permit the manager or superintendent to dictate to her the sort of headdress she would wear.

"Why, the first thing we know they will have us in blue uniforms with brass buttons, a la messenger boy style," she said.

TAKEN AS JOKE AT FIRST.

The order was issued Wednesday. The girls, when they received it, took it for a joke, but yesterday when they discovered that it really was in earnest, and that the order meant what it said, there was excitement in plenty. If the ears of Superintendent Richards did not burn and buzz all day yesterday and until well into the night, it was not because the girls were not talking.

More than a score of operators are affected by the order. Half a dozen of these operate keys in various public places about the city, the principal branches being in the Hotel Baltimore, Coates house, Savoy hotel, New York Life building and the Chamber of Commerce. Then there are almost a score of girls employed in the main office of the company.

What objection to the wearing of "rats" can be is known only to Superintendent Richards and as one of the girls expressed it yesterday, "He won't tell because he doesn't know."

"It's nobody's business what is meant by the issuance of that order," said Richards last evening.

"I guess 'A. B. R.' will buy us all new hats. He will have to if he insists on us taking the rats out of our hair," said one of the operators as she adjusted a handsomely plumed beaver.

NOT TO BE COMMANDED.

"Why, we never would be able to wear a stylish-looking hat and I know that I, for one, am not going to let any man dictate to me for a while, yet, as to the sort of hat I wear. Of course, if I get married I may change my mind, but I am still single."

"I threw my order in the waste basket," said another operator,"but on second thought I fished it out and took it home. I may have it framed, or I may send it to a friend in Chicago. I only wish I could say things like a man can. I would certainly talk to 'A. B. R.' "

"Lots of foolish orders are issued at times, but this is the worst I have ever heard of," said another operator. "I wear a rat and have to in order to wear a hat which is in style. If 'A. B. R.' or anyone else thinks that he is going to tell me how to wear my hair he will be disillusioned. If he asks me I will tell him my hair is natural and if he tries to get familiar and ascertain for himself there will be something doing, in which I will not get the worst of it."

Labels: Coates house, employment, Hotel Baltimore, New York Life bldg, telegraph, women

September 15, 1909

AUTOMOBILIST STOPS HORSE.

Grabs Reins From Cab and Prevents

Injury to Woman.

Grabbing the reins of a frightened horse while seated in an automobile, Joe Marks,a traveling salesman, stopped the animal yesterday afternoon at risk of serious injury to himself and saved from injury a young woman who drove. Marks was dragged from the tomeau of the machine and when he returned to the Coates house last evening his clothes were bespattered with mud and his trousers were torn.

After luncheon yesterday Marks and Ervan Wilson traversed Cliff drive in an automobile and then drove out towards Swope park. Marks noticed that a horse hitched to a runabout and driven by a young woman had become frightened. He told the chauffeur to hurry and he would try to grab the reins. The chauffeur turned the machine loose. The frightened horse dashed down the road.

Marks held on to the hand rail with one hand and reached out with the other. Wilson grabbed Marks's coat. The chauffeur swung the machine alongside the horse. Marks grabbed the lines and the driver set the brakes. The road was muddy, the machine skidded, the horse fought desperately to get away and Marks was suspended between the horse and the automobile.

"Let loose of me, I've got him," cried Marks to Wilson, and he jumped from the machine. The horse by this time had been brought to a standstill.

Neither the young woman nor the horse was hurt and after the animal was calmed she insisted on taking the reins and driving him home. Marks gave his name, but forgot to get that of the girl.

Labels: animals, automobiles, Cliff drive, Coates house, salesmen, visitors

September 6, 1909

CUBA PROSPEROUS, HE SAYS.

Dr. Leni A. Beltran Says Present

Crops Will Be Best Ever.

Dr. Leni A. Beltran, a representative of the Cuban government, arrived at the Coates House yesterday and will be in Kansas City for a week. He will examine horses which have been purchased, subject to his approval, for the cavalry force for the island. Dr. Beltran is a native Cuban, but was educated in New York City.

"The strides Cuba is making will surprise the world," he declared yesterday afternoon. "Cuba will have the biggest sugar and tobacco crops of its history this year. Tobacco, which was plentiful and of good quality last year, will be much better and more plentiful this year. This year we believe will be the most prosperous the island has had."

Labels: Coates house, New York, tobacco, visitors

August 19, 1909

GUESTS TAKE TO THE ROOF.

The Coates House Equal to Occasion

During Hottest Spell.

Three shower baths and thirty cots placed on the roof of the Coates house yesterday gave guests of that hostelry al fresco sleeping and bathing accommodations last night. Although the comfort attached to sleeping on a cot is small, the thirty were filled long before 10 p. m. last night.

The idea of cots on the roof occurred to the hotel men Tuesday. Several were put on the roof Tuesday evening. The experiment was successful and yesterday thirty cots were placed there. this news spread rapidly, and by the time dinner was over the cots had all been spoken for. The guests on the roof are confined to the masculine population of the hotel for the present, although it is probable that if the heated spell continues arrangements will be made for hte women. the matter of arranging the three shower baths was the hardest, and plumbers were kept busy until evening.

The guests who use the cots sleep in the open. They do not have a mosquito netting over them and about midnight last night those who had retired in their pajamas and bathrobes were summoning bellboys for blankets. Practically all left calls for about 5 a. m. at the latest. It is planned for the roof guests to take a shower in the early morning and then go to their rooms to finish their sleep.

Labels: Coates house, hotels, visitors, weather

July 31, 1909

SEEIN' THINGS AT NIGHT.

Observers Note Regular Appearance

of Light in Western Sky.

Now Kansas City has the aeroplane fever.

Leastwise, there are people in this city who have been seeing thing which have led them to believe that there is some daring aviator making nightly flights over the city. Whether it is an aeroplane of the Wright model or a monoplane built along the lines of Herbert Latham's comparatively miniature machine, or one of Zeppelin's monster gas bags with the wickerwork baskets below, the nocturnal observers have been unable to determine.

But this they do know: that each evening about 8 o'clock -- at 7:55 to be exact -- a light has appeared just over the west bluffs which grows in brilliancy as it covers a course toward the horizon and finally disappears at a point just north of the Coates house. Lat night this light made its appearance at a point between the Coates house and the Catholic cathedral on Eleventh street, and in a slowly moving arc finally disappeared somewhere in the distance north and west of the Coates house.

The brilliancy and size of the light has discredited the idea in the minds of observers that it might be a star. Also, the movement of the light, it is said, is entirely too swift for one of the heavenly bodies. ergo, it must be an aeroplane, a monoplane, an airship or a toy balloon, or---

It may be the star Venus wending its nightly course through the heavens.

