D
"Wildest Omaha" Disappearing Before
HAUNT OS- TUB
.HATKVER may hsvo been the
motive that Inspired th found
er of Omaha, they jertalnly
chose a commanding site. The
Mils that surrounded the orig
inal locution of the city hay
been.a' once the delight and the despair
of its uuildi.ru. For fifty years man ban
hr-r mgiiix away at these huge bluffs
and i .i',:.n of clay and gumbo, and whllti
ha la: succeeded in ma'., Ing many change
In the t ipc-sraphy of the country, lie ha
not be. n able to obliterate the handiwork
of: nature, who here had displayed some of
the in ist marvelous of carving. Creaks
I eve boon swallowed up, water course
have disappeared and hill and vale have
ire'- on1 a common level since man began
to rearrange the prospect to suit his con
venlcnae and his needs. Citizens who art
yet young can easily recall the time when
Omaha resembled nothing so strongly a
a brobdlgnagtan prairie dog town, being a.
succession of hills and hummocks, one top
ping thn other, until the last seemed all but
Insurmountable. Man said these must be
moved, and moved they have been. Orad
lottts that once were precipitous have be
come easy and facile; helghta that one
owered all but cloud high have been
brought down low, and In somo oaes the
tops of the business blocks that now sur
mount the spot scarcely cench s hlsh Inti
the air as onc did the hill thp.t has van
ished. Eminences from whence flashed the
signal 'smoke or blazed the council Are of
the aborigine have sunk beneath the Influ
ent of expanding city Mfe. and valleys
wherein the tepee nestled or wbVre the w'ld
beast made Ms lair In safety have been
lost In (ho general effort at remodeling the
townslte.
' Millions of cubic yards of dirt have bean
moved during the working out of the
process. Modern engineers have pointed
out In wriat way a rreat deal of effort
might have been avoided by taking more
advantage' of the natural contour of the
country and furnishing Omaha with a plat
that conformed more closely to Its topo
graphy. But the men who laid out the
city dealt only with the cardinal points of
theCcoaipass, and In their simple devotion
toyfeiemental things gave no thought to
the possible whims of future residents.
Capitol Mil was to them an eminence fit
ting to be crowned by the state house, and
ao It was built, without regard to the fact
that Dodge street, Capitol avenue, Far
nam street, Douglas street. In fact, every
avenue of approach, presented such an ac
clivity as to suggest alpenstocks as a
necessary part of the equipment of the
legislators and officers who made their
headquarters In the structure that was
perched airily at tha highest point In the
county. And so In conforming to the four-
square Idea of the founders, and endeavor-
Ing to provide for a constantly grswlng
ilty, Omaha has been compelled to re-
move veritable mountains and cast them
e'ther Into the valleys or Into the M'saourl
river, whichever was most convenient. Nor
h:is the process been finished. All about
the town for months huge operations have
been In progress. In seme parts of the
i-lty a stranger might easily fancy that
some such work as the Panama canal dig
ging Is under way. Steam shovels and
railroad dump cars are In use, one firm
Omaha and Portland Linked in Inevitable Development of Commerce
NCERTAINTT about western
U values, not only of land but of
I other properties, bas caused
many minions UK our ciirmiis to
lose opportunities of wealth, and
many 1 of them to sacrifice
property needlessly. Those who could least
afford to lose have been among the first
to suffer. Corporations have lost opportuni
ties of aoqulring valuable lines of railway.
They have surrendered properties soon to
become valuable. They have failed to build
to meat the needs ef the country, and have
failed to make betterments In advance of
nseda These evil results have been due
largely to lack of a clear comprehension ef
the form and direction of past growth, and
to lack of confidence aa to future growth.
The location and ameunt of probable
growth are Intricate problems, but anything
tending to systematise information regard
ing gtowth has value. It Is worth to nearly
every one some time and trouble to make
a gain hi correctness ef valuatlng. Bourns
have . arisen because the people have
stumbled about In the dark, knowing that
genuine growth was probable, but knowing
little about Its laws or probabilities.
