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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (May 4, 1902)
John Alexander Dowie's Industrial Zion (Copyright, 1002, by John Swain.) nun i l-inu mwos norm ui e uk-hk", and an equal distance south of ml i !.. 1 : !, iM iittiiiiKcr, iifiii lilt; mir n in'. Chicago fe Northwestern railway, stands a gigantic signboard bearing tho legend, "Zion City, fi.r.ftO Acres." Rolow the lettering thrro Is a birdscye view of the new metropolis. In the center stands a magnificent marble temple the finest the painter could imag ine. About It Is a great park and from this radiate brond boulevards, reaching to other parks and crossing at Intervals the straight north and south streets and ave nues of the city. Lake Michigan Is shown in the foreground : on the land lying be tween the; railroad and the lake are great factories all smokeless-and an enormous central powerhouse, also smokeless. A year ngo this sign stood In the mid-t of a vacant tract of land, with no house In sight save occasional farm dwellings strung along the Green Ray road, a quar ter of a mile to the westward. Today nearly four thousand people live within a mile of the road; some of them In $3,000 dwellings. Retween the railroad and the lake where then was a bleak stretch of sand dune and wooded peat-bog stands a structure covering three acres of land, the powerhouse of the picture, and other buildings. Along the tracks are great freight sheds, lumber yards and other indications of business and prosperity. Houses are being rushed up on every side, and the sounds of hammer and saw are everywhere. A station stands beside the railway and a dozen trains a day stop there. The way freight spends from half an hour to an hour switching on the long sidings. A year ago Zion City was a man's dream which he had communicated to a great number of people ho believed In him. Today Zion City Is a fact, and the dreamer, John A. Dowle, Is Its ruler In all matters both Fplritual and temporal. Not since the march of the Mormons across the plains has this country seen so phenomenal a movement as this of a religious body out of the cities and out of other sects Into a community of Its own. Itnn ip'n 1'lmt A merlon n Apponrniire. The Rev. John Alexander Dowle appeared in Chicago ten or twelve years ngo, un known to Americans, though rather noted In Australia. He stepped quickly Into prominence as a leader of faith healers, having In fact come as a missionary for the "International Society of Divine Heal ing," of which he nftcrward became presi dent. Opening his meetings In a tent, he soon drew crowds, made himself notorious and proceeded to found the "Christian Zoological Garden of a Live Western Womai, IRS. MARY RLITCH Is the only M woman keeper of a zoological garden, and her name Is known in this regard among people In terested in zoological gardens the world over. Elltch Garden is one of the fea tures of Denver, where, since 1 Sf3, It has been the most popular of all summer resorts. Considering all the circumstances, Mrs. Elitch's success there has been nothing less than phenomenal. She started In the panic year, when Denver was prostrate financially. She was entirely without experience, not only In that, but In any business, a big debt overhung her and she had only fourteen weeks business in a year. During the lifetime of her husband Mrs. Elltch had lived the conventional life of a woman of means, coming In contact with few outside her own exclusive circle, and devoted to art, of which she was very fond. Mr. Elltch died leaving the garden heavily encumbered nnd his business affairs in bad shape. Mrs. Elltch leased the garden first to an amusement company formed of some of the leading business men of Denver. They could not make It pay, and to save It from the hammer she assumed charge of It her self. Her methods are a good Illustration of a woman's way of running things. She Standing: liertha Marsh, Minnie White. Mnrtha White, Edith Heck Bute-, i Mason, Jessie Whitttmore. Ida Lamb. Mttlng. Irene Flgge, Florence Hoel, Grace, Clift, I-na McKnlght. Hall, I-ena Nichols. - t LONQ PINE LADIES' BAND. Catholic Church In Zion," an organization which now has lno.000 members, probably recognizes him as Its head, and contrib utes to him, for Its maintenance, a tithe, rigidly enforced, of all tho financial In crease of all of Its members. Eventually he possessed severnl millions worth of property, on which he must pny taxes, being unable to persuade the as sessors of Chicago to view him In the same light as the Roman Catholic church and let his property go free. This Is what decided Dowle to found a city of his own. In this new city he purposed to appoint his own assessors and health department, rule his people directly, and have a chance to expand nnd be great. Incidentally he be lieves in theocracy; believe that event ually this and every other country will be ruled by God through the voice o? the prophet, and that he Is the prophet to be gin this restoration of an old Idea. So he planned his city and arranged to bring in the faithful. I'repnrlnit to llnllil Ills Ciif. nut to plan a city and to build It are widely different things. Hire was Dowle, a preacher, pretty rich, to be sure, but not rich enough to buy the land on which to build. For if he would have a good city he must have a good location, nnd land In good