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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 1910)
The Omaha Daily Bee ' TAUT 11. rOR ALL THE NEWS THE OMAHA BEE PF5T IN THE WEST 300,000 OMAHA w VOL. XL NO. Some Prominent Executive and Administrative p . , I "" i : i "T - ; 1 ' T ' rj 'rrTmmm 1 t ' , i . i k . M V . -- . 1 ' . - J .'vfl ' h ; ) y:-. J L : III II I ll Mil f 1 LOUTS BERKA, Councilman. T. J. FLYNN, Street Commissioner. JOHN C. I-TNCH. IMumbltiK Inspector. WORK OF OMAHA'S CITY GOVERNMENT Some Details Concerning Immense Activities of municipal Ad . , '. ministration.' GREAT BUSINESS ORGANIZATION ti airs of the Citv Looked After by Army of Employes. : MILLIONS IN CITY IMPROVEMENTS ; ,'. v'-..v..' I :" ' ' ' " '1 i A. 1 II 1 I a?r-m'i ' X Parks, Buildings and Other Property of Much Value. CASH BALANCE LOOKS LARGE Bom Tabloid Vmrtm About the City and the Mr a on Whom the Con dart of Its Boalneu Has Been IMaced. Almost large enough for a state capital, Omaha's city hall building stands near the crest of the Farnam street hill, alongside the Bee building, an enduring monument to Omaha's municipal greatness. Tha Omaha city hall was built In 1SH1 at a cost of ,V)0,000 for construction, ex clusive of the value of the ground. Take a glance at the rugged, solid cornerstones of the city hall, study the strength of Its walls, contemplate the heights pierced by Us tower nil up the massive building in all Its beauty. Then you have an Index to the solidity of the business'alde of Omaha's government. The vast array of clerical details entering Into the affairs of the city rqutree an army of officials and attaches. The city's busi ness ' Is big. Immense sums of money must be handled and accounted fur, and 'ttiict business system must be employed ,t order that the city may know whither It Is dr 'ting In a flnanclul sense. ; You see the polltlcltin smoking his cigar and taking life easy, and. you perhaps reach the conclusion that a city hull Jb Is a snap. So It Is somotlmrs for some indi viduals, but the fact remains neverthe. less, that there Is much work to be done ,.-nd aomebody Is doing "t. The politician with the black cigar Is not all ol the city ha.l force. Over there behind a big desk and row after row of figures, you will find hard working clerks. They are the workers of the city administration. Back In the fifties, so history records, Omaha as a municipality, was far from wealthy. City scrip psssed In lieu of money In those dave that Is. It passed sometimes. Other times it was refused. But those hard fan daya hav long sines passed Into a LOUIS BURM ESTER, Councilman. - S X" y " .' ' V : " - ' . w 1 . ( r-'" - V:'-.V"'-- ,. i . ; ! C ..-' ..." IvV I jt X fe' v ? 1-L , , , WALDERMAN MICHAELSEN, City Electrician. ROBERT U. WOLFE, Boiler Inspector. mere bit of reminiscence, and today Omaha's Ktiong box Is plethoric. r Cah Ilnlanee Aaguil 1), IMIO. Any firm or any Institution, either private or , public, that has almost 12,000,000 In bank to Its credit, Is by the very nature of things, rather strong In a money sense. Omaha has the $2,000,000, or nearly so, for the last financial statement-Issued by Comptroller Lobeck shows that on August 9, this year, the city of Omaha had a total balance of cash In bank, amounting to $1.7'J6.T65. 17 just a little, short of the $2,000,000 mark. The money thus mentioned Is distributed In various banks as follows: Cash In drawer. , ' 8.503.40 Checks for depot-lt 5,026.27 Balance In banks, citv funds Fl:st National l',1S,;k;s.38 Merchants National 2it2.2:U.i;7 Nebraska National 115.4-6.12 Omaha National 239,6:!7.42 V. 8. National... 