Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, August 17, 1910, 300,000 OMAHA, Image 12

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    THE BEE: OMAHA, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 1910.
. m. -
l'. V. !.....; . '..Cr
ALli itOWX TOWN ;
HAS NEWSUItFACE
Streets in Business Section .Are Re
i payed as Part of the Improve- -1
ment Campaign. . ' -!
ALL. AEE BRICK AND ASPHALT
Central. Part of City Gets Some Spe
' " cial Treatment.
CREOSOTE BLOCK IS COMING IN
1 '' y . .
Agitation for New.Matsrial on. One
, . Buy Thoroughfare. " " '
GOOD ROADS TO THE COtNTRY
Many Fired Ulubwiiy linn oit'froni
City lilo tke Farmlnc District ,
j iiidi Help Out- the 'lib" . . '
. ... .. . cnl Trnde.
Ten mile of new paving la the stupendous
contract Onaha Is seeing carried out on Its
streets throughout the business section and
beyond It a't (he present tiriie." Tire wlde
Dread'.work and. facility .with : which'. It Is
bing done at times when the material Is
ft! hand niarks the sixe and effectiveness
of. Omaha's paving Industry. . ,- . ' ..
"fen rnlles of new. paying. Is, a contr.aqt .far
greater than the city has ever, let. before
for that sort of work. It means the paving
of ?J0,W9; square" yards of ground, It 'means
an expenditure of approximately !6&,000.
Several, hundred men are. employed 'In the
laiors of laying the new paving over
Omahaistreets.- Several asphalt plants are
giving full time to the outputting of that
kind of material for -Just a portion -of -th
local , work. The output of brick blocks,
which Is the kind of material which Is most
used hef "by far. Is not fast enough,' by
reason' of recent labor troubles, 1 for : the
Omaha .contractor.. -Brick, are -coming. -In
better than they .were some time ago.
There are three . large contracting con
cerns In the paving business here and .ev-
eral outside flrma occasionally dlpping'lrito
the great demand of the city. ' Omaha's
soil, of the nature that bringa-the-Nebraska
agricultural productions to a bumper vol
ume, conspires to give paving contractor
lots of work. . It. Is. of ,t he kind which , does
not sustain traffic where It forms nutXnal,
tmpaved roads. Therefore most of the
streets -liv-and leading to the city of neces
sity rn.ua.tbe. paved. . ...
This . makes Omaha a thriving place for
contractors ln the light . of , the: fact that
Denver and certain other cities are blessed
or, cired with , a hard , soil that makes
almost perfect roadways without more than
superficial shaping off and surfacing.
ln'lhe focal industry agouti $150,000. is In
vested. ' Though 200 men In the average
number-employed, that mark Is 'passed and
doubjed' under- the present situation , of
aonormai 'activity
"."j, ,i.?,r,l', Were Scarce.' " '" ' '
Thj present' big municipal paving under
taking Was launched In March of .this year,
antf . though it dragged for , the first few
vonllis o'. Ing to tlio failure of the supply,
of brick from Illinois,, the contractor ay
their work will be completed by tho end
of the year. Othrr (Treat contracts are ex
pected for the ensuing years, tt Is com
monly known that all the districts of the
metropolis are seeing an agitation among
property, owners for paved . streets, which
Is likely, to. be . followed In due time by
many petitions for the work.
The hfg contract which Is now under way
was brought about directly by a recent act
of the legislature , w hich gave the council
power to let lump ' paving contracts for
work within a radius of 1600 ;feet of the
city hall without submitting the question to
the property owners. Before that, much
delay was 'caused and considerable ragged
nes In the letting of contracts experienced
through the necessity of getting up a petl-'
tlon with a majority of property owners
signed' upon them before' the contract
could be.letr When the general downtown
contract came up before the council several
other, district took. the opportunity of put
ting their petitions into action and the
result was a single order upon the navlne
men for 'ten miles of new surfaced streets.
Under normal conditions .the paving con
cern keep their men at work nine month
of the year, the contracts; being dropped
only during, those months in midwinter
when the paving work would be Impossible.
Store xf. Year.
It Is generally expected In paving circles
that tlio contracts for city paving next year
will reach nearly 300,000 , square yards In
extent. The'allowihg of next. year's Inter
ectlon'fund of $100,000 'Will give a great
stimulus to the work. This appropriation
was entirely drawn from the. present year's
work.
Besides , the main streets, and thorough
fares, to bp paved, a number of alleys are
to receive paving operations next year. The
alley will , bp paved with -sto,ne block.
There will be about 1,000 spuare yards of
the . stone block' paving In alleys accom
plished this year.