' Corporations, aa well aa individuals, have
been blind In their decisions. Great sys
tems of railway failed to take hold of Unloa
Pacific whon It went begging failed to
stand by Northern rarlflc whea Its stock
was down to fifteen surrendered a lease
yf Oregon River and Navigation company,
and later built a competing line on the
r opposite bank of the Columbia river at
double eost. In 1SSJ proposed and surveyed
betterments of the Oregon River and Navi
gation company were postponed, belog con
sidered In advance of needs, and taken up
In 1WJ, long after the needs had congested
the road. Such casea are numerous, almost
the rule. In past yeara a few. or peasl
bly' many hours of patient study of
growth and reasons for It might have
meant profit or saving of property to
many of ue. There are few of us In the
middle or far west who have not many re
grets to suppress.
A great girdle or gone ef wealth Is creep
ing westward In the northern hemisphere.
Cessation of advance may occasionally
tern to occur, but even In the worst ysara
Its advance has been real and persistent.
The I7.000.W0.OA) t value ot agricultural
products ef 107 In te United States Is
merely aa Incident la the greater growth.
Btock prices and pantos cannot stop lu advance.
"8JLXDIT" NOW GONE.
V
m siiiiisi Ti
MAKING
grinds up the excavated clay and mlxea it
with water, sending the compound merrily
down the sewer to the river, and elsewhere
the old-fashioned plow and scraper and
wagons are In service, but all are busy
cutting away hills and tilling up gullies
and making changes In the landscape, that
Omaha may be even more beautiful than
It la
"Wildest Omaha" Is disappearing. Dur
ing the last summer one great section has
been conquered by the grading gung, and
other tracts are now being felvf n the vigor
ous treatment that Is reducing them to a
stats of desirability for building lots.
Clinging hke files to tho side of a hugs
bluff of yellow clay and then Hllding to tho
bottom with loaded scoops, grading gangs
have been performing "stunts", before an
audience which Increased dally on the large
vacant tract between Tenth and Thirteenth
streets, from William street to Lincoln
avenue, and are rapidly changing this Im
mense acreage of "Wildest. Omaha" tc
"Mildest Omaha" by providing sites foi
stores and homes Innumerable on a rougb
common that has heretofore been given
ever to Mh heanB and Publlc Playgrounds
toT Btra' fowl" an blly "oats.
This large tract south of Williams street
contains twenty acres of land that, frbna
Its appearance, gave the Impression of bo.
Ing a pert at the "Bad lands" ef South
Dakota transplanted to the heart of a great
city. It was. a bit of the wildest, landscape
to be faund In an extensive search for
miles In any direction from Omaha and
was a land unto Itself, peopled 1y a
heterogeneous population of ducks, chick-
ens, geese,, goats and milch animals. Val-
leys were there in profusion, with brackish
This development began In northern Eu
rope and England, spread t the Atlantic
ceast of North America and now has reached
woll across this continent, meantime con
tinuing constantly to Increase In amount
even where It has long had foothold. It will
continue to advance westward, will reach
the Asiatic mainland, pass through Russia
when better government permits, and com
plete the circuit of the globe. No such
girdle of wealth has ever heretofore en
circled the earth. Transportation facilities
making It possible have developed only
within the last half century. This lone of
wealth will doubtless remain aa long as
the world remains habitable and be one of
the larger features ef the world's existence.
Thla weather belt has no counteipart
ef Importance In the southern hemi
sphere. There the continents narrow In
fertile areas In the temperate zone. In
the north temperate soue the contlne'ita
widen broadly In fertile areas in Eu
rope, In America 'and In Asia. Far north
climate prevents more than a bare exist
ence. In the torrid zone ullmtte en
ervates. Only the temperate zone glvs
and compels continuous energy and .thrift
which result In surplus weath. This sur
plus wealth Is .power, acting to extoaj
still further westward the ssne of wealth.
This surplus wealth cannot be restral.nod
from extending Its activities westward,
brlngtng land into producing condliljn,
bringing rugged territory into transports
tlon cendltlns. Most of us merely Iojk
on, not realizing the vreit laws that are
compelling the extension of tho zone.
We wish we hsd. ten or twenty years ago,
seen ahead and bought for 16 per acre land
now worth tioe. We wish we had realized
the great coming development of communi
ties and demand for manufactured goods.