2SI.2r.13l Kountre Bros., N, Y.... 5.',153. City National 123,0X9.81 Corn Exchange Nat l... 152.818.t7 1,493,156.78 Balances In banks, school funds First National H3.40H.Kl Merchants National 37.W7.4l Omaha National 4!).022.01 IT. 8. National 62,aS.l Kounlze Bros., N. Y.... 1.94CI.31 City National 72.So6.00 287,734.50 Police relief fund- Merchants National I 111.36 U. 8. National tiSJ.Sti 745.22 Special fund- Merchants National 1;00.00 Total cash on hand f 1,796,705.17 The bonded debt of Omaha at trie pres ent time, exclusive of special stteet Im provement obligations of short time, aggre gates 15,700,000, which by comparison with several other cities of the Omaha class, la considered by municipal experts to' be a good showing. Fortune In Public, Building;. , It is estimated th;,t the city of Omaha has approximately ti.OUO.OOO represented In public buildings and parks. Entering Into this I5.OUO.OUO total are such Items as city hall, public library, several parks, fire sta tions, city Jail and school properties. Omaha's Official Koater. The personnel of the city's official roster Is as follows: James ('. Dalilnian, mavur. Pan B. Butler, city clerk. Frank A. Kuray, city and county treas urer. t O. Iteck, comptroller. Harry K. Burnarn. city attorney. Charles It. YVUhnell. building Inspector. ieorge YV. I'raig. city engineer. Thomas J, Klynn. street commissioner. Raloh W. Coimell, lieult.i commissioner. Wuidemar Michaelseu, city electrician. John t Lynch, plumbing inMpector. Joseph Scully, milk commissioner. Charles F. Crowley, gas commissioner. Robert J. Wolfe, boiler Inspector. Kmll YVulilslrom, custodian city .hall. C T. Dickinson, city prosfoutor. John J. Mtiliuney. clerk police court. Wood W. Hartley, city alistiacitr. A. It. Wasgoner, pound master. John J. Klllian. market musler. Richard A. Schneider, license Inspector. John O. I'egg, Inspector weights and measures. Kami Fleishman, meat Inspector. U. R. Young, city veterinary, i Of the foregoing offices, all are elective from mayor to city engineer. From street c-ommlfslouer to the end of the Hit, the officeis omlng uix'.er the appointive system. Personnel of the City Council. The following names Indicate tli pcr- OMAHA, O. F. BRUCKER, Councilman. C. O. LOBECK, City Comptroller. O. R. YOUNO. D. V. S. City Veterinarian and Dairy Inspector. sound of Omaha's city council at the pres- 1 ent time, and the ward represented by each: O. F. Brucker, president city council. Charles M. Davis, temporary president. Louis Berka, First waid. Lee Bridges, Second Ward. Louis BurmeiHtfr, Third ward. L. B. Johnson, Fourth Ward. O. F. Brucker, Fifth ward. W. 8. Sheldon, Sixth ward. Fred Schroeder, Seventh ward. J. B. Hummel, Eighth ward. Thomas McUovern, Ninth ward. A. C. Kugel, Tenth ward. M. F. Funkhouser, Eleventh ward. C. M. Davis. Twelfth wurd. Activity in Public Improvements. During the year 190ft, Omaha expended S5J,471.tii for street Improvements, dis tributed ns follows: Pavements Aophajt '. 2.96 miles lirick a. 4d miles (Stu:ie and ce.nent ,44jnlles Total Cost. I384.712.2H. 8.83 miles 13.63 miles Curbing , Cost. (48,612.87. beweis Pipe Brick Cement 6.8 miles 1. miles .19 miles 7.69 miles 'I" Totals Cost. 17,",;i0.78. Sidewalks' Brick Cement .. 6.08 miles .. 19.02 miles .. 24.10 miles Total Cost. 1S2.455.51. Grading 6S.860 cubic yards Cost, $24,637.97. Grading repairs, $8.105 63. The year 1910. now turning Into Its fin ishing half, will bring many other public Improvements to Omaha, notable among which is icn miles of new paving which will be '-ompjrted before the end of the year. There la nlso a vast expansion of sewer facilities, and new sidewalks have become so common that they no longer at tract more than passing comment. Omaha now, exclusive of the work now under way, but as yet unfinished, has 132 miles of uving. and each year aees the mileage lengthened. If all the pnvliig in Omaha were stretched out in a straight line, it would form, a continuous walk Unking Omaha with Sioux Falls, S. 1., or If turned mound the other way, it would load from Omaha to St. Joseph, Mo. - Oraalia Is a Heading; Center. Judging from the vast array of figures always In evidence attesting Omaha's commercial supremacy, one might deduce that Omaha Is given to cold, sordid busi ness to. the exclusion of the finer things that go to make up a city. Such, however. Is not the case. Witness In support of Omaha's claim to culture, the attention that Is given to the splendid public library which occupies Its own $100,0,10 home on Harney and Eighteenth street. This li brary contains almost any book that Is In clrojjatlon, with the exception, of course, of such publications that are burred from libraries In general. The official roster of the public libiary is as follows: F. L. Haller, president; H. P. Deuel, vice president: A. D. Fetterman, secretary. Directors: Luclen Stevens, J. J. Ryder, Edward Black, L. J. TePoel. A. J. Collctt. T. U Rlngwalt. Edith Tobltt. 