THE BEE: OMAHA, "WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 1910.
OMAHA: CITY OF PROGRESS AND ENLIGHTENED EFFORT
PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE BUSINESS SEv N OF OMAHA EAST OF SIXTEENTH STREET AS PHOTOGRAPHED FROM THE TOP OF THE CITY NATIONAL BANK BUILDING.
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ITIES of Importance are not
merely incidents of ohance
or the creation of an auto
crat. They are the logical
result of location and en
vironment. The metropolitan Omaha
of today is but the natural evolution
of the Omaha of yesterday. That yes
terday's Omaha was a crude, roughly
hewn frontier river town, but from
the very day back in the '50 s, when
the St. Nicholas hotel, ugly and glar
ing with its shiny log walls, came into
existence as the first house built in the
"settlement," the destiny of future
achievement in city building was a cer
tainty. There had to be, In the very
nature of things, a city somewhere
along the Nebraska shore of the Mis
souri river. It might have been Belle
vue or Florence instead of Omaha, and
the advantage of location would have
still been preserved, but it so hap
pened that the early settlers of Omaha
were endowed with the "get-what-you-go-after"
spirit to such extent that
they outdistanced other aspiring buds.
So there la a reason for Omaha's
existence, and a reason for Omaha's
greatness as a commercial. Industrial
and financial center. If you would ac
quaint yourself in further detail take
a map of the United States and study
the strategic location of Omaha. Note
the vast territory for which Omaha is
the natural supply point. Note the
rich western half of the peerleBS agri
cultural state of Iowa, which is
Omaha's next door neighbor. Ponder
a moment over what this means and
you will understand clearly, if you do
not already understand, why Omaha is
the City of Fulfillment. Omaha's
trading territory extends over an em
pire that is but now being developed,
and in the great west and northwest
of the United States, a region of un
told wealth of mine and farm, of or
chard and range, the future of this
city Is secure. As this wonderful
country develops. Omaha must grow
because it is the natural market town figure represents
.for all of the most rapidly growing of the 1909 volume of
any section In the United States. candy trade.
Bond Between City and State. While Omaha has
State and city are linked by common never from house
bond, and the highest tribute that can tops or other van
be paid to the agricultural worth of tage points pro
the Omaha territory is statement of claimed greatness
the fact that the farm Implement job- as a manufacturing
blng trade of Omaha for the year 1909 center, the fact re
aggregated $12,000,000. Think of mains that the
the significance of such a vast outlay showing in this line
in tools for farming. Think of the is Indeed gratifying,
crop output that must come from a The total factory
district that has use for such an array output for 1909 was
of Implements. Many other elements $192,872,000. Of
besides agriculture that enter into this $121,000,000
Omaha's triumph as a city, yet agrl- represents packing
culture is the cornerstone, and it house products,
should be remembered that no coun- Next in volume
try as a whole ever nourished where comes the smelter,
agriculture languished, and no coun- with a record of
try ever languished where agriculture $30,843,000 last
flourished. year. Other items
The entire jobbing trade of Omaha prominent on the
for 1909 totalled $115,133,000, and Hst are clothing,
present indications denote that when
the figures for 1910 are cast up next
January a substantial increase over
last year will be shown.
Omaha sold nearly $5,000,000 bread and bakery products, $1,300,
worth of automobiles last year 000; boilers and tanks, $1,000,000.
$4,500,000, to be exact, and the trade Gradually, not with a rush and a
thus far In 1910 shows a strong uplift
over last year. Grocery sales for 1909
amounted to the enormous sum of
413.500.000. which fact bears witness
tnat umana proviaes rood ror a wide io me ran ui uiuudi ""
circle of good eaters. Dry goods trade brigade. As the vast and as yet some
to the extent of $6,000,000 last year what undeveloped country to the
compares favorably with the same northwest fills up with settlers and
trade ln many a larger city and proves it is filling rapidly there will, as a
that Omaha is rapidly gaining as a dry natural consequence, be an ever ln
goods supply point. In fact, there has creasing demand for factory output,
within recent years been a remarkable and Omaha in time will doubtless be a
growth in Omaha's dry goods trade, city of factories that will class up
the improvement in that line being alongside of eastern manufacturing
more marked, perhaps, than in almost centers.
any other, with the possible exception Corn Crib of the Nation,
of automobiles. There was a time The story of Omaha'a supremacy as
when the western retailer, quite con- K packing center and live stock mart
tent to buy his grocery stock in u K matter of world-wide circulation.
