Omaha daily bee., February 28, 1915, SECOND FONTENELLE, Page 20-C, Image 58

About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922

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TITK OMAHA STIXDAY IM-'M: FFUHUAKV 28, TJIQ.
In the Barber Shop
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HISTORY OF THE FONTENELLE
'
Cmaht't Need of New Hotel Felt
Since Period of Trinmiuii
i tippi Exposition.
CEXDIT. .T0 CITY. OP. 500,000
Omihi hss hsd hotels and hotels sines
the city was frontier settlement on th
arrest overlsnd trsll to the gold field o!
California and each !" whan a new
Jioatelry hss been erected It has been
with the Idea that tha toil1!lnr hss been
In keeping with tha Importsnce and
growth of the city.
Tha matter of hotel building has been
continued for more than fifty yearamntll
now when Omaha feels a pride In a hotel,
the' Fontenelle. a structure that In sis
and sppVilntment In avery partlrulnr
would be a credit to a city of MO.000, or
more, population. And It la doubtful It
there are many cities In tha United
States that ha a hotel more beautiful
and mora perfect In every detail than tha
Tontenelle.
The Inception of the movement that
eventually brought about tha erection of
the Fontenelle datea back Into htstory
As long s go a theholdlng of tha Tre-
mlssisslppl exposition In 1K, Omaha felt
the nedj of more adequate hotel facilities
"However. ' that exposition waa held and
during tha tlx montha of Ita eontlnuano.
aomethlnr like t.000,000 stranger were
within tha gate of the city. - They had
been houaed and cared for and everybody
knew that it would be a lone; time be
fere euch crowd would again visit the
city during a like period. Consequently
the Interest In the much talked of Dew
hotel waned. ,
following1 the 'exposition and with the
advertising that, the city aecured, the
fame of Omaha continued to be spread
far and .wide. Convention and other
Urge Catherine continued to select the
city aa their meeting place and the hotol
facilities continued to be taxed.
' rirat Atteaapt Falls,
It was, not until 197 that the hotel
project took on any tangible form. Dur
ing that yar leading builnesa men de
cMed that a newer and a larger hotel In
: Omaha had, become a necessity and early
In the summer a hotel company wa
organised and capital stock to the amount
of ITO.flOO subscribed. An option was
taken on the ' site now occupied by the
Fontenelle hotel, Eighteenth and Doug
. las streets and It commenced to look as
If a new hotel, one In keeping with the
Importance of the 'city would be erected
In the near future. The movement took
on shape and progressed to the extent of
. preparing tentative plana for a building.
Later in 1907 and before the harvest was
garnered the situation changed. Thecrop
throughout the weat waa not up to ex-
, pectatlona and the country at large ex
perienced something of a depression. The
strings of the money baga were tightened
and the enthusiasm that had character
lied the hotel project, almost wholly dls
apteared. For five years the Idea of a
new hotel waa allowed to rest. In the
meantime, however, Omaha was forging
ahead, not by leapa and bounds, but
with a Steady growth.
On every hand palatial business houses
were being erect od; the residence dls-
tricts were expanding and new and mod
ern homes were being erected. Btrangera
were coming In lars numbers and the
, common comment waa that Omaha waa
without hotel such as a city of Ita slse
and Importance needed and would sup
port.
Meeting im Maeteea-Tvrelve.
Alone: In Jill .'he hot! talk h.,1 r...k.
the stage where local capitalists and pro-
rel-- Business men reached the con.
eKesturt thiit tli time fr action had ar
rived. .Ttiulnu the early sunimir .Arthu
I). Hrn lrla and Jthn L. Kenned)- called
a public merlin of the leading buiinees
ni'n of'tlc city and presented liroposl
tkm thai has hsd lu culmination In th
eriiuion and completion uf the H.W.OO
ronienella hotel. At that meeting they
effetodi to donate a plst of ground, 132
feet silara at the corner of Klgliteenth
a 11 J I-ougWs street, wh.-rt the fon,
tenelie hss since been erected, providing
that the citltens oT Otnsha would orftanlse
a- hotel company and aid In the financing
of a project looking to the erection of a
flint clses hotil. ' '.