11 biarlan; Margaret O'Brien, assistant li brarian. Umaba lias ample provision for safe WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17 FRED 8CH ROKUEK, Councilman. ft e 1 lf -.-i9- it i v i xN I JAMES O. DAHX.MAN. Mayor. BRYCE CRAWFORD, Police Judge. guarding public health. There Is a system of rigid' Inspection of milk and other edibles such as are subject to contamina tion and the rate of mortality in propor tion to population Is notably small. Not for many years has there been anything even approaching a serious epidemic, and Dr. Ralph Connell, health officer, Is on record with the statement that so far as sanitary precautions are concerned Omaha Is In excellent condition. In all that per tains to "first aid to the Injured," Omaha Is up to the minute In comparison with other metropolitan cities. City Is Well Policed. Chief of Police John J. Donahue has 135 men In his department. In the selection of policemen, Omaha applies all of the tests that experience In policing a large city has pi oven to be necessary. Omaha policemen are ' physical giants, comparing well In physique with the Broadway squad In New York or the best to be found In any other city. The character of man la also a mat ter of concern and taken In the aggregate, Omaha has as clean a police force as can be found anywhere. Police headquarters are at Eleventh and Dodge streets, and from that central station all of the men in the department operate. Among the other modern advances made by the Omaha police department ia the relegating of the old-time "Black Maria" and the substitu tion of an up-to-date automobile patrol wagon. Ready to Klaht Fire. The Omaha fire department, under com mand of Chief Charles A. Salter, Is one of the best in the United States. All that Is effective and modern has been Included In the flre-fightlng paraphernalia, and the per centage of loss from fires In Omaha is re markably light. The departments consists of 206 men, Including officers. There are nineteen stations. The following table In dicates the location of the stations, to gether with the officers and men on duty in each place: Omaha's Fire Force. Officers. Men. Engine Companies No. l, vent li and Jackson 2 It No. 2. 211 South Tenth 2 12 No. .1. K.ighteenlh and Harney 2 1 No. 4. Sixteenth and lxaid 2 12 Hose t'onipanles No. 5, Eight and Pierce 2 1 No. . 9M-D16 North Twenty-fourth.. 2 No. 7. Thirty-sixth and Jackson 2 6 No. K. Forty-first i.nd Hamilton. . . . 2 6 No. 9 Twentieth and Spring 2 6 No. 10. Twenty-ninth and Dorcaa... 2 6 No. 11. Thirtieth and Sp milling. . . . 2 H i. - ".. '' a No. 14, Twenty-second and Lake... 2 Ames 2 6 Hook in-d Luddi r Cortipanles No. 1, Klevenlh and Jaciison 2 11 No. 2. 914-916 North Twenty-fourth 2 ID No. 3. Kleventli and Dorcas I 8 No; 4. Twenty-seventh i.nd Jones.. 2 No. 6. '1 went -seco.id and Ames 2 8 Chief 1 First assistant chief 1 Second assisiant chief 1 Secretary 1 Total 1 42 164 Grand total 2o8 Credit of the City. One- of the gratifying facts concerning Omaha, and a fact of which every Omaha tit lien has reason to be proud, Is the splendid credit of the city. liradstreet's, from which agency emanate cold facts 1910. A. C. KUGEU Councilman. C. T. DICKINSON, City Prosecutor. RAILROADS SPREAD LIKE FAN Vast Network Radiates from Omaha as a Center. MANY MILES OF NEW TRAINS Bin- Improvements Have Been Car ried Out and Many Are Content plated for the Near Fnture In and Around Omaha. In the last year there has been put in service a number of new passenger trains between Omaha and Seattle and Chicago and Omaha. The Omaha-Seattle line con nects with tho Great Northern road from Billings through the Judith .Basin, thus opening up new commerce to Omaha. In all there was an increase of over 66,000 miles of transportation a month put In service. Spreading from Omaha like a huge fan, the lines