CHAPTER XIX.

Ben in Chicago--Returns to Pittsburg--More of Allen--Builds Opera Houses in Petrolia and Millerstown--Figures Once More in Politics.

Immediately after the incidents related in the preceding chapters, Ben left St. Louis, and in company with Sweeney proceeded to Chicago.

Reaching that city at about the time when the Palmer House was first opened, the two friends spent a week in a thoroughly lively manner. They found plenty of ways in which to spend their money, and they spent it with a freedom which was refreshing.

It was during this week that Ben one night went into a well-known sporting house, and there falling into conversation with one of the women, learned that Kitty had been to Cleveland. His own identity was unknown to the woman in question, and so she talked without reserve. In response to Ben's inquiry as to whether she knew Kitty, she replied that she did to her sorrow. That this same Kitty had won from her the love of the only man whom she ever cared anything for, and that it would afford her infinite pleasure to scratch out this same Kitty's eyes.

"Why," she said, "the vixen has been in Cleveland living with my fellow there. She had three thousand dollars' worth of diamonds with her, and she promised to give them all to him."

"Oh, she did, did she?" rejoined Ben, a good deal interested in the narrative.

"Yes," continued the woman; "you see, she has a fellow in the oil regions, Ben Hogan--perhaps you've heard of him--who gives her all the money she can spend. And every little while she comes on to Cleveland, and has a time with my fellow, and of course this Ben Hogan doesn't know anything about it!"

"Well, he must be a good deal of a fool," observed Ben, with a quiet satire, which the woman could not understand.

The information thus obtained induced Ben to cut short his visit in Chicago and return to Pittsburg. There, it will be remembered, Kitty was still living in the house which Ben had provided for her, and upon the latter's arrival he found so many lovers hovering about that it was really difficult to tell who was the master of the house. Hogan finally vindicated his right to this title by selling off the furniture, and afterward disposing of the house itself.

Meantime, Sweeney and Hogan gave an exhibition at Ames's Varieties, and during the week of the performance, Tom Allen arrived in Pittsburg. With a number of his backers, he went into Wood's saloon, and there began to talk about the Omaha fight. He did a good deal of tall bragging, and wound up by offering to fight Hogan the next week, for a purse of three thousand to two thousand dollars.

Ben replied that he was in no condition to make a match. He had not yet recovered from his fit of sickness, and more than that, he was suffering still from the effects of Allen's foul blow.

This ended the discussion for the time being. But after leaving the saloon, and thinking over the matter, Ben sent two of his friends, Sweeney and Fairchild, with two hundred dollars, and this message to Allen:

"Tell him that I will put up this two hundred dollars as a forfeit to fight him for even money, for the amount he has named, the fight to come off in thirty days."

Fairchild and Sweeney found Allen in Martin's Varieties; but the St. Louis pugilist refused the proposition on the remarkable grounds, that he did not care to add to Hogan's reputation by giving him the chance to have his name coupled with his (Allen's). After enjoying a benefit in Pittsburg, Allen went back to St. Louis, where he claimed that he had driven Ben Hogan out of the former city.

Although not by any means driven out, Ben left Pittsburg for Petrolia, while his friend Sweeney returned to his home in Kansas City.

In Petrolia Ben again took possession of the house which he had rented to Nell Robinson, and installed Kitty therein, thinking that she might do better there than in Pittsburg, as she certainly would not be surrounded by so many lovers.

Looking about for some fresh enterprise, Hogan hit upon the idea of erecting an Opera House in Petrolia. It so happened that, talking this project over with an acquaintance named Crittenden, he made a bet with the latter, of one hundred dollars in money and a basket of wine, that he would build an opera house in thirty days. In order to accomplish this task, it was necessary to divide up the work, and go outside of the town for assistance. Accordingly, he sent one man to Corry, another to Warren, and so on, procuring the windows and doors at one point, the lumber at another, and the seats at a third. In this way the work was pushed through with great rapidity.

It proved a good deal heavier undertaking than Ben had counted upon, but he did not permit his energy to wane. As he had lost all his own money in the seductive game of faro, he had no ready capital to risk. But he went right along as though his bank account was unlimited. So, indeed, in a certain way it was; for Mr. Taylor, to whom Ben had applied for assistance, told him his enterprise ought to be encouraged, and gave him authority to draw upon him for any amount. Ben got the bulk of his material on sixty days' credit, and with two thousand dollars in ready money, furnished by Mr. Taylor, he carried the project successfully through.

In thirty days from the time of its conception, the Petrolia Opera House was finished, and thrown open to the public. Its total cost was eleven thousand dollars, and it was really a very substantial and handsome structure. The hall itself was on the second story, and was completely equipped with gas, scenery, and stage appointments. The walls were double boarded, and eight inches thick. On the ground floor was a bar-room forty by thirty feet, together with forty bed-rooms for the accommodation of the traveling public. Altogether it was a decided credit to the town, as well as a monument to Ben Hogan's enterprise.

Dan Shelby, the well-known Buffalo manager, brought on his company and opened the house, playing for a season of two weeks. These first performances were fairly successful, and the profits were divided between Shelby and Ben. The Opera House was afterwards used by traveling companies, and is to-day well known to showmen.

Having won his wine, and shown what he could do in the way of erecting theatres, Ben went to Millerstown, and there proceeded to build a second opera house. This was put up on a cheaper scale than the one in Petrolia. Hogan again demonstrated how a man may accomplish without a dollar's capital.

He went to a lumber firm in the town and laid before them his project. The firm agreed to build the opera house for two thousand dollars--which was fully twice as much as it was worth. Ben's proposition was to pay on time, and to give the firm a percentage on the profits accruing from the house. The chairs, scenery, etc., were supplied from the Petrolia house, the latter having enough and to spare. Wildman's Dramatic Company opened the Millerstown Opera House, playing East Lynne, and filling out a very successful engagement of two weeks.