Prom the property owners' standpoint,
popular favor has been .given by a wide
murgin to brick blocks as material for city
streets. According to the apportionment of
the work under way now,-asphalt is vastly
behind Its competitor to an extent that
makes it insignificant as a street, material.
The paving w as apportioned ' far -'the ' two
kinds of material with the following fig
ures:- 202.389 spuare -yards of brick, block,
87.7SO square feet of asphalt. : '
Wood blocks do not figure at. all in the1
present operations, though a movement was
on foot for awhile to have Sixteenth street
paved with that 'material.
The -cost of pavmg with the popular brick
blocks averages about 12.10 per square yard.
The other materials do . not' vary In cost
far from that figure ' - ',."! ..
Experienced Contractors. ..
The present contractor h8,v.been In. busi
ness here for the most part dating -from
twenty year ago, though several changes
and trades between them have marked the
history of tho industry. The principal con
tractor entered the field on -a strong' basis
twenty years ago, and after at few' year
sold out to the National Construction corn
pany., Later he reentered the field on a
vastly Increased financial basis and has
remained In the industry -while the outside
corporation has almost '..entirely .' dropped
out of It. . ' .,
It has been found that present day paving
methods with the use of any of the various
materials,'- by reason of -the great -ItAprove
merit, Insures absolutely level streets and
a durable ones as possibly, can be devised.
Omaha demands the best there Is to be had
In paving, by reason of the ever Increas
ing traffic carried on. There arc no re
strictions upon the routes to be taken by
heavy traffic, as are laid, down In some
cities. Thus tho residence streets, so far
as rule are concerned, must needs be dur
ably constructed as . the downtown ones,
though as a matter of fact the business
locations are such a to eliminate, naturally,
any great degree of otherwise ecattertd
heavy hauls.
The hills ot Omaha also are a great cause
for good paving contracts. With mediocre
surfaces the hills of all the principal Btreet
would be practically Impossible to heavy
traffic.
Material are easily accessible for the
local needs. The brick come almost en
tirely from Oalesburg, 111., while the as
phalt I obtained In blocks from several
factories In the east In such quantities
as to'suffice contractors here for long per
iods of time.
r
"71
;- ' - I
James Black
1 -l
OMAHA BUILDERS ARE BUSY ! WHISKERS AT A HA,R
Have Many Contracts in Omaha, as
Well as in Other Cities.
EXCHANGE IS MOST POPULAR
I early All the Contractors of Omaha.
Arc Mrmhrra of the Unmha
Uulldcra Kxchaugr Plenty
of Work for All.
DO
J
' Masonry Contracting Co.
r J ' Home Office 602 Wright B'dg.. ; '
jrj St. Louis.
Mist
sourj.
- : :. ' J
... .-'..DM
OOWTRACTOM FOB '
C1TT KATIOSAZ. BAWX BtmDnTG, iTrl
OMAXA, ItlBKABKA. ZJ
WHOLESALE LUMBER CENTER
Omaha Hanks l'onrth n Dl.t rlliotlng
Tolnt far Ln miter to Went"
cm Points.
With approximately $10,000,000 Invested in
the lumber business and with an annual
distribution of between $5,000,000 and $,0n0.0M)
worth, of lumber, Omaha holds a leading
place among the lumber distributing cities
of the world. It Is generally conceded that
this city has the greatest lumber distribut
ing railroad yards In the country;
The local Industry gives it attention ex
clusively to the distribution of lumber.
Into this city I shipped the finished prod
uct of the forests in Texas, Louisiana,
Arkansas. Mississippi, Wisconsin, Michigan
and the northern coast states.
There are five large wholesale lumber
concerns In Omaha carrying on the dis
tributing work. A score of retail concerns
supply the local needs, and the whole ter
ritory of the country I supplied by the
Omaha concern in general. The estab
lishments maintain elaborate offices In the
.business section of the city and large
lumber yards at the switching points. Each
railroad has found It profitable to estab
lish special shipping yards of leage area
for the lumber shipping business. Prob
ably, nowhere In the world is the system
of assembling different sorts of lumber In
special cars and distributing the supply
from a central part carried on to such an
extent as In Omaha. Wood of every sort,
Including yellow pine, fir, western pine,
cedar and redwood Is to be had from the
yards of Omaha.
The particular advantage offered by the
clty'a Industry Is that of supplying retail
dealer who cannot afford to lay In a large
supply of lumber for future needs them
selves. 'Lumber may be obtained from the mill
direct, but the small dealers find it con
siderably more convenient to buy In small
quantities a their needs arise from the
wholesaler.