Labels: aeroplanes, airships, Coates house

July 12, 1909

OUTING FOR BOYS AND GIRLS.

Given Tour of United States and

Europe by Newspaper.

On a tour of the United States and Europe, nine boys and girls about 16 and 17 years old, from Los Angeles, Cal., yesterday passed through Kansas City and were obliged to delay here several hours on account of train service conditions. The party, which was chaperoned by Mrs. Scott Pond-Pope and Miss Catherine Harkness, was at the Coates house. The afternoon was spent in seeing the parks and boulevards.

Four of the girls of the party will go to New York and sail on the steamer Baltic, July 17, for London. They will visit the principal points of interest on the Continent. The rest of the party will spend a day in each of the large Eastern cities, taking in Niagara Falls and a trip up the Hudson river.

Prudence Thompson, Jessie Young, Grace Amestoy and Emma Simpson will go to Europe. Vane McKee, Rufus Brent, Clarance Ballard, Beatrice Morrow and Margaraet Goodell will tour the states. The trip is given the young people under the auspices of a Los Angeles newspaper and is in charge of H. J. Weldon. They left Los Angeles July 1 and expect to return August 28.

Labels: California, Coates house, England, visitors

July 12, 1909

JOE MARKS STOPPED FIGHT.

Ability as Linguist Helped Him to

Put and End to Quarrel.

The versatility of Joe Marks, a cigar salesman, prevented guests at the Coates house last night from witnessing what might have proved a battle royal, when he intervened between two men, neither of whom could speak English, who were about to "mix it up" in the street at Tenth street and Broadway. Joe speaks seven languages and he said last night it helped him a lot. He lives at the Coates house.

The men were quarreling with their wives. The women knew each other, but the men were not acquainted and neither could speak English intelligently. A misunderstanding occurred when they met and were introduced. One of the belligerents was an Italian and the other a Bohemian. In an aside to his wife the Italian said something the Bohemian believed derogatory. They tried to explain in English, but it was useless.

Just as the men were rolling up their sleeves Marks appeared on the scene. He acted as interpreter general and finally succeeded in quieting all parties. His thanks came in three languages.

Marks was returning from the Union depot to the hotel when he overheard the argument.

"If the flood had not tied up the trains I might have been on my way to Iowa," he said, "and in that case someone would surely h ave been hurt. The women were sure to have gotten into it if a fight had occurred."

Labels: Broadway, cigars, Coates house, immigrants, Tenth street

July 8, 1909

FOR LIGHTS ON VEHICLES.

Automobile Club Would Have a

City Ordinance Enforced.

At the regular monthly meeting of the Kansas City Automobile Club at the Coates house last night members of the club were requested to be present at the meeting of the streets, alleys and grades committee of the upper house of the council this afternoon. They will ask for the enforcement of the ordinance which requires lights on all vehicles traversing the boulevards after dark.

The question of organizing a State Automobile Association as required by the American Automobile Association in order to secure the benefits of the national organization was brought up for discussion. It was decided to withhold action until the arrival, about July 31, of the national secretary, when a special meeting will be called for that purpose.

Labels: automobiles, Coates house, organizations

June 25, 1909

OCH LIKES KANSAS CITY.

Beautiful Beyond Belief, Says

New York Times Owner.

Adolphus Ochs, owner of the New York Times, was yesterday a guest in Kansas City at the Coates house. With Mr. Ochs was his wife and five members of his immediate family. They party is on the way to Seattle to the Yukon-Alaska exposition.

During the afternoon Mr. Ochs and his party were driven over the boulevards in automobiles. Speaking of his impressions, Mr. Ochs said that nowhere in the world was a duplicate or even a rival of the boulevard system of Kansas City.

"It is almost inconceivable and beautiful beyond belief," said he last night. The party departed for Seattle over the Santa Fe last night.

Labels: Coates house, New York, visitors

May 7, 1909

CHEERING THRONGS

BID WESTON WELCOME.

AGED PEDESTRIAN SET HOT

PACE DURING THE DAY.

Arrived in Kansas City Fresh and

Strong With Admirers Trailing

at Heel -- Proceeds to

Kansas Today.

EDWARD PAYSON WESTON.

Cheered by thousands of people, Edward Payson Weston, the aged pedestrian, who is enroute from New York to San Francisco, swung briskly into the downtown section of Kansas City yesterday afternoon at 4:15 o'clock and reaching the Coates house at 4:45 completed the day's walk, having made twenty-nine miles from Oak Grove, his stopping place last night, to Kansas City in eight hours and thirty minutes, with ease. He was not travel worn nor weary, and walked the last few miles of the day at a terrific pace.

"It was the greatest day of the trip to date," said Weston, as he waved adieu to the crowd that followed him through the downtown streets to the doors of his hotel. "Never have I been so royally received. And never on any of my jaunts have I traveled such roads and passed through such beautiful country as I did today. I will never forget this day and the kind people of Kansas City."

IN GREAT FORM.

Greatly refreshed by ten hours sleep at Oak Grove, Weston set out from that place yesterday morning at 7:30 o'clock. In the cool, bracing morning air he reeled off the miles in great form, little like he entered Oak Grove the night before, when he was on the verge of collapse as the result of a most trying walk under a broiling sun. The trip to Independence was made without incident. With the exception of a stop for a glass of milk and another to eat some raw eggs, the veteran never broke his stride, and at 1:30 o'clock he entered the public square at Independence. Scores of people cheered him and sought to give him a more demonstrative welcome, but he dodged them and made his way to the Metropolitan hotel, a stopping place in the early days for ox teams en route from the Atlantic to the Pacific over the same route the "hiker" is following.

At the Metropolitan, Weston ate heartily a generous portion of oatmeal. Lying on a cot he talked between bites to newspaper men and Y. M. C. A. athletes who had journeyed to Independence to meet and accompany him to Kansas City. After fifty minutes of eating and resting, he arose, walked backwards down the stairs of the hotel to prevent any jar to his knees, and started rapidly for the city.

CHILDREN CHEERED HIM.

The route out of Independence was down West Maple street. On this thoroughfare is located the Central high school, and as Weston approached the school hundreds of school children were released from their studies to greet him. To the wild cheering of the boys and girls and the handclapping of the many people who lined the curbs of the street, the old man lifted his hat and bowed again and again. The short, stubby stride was broken for the first time, and the walker grasped the hand of George S. Bryant, principal of the school, a friend of years ago. A hurried greeting and adieu and Weston was again on his way. Twice between Independence and Kansas City, the old fellow was again greeted by throngs of school children, and each time he bowed his appreciation. "It does me more good than anything else to have these children greet me," he said. "It cheers me, and makes my journey easier."