Or we pride onrselvea on oar safe eon.
serrartsm. taking pride In lieu of cash and
not realising that truthfulness Is better
than conservatism; that to miss what la
good by holding a universal negative Is aa
much a lack ef ability as to have dene
what waa unwlw. The great fortnnes sre
net all due to trusts. Most ef them are
due te foresight and persistence, rightly in
terpreting the laws of climate, soli and
transportation, and the direction of this
new combination.
Our first Impression is that this move
ment affects only the commercial man or
the .speculator. This Is not the case.
Every JndH-tdu,al In every community Is ef
fected, whether money sarner or investor.
THE OMAHA
. T' '..;... '
aUsUsSliiaJ
-Sit
B1TH FOB rAOTORT.
- - - '- ' - '
ONE OP
streams, winding their tortuous ways from
a doubtful beginning In swamp land. Huge
bluffs of unsightly clay reared their heads
The professional man located within a
growing and wealthy community may mako
a success for himself and . family. If trie
community Is not groming he' nlay, with
the same ability, latl. The waje . earner
finds greater opportunity of employment,
la-er and more continuous ..wge, . better .
choice of work. Investors find their prop
el i r ituumy iuciuaintf lu value. Their
permanence of residence, under ioud eru
ditions is better assured. Their home asuo
clatlons. ' friendships social and slanding
Improve from generation to generation. If
they can, by a brief noting of the laws of
growth, satisfy themselves that they are
properly located Instead of relying merely
on a guess or a hope,' uncertainty 'of mind
Is removed,' better work results.' Improve
ment for the long future for themselves
and their children's children may be safely
undertaken.
Communities are even more Interested
than individuals in a proper gauging . of
amount and direction of probable growth
of their own and of related communities,
owing to the larger and more permanent
character of their betterment, and the im
possibility of changing their location as
can an Individual.
It ia reasonable to assume that the great
est development of wealth, of comfort, of
convienoes. of Improvements will occur near
the central line of this temperate and
wealth-accumulating zone. This has boen
true from Europe to Chicago. Omaha Is
situated centrally. '
Also west and north of Omaha la a ter
ritory which msy be termed the Gnat
Omaha Quadrant. Its south line runs nearly
west from Omaha. Its east line runs nearly
north from Omaha. No other great city
now exists in or near this quadrant abla
to wrest control from Omaha, or can now
grew rapidly enough, or secure enough
itnrs of railway, to overtake and displace
Omaha. Near Omaha thla quadrant Is agri
cultural. Farther out It la cattle produc
ing. 6 till farther out It will be a great
mining territory. But control of this
Quadrant is far from being all of Omaha's
basis for growth.
Another law. additional to those of cli
mate, soil and transportation, will place
Omaha In the lead of other cities. Com.
mere tends to divide Itself Into stretches
Of distance. This law has been mentioned
by investigators. At the terminus of each
stretch of distance Is an' active focus of
icor
Via
commerce. No one city can control on
nd territory of a thousand or two of
SUNDAY BEE: OCTOBER
1 it 't
KHAR THE LINCOLN SCHOOL!
r-..
-.'1
- ' l ...-M- IIIHI IW '
THE MOUNTAINS THAT HAVE VANI31TED.
above the street line for many feet, rouh
and uncompromising In appearance, and
seemtugly defiant of the hand of man lu
miles. Each forus controls Its territory,
but aids, not rivals, similar clt'rs at the
end of these stretches of distance. '.It Is
a mutually helpful oruanlzn.lkn, not a set
of rivals. A series or string of these great
central cities How exists near the central
line" of ' the' zone of wealth, helping each
other to greater growth. They are Haai
burj, London, Now York and Chicago.
As fast as the zone of wealth grows west
ward, another central city appeurs, des
tined to hold similar supremacy In the
chain, for Its locullly. Tnere are other
cities, ultimately subordinate to the great
central cities, situated near the northerly
or southerly boundaries of the aoiie ot
wealth, but they are souoidina'.e. Their
territory Is too much one-sided. Part of
it iic-a either in the frozen, n jnaccurnulatlng
north, or the euervated nuiiaccuniulaUng
south. Hamburg, LonJon, New Tork and
Chicago are already established ia taiprem
aoy. ' liauh city has helped its neighbor on
the east. Each tlty has been helped by
Its neighbor on the west. Omaha ha
helped Chicago, has been vital to Chicago's
supremacy. It is of lmixirtar.ee now for
Omaha to know what its helper city on
the West Is to be, where sitcated and ho
Omaha and this city can Join hands for
mutual growth. What is to be the su
preme commercial city of the Paclfio coast?