In this time, Ben cleared two thousand eight hundred dollars; but after the first cream had been taken off, the milk henceforth was very thin indeed. Millerstown was not big enough to make the management of a theatre remunerative.

There was at that time no church in the town, and so one of the ministers went to Ben and solicited the use of the Opera House for Fridays and Sundays. This request was promptly granted, Ben declaring that he would cheerfully give the use of the house to any church or charitable institution. The building was accordingly occupied every Sunday for religious meetings, and this movement may be said to have been the foundation of a number of churches in the town.

In referring to Ben, the minister took occasion, at one of the meetings, to say that there was many a black sheep whose soul was really whiter than many of those who counted themselves within the fold. A common sense, if not a theological truth.

The lumber firm, who had sought to play a sharp game on Ben, received in all about one hundred and fifty dollars, and after that they came in possession of the Opera House. Hogan was perfectly willing to surrender it, having squeezed the lemon dry during the first two weeks.

While these enterprises were engaging his attention, Ben divided his time between Millerstown and Petrolia, Kitty still remaining at the latter place. In a row which occurred at the Petrolia House, in which the participants were a couple of women and a man, one of the women accidentally (?) shot Ben, but with only slight injuries. As soon as he had recovered he met the man, Charley Moore by name, and a somewhat lively dispute followed. Moore had a friend with him who discharged his revolver at Ben, but failed to score a bull's eye, the ball striking a dry-goods box instead of our hero's heart. With no other weapons than his fists, Ben disposed of both men, knocking one down with his right hand and the other with his left. The fellow who discharged the shot was arrested and sent to jail, but got out again in a week or so.

The dull times had now begun to tell seriously upon the oil region. Oil dropped to forty cents, and with it money ceased to drop. There was very little life left in the neighborhood, and that may have accounted for the tax which was levied upon the keepers of all sporting houses. The mistress was called upon to contribute twelve dollars to the treasury of the town, while each of the girls was assessed seven dollars. Of course any such tax as this was really illegal, as the houses were not licensed; still, to avoid interference, the money was paid.

Ben, to whom this shot was particularly directed, was considerably incensed, and determined to expose the whole thing. He was already paying a license of three dollars a night for his Opera House, and he did not care to increase his donations to the town officials. An opportunity for speaking out his mind presented itself on the occasion of a performance given in the Opera House by Sanford's minstrels. After the show had ended, Hogan stepped upon the stage and said:

"I desire to detain you only a moment, ladies and gentlemen. As you are all well aware, I built this Opera House for the sake of furnishing the public with amusement. There was nobody else who had the capital or the energy to do this work. Now you all know that there are from forty to seventy sporting women in Petrolia. They have been here long enough for you to know their character, and there is no need of discussing the fact that they are here. You know, moreover, what my business is, and I have only to say if you think the women have injured the town, let them be driven out. But I don't intend to submit to this exorbitant license business any longer. I have spoken to Mr. Dimmick, the burgess, and he tells me it is not his fault--that the Councilmen are responsible. Now if the Council spent the money for public improvements, if it was used for sidewalks and pavements, and things of that sort, I would willingly pay double the amount they demand of me; but we have no sidewalks nor pavements, and the inevitable conclusion is that the money finds its way into official pockets. I don't propose to contribute any more for that purpose."

This speech was received with enthusiastic applause by the audience. Indeed, it may be said that the sympathy of the people was much more largely on Ben's side than on the side of the officials.

At about this time the campaign for the election of a Congressman for that district opened, and Hogan entertained some ideas of running for the office on an independent ticket. While not expecting, nor, for that matter, seeking an election, he desired to show what his strength was, and in that way throw his influence on whichever side of the house he saw fit.

He went so far as to organize a committee in Millerstown, with the ostensible purpose of supporting him for Congress. The officers of this somewhat curious committee were as follows: President, Ben Hogan; Vice-President, Ben Hogan; Secretary and Treasurer, Ben Hogan. It may be added that the membership consisted chiefly, if not solely, of the officers; and as Ben was all the officers put together, he was likewise all the members.

He held a memorable meeting that fall in Millerstown. Securing the services of a brass band, he marched to the hall, collecting a crowd as he went, and then selected officers for the evening from among the representative citizens. Speeches were made by a number of those present, but the beauty of the thing was that nobody could tell on which side the orators were arguing. In fact, Ben directed the speakers to eschew politics altogether, so that no offense could be given to either party. Then he mounted the rostrum, and made this little speech himself:

"To-morrow is election day. I want to say a word to the working men, and it is this: Vote for the best candidates, never minding what their politics are. You will find plenty of men running for office who will be your friends so long as they can make tools of you. But after election they do not know you when they meet you. Now, I think you will bear me witness that I have always tried to help the working man. I never turned anybody away from my house hungry, nor have I refused money to those who needed it. I never passed a beggar or blind man without giving him something. But I do not ask any political favors. I have not even told you which party I shall work for, and I'm not going to tell you now!"

This little speech was received with much laughter and applause. As a matter of fact, Hogan was paid money by both political parties that night, but he worked the next day with the Democrats for a Congressman, District Attorney and Judge, all of whom were elected.

This little campaigning incident goes to show that a good many leading politicians have sought Ben Hogan's aid, and have been able to carry through their plans solely by reason of his influence. Had he chosen himself to run for Congress that year, it is at least probable that he would have been successful. And the capital might then have been graced by the Hon. Ben Hogan as it once was by the Hon. John Morrissey.