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THE BEE: OMAHA. "WEDNESDAY, AUOrST, 1010.
OMAHA: CITY OF PROGRESS AND ENLIGHTENED EFFORT
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PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE BUSINESS SECTION OF OMAHA EAST OF SIXTEENTH STREET AS PHOTOGRAPHED FROM THE TOP OF THE CITY NATIONAL DANK BUILDING.
. -ITIE3 of Importance are not
J merely Incidents of chance
I V I or the creations 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 6t. Nicholas hotel, ugly and glar
ing with its Bhlny log walls, came into
existence as the first house built in the
"settlement," the destiny of future
'achievement in city building was a cer
talnty. There had to be, in the very
nature of things, a city somewhere
along the Nebraska shore of the Mis
sour; 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 is 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 peerless agrl
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
for all of the most rapidly growing of
any section in the United States.
Bond Between City and State.
State and city are linked by common
bond, and the highest tribute that can
be paid to the agricultural worth of
the Omaha territory is statement of
the fact that the farm implement Job
bing trade of Omaha for the year 1909
aggregated $12,000,000. Think of
the significance of such a vast outlay
in tools for farming. Think of the
crop output that must come from a
district that has use for such an array
of implements. Many other elements
besides agriculture that enter into
Omaha's triumph as a city, yet agri
culture is the cornerstone, and it
Bhould be remembered that no coun
try as a whole ever flourished where
agriculture languished, and no coun
try ever languished where agriculture
flourished.
The entire jobbing trade of Omaha
for 1909 totalled $115,133,000, and
present indications denote that when
the figures for 1910 are cast up next
January a suDstantiai increase over
last year will be shown.
Omaha sold nearly $5,000,000
worth of automobiles last year
$4,600,000, to be exact, and the trade
thus far In 1910 shows a strong uplift
over last year. Grocery sales for 1909
amounted to the enormous sum of
$13,500,000, which fact bears witness
that Omaha provides food for a wide
circle of good eaters. Dry goods trade
to the extent of $6,000,000 last year
compares favorably with the same
trade in many a larger city and proves
that Omaha Is rapidly gaining as a dry
goods supply point. In fact, there has
within recent years been a remarkable
growth in Omaha's dry . goods trade
the improvement in that line being
more marked, perhaps, than in almost
any other, with the possible exception
of automobiles. There was a time
when the western retailer, quite con
tent to buy his grocery stock In
Omaha, felt that his dry goods must
come from New York, Chicago or St.
Louis. But along came the Omaha
dry goods Jobbers with stocks so im
mense, with priceB so favorable by
comparison, and with massive build
ings to house these stocks buildings
that would do credit to Chicago or any
other city of the giant class. Mr. Re
tailer, seeing all of this, is rapidly
coming into the habit of marking
Omaha down as the eastern terminus
of his dry goods buying tour.
The story of Omaha's supremacy as
a packing center and live stock mart
1b a matter of world-wide circulation.
The vast packing houses and stock
yards have built up the city of South
Omaha, which, althou'gh a separate
municipality, divided from Omaha by
an Imaginary boundary line, is in real
ity, so far as all practical purposes go,
a part of Omaha proper. Official fig
ures show that 5,458,125 head of live
stock were received in South Omaha
last year. Of these over 2,000,000
were hogs. In a numerical sense cat
tle came next, with 1,124,618 head.
Naturally, being the center of the
richest agricultural region In the
world, Omaha is a first-class g.-a'n
market. "Corn crib of the nation" is
a nickname that has often been ap
plied to Omaha, and facts render that
appellation most timely, for last year
there came to the Omaha markets
22,059,400 bushels of corn. Next iu
the line of grain came wheat, with a
showing of 10,077,600 bushels for the
year.
Omaha Is especially inviting as a
home city, because of the many pretty
building Bites 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
as fine a view for his home as though
he had iillllons, for nature made theRe
beauty spots, and man is the bene
ficiary. In many cities all of the
pretty places are hand-made: ' In
Omaha the condition is exactly re
versed. Of course, the handiwork of
man is in evidence, but nature
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
movod Into a magnificent sixteen-story
home of its own, while another Omaha
bank within the same period has pur
chased and Is remodeling for its own
use a million-dollar building, formerly
known as the New York Life one of
the most ornate and substantial struc-
i tures to be found in any western city.
Figures recently published in the daily
newspapers told the story of how the
j hank clearings for the first seven
j months of 1910 make the best show
ing ever recorded in Omaha's financial
history, and with several months of
1910 yet to come, Indications make
safe the prophecy that 1910, taken in
the aggregate, will eclipse all other
years so far as total bank clearings are
concerned. The total clearings for the
whole of 1909 were $735,2 25,568. For
the year 1898 the clearings totalled
$297,443,370, making a gain of 247
per cent In ten years. The year of
1909 showed an Increase of $133,000,
000 In total clearances over 1908. It
la 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 $73., 225,568 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.