The Y . M. C. A. hikers who were accompanying the old pedestrian on his entry into the city, were hustling to keep a pace when the city limits were reached at 3:12 o'clock. Weston was averaging, as he did early in the day, four miles an hour, and the pace was a little too fast for the unseasoned striders, but they struggled gamely on. At the city limits, the escort of mounted police joined the party, and it was well that this escort was provided, for along Fifteenth street and through the business section of the city the crowd that followed the pedestrian and rushed into the streets to greet him would have been uncontrollable.

Such an enthusiastic welcome as was given Weston has seldom been given an athlete in Kansas City. On every side there were cheers of "Hello, Weston," "You're all right, old boy," etc. To all of these Weston bowed his thanks. He stopped but twice, once to greet John DeWolfe, who lives near the Blue river. Weston and DeWolfe were friends thirty-nine years ago.

After reaching the Coates house Weston Hurried to his room where he changed his clothes and bathed his feet in the preparation he always uses, briny water.

LECTURES AT Y. M. C. A.

Last night Mr. Weston spoke before a large audience in the gymnasium of the Y. M. C. A. building on Wyandotte street. His remarks were confined principally to events on his present long hike, and he predicted he would arrive in San Francisco on schedule time. By 9 o'clock he was through with his lecture, and a half hour later was snugly in bed at the Coates house. He left a call for 4 o'clock this morning, and by 5 o'clock he expects to be well on his way to the West.

Weston goes from Kansas City to Lawrence, and will cover the distance over the roadbed of the Union Pacific railroad. He is due in Lawrence tonight, where he will rest until Saturday morning, when he will start out for Topeka, again taking the railroad right-of-way, by which he saves eleven miles in distance as compared with the open highway. He is scheduled to lecture in Topeka.

Weston is a most picturesque character. Clad in a white blouse that is fringed with embroidery at the neck and wrist, plaid walking trousers suspended by a broad belt and heavy shoes with gaiters, his dress does just what he wishes it to do -- attract attention. He shows his seventy years only by his wheat head and a drooping white mustache. He is of wiry build, about 5 feet 6 inches in height and weighs 140 pounds. As he walks he allows his body to weave slightly from side to side, removing to a great extent the jar of the walking. At this stage of the journey he is in excellent physical condition. Yesterday was the hardest day he has experienced on this or any other walk, according to his own statement. Barring a succession of several such days he should be able to finish his long journey on schedule time and in good condition.

Labels: California, children, Coates house, hotels, Independence, Lawrence, New York, schools, Seniors, Topeka, visitors, YMCA

April 17, 1909

MOVE THE COURTHOUSE

UPTOWN, SAY LAWYERS.

BAR ASSOCIATION FAVORS IM-

MEDIATE ACTION IN MATTER.

Present Building Too Far North,

Yet Trend of Opinion Is That

New Structure Should Not Be

Too Far South, Either.

At the meeting of the executive committee of the Kansas City Bar Association at noon yesterday at the Baltimore hotel, it was resolved that the courthouse should be moved farther up town. Such a recommendation will be made to the association proper at its next gathering to take place at the Coates house May 2. One of the lawyers said last night: "The courthouse now is too far out of the way and we lawyers are a lazy lot."

Those who talked about the matter last night were not agreed as to just what is the matter with the present building, but they all thought a new one should be built sooner or later, some with the accent on "later." Nor were they all agreed as to the location of a new building, but none of them thought it ought to be south of Twelfth street. Some strange incongruities occurred in their opinions. One man thought there was too much waste space in the building at present and another that it would be a hopeless task to arrange it so there would be accommodations for all of its official occupants. That the building as it stands now is not a fireproof structure, seemed to be about the most robust reason advanced in favor of a move. No one thought the proposal to move into rented quarters up-town was a practical one.

TOO MUCH IDLE SPACE.

"I don't think we ought to be in a hurry about it," said C. W. German, former county counselor, "although it ought to be done some time. My chief reason for a new court house is that the present one is out of the way. There is twice as much space down there as is needed and the court rooms are all too big. With this in view, I suppose it could be remodeled. If a new one were built, I should think it ought to be somewhere east of Grand avenue, between Ninth and Twelfth streets. It should be near enough the car lines for the sake of convenience, but far enough away for the sake of quiet. We've only been in the present building about seventeen years, and that hardly seems to be very much of a tenure for such a building as that. It would probably be difficult to dispose of the present building, too.

W. D. Thomas, one of the executive committee of the bar association, thought some of the records in the present building were in danger of fire. "I don't believe any of the deeds and mortgages, or such valuable documents are in danger of fire, but some of the papers worth almost as much are exposed to the danger. All of the files in the circuit and probate courts are thus exposed, but the records proper are safely deposited in the vaults."

REARRANGEMENT DIFFICULT.

"Under the new law the various divisions of the courts have to occupy the court rooms in rotation, which makes it very inconvenient and disturbs the even routine of things. While I think the building is large enough, I am afraid that a satisfactory rearrangement would be difficult of accomplishment. If the building should burn down, however, I think it would mean an irreparable loss to the county.

"The location of a new building is not a matter of importance to me. I should think somewhere in the neighborhood of Tenth and Oak streets would be about right."

"It has always been a nuisance to lawyers to be obliged to go that far north," said J. J. Vineyard, president of the bar association. "No, I don't think the present building could be disposed of profitably, for that is the usual experience in trying to sell or rent abandoned public buildings, and the county would hardly come out even on that score. To rent quarters farther uptown would not receive my approval. I think a new building should be built at a more convenient location."

Labels: Coates house, courthouse, Hotel Baltimore, hotels, lawyer, organizations

April 2, 1909

IT'S NO JOKE WITH THEM.

Glenwood, Col., People Want Summer

Home for President There.

The people of Glenwood Springs, Col., were in earnest when they instructed their senator to introduce a bill in congress appropriating several hundred thousands of dollars for a presidential mansion at that resort, according to R. C. Leinbach of Glenwood Springs, who was at the Coates house last night.

"We have the finest resort in the world, bar none," said Mr. Leinbach, "and we think it would be the place for a summer home for the president. A White House No. 2 could be built there that would prove a very popular place not only for the president, but those people who have business with the chief executive during the torrid months. People in the East seemed to take the bill introduced by our senator as a joke, but the citizens of Glenwood Springs and Colorado mean it and intend to agitate the proposal.

Labels: Coates house, hotels, visitors

April 1, 1909

SWOPE PARK ZOO MAY 1.