of the Northwestern road are tributary to this city from Lander in Wyoming, from Deadwood and Dallas in South Dakota and all the great country In northern Nebraska and Iowa. With this huge system extending far to the east, Omaha has direct connections with an immense amount of freight and passenger trade being brought to Its doors by the long strings of cars. The line from Lander, on what Is known as the Wyoming and Northwestern division of the road runs through the Platte and Niobrara val leys, through the greatest crop raising part of the state. The two dry years which have Just passed Illustrate what an advan tage this means, as where the farmers In some parts of the state are crippled and will not have large shipments of grain the rain has fallen steadily In tills terrl tory and the biggest crop of years will be the result. concerning the financial status and the credit of municipalities as well as Indi vidual firms and corporations, gave to Omaha a strikingly strong fdltorial men tion In the lust January Annual Review. l'ncr the capton, "Expansion al Omaha," Brsdstnet's says in t lie course of a gen eral article: "Building has been active in Omaha, the total permits taken out during 1W9 being $T,r)C0,6t0, an Increase of $3.5'iP,(X) over WOK. Borne steel structure . buildings und a new court house were Includrd. but there were 1,200 new dwellings, making the fourth cnnrecullve year during which more than 1.000 new places for people to live were erected In twelve months; 4,2"0 new homes in four years. Heal estate values In creased 26 to 50 per cent on business prop erty; 16 to 25 per cent on residence lots. Transfers, tl2.360.0u0." Obviously then, a city with such a Brad street rating naturally has gilt-edged credit and a ready market for Its securities. Such is the Omaha of K the same city that fifty years ago found difficulty In peddling Its script. SINGLE Officials of Omaha CHARLES M. DAVIS, Councilman. DAN B. BUTLER, City Clerk. . CHARLES A. SALTER. Chief of Fire Department. The lines through South Dakota follow the Missouri, river region, except for the branch going to Deadwood to the big min ing districts of the Black Hills. Wheat In thousands of tona pour Into 'Omaha from here, an .unofficial estimate of the amount being that Omaha received over 0 per cent of the grain shipments from this country. New Connections Made. ' In the last year large Improvements have been going on and some additions made, the connection from Blunt .to Gettysburg and from Blunt to Hitchcock being one of them. Signal and other protective measures are constantly being Investigated, and at the present time a number of new devices for the passenger travel safety are being Installed. Some years ago a complete double track system with Chicago was Installed, making the line of the road there one of the best. With Its connections with the Union Pa cific In the west the combination Chicago, Union Pacific and Northwestern line Is the most traveled road for passengers coming from the Windy City to the Pacific coast. The freight traffic from Chicago to Omaha eclipses even the great grain and Jobbers trade to the .west, the big depot of the road In Omaha being crowded to its ca pacity In some seasons. The complete . mileage of this ' system covers almost 8.000 miles, the Nebraska lines aggregating 1,102 miles alone. ' With the recent additions to the service there are at the present time 1.543 locomotives, 1,460 cars, and 60.000 freight cars, making a total of 62.903 cars on the entire road. In the state of ' Nebraska there are em ployed 6,000 people, Omaha taking a goodly proportion of these. Northwestern' ,Xfw Depot. The new . freight depot, of the. Northwest ern, which was built In 190T and 190S, is now a full block wide from Thirteenth street to Fourteenth street and from Davenport meet to Wehrter street, with room to double the capacity If found necessary. As soon as the business Justifies the enlarge ment by a consistent Increase building will brain. Another of the big enlargements to be made Is the building of a new pa s nger terminal In Chicago, Cie structure to cost almost $20,000,000. In