I THE CITY OF OMAHA NEBRASKA
Omaha, the metropolis of Nebraska, is
a city of 130,000 people, situated on the
Missouri river at a point that makes it the
natural gateway to the immense north
west country. It is the eastern terminus
of the Union Pacific railroad, and the
western terminus of several trunk lines
that lead into it from the east. As a rail
road center Omaha commands an import
ant and strategic position, and as a result
is one of the great wholesale centers of
the United States. It is also a manufac
turing center of rapidly growing import
ance. Omaha's commercial and industrial
growth have been marvelous. From a
mere village of 5,000 forty years ago, with
little other commerce than that of the
men and women seeking new homes on
the western prairies, it now does a whole
sale business amounting to upwards of
$200,000,000, and her total of manufac
tured products exceeds $150,000,000 a
year. Omaha is today the largest butter
market in the world, is the fifteenth city
in point of volume of bank clearings, has
the second largest smelting plant in the
world. Practically every line of manu
facturing industry is represented in Om
aha. Boots and shoes, overalls and shirts,
structural iron and steel, flour, alfalfa
meal, stock food, printing and brick and
tile are among the chief manufacturing
industries. The packing plants at South
Omaha and the two cities are one save
in name only employ thousands of peo
ple and the value of the product each year
is in excess of $60,000,000.
It may surprise many seekers after
manufacturing locations to learn that
power is to be purchased in Omaha as
cheaply as it is purchased in Buffalo, and
cheaper than it may be purchased in
Pittsburg, Fall River or Chicago. Omaha
capitalists, jointly with foreign capital
ists, have organized an immense power
company, and already the first steps have
been taken looking towards the comple
tion of a power canal from the Loup river
that will furnish 40,000 horsepower, with
the power plant within twenty-five miles
of Omaha. That this immense project will
be carried to successful completion is as
sured, and when it is Omaha will become
one of the largest manufacturing centers
in the country.
The wholesale business of Omaha is
immense, the growth during the past de
cade having been little short of marvel
ous. Groceries, dry goods, garments,
drugs, hardware, paper and mill products
are among the chief wholesale activities.
More than 3,000 traveling men are on the
road representing Omaha wholesale con
cerns. Omaha offers especial inducements to
capital seeking investment. Golden oppor
tunities are at hand for the erection of
manufacturing establishments that will
find the raw product ready to hand. There
is no reason why Omaha should not be
a great tanning center, and therefore a
rival of Lynn and Brockton in the man
ufacture of shoes. Neither is there any
reason why Omaha should not become a
rival of Minneapolis and St. Paul as a
milling center. It is the largest city in
a wheat growing section that produces the
finest hard wheat known to the milling
business.
While building a vast commercial city,
Omahans have not lost sight of the other
phase of metropolitan life. They have a
park and boulevard system second to none
in any city of equal size. This chain of
parks practically surrounds the city, and
all are connected by a boulevard system
that is one of the city's great social as
sets. The public school system is the es
pecial pride of Omahans. The Omaha high
school building cost more than half a mil
lion dollars. Creighton niversity and
Creighton Medical College, both practi
cally built and endowed by the late John
A. Creighton, rank among the great uni
versities and medical colleges of the coun
try. St. Joseph's Hospital, another of
the monuments to the liberality of John
A. Creighton, is famous the world over.
Orphanages, seminaries and denomina
tional schools are numerous. Omaha is
well supplied with handsome church edi
fices, and the religious activities of the
city are constant.
Omaha's street railway system is won
derfully efficient. With three great cross
town lines north , and south and three
cross t own lines east and west "with
numerous branches reaching into every
section the citizens are given a service
that is little short of the ideal. ( addi
tion to these is a car line to Coureil
Bluffs. Two of the north and south line
connect with South Omaha, and thence
on to Albright, several miles further
south.
Omaha's city hall is a monument to the
enterprise of the city. It cost up.vards of
half a million. The new .Douglas county
courthouse will' rank among the great
public edifices of the country. When com
pleted it will represent an expenditure of
upwards of a million and a half. In a
few months Omaha will have acquired
ownership of the water system, which aviII
represent an investment of upwards of
eight millions. On the north side of the
city is Fort Omaha, long one of the im
portant military posts of the govern
ment. It is now devoted to the work of
the federal signal corps department. To
the south is Fort Crook, one of the larg
est, as it is one-of the newest, of the na
tion's military posts.
Situated admist the hills overlooking
the Missouri river, Omaha presents many
scenic features of rare beauty. It is essen
tially a city of beautiful and comfortable
homes without any tenenment districts
such as the older cities further east con
tain. The sweat shop is unknown, and
the wage earners are always prosperous
and happy.
Omaha is the headquarters of the Un
ion Pacific Railway system, and this
great corporation is just completing a
new headquarters building, sixteen stor
ies high and covering a half-block of
ground. A thousand employes of the
company will work in this building.
Omaha is also the headquarters of the
Burlington lines west of the Missouri
river. The Burlington, Chicago-Great .
Western, Northwestern, Wabash, Illinois
Central, Milwaukee, Minneapolis & Om
aha, Union Pacific, Rock Island and
Missouri Pacific, all enter Omaha, lines
radiating out in every direction to the At
lantic, the Pacific, the great lakes and the
gulf.
With 250 miles of street railway, 400
miles of paved streets, a park and boule
vard system that represents an invest
ment of more than a quarter of a million,
public buildings equalling in size and
architectural beauty those in many cities
double and quardruple the size of Om
aha, the metropolis of Nebraska makes an
instant impression upon the observant
visitor, whether he be on pleasure bent
or looking for a location in business.
The Omaha Commercial Club's mem
bership is made up of the live, energetic
business men of the city. Its organiza
tion is one of the. most perfect pieces of
business machinery in the country. J.
M. Guild, the Commercial Club's eficient
commissioner, will take pleasure in send
ing descriptive literature to all who may
ask for it, and will answer promptly and
carefully all inquiries from intending in
vestors. Measured by every standard, Omaha is
a wonderful city. Its enterprise is prodigi
ous ; its opportunities for profitable in
vestment are without number; her citi
zens are hospitable, and her commanding
position in the commercial and industrial
world are the result of well directed ef
fort. MODERN WOODMEN OF AMERICA.
The executive officer of the largest fra
ternal order in the world, The Modern
Wodmen of America, lives in Lincoln,
Head Consul A. R. Talbot. Here Mr. Tal
bot maintains his head office, and from
here is directed all the immense activities
of this great organization.