Society to Spend $10,000 to $15,000

for Animals.

By May 1 the zoological building being built in Swope park will be ready for the receiving of animals and visitors and the zoological society which has been attending to the details will have finished the greater part of its labor. The society held a meeting at the Coates house last night, and made arrangements for the opening of the city zoo.

The society expects to expend between $10,000 and $15,000 within the next several weeks for animals. Besides what animals will be purchased, the zoo has already a large number in different parts of the country.

At the meeting last night private donations amounted to $770. H. R. Walmsley was re-elected secretary and Gus Pearson second vice president last night. The Campbell Bros. circus will open a week's engagement at the Convention hall on April 17, the proceeds going to the zoological society.

Labels: animals, Coates house, Convention Hall, hotels, Kansas City Zoo, Swope park

March 29, 1909

PRAISE FOR WEST VIRGINIA.

Wheeling Man Talks of State's

Wonderful Resources.

"You do not hear much of West Virginia out this way, but it is the richest state of its size in the Union," said H. R. Griffin of Wheeling, W. Va., at the Coates House last night. "It hasn't as many dollars nor as many people as some states, but nature tucked away a lot of riches under the surface and over it, too.

"Last year the state produced 44,000,000 tons of coal. The famous Pocahontas fields are very extensive and are furnishing a much desired steam coal. Experts estimate that the fields will not be exhausted for 650 years. Our timber cannot be cut off in thirty years. West Virginia oil is the finest and the production has only started. Few states have as many natural resources as the so-called home of the rattlesnake."

Labels: Coates house, hotels, visitors

March 22, 1909

KERSEY COATES AS A WAITER.

An Incident of the Early Days in

Kansas City.

An incident of the good old days in Kansas City town was recalled last night at the Hotel Kupper by Belle Theodore, a member of the Kathryn Osterman company, playing at the Grand this week.

"I have been coming to Kansas City every season for many years," said Mrs. Theodore to a party of friends. "Several years ago on one of my visits I was stopping at the old Coates house. At dinner time one evening all of the waiters in the house went on a strike. The late Kersey Coates, who was then running the place, was in a dreadful stew, hardly knowing how to proceed. The hotel was full of guests and the dining room was rapidly filling. I followed the procession and sat down at a table, thinking that I would take a chance, if there were any, of getting my dinner.

"I had been seated a few minutes when I saw a waiter approaching. As he neared me I saw that it was Mr. Coates, the proprietor. He had donned a jacket and an apron and was handling a tray like a veteran. He worked throughout the dinner hour like a Trojan and made the best of an unpleasant and unforeseen situation."

Labels: Coates house, history, hotels, Kersey Coates, Kupper hotel, visitors

March 11, 1909

STEAK TOUGH? YOUR FAULT.

The Meat Packer Isn't to Blame,

Says J. P. Cudahy.

It is the fault of the people and not of the packers that the average beefsteak must be cut with a cleaver, according to J. P. Cudahy of the Cudahy Packing Company, who last night addressed the Hereford cattle breeders of the Middle West at a banquet at the Coates house. In the course of his remarks he declared the people will not buy good meat, and for that reason the packers will not buy it from the stock raiser, so the result is it does not pay to raise fancy cattle for the market.

"Hereford cattle are the best in the land," Mr. Cudahy declared, "but they are often discriminated against by packers because they are too fat. The average butcher wants to buy the leanest carcass in the packing house, for he gets more cuts from it and there is but little waste. There are a few men down in New York and Boston who will pay $2.50 for a steak, but there are 88,000,000 people in the United States who will not buy high-grade beef."

The banquet, which was given for the buyers attending the Hereford sale now in progress ant the stock yards, was attended by more than 100 stockmen.

Labels: Boston, Coates house, food, hotels, stock yards

March 6, 1909

OPPOSED TO LIABILITY LAWS.

Ice Men Are United in Protest

Against Such Legislation.

Members of the Western Ice Manufacturers' Association are strongly opposed to any employer's liability laws. They said so yesterday in convention at the Coates house when the measure now before the Iowa legislature was denounced by H. H. Teachout of Des Moines. "These employer liability bills are dangerous," said Mr. Teachout, "and we ice men should fight them."

"That's right," answered a chorus of voices throughout the hall, but there was no action taken toward making official protest against such legislation.

The ice men, who are holding their eleventh annual convention at the Coates house, listened to trade talks yesterday. State Senator Emerson Carey of Hutchison, Kas., who was to have told the ice men what part they should take in politics, was unable to be present. Last night the annual banquet of the association was held at the Coates house, and today the convention will close with a business session and the annual election of officers.

Labels: Coates house, conventions, Des Moines, hotels, ice, visitors

March 5, 1909

MAY DANCE WITH FEET

BARE, BUT NOT SALOME.

LATTER REVOLTING, DEBASING

AND DEBAUCHING, SAYS JUDGE.

Still, He Likes Good Shows and

Came All Way From Independ-

ence to See Booth

and Barrett.

Not because her clothes are scanty,
Nor because the beads fit tight;
But because her steps are naughty
Salome must not dance tonight.

Gertrude Hoffman may dance at the Shubert or anywhere else, but it must not be a la Salome.

She may sing unrestricted, except as for "I Don't Care."

She may wear what she pleases.

Against the two first named features of her performance in the "Mimic World" Judge James H. Slover of the circuit court yesterday granted a temporary injunction, and it is thereby made unlawful for Miss Hoffman to present the dance or sing the song in public so long as she is in Jackson county.

"Obnoxious to public morals" and "replete with immoral suggestions" are some of the phrases which occur in the opinion of Judge Slover. Special notice is taken of the use of the head of John the Baptist, which, with the Salome dance, is classed as "revolting, debasing and debauching."

In the main, Judge Slover bases his authority to act on the Spanish bull fight case in St. Louis, which was stopped by the courts on the grounds that it shocked the moral sense of the community. The opinion in its entirety follows:

WHAT THE COURT RULED.

This proceeding by the attorney general of the state of Missouri is to suppress a part of a performance now on the boards of the Shubert theater in Kansas City, Mo., known as the "Mimic World," and is especially directed against the song, "I Don't Care," and the "Salome" dance. The Shubert people claim that the court has no jurisdiction to interfere by injunction, but if the court should determine that it has jurisdiction, then the play itself is not obnoxious to public morals, but is a highly artistic performance.

As to the jurisdiction of the court, the case of the Spanish bull fight in St. Louis, reported in the 207th supreme court decisions, is sufficient warrant for the court to entertain this case.