If that coast city lies far south, then
Denver or Bait Lake City may be the city
gaining supremacy west of Chicago. If the
great coast city lies well northward, the
chain pf cities of this country having su
premacy will be New York. Chicago, Omaha
and the coast city. Every inteiest in
Omaha lies toward aiding and working
with a northerly Pacific coast City in pref
erence -to San Francisco, assisting that
northerly city in getting facilities of rail
roads, branches, ocean and harbor facili
ties, just as It is the Interest of that city
to aid Omaha In getting river facilities.
Tho rivals for the supreme position en
the Pacific coast appear at present to be
Ban Francisco and Portland. In the north
erly territov.' Portland la now in advance
of. any city en Puget saund. The sound
cities are walled off by a great mountain
range, with no river-made gap giving low
gradient commiinicatlon with the great
agricultural areas. The Northern Pacific
company has done much mest of the
.. mountains for the sound cities. At Its
westerly end branches radiate; It is like a
nnuiy-flugered hand grasping and gather
20, 1907.
the Demands of City Growth
i-.v,-"vV.
IM:
TUid BL.UFF ttLSAPPQAIUiD FOR A COAL YARD.
4
"
their destruction, which-Is now being rapidly
aoca'npltshed. Crags, . promotorlea and
precipices, abound In these, "bad lands"
ing all the business, and. increasing Its ton
nage thereby. At Portland Is a dead-end
terminue of. the Oregon Railway and Navi
gation company, like a mutilated arm, with
out hand or flngars. , The local territory
northwest , of Portland is not reached, or
developed, by any branches of the Oregon
KuUivay and Natation company. Vet, In
Bpjte of tlils, Portluud ,lias grown greater,
than any Sound city'. When branches
radia'.e oumerouuly. from' Portland Its size
must soon be double that of any Bound
cl y. Already Its surplus available fsr
mercantile credits to outlying towns Is far
ahead of fucIi wealth In Seattle or Tacoma.
Such wealth acts as a magnet for drawing
and holding the commerce ef the smaller
towns.
Sen Francisco- lies closw to the southerly
boundary of the eneisetlc, wealth-arcumu-luting
zone. Its s'li atlon In too much one
si Jod. No cold winters stimulate the high
est bodily development . Agricultural
products come easily; life is and will be
taken eas'ly. It Is the nation's playground
and resting place, not the western world's
workshop. It has been selling climate to
tho rich and enfeebling them still more
thereby. That is temporarily quickly profit
able, but not a great foundation of In
dustry. Tha other foundation . ef Cali
fornia's wealth Is the orange a luxury,
not a food. Nowhere has the great wealth
zone developed to its maximum from such
foundations.
In the Portland territory Is found the
great combination power and raw material,
which, together with cereals and grass,
have created most of the existing vast ag
gregations of wealth. Wheat and cattle
are raiaed over a greater territory, many
times as great la an east and west dimen
sion as In the California territory. Lumber
Is superabundant. Iron ore Is sbundant In
close conjunctlee, not with bluk coal, but
with the "white coal" of the future, water
power. Just as this great development ot
tha wealth zeae Is reaching actively ia
Urge measure to t):e Pacific roast. Inven
tion Is bringing water powers into larger
service by Imprivltig and extending elec
trical transmission and lessening loss in
transmision The world Is getting ready
to dispense with much of Its soot and Its
underground work, and to live snd work
more In sunlight and cleanliness. The
egions where this is possible, owing to
great amounts of water power, will sup
plant the great industrial centers now de
"5
"J 4
, 'V.'
B1LLV GOATS REVKL.ED HERE.
