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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 30, 1917)
1 1 PAGES 1 TO 10 GROWING OMAHA Want Ads Markets PAGES 1 TO 10 GROWING OMAHA Want Ads Markets VOL. XLVII XO. 29. OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 30, 1017. SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS. The Many New Buildings Erected in the Past Year Mark 5r7 9m Sr? no? in, as the Most Progressive City of Its Size in the Country .Bee HE 6 i; My Impressions of a Few Cities Visit ed By Me As Compared With Omaha By HARRY M. CHRISTIE The statements that I now make covering conditions as I found them covering cities of much greater population than Omaha are not intended as any reflection on the cities named. My first stop was at Denver, where I found general busi ness very quiet. A considerable number of vacant store build ings in the down town retail district. Scarcely any new build ings under construction. Paving and grading and other street improvements seemed to be at a standstill. The principal talk in commercial circles' seemed to be auction sales of oil stock. Several auction rooms were holding sales every day from 10 o'clock until 4 o'clock. One day in Portland gave me a fair chance to judge con ditions there. I found quite a little activity in shipbuilding, but scarcely any other outdoor work was in evidence. The ship building industry has been a great boon to all of the coast cities. Tacoma seemed alive with soldiers from Camp Lewis, lo cated at American Lakes, a short distance from the city. Seattle with its 350,000 people is benefitting from this cantonment, as well as from its naval training station. I stopped off here 10 days and looked over their city thoroughly and found the home of the Fredrick Nelson's department store, which is to Seattle what the Brandeis Stores are to Omaha, being the only new building of any consequence that was under construction. This great store is moving 12 blocks from their present location again proving that retail districts shift in large cities. My next stop was at Minneapolis, a city I always like to visit and considered by me as one of the best cities of the north. It, too, has its Fort Snelling and also a number of munition fac tories to stimulate local .business. Very little local building is under way at this point. Now comes Omaha, in the language of the street, with a whole flock of new buildings; almost too numerous to mention, including the new 15-story Telephone building; the eight-story Masonic Temple, a block away the 10 story Athletic club, a little further down the street Mr. Blank's $200,000.00 movie theater, the new Conant hotel with its 250 rooms, the Orchard & Wilhelm's large six-story addition, many new wholesale houses, garages, apartment houses and new homes. Charlie Martin alone is building more homes in his famous Minne Lusa addition than are now under construction in some of the cities visited by me. The New Home of M. F. Shafer and Company Consider the Calendar It may be interesting to the citizens of Omaha to know that seven grade school buildings will be finished and ready for occupancy by February 1, 1918. , NEW INDUSTRIES Among the new activities secured for Omaha during 1917 is the Omaha Roller Mills, with a 2,500-barrel daily capacity, a large new corn meal mill, four auto tire factories. These are some of the many new activities secured for the year just clos ing, which also goes to prove that Omaha is the one bright spot in the middle west. Our slogan, "Business As Usual." fflfl f la tin i kSH $$4m M. F. Shafer & Co. last week moved in to their new building on the northeast cor ner of Seventeenth and Webster streets. The cost of this new, modem building is approximately $300,000. This improve ment is the most important one in the de velopment of the north side business sec tion. since, the. erection .x)f the new. Ford plant. It is only two blocks from the Web ster street station and six blocks from the postoffice. The construction is of steel and concrete throughout and has an automatic sprinkler system, making it absolutely fireproof. One of the principal features, as shown in the above picture, is the number of square feet devoted to windows, giving complete day light on each of the five floors and base ment. The building contains a sanitary restaurant managed by the company with out profit for the convenience of its em ployes. Another interesting feature of this model factory will be shower baths for em ployes in the summer months. The total floor space is more than 52,000 square feet, occupied exclusively by M. F. Shafer & Co., which gives Omaha the larg est industry of its kind west of Chicago. HOTEL SANFORD W2T J2 McCaffrey motor ccs. new home an ideal ford service station and sales room This is a story of how the new calendars, which you are receiving free this week, are related to "Growing Omaha." Because wo are accustomed to having one or more urbane gentlemen donate beautiful photographic or lithographic calendars to us every New Year's day, we are likely to think these expensive works of art grow on trees, to be plucked at will. Not so, not so. Calendnrs are bought and sold for real money just like Christmas presents. The business of making and selling calendars is a con siderable industry in itself, a manufacturing industry with a market as wide as the world. "Made-in-Omaha" is a label which can now be put on some of the most beautiful calendars produced, thanks to M. F. Shafer & Co. Their large new building, a photograph of which is shown here, was erected this year, to keep pace with their increasing business. Its construction is one of the 1917 achievements in making Omaha a full-fledged manufacturing center. There is a real business romance in the history of the rise of M. P. Shafer & Co. to its present proportions, a rise so persistent that one might think this firm had been elected pace-maker for all of those who "Grow With Growing Omaha." M. F. Shafer, founder, and W. E. Shafer, now president of the com pany, were born in West Virginia in a town called Volcano, a prophetic name indicating activity. When 21 years of age M. F. Shafer opened a gen eral merchandiso store in Henderson, la., which he ran until 1900, after which the brothers came to Omaha, full of advertising ideas, and estab- lished a "special service" advertising business, planning