locations come high. And if he were to start buying land in any locality the people from whom he wished to buy would be very likely to Jump the prices up. He sides there must be good reason for set tlers to come in, or his city would never amount to anything. So Dowle went to work secretly to find a location, nrrange for Industries and secure the land, before his plans should get out. In the first place he had to Inform his people that the city was being planned. That was necessary In order Hint the money should come in. He told them about his proposed great city of Zion, site still un known, hut where the law of God should be supreme. He formed the Zion Land and Investment association, nnd called for sub scriptions. Investors had no rights except that of exchanging their "stock" for liases on land which Dowie should buy. The land should belong to him, and as long as they held their stock he guaranteed "dividends ' on it. In this way he collected an enor mous amount of money. Then he sent out Deacon Daniel Sloan, formerly a secretary of the Young Men's Christian association, and H. Worthington Judd, a real estate dealer, to select a site. They chose the one on the lake shore which was finally secured. It was an ex cellent strip of land, rolling, well watered, partially wooded, and for the most part covered with tine farms. It bad two miles moved out to the garden and took up her residence in a tiny lodge on the grounds. Then she began to take care of the garden as she would a house. She knew If there was a board loose anywhere. Sho learned to mix paint and apply it to fence or sura merhouFe. She learned everything that had to do with the bedding of plants, the mak ing of lawns and the rare of the large fruit orchard that formed one of the attractions of the place. She learned how to buy nails and lumber, wire fencing and statuary. She learned how to plan pretty corners In her vincclad atbnrs and new atiractl ns for each season. She learned how to manage a force of 100 men, and get all the work out of them that they ought to do. She informed herself next as to the way to deal with concessionaires and how to run a theater so that It was Jammed every night of her fourteen weeks' season. The last feature of the business which Mrs. Elltch took up was the zoological col lections. She found herself losing valuable specimens from time to time, although she was paying a high-priced attendant, who resented any attempt at suggestion from herself. She discharged him, hired a boy who would do as she told him to, and as sumed charge of the animals herself. She Marlon H. A. 9 of frontage on Lake Michigan and affording every possibility of harbor making. One big railway ran through It, another along its western edge. Five miles away to the south was the prosperous city of Waukegan. where there was a harbor and the lake ter minus of the "outer belt" line the Elgin. Juliet Eastern railway. There was every facility for this line also to enter the "promised land." Inilnstrlm I'lrked Out. Dowle already had his Industry picked out. He wanted to get one with which the nnme of "Zion" could easily be associated. Iace making was a new Industry In this country. An English lace maker was try ing to sell his plant nnd come over to Jcln Dowle. Dowle bought the plant, organized nn association with a capital of $1.0nO,eOO to run it collecting $ lilrt.flefl cash from his followers on his personal security before ho bought a foot of land or laid a bri'k for the factory, nnd guaranteeing from 6 to 12 per cent dividends on the stock. He went outside of lace making in h s plans and prospectus. He planned and still plans-a gri-at textile Industry, where cot ton shall be spun and woven Into cloth, where woolen goods shall be male and where lace shnll be manufactured -nil of the best materials, at good prices, and nil to the upbuilding of the "Christian Catholic church." Dowle had not yet a foot of the land, nor hnd he then found a man capable of buying it. Hnd he asked real estate men, they would have told him It would be impossible to buy a tract as large as he wanted 6,500 acres bo near Chicago, without paying fabulous prices for It, even If he could persuade the holders to sell It at all. Fail ure to buy any single acre of It would be fatal, for he had planned a city In which' there should be no liquor or tobacco, nnd In which these should be forbidden In tho doeds and lenses. If a single acre of land was owned by nn outsider, the owner could set up a saloon or do ns he pleased In the midst of the godly community nnd corrupt the Inhabitants. Dovtir's (.rent Selicnle. When things go right with Dowle he as sures himself nnd his followers that It l the laird's doings. When they go wrong the devil has triumphed. In this case the Ixird came to the rescue nnd sent a real estate mnn named Wheelock to Zion with a proposition to sell another tract of land to thorn. Dowle and Sloan sized htm up as a pretty safe man to work with, and so they made a contract with him to go and buy the land they wantid on a sliding commission. The cheaper he got It the more he made. "Hero Is ?r..onn." said Sloan. "Deposit studied them as If they were children, watching the effects of different kinds of food and care. She read everything that could be found on the subject, corresponding with well known keepers, and visited the large citleB for the purpose