Omaha, felt that his dry goods must The vast packing houses and stock
come from New York, Chicago or St. yards have built up the city of South
Louis. But along came the Omaha Omaha, which, although a separate
dry goods Jobbers with stocks so im- municipality, divided from Omaha by
mense, with prices so favorable by an imaginary boundary line, is ln real
eomparlson, and with massive build- ity, Bo far as all practical purposes go,
ings to house these stocks buildings a nart of Omaha proper. Official flg-
that would do credit to Chicago or any
other city or the giant class. Mr. Re- Btock were received ln South Omaha the indications are that when the to- home of its own, while another Omaha
taller, seeing all of this, is rapidly ia8t year. Of these over 2,000,000 tals are cast up next January 1 there bank within the same period has pur
coming into the habit of marking were hogs. In a numerical sense cat- will be a material increase over 1909. chased and is remodeling for its own
Omaha down as the eastern terminus tie came next, with 1.124,618 head. Vacant houses are scarce In Omaha, use a million-dollar building, formerly
ef his dry goods buying tour. Naturally, being the center of the and yet within the last four years over known as the New York Life one of
Strong1 on Hardware. richest agricultural region in the. 4,000 new homes have been built. One the most ornate and substantial struc
Hardware Is. another line ln which world, Omaha is a first-class grain fact of Itself that bespeaks the gen- tures to be found in any western city.
Omaha is well to the forefront, the market. "Corn crib of the nation" Is eral prosperity of Omaha is the large Figures recently published in the daily
trade last year running up to $6,600,- a nickname that has often been ap- percentage of homes owned by the oc- newspapers told the story of how the
000. It seems strange at first glance plied to Omaha, and facts render that cupants. It is the rule In Omaha, bank clearings for the first seven
that the people of Omaha's territory appellation most timely, for last year rather than the exception, for work- months of 1910 make the best show
would indulge themselves in sweets to there came to the Omaha markets lngmen to own their homes . The Ing ever recorded ln Omaha's financial
the extent of a million and a halt dol- 22,059,400 bushels of corn. Next in city is well supplied with building as- history, and with several months of
lars' worth ln a single year, yet that the line of grain came wheat, with a soclatlous which render building cay. 1910 yet to come, Indications make
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trsL:Kl,t-:-imwt a II... iC. 7."
$2,375,000; beer,
$3,700,000; flour
and feed, $1,400,000;
locomotive repairs,
cars and
$2,250,000;
boom presaging early decay, but wiJi
a steady, safe and sane growth, the
manufacturing scope of Omaha is en-
larglng and each year sees additions
ureB show that 5,458,125 head of live
13XAMPLH
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1525 H&RNEY HST. 1890
showing of 10,077,600 bushels for the
year.
The milling business, yet in its in
fancy, in Omaha, made phenomenal
gains last year, but when the 1910
figures shall have been gathered in it
i8 believed that last year's record will,
ln tne jjght 0f comparison, seem small.
-0 h . u k t , ud
Conservative values are the rule, and as fine a view for his home as though
there is no place in Omaha for the he had millions, for nature made these
boomer who would inflate values, beauty spots, and man is the bene
Omaha is not a bubble town, and never flclary. In many cities all of the
has been such. It Is a safe guess that pretty places are hand-made. In
if a given piece of property can be sold Omaha the condition is exactly re
today for $10,000 it will bring a little versed. Of course, the handiwork of
more than $10,000 next year. The man is in evidence, but nature
year of 1909 brought real estate trans
fers aggregating $12,360,000, and the
increase in value of business property
ranged from 25 to 50 per cent over
the previous year.
Building is Normal.