At this nic-'imr the-e were present
urb men us O WsitUs CpM' r
'ot. Viot..- B. Catlvell, Joseph If.
iJlliluiJ. A. L. Iteei. .ltliur Srilth and
muny utbrs. The piouslton submitted
ly Mr. , ri.tle:s and Mr. Keiimdy was
av attractive that befce.the uuotlng
tdjc-.irtied. It was acvor U:d anJ iuU,Ul
of hotel stoc k sub -lljed. Kuliowlng
tLI. subs, rlptlun book were opened and
liifiOo nt thirty days the lequlrcd I.O0O,'U
of slock waa taken. Vr.cu followed th
otcar.lxstiou of the l uslas Hotol com
pii, the compsuy that has built -the
toU'L.
I mm the time of t.m organisation of
tit Uuuglua Hotel coinitny. Interest la
Uie hotel project pevr ffsgged for a
u-i nt. Trie first thliift that was done
Has to levy an aseecauient on tbe capi
tal to k -of the company. It" wts paid
n i r s remarkable promptness and then
ll.r.inos H Kliil'oall, a Ixol architect was
rtuisrd to pic pare :he plana tr. the
s.-.:lh'S. Shortly after - tbe acceptance
of his plans, the bullrtinr con:rs(l whs
awarded to the Pelden. Hreck. Construc
tion company and wor commenced. The
flnt excavating was done during Msrcn,
1(14. and the first steel put In place
April a of the ssme year.
Handing ('nnetrnrteel Rapidly.
Never in the history of the ctty has
a building been rushed to eompletetlon
with more rep'.dtty than haa the new
hotel. July 1J. 1914. the flag was broken
out from the top of too iirunur., in
dicating that on that date the laat rivet
hod been driven In the last piece of
structural stool.
While the steel wss being put In place,
those who had the sub contracts, were
not idle. The brick layers .were fol
lowing closely ou the heels of the steel
men and following them were the plaa
terers, who In turn were being followed
bv th carpenters, the plssterers ajid
tha finishers, th result of which meant
that there was no delsy In any depart
ment of the work.
The naming of the hotel wa something
that attracted attention far and wide.
None of the officers, or stockholder of
the hotel company felt willing to take the
responsibility of selecting a name that
would stand during the ages, or one that
would give tha hotel an Individuality.
Consequently through the newspapers
they published notice of their plans.
These plana proposed the suggestion of
names, the party offering th name fi
nally selected to be given a prise.
Nasaeg for thief rontenelle.
Th Idea of suggesting names proved
popular. Thouaanda were offered, many
good and many bad. Th Uraa for mak
ing tha selection arrived and by unan
imous consent It waa voted to accept the
nam Pontenelle,, offered by Judge W lllln
O, Bears of tbe district court bench.
As everybody In Nebraska knows, Fon
tenelie Is th nam of one of the great
chiefs of the Omaha tribe of Indians
Indiana who occupied this particular
locality long before th coming of the
whites. A history relates, not only waa
Logan Fontenelle a great chief, but he
wa a warm friend of the pioneers, he
and his pecpl rendering ahem many
services during th early period of tbe
settlement of Nebraska.
Th man at tha head of tha Douglas
UoJel company In continuing their aggres
sive methods, aa soon aa th construction
of th Fontenelle hotel waa well under
way, commenced to cast about for a man
to take charge of, and operate the hotel.
They had applications by the hundreds.
but knowing that they had a property
equal to th best In the land felt that
they need not be In a hurry In th selec
tion of a landlord. They wanted a man
who would ftl the Mil and one who would
be up-to-data In every particular. From
the large list of applicants they selected
William R. Burbank, who had already
won a most enviable reputation by reason
of his conduct of th Hotel OnondagO of
Syracuse. N. T.
srkssk Orgaalaes Company.
Mr. Burbank cam to Omaha, looked
over the Fontenelle and tha city and soon
aa he had entered Into a lease with the
Douglaa Hotel company, cast his lot with
the people of Omaha, organising the In
ter-Btat Hotel company, tha operating
corporation, of which la the active head.
During the construction of th Fxmte
neue notei, and in fact, ever since It
erection became an assured fact, every
thing In connection with Its building has
been looked after by a board of directors
and with two exceptions, th earn men.