Omaha is the only city on the Missouri
rlvf r that through Its wholesale lumber
concerns, maintains an unlimited supply of
lumber for all demands. Tho smaller towns
cannot hazard the expense of unloading
a wholesale stock of the commodity on
their ground and reload it to suit the de
mand that reaches them.
In this respect Omaha transcends even
St. Joseph, and Kansas City, which me
tropolises make more of a pretense at lum
ber greatness than this city does.
Omaha, from all sources of Information,
ranks easily fourth In respect to the lum
ber industry of the country. The order
of the cities In relation to their Importance
a lumber concerns are St. Louis, Kansas
City, Chicago and Omaha.
Omaha loses considerable of It deserved
prfstlge In lumber reports when compared
with other cities from the fact that what
Is known as "office business" Is carried
w to an enormous extent in other cities,
whereas the real business of handling lum
ber Is done In this city. The sales are not
only made In Omaha, but the lumber Is
obtained at this point and actually shipped
out to purchasers. The shipment receive
handling at this point to the extent that
I tliey are unloaded from the cars, assembled
1 systematically i.nd reloaded for their ultl
' 'Uite destinations.
Jowpk IV
.Vmte; Bjrisii
Hulls' Bora
: Burness G o n s iru c Ho n Company
- Concrete Builders V '
,''
Central Ciitractors- for Ciij'xy Pazvij Cis.
:i ; BuUdings Tiroujhout the West
ERECTORS OF NE V CAR BARN 0. & C. B. ST. RY. CO.
Wichita Omaha Kansas CUy
BUILDING OPERATIONS GOOD
Omaha Stands Twenty-Seventh In the
l.lat of Cities ot the Country,
and Still Grow..
Omaha's building operations in 110? tunde
u good showing cr.d the Indications are
for ir considerable Incroae this year.
Omaha il i'mN twenty-spvntli amo:iK the
V.r go cities In the amount of building done
,n lIMXt, according to government utatlstics,
recently issued by the interior department.
Salt Lake flly H twenty-fifth. Cincinnati
f.vonty-slrth. Indianapolis twenty-eighth
:ind Jerey City twenty-ninth. Kan-isCity
tands well up In the lir.e, being fourteen:h.
two places ahead of Minneapolis. Si. Jos -ph
l uway down, being slty-elglith, and
Toledo (about the same slxe as Omaha) la
seetity-fifth.
outli Un aha IiAm .luxl enorrgh to get inlc
the lift.' ranking as the VCth, and Council
HluffK s the lliith.
Omaha stands well up In the percntase
of Incrense In building for 190H. The aver
age of the W7 cl;li s Is 3ti 34 per cent, but
:i Omaha It Is 5G.D3 per cent.
A. SCHALL CO. Inc.
1 ...
Cut Stone Contractors
t) Offlc9Saw Mill and Yards on Jones Street.
J .... ""n. . n Jonejf Slraal.
I ESTIMATES GIVEN ON ALL KINDS OF STONE WORK
JtLEfEONES; Fell, Poilu,l 570; Iiic.icit A-1570
Oaaka, Nchrula
l.emoua Cur Malaria.
Some twenty years ago I was a victim of
t..t- disease, and, of course, took the Ul
.ili.o UtMtn.enl. till my head begun to sio
o'.k and roar rntt rr.ally and Infcrnuny. A
. hanse of climate was recommended, and
I went to Saratoga, but my head continued
u require more (-pace and the roaring be
anie louder, till I thought I would go mad.
On - day my husband chanced to tee an
inkle written by a physician on the Pi
Ific cuaiit. in which he said he had for
ifteen years been trying to find a remedy
or malaria which would not have the In
jurious effect of quinine. He whs success,
ul. and In many places where public works
tad been abandoned because of malar a
irnong the men they were reumed. II.
cure was very simple and within the reach
of all: Take one lemon, wash thoroughly
with a brush and hot water till all germs
are gone, cut In very small plro-s, using
skin, seeds and all; cook in threo glsrs
ot water till reduced to one. and take this
while fjstlng. I took It before breakfast,
and In l-ss than a wwk I was myself
again. Since then I've had no use for doc
tor. If . I feel a little "off" I resort to
h lemon cure and all is well. New York
Sua.