As to the performance itself, it may be said, generally speaking, that any public exhibition that at first blush shocks the average intelligence of a community is harmful and demoralizing and should receive the condemnation of the courts. In the Canty case (supra) the supreme court said that a public exhibition of any kind that tends to the corruption of morals is a public nuisance and should be oppressed.

OBNOXIOUS TO PUBLIC MORALS.

The evidence in this case shows that the "don't care" song and the Salome dance are obnoxious to the public morals and an offense against the better instincts of mankind and ought not to be tolerated in a Christian community. The song is replete with lewd and immoral suggestions and the Salome dance, in which an imitation head of Saint John the Baptist is tossed about, is simply revolting and so debasing in its character and debauching in its influence on public morals as to constitute a public nuisance which a court of equity has jurisdiction to and should suppress.

Upon the evidence in the case and the authority of the Canty case a temporary injunction will be granted in favor of the relator, but modifying in some respects the restraining order, which may be agreed to by counsel in the case, otherwise to be settled by the court.

SLOVER LIKES GOOD SHOWS.

At that, Judge Slover is a friend of the theater. He goes when there is a good show. Said he yesterday, after handing down the opinion:

"When Edwin Forrest played at the Coates opera house in the '70s, Mrs. Slover and I drove a mile to the railroad station in Independence. We took the train to Kansas City and attended the performance. Returning, the train was due to leave at 2 a. m., but it was 3 o'clock before it appeared. It was 4 when we got home. Besides, there was a snowstorm that night. That shows I am willing to make a sacrifice even to see a good play.

"Again, when Booth and Barrett opened the Warder Grand, now the Auditorium, Mrs. Slover and myself drove in from Independence and back to see the play. There was no roof on the theater when it was thrown open to the public. That was about fifteen years ago."

As no objection is made to the spring song nor to the costume worn by the Shubert dancer, her managers may, with perfect security from the courts, put her on the stage in the same costume and let her sing this song or any other one. Also she may do any dance except the Salome.

Labels: circuit court, Coates house, dancing, hotels, Independence, Judge Slover, music, theater

March 2, 1909

COURT ORDER

STOPS SALOME.

SPRING SONG IS GIVEN IN

FLESHLINGS AND SHOES.

MISS HOFFMAN VERY ANGRY.

SAYS ACTOIN TAKEN BY PEOPLE

WHO NEVER SAW DANCE.

Injunction to Be Heard in Judge

Porterfield's Court Tomorrow.

"I, Too, Am a Christian,"

Says Miss Hoffman.

GERTRUDE HOFFMAN.

Gertrude Hoffman did not give the Salome dance at the Shubert theater last night because a court order commanded her not to do so.

In the "Spring Song "Gertrude, who goes bare-footed and bare ankled and almost bare-kneed in this number, wore fleshlings, and on her classic feet she wore soft shoes because the court order commanded it.

A temporary restraining order, made by Judge E. E. Porterfield of the circuit court late yesterday afternoon and returnable tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock, scored first blood for those who are fighting the presentation of the semi-nude dance in Kansas City.

Miss Hoffman was served with the order while she was in her room at the Coates house. The order was also served on Earl Steward, manager of the Shubert, J. J. Shubert and Lee Shubert being included in the list of defendants.

Miss Hoffman went to the Shubert last night determined to do her dance. She was mad and excited. It was decided to eliminate the "Salome" dance, but as the court order made no mention directly of the Spring Song number, that dance was given.

"What kind of a town is this?" said Miss Hoffman, as she retired to her dressing room after the conclusion of her act.

One could still hear the applause coming from the auditorium of the theater.

"Do you hear that?" she said. "Did you see that audience? Did you see any people with low brows in that audience? Do they look coarse, unrefined, ill bred? No, certainly they don't.

"What does the so-called religious element of Kansas City think I am doing over here? Do they think I get out on the stage and wriggle? Do they think the audience giggles?

"I have given my dances all over the Eastern section of the United States. I played in the leading cities of New England where the Puritans came from and where their descendants live and thrive and still preach purity.

"Intellectual audiences, audiences of brain and a taste for art saw my dances. I played to an audience made up entirely of Harvard men while in Boston. I played to an audience made up almost entirely of Yale men when we played in New Haven. When we played in Springfield, Mass., more than half of the audience was composed of girls attending Smith college. They came over thirty miles to see my performance. They represented some of the richest, most intellectual families of the United States. They didn't blush. They had nothing to blush for. They applauded.

"Who are these people who rant about something they have never seen? They are hypocrites, to begin with. Why do they seize on this performance, when they have ignored other theatrical performances which might have given them some excuse for going to court?

"If these people object to my dance why don't they go to your art academies and tear down the nudes. Why don't they close up the art academies and prevent nude women from posing for nude pictures? Why don't they?

"That's art, they will say, if they have intelligence. So it is. And this dance I give is art, classic art.

Labels: arts, Boston, Coates house, dancing, hotels, Judge Porterfield, theater, visitors, women

February 14, 1908

STOVEPIPE HAT IN TOWN.

It Is a Gray One and Under It Came

J. West Goodwin.

Wearing the same old gray stovepipe hat, J. West Goodwin, the veteran newspaper editor from Sedalia, Mo., attracted attention and comment in the lobby of the Coates house last night. The hat worn by Mr. Goodwin has been a familiar sight at political meetings for the last twenty-five years. Between elections the editor wears a black slouch hat, but when the campaign opens the old high gray hat is brought out for use. Not being as spry in his old days as he was when younger, his friends last night insisted that Goodwin had endeavored to reach Kansas City in time to attend the banquet of the Young Men's Republican Club and was a day late.

Labels: Coates house, hotels, Sedalia, visitors

February 6, 1909

AERONAUTICS DEPENDS

ON GOOD ROADS - CALL.

GIRARD, KAS., INVENTOR AD-

VANCES A NEW THEORY.

He's Planning Boulevards for Run-

ways and a Fleet of Aeroplanes.

To Put the Railroads

Out of Business.

Good roads are absolutely necessary to the successful sailing of airships or aeroplanes. That is the reason there are so few aeroplanes. That is what Henry Laurens Call of Girard, Kas., says, and what he doesn't know about airships isn't worth kinowing. In the first place the so new fangled aeroplanes, or airships, must first acquire a speed of thirty miles an hour along a road or a specially constructed track before they can rise into the air, he says. Mr. Call is building a new airship or aeroplane in Girard, Kas., and he also is constructing a mile of roadway in the nature of a boulevard. On this he expects to start the new ship sailing.

If one of these aeroplanes breaks down in a country where the roads are bad and where it is sandy, then it will be necessary to hitch a team of horses to it to pull it out where it may sail again. It will require the assistance of horses until the "relief ships" are intended to sail around a crippled airship like a fishhawk around a lake, making a dive down after it, lift it into the air and sail away to the repair shops with it.