of talking with the heads of zoological gardens. When her lions began to die she Bat up with them night after night and hardly slept or atc until she found and remedied the cause of tho dl. ense. As a result her collection be came hinlthy and succtssful, and the baby lions and other interesting Inmates of the r.nlitinl houses became valued friends and acquaintances of all the small boys aril girl3 of Denver. From time to time she added fine specimens. She established a seal pond, and her ostrich, harnessed with flowers, and drawing a smart little trap, was a feature of the floral parades In s inie of Denver's annual fall festivals. Fc r some years, while the was learning the business, Mrs. Elltch labored under the most crushing financial burdens. lint eventually, as she stopped leak after leak, and learned more and more how to eater to the popular tastes, she rolled them off and began to accumulate money, until she Is now In an enviable position. Summer after summer she has been of fered exorbitant inducements to grant con cessions for the selling of beer and alco holic drinks, but has Invariably refused. Every summer, too, every child in the ihnrltah'e Institutions of Denver Is given a free outing in her garden, and the aged Inmates at the Old Indies' Home, nearby, all have season pass's, indicating thit business success Is not incompatible with generosity and high principles. Mrs. Elltch is a beautiful, charming, elegantly gowned woman, the last in the world whom one would suspect of being at the head of a great business. Edison and Airship (Continued from Third l'age.) Newton and the ordinary textbooks of the day, the swallow would have to be as strcng as a man. 1'rofen r Iangley has demonstrated the contrary by Interesting experiments which any one may r proiiuce. He attached a plate of braFs to a spring registering apparatus and fastened It to a long arm which easily could be set In motion. When the arm was at net Ihe brass registered one pound, but when tne arm was revolved the spring, Instead ot being drawn out still further, was con tracted until It registered less than an ounce. The weight then seemed to float In th" air and It was found that much less power was required to move Ihe plate rap idly than at a low rate c f speed. It teemed to run over the air much the same as a "skipping" stone runs over the surface of this In the bank nt Waukegan In your nstne, hire a buggy or buy one, and go to work, (let the land. C.et three year options on every acre of It. Make the best terms you can. Provide for cash payments where you have to, get mortgage arrange ments where you can. Get all the time you can. Let no whisper get out that you are acting for Dowle." Following these instructions WheolncK moved up and down over the territory, moving gradually westward, paying less a he went away from the lake, till he had covered the whole 6.R00 acres and secured options on It at an average price of $200 nn acre. These options alone cost Mr. Dowle $100,000 in cash. They were on contracts which provided that any time within three yearn he might close the bar gain nnd take deed. They provide for time payment nnd also that the forfeiture of nny payment would turn back the land to the original owner. The owners retained the right to farm their lands until final died was given to Dowle. The highest price was $r00 an ncre for lake shore land. That seemed a stag gerer to the Chicago people who ha 1 "Ideas" about the value of north shore land so far away. A little later a real estate man offered Dowle $.".00,000 cash If he would step aside and lot him nssume tho responsibility of the bargain. Hut Dowle refused. The offer was Increased be yond $1,000,000, but he still refused. It was enslly seen that with so large nnd so compact a tract, well situated, he had but to run In railway sidetracks, give nwnv sites to manufacturers, guarantee freedom from taxation and found a boom town of the largest size. II I U l.nnil Kitten. When he had paid for the first l.nnn acres, he rnlled the faithful to Zion and began his big Innd snle. Special trains carried thousands to the city, where an odd mixture of religion and business was shown In his plan to "lease" for Lion yiars nt prices which would return n profit of $i:i,onii.nnii on the deal. Chicago expected a colossal failure then, nnd there were numerous prophecies that Dowle hnd at last passed the zenith and was descending toward a grand "sunset." Rut this has failed to happen thus far. The faithful obeyed their lender's voice and (locked In. The city was opened In July of last year, rty autumn there were hun dreds of houses up. The lace works were running and new buildings were going up for them. Men, women nnd children came In every conceivable way. I remember see. ing In a hollow nenr a creek, In the back part f Zion City, an encampment of Kan sas people who had come all the way In prairie schooners Just ns their fathers the water and does not sink until Its mo mentum Is gone. Mr. Edison's plan of solution was appar ently so different from that of Santos-Du-mont that I niked the aeronaut how ho re garded the matter. "I don't think our Idens are so fnr apart," he replied. "He told me. 1 was on the right track. I don't believe In doing away with the balloon entirely yet, but I rm li nking the gan bag smaller and Increas ing the motive power all the time, so perhaps