Omaha builders and contractors manage
to keep busy erecting buildings In this
always fast growing community, but being
mostly ambitious, a large number of local
contractors have reached out and secured
contracts In cities and towns all over the
west, and this in the face of the keen com
petition of the great national construction
companies of recent growth.
f Local builders owe a good deal of their
prosperity and success to the existence
of a mutual benefit association and com
pany which came into existence seven
years ago. Thi Is the Omaha Builders' ex
change "which was formed for the purpose
of furnishing and regulating suitable. rooms
for daily meetings In the city of Omaha;
to promote mechanical and industrial in
terests; to Inculcate Just and equitable
principle of trade; to establish and main
tain uniformity In commercial usages of
rules and regulations; to acquire, preserve
and disseminate valuable business Informa
tion; to adjust differences and settle dis
putes between members, or between mem
bers and others, and for other purposes con
ducive to the interests of its members,
especially of a protective nature, and for
the upbuilding of this section of the west."
All this sounds somewhat ambitious, if
not pretentious, but the foregoing purposes
have been carried out by the Builders' ex
change with notable success, and it is
doubtful If there Is an organization of the
kind and purpose, in Omaha or out, in a
similar or different line of activity, which
has done more real good for its members,
and always In a quiet and unostentatious
way, .without beating of cymbols or blaze
of public trumpet.
Large Membership.
The building exchange Includes 100 men or
firms or companies in its ranks numbering
besides contractors and builders ail the
large building material supply houses of
the city. The exchange ha done notably
well In perfec'lng pleasant and harmonious
relations between the men who buy and the
men who sell building material. The active
conduct of the exchange has always been
as Is well within the hands of the builders
rather that the material men, but the latter
have had some representation In office or
on the board of directors.
When the exchange was formed and In
corporated In 1903, John H. Harte was
chosen Its first president, John Reynard
was elected vice president and J. E, Mer
rlam was treasurer. John H. Tate was the
first secretary, a position he held for three
years and was then succeeded by C. A.
Crlgg, who is still in the position. The
secretaryship is a salaried Job, and on the
secretary devolves the routine work of the
exchange.
In 1904 and 1905 Charles J. Johnson was at
the head of the exchange. The vice presi
dency In 1904 was held by William P.
Deverell, Mr. Merriam continuing as treas
urer that year and down to 1909, when he
became president. J. W. Dow was vice
president In 1905.
The next year E. O. Hamilton became
president and Thomas Herd vice president.
In 1907 Mr. Herd stepped up a notch and
Andrew C. Bush become vice president.
Mr. Herd was re-elected In 1908, the vice
president being A. A. Newman. The year
following A. C. Busk was again vice presi
dent and Robert Sanderson was treasurer,
succeeding J. E. Men lam, who now held
the highest office of the exchange.
Present Officers.
For the current year A. C. Busk Is presi
dent, with George Oyball vice president
and Mr. Sanderson again treasurer.
On the board -of directors during these
years, hes'des the names already mentioned
as officers, appear the following men:
Wallace H. Tarrlsli. John Reynard, J.
Walter Phelps. A. J. Vlerllng. Kred Riremp
Ing. Albert Foil. Walter Peterse. A. O
Borchman, Henry Hanrsnn, Orant Parsons
David M. Potter, Benjamin Melqulst, Lc
Bridges, Charles Anderson, R. L. Carte'.
William Kedgwick, George Klent, William
J. Creeilon, A. A. Newman and R. C.
Strehlow.
The builders and contractors who lielonT
to the exchange, and practically all In
Omaha do, have a monthly Informal meet
ing, but the big gathering of the year
comes about the first of January when the
exchange stages a banquet which is one of
the most elaborate tire city knows ea -lr sea
seas n. Tho exchange, of course, does not
exist as a money nuklnu Initl'utlon, but
its revenues are sucli that there is generally
a tidy little balanca which c-tn bo appro
priated to the banquet and this helps to
make the affair a delight to the epicure.
The rooms of the exchange are In the
Elks building on Fifteenth street between
Farnam and Harney. Any business dry In
the year a number of contractors can be
seen figuring on a Job or conferring with
one another.
Three of t'ne exchange member have
achieved national imputation ,y speciallx'ng.
These are R. (. Strelilow, who has built
exposition buildings all over the country;
O. H. Wlese. w ho has received some of t re
largest poMoftice building coniricts In tno
west, and Hamilton Bros., wh have gone
In fur garrison work, barracks, officer's
quartern and other army liolUllnyH.
"flat" Maatemon'n. Pal. Hloffs Two
Had", Men In the Uame
at Tucson.
"When we were out to see the fight at
Reno," said Alfred Henry Lewi at the
round table at Shanley's the other night,
"a bigger fuss wa made over my travel
ing companion, . Bat Masterson, than over
Jeffrie, even before tho fight. Bat had
'come back,' .if only to the scenes of his
earlier activities and there was some doubt
about Jeffries.