PULLMAN CAR ACCOMMODATIONS.

The new aeroplane or airship Mr. Call is preparing to build will have an observation apartment, sleeping apartments for passengers, dining room and a gasoline cooking stove. Pancakes will not be on the bill of fare. They are too heavy. The new ship will be constructed of aluminum, will weigh only 1,500 pounds and preparations are being made to manufacture thousands of them for commercial use, to be in active competition with the railroad passenger departments. It will take up where it is cool in summer and down where it is warm in winter.

Henry Laurens Call of Girard, Kas., the only man who owns a caged airship in this part of the country, was at the Coates house in Kansas City yesterday and will be here today and tomorrow. He is returning to Girard from the East, where he went to purchase aluminum and other materials for the manufacture of airship No. 2. He also is purchasing equipment for a machine shop, which will be one of the additions to the airship building and repair plant at Girard.

"That was a fake story sent out about the wind wrecking the shed in which my airship is stored at Girard," Mr. Call said yesterday. "The ship was damaged very little and $75 will repair the damage. I have employed an expert gasoline motor engineer to take charge of the shop at Girard, and we are going to manufacture aeroplanes and airships that will sail. We are not going to manufacture them for sale. We will only lease them. First we will start a line between Kansas City and St. Louis as an experiment, and inside of six months we will put the passenger trains out of business.

ATTEMPTS NOTHING ORIGINAL.

Mr. Call then explained why that airship he owns at Girard has never sailed.

"There are too many trees in Girard, and the roads are not very good," he said. "I have never been able to get up a speed of more than 18 miles per hour on the roads near Girard on my aeroplane, and it is necessary to get up a speed of thirty miles an hour before the ship will rise in the air. Wright brothers, who have made such a success of their aeroplane in France are nothing more than trick bicycle riders. No one else could take their ship and run it like they can. It took them seven years to learn the trick of riding that machine. That is too long for an apprentice airship chauffeur to serve. It isn't good for practical purposes. The thing we are trying to accomplish is to make a simple aeroplane which anyone can operate who understands a gasoline engine."

Mr. Call modestly said that he is not attempting anything original. "I am availing myself of what has been accomplished," he said.

Labels: airships, Coates house, hotels, inventors, visitors

January 20, 1909

AN IRRESISTIBLE DESIRE.

Some Men Cannot Overcome Impulse

to Wreak Self-Destruction.

"Please give me an inside room on the second floor, if possible, without a window opening out into the street or onto the court," was the request of a man made to George Mong, chief clerk at the Coates house, yesterday. Mr. Mong could not supply the man with the kind of room he anted, but assigned him to a nice room on the third floor. In a few minutes the man returned to the clerk's to explain.

"I pulled down the curtain to the window opening on the street the minute I was in the room," the man said. "I have an almost irresistible impulse to jump from a window every time I get near one. When I go into an office building, I keep my back to the window."

Mr. Mong said last night he knew a traveling man who would never leave a depot to board a train until after the engine had passed the depot. This man had an ungovernable impulse to throw himself in front of an engine as soon as it appeared.

Labels: Coates house, hotels, mental health

January 5, 1909

ASK FOR MORE RECOGNITION.

Homeopathic Physicians Want to

Help Control Insane Hospitals.

The homeopathic physicians of the state will demand of Governor Hadley greater recognition. C. A. Young, ex-alderman of this city, will present several petitions to Governor Hadley today, requesting that he give the homeopaths at least two members on the board of control of the hospitals for the insane and greater recognition on the state board of health. The homeopaths now have only one member on the board of control of the hospitals for the insane.

The plnas for gaining greater recognition were talked over last night at a meeting of the Kansas City Homeopathic Medical Society at the Coates house.

Labels: Coates house, doctors, Herbert Hadley, hotels, mental health, organizations

December 7, 1908

ALASKA THE PLACE

FOR A YOUNG MAN.

FINE CLIMATE, HIGH WAGES

AND CHEAP LIVING.

That's the Way This Man From

Ketchikan Sees It -- Salmon

Fishers Make $500 a

Month.

"If I were a young man looking for a place to settle down and make money, I'd immediately go to Southern Alaska," said J. W. Daily, a mining promoter of Ketchikan, Alaska, at the Coates house last night. "I'd go to either Ketchikan, Skagway or Juneau. It doesn't take much money to get there, the passage from Seattle to Ketchikan is only $22.

The town in which Mr. Daily lives is the first on the other side of the boundary line and is about 700 miles north of Seattle.

"The salaries there are high -- clerks are paid from $100 to $150 a month," he said, "and it doesn't cost any more to live there than it does in Kansas City.

"Of course when you go farther north the cost of transportation makes prices high, but the salaries are higher accordingly. Many bright young men go to Alaska from the United States, but most of them don't stay with their work. They either save a few hundred dollars and go back to their friends in the United States, or they get the gold fever and start out and begin prospecting. I have seen times there when a company would pay almost any amount of money for an expert bookkeeper.

"The climate of the region in which I live is comparatively warm. Zero weather is rare. We are warmed by the China and Japan current and by the Southeastern winds."

Mr. Daily believes that Alaska is destined to become a great country, but that the only industries there will be fishing and mining.

"The natives are not gold miners," he said. "They know nothing about gold. I have seen them pick up and save pieces of the sulphide commonly known as 'fool's gold.' The are great fishers, though. In the two and one-half months which constitute the salmon fishing season a native will make $1,000. During the rest of the year he will trap or cut timber.

"However, the natives do not save their money. They live in huts, but spend their money on good clothes and food. As soon as they are paid off they go to the nearest hotel and eat the costliest things on the bill of fare. After they recover they go back and repeat the meal. They keep this up until all of their money is gone. On Sundays you will see Indians dressed as well as the wealthiest white people of the town.

"Alaska is full of gold. The Klondike is no longer a placer country. All the surface gold has been washed out and only dredges can get at it now.

"In Southern Alaska the gold is in the quartz and must be dug out with huge dredges. In the property our company owns, we get about 50 cents workth of fine gold to a cubic yard of gravel. The sulphides run $12 or $14 to the ton. This is the average of all mines in Southern Alaska. There is gold everywhere, but it takes large investments to get it out. There are no railroads, and the machinery must be transported by wagon, piece by piece, over especially built roads, and the ore has to be brought out in the same way and shipped to the United States to be refined."

Labels: Coates house, hotels, visitors

December 3, 1908

SHRINERS TO BUILD TEMPLE.