,.v .V-
of Omaha; everyhere the saffron hue of the accomplished hereabouts has just bee
landscape outlined against the pure color finished that a new addition might be sold
scheme of Naturo and with only the most to home builders. But the demand fof
rank of vocation to partially mitigate the home sites has not occasioned all of thla
baleful execresences of this peculiar sec- work. The business district of Omaha hag
ttlon of the clly-s land. be greatly modified in appearance la
In protected spots, where the sun s fierce tiie course of Us building up. All the old
rays In summer have been spent, some lit- original hills have been lowered and hoi
tie grass plots attempt to eke out a pre- lows have been filled to the end that
carious existence, but the greater part or Omaha might be made more beautiful and
tho large tract was given to the dominion that business might be carried on with,
of the hardy similower. which flourishes to the greatest facility. The building of tha
proportions surpusslng the Imagination. Great Westerns freight depot yard wag
The miniature mountains and valleys of an example of this sort of undertaking,
clay were covered with this variety of and the preparation of the sits for tha
vegetation, which waa sometimes gathered Grain Terminal company's plant la a still
for use as fuel by the poor citizens of the later evidence of the fact that nature
neighborhood. Here was the free range didn't prenar thlnss hereabouts Just aa
of the domestic animals of the neighbor- they should havo been for the aocommoda
hood where grazing laws did not Interfere tlon of the city's great and growing com
and feuds between owners of the herds meree. In ene of the lllustratlena is shown
are unknown. No fencing laws of a pa- the work that ia In progress for the prep
ternal government were Invoked and the aratlen of a factory site, and In another
"bad lands" were free to all who ceme. the ground Is being rrerared tor the looa
Youths of the neighborhood were provided tlon of a coal and lumber yard at a de
wlth public playgrounds of unlimited sire slrsble rlace on a railroad track.
In the valleys or on the plateaus of this Such operstlons have been so common li
wild tract. Base ball grounds were laid Omaha for many year that they no longe
out for frequent use In nearly every cor- excite especial comment, but If the amount
ner of the tract and pupils of tho Lincoln of rradtse that has been done In Omaha
school, which is located at the southeast proper dur'ng the last few years had been
corner of the lot, availed themselves of the exnended on a new line of ralroad some
many opportunities offered for recreation, where It would have filled columns of
Youths with tastes for sterner sport in newspaper eemment. .The variation of tha
emulation of the bold, bad bandits and prorrsm by the Union Pacific which I
highwaymen depicted In the obstruslve dredelng the Missouri to fill a large tract
dime novel constructed many caves In the of low-lying bottom land, was a procedure
bluff's and many were the fierce and bleod- sufficiently "evel to attract attention fof
less batUes'foufcht between the rival bands, the moment but the grading sway of aft
Not daunted by the habltatlena of yeuth
ful bandits canntless flecks of sparrews and
swallows built homes In the clay banks
pending en coal. The mining and use of slope will pour Its manufacturing product
coal will be considered one of the crude almost Into the holds of the ocean vessels
phases of the world's development In Indus- with trifling cost for land transportation,
true Every commercial city having supremo
Two great ocean currents carry moisture centre!. Hamburg, London, New Tork,
landward. One la the Gulf stream In tha Chicago, has cheap water carriage to Its
Atlantic ocean, reaching the shores of Bu- controlled territory, either by river, canals,
Fopc. - No great mountain chain exists lake- er ocean. Omaha and Portland aro
there to chill ti'e kir, gather moisture, and the enly two great cities west of Chicago,
hold it at high elevations until It can be sltusted centrally In the wealth zone, that
used for sower. Euu.li moisture as Is gath- have river facilities. Portland has a largo
eied from the air passing over the Gulf river traffic by boats of light draft, many
stream, conies down at once to lew leveis of them so shallow that they can run ia
as rain. On the North Pacific coast the shore and land passengers and freight at
Japan current brings still greater volumes almost any point. Hamburg has an Im
ot moisture. A great mountain chain mense tonnage by liver and canals over
reauhes up and extracts water from the waters only two er three feet deep,
air. and belds It at mountainous elevations, Omaha has neglected Its river trafflo, not
the total fall of the water and consequent realizing how the Missouri river could bo
power being Immense, even for a small quickly utilized. Close patrollng, constant
stream. The money value of this will be detection of channel changes and. removal
many times that of all the coal in the ef snugs, ready Information to vessels,
greatest coal districts. The power 1U be will give a good usabls channel for light
usable without oosts of mining and trans- draft vevsels In spite of an unstable river,
portatlng. The usable part of this great If a deep water channel could be secured
water-extracting range of mountains from Omaha to the gulf, heavy tonnage
reaches from southerly Oregon to an equal would loop Itself via Panama to the Pa
distance north of Portland. Portland is the clflc coast, this being still essentially an
only largo city combining a central position east and west movement It would
In this power district with a great river strengthen Omaha's central position In tha
for cheap transportation. The North Pa- wealth zone and Its supremacy, being In
clilc water power area has no counterpart effect a moving up of New Orleans to tho
In volume and fall and river transportation central west so faK as the western ocean
any litre else on the globe. In Asia no bound tonnage la concerned,
such great molsture-b- arlng currents exist. Ban Francisco and the sound cities aro at
As population In North America moves the msicy ef one or more lines of rail
westward, this wer-prouclng region will way. pnrtiand has not only betUr rail
be nearer to consumption and market, bet- way facilities, but ckean river tr..,.,...