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 in go
ing from one to the other the traveler
has no way of knowing when he
crossed the boundary line, except that
in going to Council Bluffs he is re
minded bJTthe Missouri river that he
is entering another city, so classed for
governmental purposes, In 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.
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 in 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 Is 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 1837, at
which time the first roster of city offi
cers were elected. This roster follows:
Mayor, Jesse Lowe; recorder, H. C.
Anderson; assessor, Lyman Richard
son; city marshal, J. A. Miller; board
of aldermen, A. D. Jones, T. G. Good
will, G. C. Bovey, H. II. Vlsscher,
Thomas Davis, William U. Wyman,
William N. Byers, C. II. Downs and
Thomas O'Connor.
The first meeting of the city council
was held on the afternoon of March 5,
1857. 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 in the
late '50s the city government was
without funds and a system of city
Bcrlp 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 in
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.
Many occaslpns 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
Nebraska metropolis. For example, on
March 30, 1859, in the midst of a
money stringency that would have dis
couraged a less resolute lot, Dr.
George L. Miller was 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
i the Utah war; that an appropriation
be made for the removal of snags front
the Missouri river; that the city of
Omaha should be made a port of en
try; that the Omaha postoffico should
! be made a distributing office and, by
way of conclusion, Just as Dr. Miller
was starting on his 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, ffy 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 ideathat
Omaha must get what it goes after.
Therein lies the secret of the metro
politan supremacy of Omaha, 1910.
Gradually, not with a rush and a
boom presaging early decay, but with
a steady, safe and sane growth, the
manufacturing scope of Omaha Is en-,
larglng and each year sees additions
to the ranks of the dinner bucket
brigade. As the vast and as yet Bomo
. Acknowledgment.
The half-tone bird's-eye view of thq
city shown on the front page is from
a 'photograph' copyrighted by Unve'r
tagt.
u.'u-i "sea
Yiews that Show Summertime Pleasures at Delightful Lake Manawa!
OTT THE, BEACH
l .-4?!-:. . U 2fr 1 .? A k'rtJ' 'I4Xs
s,'fV-
i I
Maaaw ba long .Inc. ,ainl prma
leat plaoa In the heaxu of th people of
IBT uaimu, Couiioll Bluffs Jl4
uou territory. "Goln
ynrae wmcH carries with It pleasant
lewJailous. This rendosvous of rest and
..-.uuu nuuias aione m this section of
11
...... ml
GOING TO THE. KUKSlALL
..5
con-
Manawa," Is
i V
WAlCZIENO
IQiQ A BOAT J3ACE. pfW.T;;ff W,Pr?
-SOTTE OF
THE EXPERTS
"-"""far
lablliK-a of this l-.appy liablui of the
teateJ season. When the sun beats down
during these hot da) s aud wills the chil
dren of men In the city, a coolum ride to
alajiawa brings surcease from the enervat
ing effects of dog days.
This season at Manawa exceeds all pre
vious season from pu.iu of atteudance.
attractions and general Interest Notably
aiuoiig many social events of the season
are the picnic parties of private and pub
lic organisations of Omaha and Council
Bluffs, Visitors, loo, love to bask beneuth
the boughs of Uanawa's leafy shade, dip
In the asters of the lame or go for a ride
en the lake In launch, sail boat or row
aau
alanawa has grown te become something
f an adjunct to Omaha's oountry clubs.
It has bei-onte quite the thing for dele
gations from the Field club, Omaha
Country club, Happy Hollow and etner
organisations to ride or motor ever to
Manawa for a day s or an evening's out
ing nrs! stfble are the charms of Manawa
to ees NefcreaaaVg luelrvpolia with Us
1
aw country as the best example f a pop- 1 !"' ' :TV'-. Ji ' " M'l W f, nf'-i ' - f 'M Mp,:.. . J t ' S'V '7 ' S " ' V t-Ui- , '-''r v '-
l.ar summer park, where the material and V I I V W Y 41" ''C-C? S ; 'VT ' : r ' -V h v : - f J - " S fe L V t f :' t il ' tVl V' W T?-" k. "Art A ? " ' t" lt " ' " !