At Annual Banquet Last Night $25,-

000 Was Subscribed.

Shriners who attended a banquet at the Coates hotel last night subscribed $25,000 towards a fund being raised to build a new temple on the lot owned by the Shriners at the southwest corner of Admiral boulevard and Vine street. The banquet was attended by 300 members of the Order of the Mystic Shrine and was presided over by Judge E. E. Porterfield.

A class of ninety-two initiates was taken into the order yesterday afternoon, followed by the annual election of officers early in the evening.

The officers for the ensuing year are: Howard F. Lea, illustrious potentate; John Q. Watkins, raban; John T. Harding, high priest and prophet; L. E. Riddle, oriental guide; Clarence H. Cheney, treasurer. Harry G. Henley was re-elected recorder.

Ethelbert F. Allen was elected chairman of the committee to collect $50,000 with which to build the new temple. Judge E. E. Porterfield, H. H. Noland and Mr. Lea were elected delegates to the international convention to be held at Louisville, Ky., next June.

Labels: Admiral boulevard, Coates house, hotels, lodges, organizations, Vine street

December 1, 1908

MRS. JOHN L. COATES IS DEAD.

Wife of Former Kansas City Hotel

Keeper Dies in Chicago.

CHICAGO, Nov. 30 -- Mary Jane Coates, wife of John L. Coates, died today at the Hyde Park hotel of myocarditis at the age of 43 years. Mrs. Coates, who was married ten years ago, formerly was Mary Jane Pugh of Racine, Wis. She was a member of the Arch Club and the Travel class and had lived with her husband in this city for the past eight years. Mr. Coates formerly was proprietor of the Coates house in Kansas City.

Labels: Chicago, Coates house, death, hotels

November 26, 1908

CITY WAS GIVEN OVER

TO THE COLLEGE BOYS.

BY THOUSANDS THEY THRONGED

STREETS LAST NIGHT.

Roaring Their Songs and Cries, They

Made Their Presence Generally

Known -- Good Feeling Pre-

vailed Above All.

College life with the college left out; that's what several thousand Missouri and Kansas students and graduated enjoyed to the limit in Kansas City last night. Such life is interesting even in a college town, but in Kansas City it is real exciting, and the somber goddess of sleep had little work in the downtown districts after nightfall. Then it was that the real fun of the day before began. Hordes of enthusiastic students gathered in the lobbies of the various hotels. Instinct guided them more than anything else, and so it happened that the boys from K. U. assembled in one hostelry and Missouri fans joined hands and voices in another. The noise -- well, it wasn't just exactly noise, it was more like a human roar -- continued in hotels and on the streets until after midnight, and everybody was good natured.

It would be almost impossible to describe the thousands which went to make up the vast crowd of enthusiastic youths. They came to Kansas City, every one of them out of their own world, dressed in the fantastic garb which inhabitants of college walls and college atmosphere are wont to affect. There was the slouch hat with the brim cut closely around the crown; the heavy tan shoes, buckled for extra weight; trousers rolled up two or three times at the bottom, just why no one can guess' the inevitable cigarette and pipe. It was all of a different line than the Kansas Cityan is accustomed to, and he started and wondered and remembered, perhaps, that once he dressed the same way. Then there was that self-bred enthusiasm which gave vent in lusty roars; roars which showed the joy of life for the college man on the day before the great game.

IT WAS COLLEGE SPIRIT.

Before leaving their colleges the thousands of students had assembled in mass meeting to engender just such enthusiasm. They heard talks from members of their teams; from the old guard and from heads of the universities, and upon each one of them seemed to rest a certain responsibility for the success of his team in the only real football game of the season. That is college spirit, and that is why the regular boarder couldn't sleep in his usually quiet room at the hotel last night.

At the Savoy the Missouri aggregation of imported college men and yells held full sway. Nothing else was considered and nothing else could have made itself heard. True, there were three or four police officers on duty, but what were they when confronted with a mo b of a thousand husky young men? First there came the Missouri "Tiger," and then, with uncovered heads, the throng sang the grand Missouri song, "Old Missouri." Oh, they were sure of victory, were those fellows, and they were mightily proud of their alma mater. Somehow their songs of victory and triumph and allegiance to "Old Missouri" made the outsider think of the times when the ironclad soldiers of Cromwell went into battle singing, and he couldn't help understanding that the same spirit possessed those seemingly frenzied youths that steeled the heart of soldiers of the commonwealth. Over at the Coates house were the Kansas boys, and they were not to be outdone by their natural rivals, so far as noise and college spirit are concerned. "Rock-chalk; jawhawk; K-a-a-a U-u-u-u" made the second floor of the building seem to tremble from the vast noise sent up from a thousand throats. Pennants and banners of crimson and blue were waved frantically in the air between yells, and it was a pretty sight. Confidence there was in abundance; Kansas could not lose the Thanksgiving game because, well, because she was Kansas. It was knowledge of certain victory that added zest to those ferocious yells and gave them the utmost sincerity. No thought of loss entered the heads of enthusiastic rooters. They had put their faith and their money on Kansas, their alma mater, and she couldn't fail them. And so the songs and yells were songs and yells of the victor, and the Kansans were even more confident than their rivals.

GIRLS MADE NOISE, TOO.

Girls; there were lots of them, and they joined in the singing and noisemaking, too. Of course, they stood a little way off from the surging crowd of youths, chiefly on the stairways of the lobbies, but if one got close enough to them they could hear their shouts of general exuberance. But the girls could not stand the strain on the vocal chords as well as the men, and they began to hunt their rooms after an hour of jubilation on the stairways. In their rooms they could talk with each other of the coming game and the heroes thereof. Anyhow, they were girls, and it wasn't their part to make themselves so very obvious.

Early in the evening the old graduate was in his glory. He made the rounds of all the hotels and met the sons of his college chums. He forgot that he was a prominent lawyer and dignified; he remembered only the outlines of the old university hall; how he and his classmates used to hold jubilees on similar occasions; he forgot the numerous flunks in math and history and remembered only the great game "we played when your father and I were on the team." And did he yell and sing those college songs and yells? There were some of the songs that he had forgotten partly, but his lips moved just the same and his eyes were just as bright as those of his younger college mates. Off came his hat when the university hymn was sung and then when the "locomotive yell" was started he kept time with his headcovering and his arms.

WHEN OLD BOYS MET.

But when "old grad met old grad" then it was interesting. The hearty shake of the hand; the resounding slap on the back and the many, many questions of "where have you been all these years, and what have you been doing?" It was the revival of the good old days when they were young and boys; and the joyousness of the approaching game permeated their systems as it did those more active students of the present class.

