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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1910)
f n THE OMATTA SUXDAY BEE: OCTOBER 1H. 1010. sometimes advisable to purchase the na teriHls Independent ot the contractor, but letting the contract fur all of the lutvr snd still take no chances of the Item, which is usually the Rrrstfst hss to the amateur builder, that of labor. On a small horn., however, it hardly r to do this and 'etter results are usually obtained by let ting the entire contract to one man. This, fact should always be borne In mind and strictly adhered to, that no matter how carefully the r'n "! specification ar prepared, how aecur th contract and bond. and how ohservlntr the owner, a home will be built better In every reiect by a com petent builder of known reputation than by a man who has th reputation of "skinning the Jab, If yott do not watch him." The Cost Problem Artfca O. Claassa, Arahltoet. tn "on man. In this war one can be pure of the kind and quality of the material Tha throw mnt Important consideration In tli building of a home are It plan, de sign and cost. It In not a difficult matter to decide on the moat desirable arrange ment of room sultrd to the family needs, nor la it difficult, with the aiaiitanc of an architect, to dentin an attractive, eter!ur, provided that the cost I not limited, but her l whet the rub cornea. The fact that acme home cost a great deal leaa than others of I he game als tempt people to gamble on the proposition and try to get a great deal morn than they ought to for the amount which they desire to In vest. They are even sometimes encouraged Into believing that they can build a larger torn than Is possible for a certain amount by unscrupulous builders who think that after their mind Is thoroughly settled that their enthusiasm will lead them to Invest mor thnn they at first Intended. Sometimes architects who htrilk more of getting an order than they do about their reputation will follow the same policy, so that the home builder Is not always alone to blame for planning a home entirely be ond hi mean. No architect could guar antee th exact cost of a home. Ills ex perience permit him to estimate It ap proximate coat, but hi estimate only be come accurate through coincidence, lie ha Dot th gift of prophecy and I unable to tell the exact amount which a contractor would want for a certain pieo of work. HI estimate 1 sometimes high and some time low. In other word, he I in. exactly th ame position as one of the several contractor who might be Invited to figure on th work and then bid would vary sometime to a considerable extent. When one' means limit them to exaotly a certain amount, It 1 best to frankly dale to the architect all of the circum stances, being sure to obtain the advice from a man of experience end absolue In tegrity and then instead of adding many little thing, such a a higher grade of wood work, a high grade of plumbing fix ture and many little luxuries, entirely de sirable but which could be omitted, try to see how many of these things can be done without and apply practical economy wher ever possible. Then when ih bid are re ceived. If they come below available fund, these lltle extra luxuries can be added be fore the contract Is closed with th con tractor. Contractors' estimate often vary a much as 30 or per cent. For this reason It Is advisable to take figures from at least five contractors and if Urn will per mit it often pay to take figures from Iwlc that amount. Only responsible men ihould be Invited to bid, men whom th iwner would feel safe in lotting th con tract to. It la not light to take up a con - " , - - r. i. t:'.vr Mi mmm Jit-Li 1 ii if MR. CLAUSEN'S BOOK "Th Art, Bclenc and Sentiment of KomebaUatnf." 30 chapters, 300 Illustrations and a thousand fact on the planning and designing of every kind of home. It covers a wide range of subjects. In cluding the planning of bungalowa, suburban and city homes, letting contracts, choosing materials, proper desiKn of entrances, windows, fire places, etc. Price, poatpald, 11.00. Address, Arthur O. Clan, Archi tect, 113S-37-3S Lnnbii Exchange, Minneapolis, Kinassota. tractor time If you do not Intend to give him th contract, provided he 1 the lowest man. Her la an example which shows the advisability of taking estimates from a number of contractor. A horn builder desired to build for exactly $4,600. Th flrit four estimate which he took ran from 4,80O to 16,000. He wa naturally somewhat discouraged, but decided to let another contractor figure, a man consid ered omwhat higher up In hi trade than the previous four, who did not happen to be vary busy at that time. His estimate wa 14,300 and th house was built for this amount. On another building, estimate were taken from five contractor and the lowest estimate wa $1,000 higher than the amount to be spent. Estimate were taken from five more contractors and $1,500 wa saved thereby. Th plumbing and heating should always be let separately from' the general contract The contractor will never do this work himself, but will sublet.it and charge profit for acting as middleman. This profit can Just a well be saved by the home- builder," who then ha th opportunity of selecting the firm who will do till work. gome people desire to save the contractor' profit by buying the material and hiring their own labor. In most cases, owing; to their lack of building knowledge, this war of building a home prove very expensive. If