after a while I shall come to Mr. Edison's plan, rnfortunatoly, what be says about the reward of the inventor Is true, but I ha.e never cared for that part of It. I never tried to get a patent on my part of my airship and do not Intend fo. Whatever money I get In prizes I shall devote to further experiments in the air ship line. "I was glnd to talk with Mr. Edison. He Is a practical man. He has promised to give mo the first battery he turns out of his factory and I shall use it on my airship for the purpose of lighting the gasoline engines with an electric ppark. This Is tho safest and quickest way, and of course the battery will be so light that It will add value to my equipment without adding un necessary weight." It Sounds Dreadful Chicago Journal: Colonel Sam Hi d wa: breakfasting it t Delmonieo's. After looking over the French menu ho said to the waiter: "You may bring me some eggs blushing like Aurora and some breeches in the royal Some Reasons Why You Should Insist on Having EUREKA HARNESS OIL U ncciiialcil liv any other. Renders hanl leather suft. Especially prepared. Keeps oiit water. A heavy lwslicd oil. Harness A" excellent preservative. Reduces cost of you' harness. Never l.urns the'leatlu i ; it Ell'c iim y is increased. Sec tires Lest service. SUuhes Kept from lrcakiii. Oil s sold ill all Localities Manufactured h- KtaatUrd Oil I uinir, had gone to Kansas and were awaiting their chance to build. People lived In tents. In shanties, In wagons any way at all. till houses could be built. Cold weather drove many to shelter elsewhere, but many stayed, some living In tents even with Ihe thermometer at 20 below zero. Ry spring there were 3,000 people there. Hy summer there will be 4."i,000. Already Dowle has paid for nnd thrown open S.oeo acres ef his land. Howie's plans have expanded with the city. He Is building big schoolhonscs. He Is planning a university. He has n college already, but he wants a grenter school H plans a great capital. Ho has followers and settlements all over the country and Zion Is to be Ihe head city. He plans n rule from there and his elly must b worthy of him. He hopes to see his toxtll factory covering fifty acres within a decade or less, but he does not expect to see all or much of Zion givi n up to com merce, for it is to be tho Intellectual nnd pplrlliinl capital of the Christian Catholl church. IIoiyIc iiu n l'lillllenl I'linrr. Incidentally Dowie has become n political power In ljike County. In n few years be will be stronger and will loom up In Illinois. That Is because Zion City votes as Dowle directs. It has a municipality, and Dowle kindly "steps nslde" and allows n mayor chosen ns hie people desire. Hut both candidates, or all of thein, nre nietn-l.er-i of his church ami of his cabinet, nn I his views rule Zion through whoever may bo elected. Nor Is there a grent deal for the mayor and his council to do, for Zion Is rutcsl lnrgely by the lenses on the Innd, whlrli provide that no person shall sell liquors or tobneco, pork or oysters, or drugs, nor shall any one living thereon practice medicine, surgery or dentistry. If theso clauses nre violated tho land reverts to Dowie, or after his death to trustees of the church, to be dli-p'sed of as they see fit. .Ono need not belong to Dowie's ehurcTi to lease there, and the believer In medicine may cnll In a doctor from outside, lie enn use drugs If ho buys them outside and need not pny his tithes Into the church If he is not a member. If one Is willing to obey the ten commandments plus Dowie's additions and to live according to the snnltary rode of the old Jcwinh law, h will find Zion City a homo nmong it kindly and Industrious people, who, ln causo they spend nothing on drlnfc ami tobacco, are unusually prosperous. In fact, the most amiable of goats might live happily with a whole (lock of sheep Rut if ho Is unwilling to follow Iho leader he would bo apt to feel extremely lone- JOHN SWAIN. fashion, with velvet sauce, and for dc-ser-bo sure you bring a stew of good Chris tians and a mouthful of ladles." Tho nstonlshed waller said: "Sir, we don't serve such dishes." "Yes, you do," said tho guest, pointing to tho bill of fare. "Oeufs a la Aurore -culottes In royale sacqun veloul compote dc bon cretlents bnuches do dames." "All right." said tho waller; "ready In two minutes, sir." DON'T BE SO THIN. FREE REMEDY. Many ladles and gentlemen who cannot complain of any kind of sickness are nt normally thin and cannot find any medical treutnn nt which will correct this condition. Dr. Whitney's Nerve and Flesh Hullder Is not alone Intended for thnse who are sick, but also for those who appear well and hearty, but cannot acquire sulllcieni rh -mix to round out the form. In dyspepsia. In digestion, all stomach troubles, cleblllly and nervous diseases no remedy la so prompt and powerful. In order to demonstrate the wonderful merits of Dr. Whitney's Nerve and Flesh Hullder every person who will address the C. O. Jones Co., Klmlra, N. Y., will receive a trial package In plain sealed wrapper absolutely free. For sale In Omaha by the Sherman & Mc Connell Drug Co. - - - ' 'tif'C'.T.I. . . Dentifrice . TOOTH V y Hftrdena the vuma -HitunMMM nrwwrf mirl tMuiiitiHMM ii.m t.M.tl, wectKin Mm lirttHili. No ii.ikiIit or liquid to pill-moat convmilHiit intrlcuiiH lo curry or uw, At all lraasi.i. HCr. C. U. STUUNU to.. Ukli-a., f. . A.