There is no building boom in
Omaha, yet there is not an idle car
penter or bricklayer or stone mason in
the city, unless perchance it be of
choice. Building permits for 1909 to-
tailed $7,300,000, an increase of
$3,500,000 over 1908, and although
the 1910 figures are not yet available,
ears of' fi3 amain
OF
ital available
builder.
for the small
home
.... TT
Essentially a Home City.
Omaha is especially inviting as a
home city, because of the many pretty
building sites that abound on every
side. Omaha, in fact, is a city of wide
areas and charming landscapes, and
the man of modest means may obtain
wrought the greater part of the beau
tifying. Getting back to the commercial side
of Omaha, when the figures have been
made along all of the different lines of
activity, comes as a climax to conclu
sions, the bank clearing statistics. The
banks are the arteries of commerce,
because, in a figurative sense, they
carry the very life blood of trade.
Omaha banks are among the strong
ones of the nation. Within the last
year one Omaha savings bank became
a national institution and has just
moved into a magnificent sixteen-story
safe the prophecy that 1910, taken in
the aggregate, will eclipse all other
years so far as total bank clearings are
coacern,d. The total clearing, for the
whole of l9o9 were $735,225,568. For
th- yw lg9g the clearlng8 totaned
,,,,, makinr nin nf 247
per cent in ten years. The year of
1909 showed an Increase of $133,000,
000 ln total clearances over 1908. It
is estimated that bank clearings re
veal about 70 per cent of business ac
tually transacted, consequently, ac
cording to this estimate and It Is
held good by accepted financial au
thorities Omaha last year reached
the billion mark, for there is official
record of $735,225,668 in clearings,
and if this figure represents 70 per
cent of the whole volume It is a mat
ter of easy calculation to see where
the billion mark has been reached.
Growth of Postoffice.
Another phase of Omaha growth
which is highly gratifying is the in
crease in volume of postoffice business
not only an increase ln dollars and
cents, but also a material improvement
in the organization for dispatch of the
malls. Omaha now has a strictly
modern postoffice system, Including
trolley cars for the collection of mall
from city boxes, and all else that goes
to make up the real metropolitan post
office. By way of illustrating the
rapid strides Omaha's postal business
is making consider the fact that the
total money order figures for 1909
reached the sum of $9,629,170.51, a
gain of $973,283.32 over the previous
year. In round numbers $900,000
worth of stamps were sold during
1909, an increase of approximately
$100,000 over 1908. Surely a million
dollars' worth of postage stamps and
it will be up to the million mark
l.iie.0
and beyond when
1910 figures are
brought forward
tells the story of a
busy, prosperous
community, also at
testing the fact that
where bo many
stamps are sold
there must be much
activity.
No review of
Omaha would be
complete without
reference to the
r al 1 r o a d s, for
Omaha, as gateway
to the west, is one
of the chief railway
centers of the
United States. A
feature of the year's
progress in railroad
expansion is the
new Union Pacific
headquarters build
ing, which is now
undergoing p r e
llmlnarles incident to the be
ginning of actual construction. No
other midwest city has been given
greater recognition as railroad head
quarters, Omaha having the general
offices of several roads. With office
forces, trainmen and shop employes
numerically strong enough to com
prise a city of itself exclusive of all
other population, Omaha's railroad
pay roll aggregates a large sum.
Omaha is really three cities moulded
into one, for so far as all practical pur.
poses are concerned Omaha, South
Omaha and Council Bluffs are one
great city. While these are separate
municipalities, they are linked by a
common bond of interests, and ln go
ing from one to the other the traveler
has no way of knowing when he
crossed the boundary line, except that
ln going to Council Bluffs he is re
minded by the Missouri river that he
Is entering another city, so classed for
governmental purposes, ln another
state. Then, besides South Omaha
and Council Bluffs, there are Benson,
Florence, Dundee, Bellevue, Crook
City and Ralston, each a promising
suburb really a part of Omaha, but
each maintaining its own system of
government, and therefore being
counted separately in census enumera
tion. If all of these were added to
Omaha's census rating a surprisingly
large showing would result, but under
existing conditions each of the eight
municipalities stands alone in census
figures.
Quality Banks High.