a man haa had experience In bullding so that he can practically consider himself a contractor, hen there Is no doubt but what he can save money In this manner but to the avertge man, with a business of his own, which should absorb most of his attention, and who has had little prevloua experience in the building line, it is more economical and certainly a great saving on the nerve to let the contract for every thing, except the heating nd plumbing, to one man and hold him responsible for everything In his contract. A man would not think of having a com plicated piece of machinery built without first having prepared exact patterns drawn for all its parts, which he would take to competent machinist, and have it con structed, leaving the mechanical part of Its construction entirely to the man of ex perience. Still he will sometimes think he can plan and build hla own home with all Its complications, entirely without the sys tem which would be applied to the work by men of experience, and save money. The results are. In most cases, a decided loss. When building a very large home it is Tf nsssBsq r-r otqi no to- I CMI1ttf lINI1V 6. ft-. I .. Ill I'll I ' c am r ): ,.'So C' ) KM.b r-es'NIUY lo I f-isxjT- t- loo a. TORT ekvcoc rkpoa TIMELY REAL ESTATE GOSSIP New Residence District of Omaha Be ing Rapidly Developed. WEST SIDE BUILDING UP FAST Mora Activity la Bel; Evidenced This rail Than Darin Sam ntr Moatkis Permits for Far. tfcer Work on Cathedral. s All Improvement In a city do not consist of new factories or office buildings and ex- . tenslv resldental building 1 fully as Im portant a the other. More so with re spect to beautlflcatlon for even the hand omest office building I not so sightly a thing a a handsome home set Is a lovely garden. In the western part of Omaha, George & Co., the Dundee Realty company and other on a smaller scale, have been Investing thousand of dollar In permanent Improve ments which have already made Kalracre and Dundee the moat beautiful realdental part of Omaha and which wlthtn one or two year will make the former one of the hundiomeat residence section In th whole west. Coincident with this Is the erection of a number of houmes In this district by men of mean who are to pnd or ar spending an thing from 10,000 to J.ACM) for bonis and country places. John U Kennedy, R. C. Peter, Edward lleyden, O. N. Peek. Bryon Hastings, Frank B. Kenuard and Loo Kennard are some of the men who. are now actively concerned with building and landscape Burdening plana In and about Falracrs whor their new home will have aa neigh bor those of Mr. W, A. Paxton. E. M. Gibson, T. C. Shelley, C. S. Ilayward, U U Perley. T. J. Nolan, C. E. Bates, Q. 11. Payne and J. A. Langen. To appreciate Falracres one mutt drive over It four miles ot boulevard and see at close hand the parkways, the tree and shrubbery set out by home owner there, 'present and future, and the houses which Include many of the beat places in Omaha. Moreover the view from the high hill on which Falracres sits Is, of course, not available until on is atsndlng' there, and haa left the driveways for the eminence. This because the boulevards, all winding, are in the valleys and the top of the hill are utilised for building site. Just at this time of year a visit Is particularly worth while because the foliage haa taken on th golden, brown and red hues of fall and the sumach la In all its glory. As a further hint, go on south a little to Klmwood park, which many Omahana have never visited. It I th lovellt park In Omaha because th most heavily wooded and a grov of silver birches there 1 worth th trip alone. Beside th boulevard and gardens In Kali acre where all Improvement have been made, the same people responsible for this work have been active la Dundee. Just east of the Happy Hollow club a tract ha been thrown open which border Caa xtrett on one aide. More winding boule vard ber serve to avoid the Uresom formalism of geometrical aquarea and rec tangle. Gas, water and electric light, curb ing and guttering have beea put In and everything I ready for building. Many lot have been sold and a dosen new home will go up this fall, Aa all over, Dundee a uniform guttering has been adopted, the park gutter and curb combined, which la not only cheaper than the old style, but permits th grass to be dressed up to It better. The district will some day border the second or outer boulevard which the board of Park commissioners Is planing to have run all the way from Hanscom to Miller and Fontanelle park. This boulevard will follow the natural ravine and it is no visionary dream- be cause the board haa already got started a atrip from Military avenue to Fort Omaha, and further south, between Leavenworth and Happy Hollow property owners have agreed to donate the land ' on which the boulevard will run. This boulevard run ning through these parks up hills and through a deep ravine will be the great est natural show plac in Omaha. Meantime paving Is rapidly progressing tn Dundee and before snow files most of the town will have nicely asphalted streets, while the Dodge street road will have a brick paving clear to the club. Beyond this the Dundee Realty company has tried a new thing In oiled gutters on the macadam road. It Is believed that the oiling will prevent washing out, but this Is yet to be tested by a rain. Sales of small farms have been a feature of the land business recently and many land agents are disposing of forty and sixty acre tracts whloh farmers are find ing they can cultivate to great advantage, sometimes more so than larger holdings. The Overcoated House is the Coming Fashion Br this simple and inexpensive process an bid frame house may be made to look like new stone dwelling and last much longer. It will be more comfortable in winter with less fuel and much cooler in summer. Apply Expended Metal Lath , and plaster with Cement Mortar, under directions, sent free to any addrese upon reqest, northwestern Expanded Metal Go. 84 VAN BUEEN BT CHICAGO, ILL. rrrff r jz&z AWHINGG AWN IN CO AWNINCG Taken Down, Repaired and Otored for the Winter. Rates Reasonable. Omaha Tont Cl Awning Co. Phona-Dovf. 83j Ind. A 1683. 