"Among the many friends who came to
see Masterson, to shake his hand and talk
about the pioneer day In the west, was
old Jim Bruce, Old Jim had no Interest
In the fight, but hearing Bat would be
there he made the journey Just to see him,
"Bruce was the queerest looking west
erner you have ever' seen. He rather re
sembled a down east farmer, his most con
spicuous adjunct being a paint brush chin
beard, an ornament "he 'has worn on hi
face ever since he left. Missouri for the
border, shortly after ,the war, because Mis
souri was getting built up.
"For years Jim Bruce dealt faro all over
the wild west and. was known, by those
who stood by or those who were curious
to find out, a a square and fearless man.
"One time, when he was dealing faro at
Tucson,"'. Masterson told me, two tough
strangers sot Into a dispute with the old
man over whether a bet waa made a cer
tain way.
" 'You can gamble that the old man was
in the right,' Masterson said, 'and he pulled
the money over.'
"One of the strangers said to his friend,
who was nearest the dealer. . 'Get the
money. Jack, and If you can't get the
money get his whiskers!'
"The old man thrust out his chin till the
bru.-h wa almost In the face of the nearest
stranger, and remarked softly, 'Ye' can't
have the bet, and as for the whiskers,
there's a standing reward of $1,000 a hair
for them!
"And then," concluded Mr. Lewis, "1
learn the game went on the even tenor of
Its way." New York World.
Drlnkinir Water at Meal.
If the Rockefeller . Institute ' has done
nothing else In its history, Its report that
drinking water at meals Is healthful would
be sufficient to emblematize It in the minds
of many persons. . From time immemorial
the mass ot physicians have told people
not to drink water while eating; to take
plenty of It at other times, but never while
the gastric Juices are at . work.. . ,
It wlll.be remembered by some of the
older generation that fifty years ago water
wa seldom if ever given patients suffering
with fever. There was a lot of fixed rule
which seem to have gained authority, but
which were based on nothing but fallacious
notions. In these days, of research every
dictum is being Investigated and a .lot 'Of
almost sacrosanct Ideas have gone down
before the Iconoclasts. Boston Herald.
C D. Vbodworth & Company
8HIPPERS OF
Platte -'River Sand
Vashed Gravel and Bank Said, Rip-Rap
and Rubble Sione Fire Clay
- vRock Island and Mo. Pac. R. R.
8TKAM DftKDtil.MO PLANTS AT
lX)VISV!LIaE, NKH., on M. Pac. K. H.
CKDAK CREEK, NKU., on O., B. & R. H.
VALLEV, NKU., on U. P. R. R.
MEADOWS, NEB., on C, R. I. & P. R. R.
, " ' . . LOUISVILLE, NEB., on C, B. and Q. R. .U.
. . ' . - " . - . 1 . ...
Of float 403 Xarbach atlock. Fnon. Soar. 9053; Ind., A-2052. Omaha, Hb.
OZOBOB FABII, President.
JAME8 FA.KK8, o'y-Tra.
The National Construction Cat.
OFFICE: -Rooms 1 and 2 Elks' Building.
YARDS: ' 28th and K Streets. .
Telephone Douglas 289.
OMAHA, NEB.
Newman & Johnson
Contractors and Builders
i1
Office No, 7 Elks Building, . Omaha, Nebraska
. . . Phone Douglas 1236 .
OM EB& BRICK CO,
...HIGH GRIDE....
Building and Sewer Brick
Prompt -Deliveries : a' Specialty.
ri Second and Dorca Streets. ,
Telephone 3250.
v.
Q
.-
Hoy Wlllt-'d.
A icnain btirlness man of Roche ter is
of opin.on thai lie lias an exceedingly
tirlglu oirice boy, ami nothini; p.cu?.a liim
better than to tell how hr acquired tl.e
yoiingxti-r's service.
A notice had been oxtcd In I he man's
lion window, winch itad as follows:
"ioy wanted, about H yeuis."
A lad of that hkv with Utile that was
pi epotmesElns; in his appearance came into
the office and stated that he bad lead the
notice.
"So, you think you would like to liave
the position?" asked the merchant, patron
islnaly, as he gased at the lad over the rim
of ins spectacles.
"Yea, sir," was the reply: "I want the
Job, but I don't know thut I can promlxe
to keep It foi the full fourteen years."
Lipplntolt Mafc-aslne.
. BUILDING CONSTRUCTION
New York
Boston
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Washington
Cleveland
Chicago
Omaha
Salt Lake City
Spokane
Portland, Ore.
San Francisco
Sacramento
Seattle
Tacoma
CONTRACTORS ON BRANDEIS THEATER BUILDING
Omaha. Nebraska
Q'
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