F. A. Nash and Charles T. Kountse, have
been at th helm since th Incorporation
or the company. These directors are
Victor B. Caldwell. J II. Millard. A. C,
Nmlth, Casper A. Yost, A D. Braadels,
John U McOague, John U Kennedy!
Chailea II Pickens. Victor Rosewater,
A. I Heed. Frank T. Hamilton and O. W,
Wattles.
'' A- Nssh having died, he waa auo-
ceeded by U. II. Harries and Charlea T
Kountse having resigned, he was sue
ceeded by Fred It Davis.
FONTENELLE HARDWARE
BRONZE WITH MONOGRAM
Hardware for the Fontenelle hotel was
mace to order of statuary bronse, with
tho hotel mouogrsm "F." the F being
oouble to balance the design. Milton Rog
ers Sons company won the contract In
face of ahsrp competition.
Ixx-ka of the gueets' rooms are made for
four sets of keys. The guest controls the
room absolutely under uaual circum
stances, locking th door from tho In
side and secaiing It against tbe master
key that the maid In charge of th floor
eaiTiea. and alse against th grand mas
ter key that tha housekeeper carrlea.
tach floor has lu own master key. dif
ferent from that of other floors.
There 1 aa emergency key kept by the
manager of the hotel la his safe, and
used only la svsst of accidents. Then
there Is a displacement key for us In
such rare instance as thst aa undesira
ble guest may not turn la the key, thus
excluding the undesirable guest
For sample rooms uned by jewelry sales
men there Is a key that locks the room
sgaliikt sny but the emergency key.
special hsrdwsre was also mads tor
the service section of the hotel and the
fireproof doors to stairways and elevator
shafts and the hallways leading to elevators
FEATURES OF NEW HOTEL
(Contlnueil from Pace Klven.)
It is sixteen stories hlsh shove tho
street.
Its srehlteetnre Ir U-uhle.
The exterior material is a tl.-irk brick
lip to the tentn siory. nove iimi a
white tile Is used, and the bulldlne de
elpn I of the fretted and gabled French
chateau etyle. with gabled roof painted
pleating green.
The land on which the bull1lnK stands
coot l.'i.-.onn.
The building Itself coat mure than
1 1, ,.
The ovnr "f the lnmi nnd bulliling l
tin Doiiglss Hotel company, a eio a com
pany ma1e up chiefly of Omaha an.l Net-ranks
men.
The I.e. .ecu.
The lomisny which leasts the hotel
from the owner is the Interstate Hotel
company of Nebrsnks. W. R. Burbank,
president end manaring director.
The architect of the hotel in Thomas
R. Kimball. ;
The construction company that built
the hotel Is the Selden-Hreck company.
The general type of construction is steel
frame with floors of hollow tile and re
inforced concrete. Psrtitlona are of tile
and aypsum.
The lobby measures feet snJ hss
a helsht of V.Vt feet. It in In the style of
the Italian renaissance.
It contslns everything that Is found
Ir. the up-to-date hotel and some ttihngw
that are ahead of the usual up-to-date
hotel.
The office of Assistant Managing Di
rector Abraham Burbank la juct back of
the clerk's desk, a sumptuous room
To the east ot this office Is another
l.andeom" room which is the office of
the ifi.S. tor of restaurants.
Here persons w lulling to arrsnse for
giving dinners or biiviuet at the hotel
ill be received and arrangements will
be made.
The ladies' parlor on the main floor Is
In the style of Adam, tine on the nies
xxnlne floor is in the Italian renaissance
style.
Convention Hall.
The lan 1 1 room, or convention, hall la
furty-three by tilnety-elght feet lu alse.
The main ding room la thirty-one feet
wide nnd eighty-four feet lonit. The palm
room, whl adjoin it to the eojtri, la
thirty-one feet whle an.l forty-seven feet
long. Theae two rooniii can be thrown
Into on big room 131 feet Inn'. The
rtyle of the dining room and palm room
is thst of the Francis I period.
The barber shop has ten rhalra with
ten tonaorlal arUMs-we might aay
"arteesta" sccent on the last syllable,
you know. These hair end whisker cul
tlvstora and trimmers have brought the
very lateat styles direct from New York.