mature comfort, of the .... pro- 1 f M U.X 'Y '?. f 4 Vr fi,iV ff Cf-' " Cf ' '-' - i'XS Ip'iA filfC ' V Y: VvXr''-'"'
Ided on a scale that allow, of no crUlt AL 1 t VV'V M l ' J a V V Wi fc ' f 1 ' ' - - ' T- 1 "t!A V ' Ji V a" flV' H tJjlf WZU V-''V-'
W The best 1, none too good for Manawa fZKfy&& Hxjgi lJ - v V" XJl; V . fof ' 1 . - - - ' 4UtAV V 'rT ff ' ' ly( VWjr fit"
Situated advaneeouMy among tree, and , - M ' Kft A P S " . ' ' ' ' ' ' 'f J" , k I t K ' A'VAv
t the s,d. of an Inviting nnd coolmg bod T . V , fV'1 i 4 I kV. " ' " & J iMj w - 'V.' iP&VCl'P'V - ( f
f water, within easy ,-eac-l, of thousand, .. ' isS" i 1" f ( ' V V - - ?1 ' .' ' - i ) ' " ' ' V l A
,f plea.ure seeker,, the ,.,e n.s ojrnea V .; :j - , V . .. i.; J . f 'V . " fJ C ' V f W
tn euvlabl. reputation among the pleasure Z"J " , ' TV-'aV'' Vs . X-"' ' '" ' X i4 V'5 :V' - FV , ' A A W'f-.V - W Y -'
.on. of the ,ddle w..,. Year by year .,r o-lt'j .V 3 - .J'H',- V; . l ' -" X J 1 A A, M' V 'V
this recreation ground bus added to It ' -s-"V V I Z'-r-' ' ' L . ' - iH W Jj I -7 ef S- S I t '
rllemele of those seeking a place where , h, :'-v . "'V I i ' r&iV's V ' . : I - S?Jr tJ jT?- ij - ' '4tiK' jAl ) "sT' -' 'V
beat af outdoor enmeut. may U. had Y. K M L . ' ' ' ' ' l fsJk W e-Ci J ' ' , ' i
convention
1
L
-
many avenues of pleasure.
A s.M'isl feature of Omaha'
la this place of pleasure.
Thla season bathing parties have been
one of ilie marked features of Manawa.
The beach has betm frequented as never
before and the new effects In bati.l.ig
suits has added a touch of piquancy to
the soene. flwlmmtng this season has
taken on a new life. The bst authorli ex
on outdoor exercise ar Just now Indors
ing aquatio sports fur American Ufa,
which is wont to give an exceas of atten
tion to buslnesa A swim at Manawa la
re ommended by the best of people
sure panacea, for many summertime Ilia '
This Indulgence gives one a new lease on
Ufa, makes life teem more roseate and
sharpens the Interest of the Individual fur
the more serious affairs of life. "The
" " """rrixej fratur o ,hl. pia.e. The Council tne country. Many gw r to enjoy the the season. Motor hosts ply the lake and
over there Invites you to romp within its muff, ftoalnn amMatton hH, an aotlvs rail boat events and many have their own excursion lsunrhes are provided for tlione
cooing bosom. j,.t nj sallioi who ne iiinasiueil Ihi'lr sail boats and launches at the lake fr cronslng over to the bearh on the soutrt
The sail bbal feature of Manawa is a piowias aith souie oX the best 0uts o' the suaiiser. Kegattas aie laa duilng shore, bouie of the best sailors of the
LISTENTNQ TO Trr. T AlN'otTk
zr.:-z
west nave galnsd tneir pioflrleney on lake
Manawa.
Then there are the bungalows on the
north shore. Pome of these summer resi
dence, are pretty arid pretentious affairs,
with all the comforts of the city home and
the advutitages of the Like side Koiikk
paf les are Riven and l.fe Is one lonK "sum
mer dream" for those who live In this
manner on the hanks of M.tnawa's it frehh
lng lake.
The sui' u iv. t..re of Manawa this
seuson 1h I. o l o leant of the pleaHures.
Kvery day and evening Omahana motor
ovi-r to Mdikawa for a few hours rest, a
smack, bar the concert baud aud mingle
enjoyment.
The ha ml concei tH thin season exceed
even former season of Manawa musical
excellence Surrounding the band, beneith
the Krove. are many seats where people
buve a strllclng object lesson of the old
adage that " Music hath charms to toothe,'"
etc. The concerts are Klven aflernoona
nd evenings aud there la no charge for
seats. The music ernl.ra.es the 1'iieat of
the best selections mid many of the ,tun
ard numbers dear to the hearts of Ameri
cans. Fur the children there are many pleas
ures offered that appeul to the youthful
Imagination ami fancy. I'.olli r (oaeier,
miniature railway, merry-go-rooml and
other devices of pleasure an avails!)!.
There Is plenty of shnde and ace. mmudit
Hons for family .pl.-nic parties.
Onlv to those who hive never visited
Manawa, If tl.cy should be Hn. rif-ed It
be suKKested tint Manawa Is m ununified lit
a manner that countenances noihinK that
might not be approved of by those wh0
appreciate the best of summer guuluof
enjoy inrtit