ter able to compete - In manufactured
artiC.ee. Japan i nd C hlna have ct eap la or.
Japan has no coal of Importance. China
has cheap coal. Oregon and Washington impossible the cutting of railway rates to
have, not merely cheap, but free power, km ofr w,ter transportation. Water trans-
whlrh can compete with and suiv rcede both Ration Insures stability of rates, aame-
laeor and coal. WTien the water power, are th( ven mor, ,mportan, thu ch,.poM-
put to service the North Pacific coast win of ml6 R,r trn.porUtlolli ,Ml J of
manufacture for the far west of this rallway
country and for A, In spite of cheap trafflc of h
Asiatic labor. On. machine drive, by able ton
water power will equal hundreds of Aelet. foreh.n .,., matUr ,h
0 ' human system. Circulation la Impeded,
The proximity of this great power to the tvery llne of ralR8y , a densely popu-
ocean and cheap ocean transportation is 1ated country, running along a river, finds
remarkable. In Europe and the eea.-i It, tr,fnC not only ultimately increased.
United States It la the cio proximity of but mttd(J mUcli more profitable by river
power In the form of roal to cheap trans- transportation. Apart from t direct!
portatlon on ocean and lake that has made benefit to the railway by relief from cheep,
coal valuable in Industries. On the Pa- t0nnlio tn(1 congestion, water traasporta
(ifle coast the Cascade range has practi
cally tilled the land west of It, and by It (Continued aa Pag Flro)
tm . ill t i
and their battles for possession rivaled
those of human origin.
Standing on the crest of one of the hlRhj
bluffs lu thes "bad lands," a wide et
puiiHe of the surrounding country could ba
seen, but the large tract had long been an
uyeson) to tho community at large andi
was shunned by all except In broad day
Iljfht and avoided even then.
The tract Is typical of the growth ot
new cities and prodigal has been the wasta
for many yearn of land which could havs
brought in a comfortable Income to Its
omr l y the expenditure of money for
which there was better use.' The ramifica
tions of modern civlo life have made It
necessary to conserve such tracts of wild
land and Improvements coHtlng many thou
sands ot dollars will be made. Tha
gulches and valles of the Immense tract
will be tilled with the crags and moun
tains, which are ruthlessly eaten away by
modern machinery. Ten erading gangs ara
now at work and tho caves of the young;
bandits have been given over to storaga
room for forage; the base ball ground
are used as sites for barns and outbuild
ings to house the horses of the grading;
gangs and machinery. The festive billy
goat and fowls have frisked away to quletee
stamping grounds and the march of prog
reus Is unhindered.
It is not only In the south rart of tha
city that these conditions have prevailed.
Out west and northwest much similar worn
has been performed that building lots might
be provided. In the growing suburb ot
' Dundee some of the heaviest grading aver
area simllnr In size bss passed practically
unnoticed
"Wildest Omaha" Is disappear
Ing.
tlon fer besvy malerlala. On lu rivers ail
indefinite number of competitors will al-
ways be passible. Rate laws have mads