The barber shop contains slao three of
the latest style of man. cure tables, wh ch
will be presided over by three efficient
and beaut that Is, by three efficient
manicurists.
Three bootblack stand will be In sn
; adjoining alcove and tinder the personal
supervision of professors of the art of
bootblacklng.
Complete Ventilation.
Let ua not overlook the ventilation
system cleverly designed to plaoe under
arrest and conduct to the outside of the
building all devitllled air and to wel
come to the hitel pure air of the cor
rect temperature to correspond with the
time of the year.
The system Is known as the "fen
nyatem" and 1 of such efficiency that It
IU change the air In the rooms of the
hotel about every flftet.n minutes.
Not only will It take out the bad air
end replace it with fresh air from the
outaide. It will do more. It will supply
better air than you get out in the open.
Better? you Inquire. How can It be
better. Can you Improve on "Natcher?"
Yes. son. even so.
For nature frequently makes the air
too hot or too cold and nature frequently
and In many places lias the air loaded
with dust psrtlclee find tllaeaae germs.
Theae will be removed by this Fontenelle
ventilating system, which will take the
oir In from the outside (at a point 110
feet about the ground) and will then wash
it think of washing air heat It or cool
It and deliver It to the rooms all nice and
ready to he breathed.
Ild we mention the window boxes? Oh
they're going to add a lot to the external
beauty of the hotel and to the view when
you are Inside looking out. They will be
at the windows of the main floor ana the
"first" floor.
These window boxes will be more like
miniature gardens thsn mere boxes, for
they sre of ample proportions and In
them there will be not only flowers, but
shrubs and bushes and even small trees,
Well, It Is certainly a great snd grand
and beautiful hotel. It Is reslly going
to be a revelation to everybody that goes
Inside of It and views ltg wonders.
Fo. mark vou, people of Omahs, the
Fontenelle is more than It hss claimed
i hm Ten It la true, that Is lust the
opposite of mot hitman institutions and
of most human bclmm, too ror that mat
ter. But such la the case with th Fon
tenelle. It haa done much and said (com
paratively) little.
As an example of this, take Its nelgnl.
Fourteen stories, everybody says.
Th.i'i m-h it r.f rirtnilv. But re
member that they don't begin to count
stories till they reach the fourth one
above the ground, which they call the
first."
Oh. euch modesty.
" ' 1 ' ' .11.) . I V 'I ' I I ..ID -
floor, the main floor and the mexxanlne
floor.
Th.M -.a ....tl.. I . ....I.. Im fh.
v i.biij riAirrn biviit-b h hj
Fontenelle above the street. And there
are two stories, very busy stories, neiow
the street. Total height, eighteen storlos.
j ne ronieneue is started.
Long live the Kontenelle.
Meh Relieved.
An eminent Kngllah man of science re
cently delivered a lecture during which
on amusing Incident occurred. In the
course of his remarks he said something
to this effect:
"It is a well-ertabliahed fact that the
sun la gradually loelng Its heat, snd that
In the course of "O.mO.niO years Its hest
Ing power will be so diminished thst all
beneflcient effects will be lost and no Ufa
can exist on earth."
As aoon as this sentence was uttered, a
sturdy Briton In the rear of the hall rose
and signified hla desire to ask a question.
'Tarrlon me." he said, "but how long did
you aay It would be before this terrible
calamity would occur?"
"Why. about 7o.OPO.000 years," repeated
the sclentiat. with a smile.
The questioner fell back Into his seat
with a deep algh of relief. "Thank heav
ens!" he muttered. "I thought I under
stood him to say ".OOn.ono." Youth'a Companion.
In the Days of Shaiesptan
Tit "Clubi" of London gathtnd tti (hi tactrm
of old tthirt rat Ben Jotuan, Shakapean,
Btaamoid, and Fletcher matched ails with the
hon visants of the day The tavern of then Is
the hotel of now. The btubuii man of today
meets in the modern hotel, and at lunch or
dinner gathers inspiration in hit contact with
his competitor itho may be his friend The
common ground on which to meet is found in
the puhUe rooms of the hotel,
99
"Built (or You to Enjoy
Hotel (TooteeiIe
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