Omaha the Northwestern Is considered to be favorable to the plan of enlarging the Union Depot. In Omaha the entire offices of the road, which are a branch headquarters, have been made over, new floors, and all modern office fixtures and conveniences being put In. - In recent years the origlnnl Northwest ern road with Its 8.000 miles of trackage have been connected with wha wns the Chlrsgo. St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha roi d, the Pierre, Rapid City a id North western railway, and the Wyoming and Northwestern road, making a total mlle-BKi- of the system of 9,666 miles, covering a vast teiitnry from the lake shore lines of Lake Superior and Lake Mlrhlgan tracks to the reads far into the dry and arid region of the west, which ;he road Is doing Its utmost to Improve. Ma ay Trains to talma. On ' this line five trains a day leave Omaha for Chicago. As an indication of the Immense passenger traffic "of the road "i n-'.-. , ' '' N' - . ijiii i l'"- T 1 COPY FIVE CENTS. GEORGE XV. CRAia, City Engineer, C. H. WITHKEUi, liuilJUiK losvector. J. J. DONAHUE, Chief of Police Department. In the summer season when the high traf fic mark of other roads holds until tho end of July or perhaps enly the middle, the Northwestern holds its own until the middle of August. The recent 'block sig nals put on between Chicago and here, although the track was a double track! one and protected by former block sig nal arrangements, are only one of the many little ways In which the educational part of the road Is carefully, constantly on the watch for possible accidents. Others of the Omaha roads are growing fast, and several of them are considering new Improvements . and the enlargement ' of the Omaha division of their road to keep up with the growth of trade here In recent years. The Great Western Is buying 1.600 new freight cars and double tracks and having new ballasting done on their road; the Illinois Central will' move Into " new offices soon; Improvements on their Chicago line have been made on the Rook Island. The Missouri Puclflc la now In the. depths of a complete overhauling of their line from here to Kansas City and other southern points. Several additions and Im provements have been made In both th passenger and freight departments of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul road, and now they have one of the finest trains from here to Chicago and St. Paul. Freight handling on the Wabash has Increased In Omaha considerably lately and some new arrangements are due there soon. BANK CLEARINGS GROWING Steady Increase Is Shown Month by Month, with Mo Backward Movement. Bank clearings In Omaha steadily climb higher as each month goes by. For the first seven months of the year 1910 there la an Increase of almost $70,000,000 over the sume time of 1W.I. As the prosperity of a city can always be gauged by the growth of Its hank clearings there figrires show that Oinslia Is developing rapidly as a com mercial mil banking critter. During the seven months of Y.K) the total amount of bank clearings was X120.5K2, 879.1S, and for the corresponding period of time this year, 1490.641, 329 94. The following flK'ires from the Omaha Clearing House association show a com paiatlve statement of past years: BANK CLEARINGS. 'KH7... UKK... IKS!.. , . 1V' . . 1K!1... Ilil'.'... 18'.::... lH'M... IWC... 1 '... 18'.7... ,$7.4!i.oi;rt . .ItJ.HUWSi . 402..VN),:'.;t2 . 4W1JI 013 . 442 2'.7.7 . M.",7C.H4 ' . !IXi.!..TI.74.'i . 4t:t.472.i;x . 3M.2M1.477 . 421! !'.!. li;H . 24 i,:;k8.7'.i 1S!S uwi liniO I'iOI 1'io2 liir. I'.sol lno-; l'H7 1HOX l'Kdi ..ri9.4HI.528 . . 27.4!r? 370 .. 315.115. V .. S-UM3.08 .. 111,611.775 . . sr 8HA.ft . . 2!S.!fi,2l3 .. 4l2.'"i.K0H . . rii.3Ki,7n .. Vi7,5ir.,:-W .. 0,.5'fi.SH7 .. 7:15,225. 5 a First seven months of 1909 and 1910: 1909. .$ 57. IKS. 708 01 . 47,972.7:12 72 . 7l.7H9.a02.86 . lltl.K.r..2'ift7 . HI :Mi.tw2.7l . t;.l'.9i 82 . 60.274.770. H 1910 $ 8 .014. Of 77 ?.77,li.0 8!',;1.2t.1 W 81,329,r.OK 09,l:t2.H39 IH Il7:2.:l3.l 62.iJ4.401 49 January-. February Maieli ... A pi II M y J i tie July Totals . ...$420.692.8')8.'.sl IX.M1. H 7 " - !- f V" J -'