11th and Hsrnay St. tr: 21 f SIMPLE truth' in an automobile advertisement is as rare as a day in June. Common sense is just as unusual. . In automobile advertising the whole list of English superlatives runs riot as a rule. They mean nothing to the average man. Glittering generalities are equally as tiresome. Absurd claims beget nausea. Truth and common tense will always palliate these evils. We beg to submit them here, as follows: The success of the Mitchell car has been made possible by the Company's attitude to wards its patrons. Nothing else in the world no amount of clever advertising nor shrewd salesmanship could have accomplished so much for us in such a short time as seven years, a the Mitchell-Make-Good Policy for the owners of Mitchell cars. Stripped of imagination and theory, egotism and prejudice, that is the simple fact. Today the Mitchell-Lewis Motor Company is the soundest and most reliable automobile concern in the world. It has become so, not alone because it makes a good car, but because it has religiously stood behind every car it has made and allowed no man to suffer for something it has failed to do or has done incorrectly. That Make-Good Policy is the grandest asset this Company could have possibly had. It's the biggest thing in the world. In time, of course, the merits'of the Mitchell car would have made it successful in the sure way that quality has. We have no moral right to dis cuss that now. Our real asset, the one that in duced the people to buy the car in the first place, was and is the fact that the public knew and know we make right anything that goes wrong. It hasn't been a half-hearted policy, a "sales promise" or an "advertising stunt" Ask any v owner of a Mitchell car in any part of the civilized world and he will tell you that we have done our part to his entire satisfaction. Every agent of the Mitchell-Lewis Company has been taught that a patrons acquaintance and claims do not cease with the payment of the purchase price. He has been innoculated with the Mitchell-Lewis belief in moral responsibility. He is not permitted to dodge the issue when it is raised and if he seeks to do so, he can't sell Mitchell cars. Our agents are the same today as they were seven years ago. This policy has kept them. When Mitchell owners buy new cars they in variably buy Mitchells. This policy has kept them. They feel mighty secure with that bul work to lean upon and we therefore have the happiest family of owners that the automobile industry has ever known. i With the factory and agents working hand in hand on such a baste as this, can't you see what a great cumulative force we have had, and can you wonder why the Mitchell has progressed steadily from one year to the other? We are free to admit that the Mitchell policy has not put much of a burden upon us. We have had some little trouble here and there, for we all know that automobiles will go wrong at times no matter how splendidly they may be built But in every solitary case we have made good whenever requested and no man that lives, who owns a Mitchell car, can truthfully say that we haven't stood behind him 'like the Rock of Gibraltar, Establishment of the Mitchell Service Dept We are goin; even farther. We have recently' estab lished' what will iiereafter be known as the "Mitchell Ser vice Department.' It is a development of the Make-Good Policy. At its head we have placed one of the executive officers of our organization. Included within the scope of his work is the repairs department. It is his duty to keep an eye on all Mitchell cars no matter in what remote section of the universe they may be. It is his duty to keep Mitchell owners thoroughly contented. If anything goes wrong with your car come to this department and say in cold English, "This car has gone wrong. New make it right." There will be no argument. There will be no evasion no technical shirking of responsibility. We'll go the limit. We believe the Mitchell is now as perfect as 6kill can make it. Tim Car For 1911 The cars for 1911 will be practically the same as they were in 1910. There will be some improvements and refinements. Besides they will be fully equipped with top, lamps, tools, horn, jack, magneto and larger tires than heretofore. We are putting more money into the cos of making the car and will therefore have to charge you more. We raise the prices but not the profit. As a matter of fact the profit is less at the raised prices than it was at the lesser prices. We are giving more for your money. The Car You Ought to Have at the Price You Ought to Pay. Silent as the Foot of Time. 0 SUCCESSOR TO MtcheU Motor Car Co. and Mitchell & Lewis Co. LTD. PRICES F, 0. C, RACINE V Omuha Distributer COIT AHJTO (CO 2209 Farnam Street ' MITCHELL SIX $2,250 "M 1WT