and preparing "sell' ing" campaigns. Starting in a small way, within a short time they were operating in 34 states of the union. Six times in the last seven years they have been compelled by growth of business to seek larger quarters. In 1910, when the partnership was suc ceeded by an incorporated company, their total floor space was about 480 square feet. In less than a year they moved to quarters having 2,600 square feet, and one year later purchased complete printing plant, bringing their total floor space to 4,600 square feet. It was in 1913 that the company took up the manufacture and sale of a complete line of Calendars and Advertising Specialties. The next year the two plants were consolidated on one floor of a larger building containing 0,000 square feet. Another year added a second floor 10,000 square feet Another year another floor totaling 14,000 square feet. That was in 1916. But a home of their own much larger became necessary, and in 1917 the new building was constructed. Now more than 1)2,000 square feet of floor space are in use in a building of five stories and basement with concrete and fireproof construction throughout The ,u "J- ""o ew uuuuinK ana sue is approximately ?3UU,000. H Is lo cated on the northeast corner of Seventeenth and Webster, near the new Pord assembling plant, 2 blocks from the Webster street station and only 6 blocks from the postoffice. The Calendar line, with all its infinite variety, is but one member of a whole family of products from the house of M. F. Shafer & Co. They sell complete lines of Advertising Specialties, including everything from pencils and fans to expensive Jeather and aluminum articles. The equipment of their factory include machinery for printing on celluloid, aluminum, leath er, paper, cloth, tin, steel, glass and wood, and they handle complete lines of advertising specialties made from each material Metal Signs, Paraffin Signs, Pennants and many unique forms of indoor display signs are also in cluded in their line of Printed Products. It is not surprising that a plant capable of doing such uncommonly dif ficult printing should have superior facilities for the more familiar com mercial printing known as "Job Work." Their monotype machines, cy linder presses and automatic self-feeding Gordon Press make the most eco nomical production possible in catalogue and book work. In the new factory the largest Miehle press in the city has just been installed, in addition to their large folding machine and cutting machines. Omaha can well be proud of this fine six-story plant which places this city on a par with the very best production centers in this line anywhere in the country. THE NEW CONANT HOTEL Tba new fireproof Hotel Sanford opened January 20, 1917, offers to the traveling public a safe, modern hotel at reasonable rates. In every respect it has adhered to its slogan "Safety Service Saving;" it is absolutely fireproof, being built of steel and concrete throughout. Every accommodation one could expect to find in a first-class modern hotel is to be found here. The schedule rates ranxinr: from $1.00 for sleeping room to $1.G0 for room with bath have ma !e thia institution extremely popular not only with the visiting public, but also with the residents of Omaha. Entrance to the hotel is from I urnam street throunh a vestibule into a spacious lobby furnished with a view to insure the utmost comfort. The east section of the lobby is devoted to men patrons, where will be found cigar counter, taxi stand, phone booths and a commodious writing room. The west section has been reserved fnr ladies. It is furnished with tapestry Jacobean oak furniture of the latest design and equipped with vKt!ng desks, phones, conv.t:'ent retiring room. Located tf the main flour, with entrance from the lobby as well as if m street, is the cafe and jur.cli n:on. A sanitary barber h '1'. m white enamel (with the floors), of seven ibair.; is also located on thi- fioor, with entrance from both lobby and stivct. All guest rooms are rfecw-ated, carpeted and furnished with a view of meeting all modern roiuhv:m-nU in taste and comfo;-t. The New Sanford is conveniently located on Farnam street at Nine teenth, in the center of the new growth of Omaha, away from all thaft undesirable and on direct car lines to and from all dwvU .lu- ..hIMMMNW - vt:'7''H'CTx'!''-; - ":..? -v- z-- ' - v, - ' t r T i - V' 'l y" mm McCaffrey Motor Company's fine new home at Fifteenth and Jackson streets is rapidly nearing completion. In one short year these authorized Ford agents have in creased their business to such an extent that they were compelled to build this large new model structure. It will be occupied about January 20th, 1918. Undoubtedly it will be the handiest Ford station in town, having all of the modern equipment necessary for the renair of Ford cars. The salesroom will be a model for up-to-date Ford agencies. The present location of the McCaffrey Motor Company, authorized Ford acenis. is at Tenth and Howard streets. Telephone Douglas 3500. The new skyscraper nearing completion at the busy co ner of 10th and Harney Sts. will soon be known throughout the West as one of Omaha's most magnificent hotels. The new Conant Hotel will be opened May 1st, 1918. It is 10 stories in height, built entirely of steel, concrete and ornamental brick, and is absolutely fireproof in construction. Its popularity with the traveling public is a foresone con elusion, because of its central location in the very heart of the busiest retail section, and because elegance of appointments and service befitting its location are assured by the reputation of the Conant Hotel Company whose patronage at the New Sanford Hotel has outstripped the capacity of that large ne" hotel in one short year. Mr. Conant will continue his policy of giving the best hotel accommodations at moderate prices. There will be 250 roomj and 250 baths, 50 rooms with bath at $2.50, 100 rooms with bath at $2.00 and 100 rooms with bath at $1.50. The speed at which this newest Sixteenth street buildinj has arisen on this historic corner has excited the admiration of the daily throng of shoppers who have watched it grow before their very eyes. The pride of possession which every loyal Omahan feels in a new public improvement is lent with peculiar force to the new Conant Hotel as a result of this daily association while it was being built.