Then there were banquets of the secret and Greek letter fraternities. The frat yells and songs filled the banquet rooms during the meals and it was all one big jubilee. But the yells were confined to frat yells for both universities were represented in the gatherings. Nothing really discordant could be allowed to enter into the rejoicing of the night.

Late in the evening, after the too mellow wine and overabundance of beer had begun to get in its work, a group of Kansas students left the Coates house and marched with arms locked to the Savoy hotel, where the Missouri bunch was holding forth. Just after a resounding "Tiger" had risen from the Missouri men, it was answered by a "Rock chalk; Jayhawk; K-a-a-a-a U-u-u-u-u" from the meandering Kansas. Some surprise was occasioned by the yell of the enemy and muttered threats of rushing them were heard. But the Kansas men were standing near the doorway, where they could make a hasty exit in case it was necessary, so the M. S. U. fans contented themselves with overshouting their would-be usurpers.

The theaters were heavily patronized by the "fussers" of the college boys. Many of them h ad chosen to spend the evening with the quieter, but equally fascinating, charm of feminine companionship. That was all right; they could do their yelling at the game and after.

All hotels in the city were crowded to overflowing and many of the boys were willing to sleep four and five in a room in order to get accommodations. The college boys literally took the town last night and they were given preference over all other persons.

Labels: Coates house, fraternal organizations, hotels, Savoy, sports, University of Missouri

November 22, 1908

WHEN GREENWOOD

GREW BIG SQUASHES.

HE DESERTED THE FARM TO

TEACH SCHOOL.

It Was Then That He Bid Farewell

to Fame and Name as

the Great "Squash

King."

The opportunities for a truck gardener to become immensely wealthy are more numerous than in any other line of business. This fact was clearly demonstrated yesterday afternoon at the Coates house, where members of the Missouri Valley Horticultural Society devoted their time to an explanation of nature and her wonderful productions.

"There are men in this city today who would be wealthy had they devoted their time and energy to a cultivation of the soil instead of following business careers," said one of the members.

"Professor J. M. Greenwood, superintendent of the public schools, would have undoubtedly become famous as the "squash king," had he persisted in his experiments with squash.. The professor did not deign to waste his time with the ordinary brand of squash known to the general public. His squashes were full grown."

There was a dreamy, far away expression in the professor's eyes yesterday, as he told of seven squash seeds, planted in earth, which had been dug from a well and which produced a sufficient number of squashes to supply the wants of the entire surrounding country. These squashes, according to Professor Greenwood, ranged in size from sixty pounds to the size of a large washtub.

But it must not be supposed that Professor Greenwood was permitted to carry off the honors of the occasion without a contest. As a matter of fact there was a strong faction among those present, who still insist that the squash story was surpassed by the feat of Major Frank Holsinger, who upon one occasion, neglected to prune his grape vines. Thinking they had been destroyed by the severe cold, they were permitted to remain as they were. Behold his surprise, then, as the grape season approached to observe his grape vines loaded with fruit. The fact that Major Holsinger placed a chair under one vine and picked a bushel of grapes without moving the chair, is ample evidence of his success as a grower of grapes.

Although there was some discussion as to the nature study in the schools and the advisability of teaching the children more of plant and insect life, it could be plainly seen that the minds of the majority of those present were busily engaged in mathematical computation as the money to be made on a ten-acre tract of land if the soil be devoted to grapes and squashes

Labels: Coates house, farmers, food, hotels, organizations, Superintendent Greenwood

October 13, 1908

WILLIAM TAFT HERE AGAIN.

Not the Big Noise, but a Meek Sales-

man From New York.

Minus the cheers of crowds and blare of brass bands, William Taft is again in Kansas City.

When seen yesterday at the Coates house, where he is stopping, he didn't care to express his opinion of the political situation, but was perfectly willing to talk about the troubles of a traveling salesman, for that is his vocation. He wrote New York after his name on the register.

A carpenter bearing the same distinguished name lives at 715 Central street.

Labels: Central street, Coates house, hotels, New York, salesmen, visitors

October 1, 1908

AUTO CLUB TAKES ACTION.

Members Will Aid in Prosecuting

Reckless Chauffeur.

The Automobile Club at a meeting at the Coates house last night discountenanced such recklessness as was exhibited by the occupants of a motor car which was driven into a spring wagon Tuesday night, resulting in the death of Pearl Gochenour and the injury of four others. Several members of the club spoke with feeling against men who would be guilty of such recklessness and apparent cruelty and the sentiment of the club was to offer a reward for the capture and conviction of the miscreants. As a matter of fact, the club did take such action, but it was recalled owing to insufficient funds, the treasury having been depleted earlier in the evening through the purchase of property which the club has had in contemplation for two years.

A resolution was adopted pledging every member of the club to aid in the arrest and conviction of the men responsible for Tuesday night's accident. The resolution represents the unanimous sentiment of the club. Jerome Twitchell, as sponsor of the resolution, said that it was the duty of every member of the club to lend his assistance, in so far as he could, in aiding the authorities to capture and convict these criminals.

"While the club is not in a position to offer financial assistance at this time," he said, "we should by all means offer our moral support."

Labels: automobiles, Coates house, hotels, organizations

September 2, 1908

WILL LECTURE FOR ZOO.

George O. Shields Has Agreed to

Come Here September 15.

Great interest is being shown by Kansas City people in the Kansas City zoo which is to be located at Swope park. At a meeting of the Kansas City Zoological Society at the Coates house last night final arrangements were made to have G. O. Shields, president of the League of American Sportsmen, speak in Convention hall on September 15. He will speak in the afternoon and evening, and the Kansas City society expects large crowds to be present at both meetings. Mr. Shields is probably the best known sportsman and hunter in this country. He has been invited to speak in Kansas City in the interest of the new zoo.

Labels: Coates house, Convention Hall, hotels, Kansas City Zoo, organizations, Swope park, visitors

July 14, 1908

IT'S ALWAYS "IN LINE."

Ex-Governor of Mississippi Talks of

His Own State.

"Mississippi is not only one of the 'solid South,' but it has a greater distinction," said Ex-Governor A. H. Longino at the Coates house last night. "Mississippi not only gave Judge Parker its electoral vote in 1904, but every precinct in the state was carried for the Democratic candidate for president."

The ex-governor was on the way from the Democratic convention in Denver to his home in Jackson, Miss., last night. He stopped off here yesterday to visit some friends and to get a more extensive view of the city than he has ever had before. He comes here frequently to trade at the Kansas City mule market and was a delegate to the convention here in 1900. He was also a delegate to the convention at Denver last week.

Labels: Coates house, Denver, hotels, politics, visitors