Another distinguishing feature of
Omaha is the fact that there is less of
city riff-raff, less of the slum element,
less of all that goes to make up unde
sirable citizenship than ln any other
American city of equal size. In Ne
braska the percentage, of Illiteracy is
less than in any other state of the
union, and this happy status is re
flected in the quality of the inhabi
tants who comprise the Nebraska
metropolis. Obviously, when Omaha
can produce official figures attesting
the fact that Omaha bank clearings are
in many instances of greater volume
than the clearings In cities twice as
large, the percentage of producers
must be remarkably large, and the
percentage of undesirables correspond
ingly small.
Omaha la yet but an infant as to
age, when the years of its existence are
matched up alongside of other cities
of equal commercial Importance. The
organization of Omaha as a municipal
ity dates from the spring of 1857, at
which time the first roster of city offi
cers were elected. This roster follows:
Mayor, JesBe Lowe; recorder, H. C.
Anderson; assessor, Lyman Rlchard
Bon; city marshal, J. A. Miller; board
of aldermen, A. D. Jones, T. G. Good
will, G. C. Bovey, H. H. VIsscher,
Thomas Davis, William U. Wyman,
William N. Byers, C. H. Downs and
Thomas O'Connor.
The first meeting of the city1k?uncll
was held on the afternoon of March 5,
1867. It was a crude municipality
and required much of the time of the
officers and aldermen, because obsta
cles were numerous and resources
were limited. At one time back ln the
late '60s the city government was
without funds and a system of city
scrip was used. But those hardy pio
neers, ever guided by that "get-what-you-go-after"
spirit, kept faithfully
pegging away, working for the Inter
ests of Omaha as faithfully as though
the municipality were a private busi
ness enterprise of their own.
Nebraska was a territory back ln
those days, and it frequently became
necessary for the city government to
send representatives to the national
capital to appeal to the powers there
for action.
Not Timid In Asking. 1
Many occasions arose where the ter
ritorial pioneers felt it necessary to
call upon the "great father" in Wash
ington for action In favor of the future
he future
imple, on J
1st of f
Nebraska metropolis. For example
March 30, 1869, in the mid
money stringency that would have dis.
couraged a less resolute lot, Dr.
George L. Miller waa elected to pro
ceed to Washington for the purpose of
asking congress to reimburse Omaha
as a municipality, for money expended
on the first Nebraska capltol building.
Incidentally, while on the trip, the city
council Instructed Dr. Miller to also
ask that the surveyor general's office
be located in Omaha; that Omaha
should be made a military depot for
the Utah war; that an appropriation
be made for the removal of snags from
the Missouri river; that the cltjF, W
Omaha should be made a port of en
try; that the Omaha postoffice should
be made a distributing office and, by
way of conclusion, just as Dr. Miller
was starting on bis mission, the city
fathers slapped him on the shoulder
and, by way of parting injunction,
said: "Also, while you are there, you
might get through any other measures
you may think of that may be for the
welfare of the city of Omaha." Thus
there is found In history ample evi
dence of that "get-what-you-go-after"
spirit. Sometimes the pioneers fell
short of their aim, but even so, they
were persistent, and by keeping ever
lastingly at it they brought to Omaha
many Institutions and many things of
various kinds, all of which formed a
nucleus around which the Omaha of
today has grown up.
Those pioneers who initiated the
"get-what-you-go-after" spirit have, a
majority of them at least, passed away
into the great beyond. A few still
linger their work done, they are
merely awaiting the summons. But,
in the place of those who have gone
and those who are on the verge of go
ing, there has come forward a younger
generation and Instilled into this
newer generation even more deeply
than In the older ones, is the idea that
Omaha must get what it goes after.
Therein lies the secret of the metro
politan supremacy of Omaha, 1910.
Acknowledgment.
Acknowledgment for assistance Is
due to Mr. F. A. Rlnehart, the photog
rapher, who has provided the photo
graphs from which most of the por
traits published ln this number have
been made. The excellence of the re
production Is due in a great measure
to the care with which the photo
graphs were executed.
The half-tone bird's-eye view of the
city shown on the front page is from
a photograph copyrighted by Unver-
Zai