USA > Iowa > Polk County > Des Moines > Des Moines, the pioneer of municipal progress and reform of the middle West, together with the history of Polk County, Iowa, the largest, most populous and most prosperous county in the state of Iowa; Volume I > Part 52
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The ladies were not neglected on the social side. Monday night, Governor and Mrs. Shaw entertained the Congress at the Capitol. Tuesday evening, the Women's Club of Des Moines, received them at "Our Circle Hall." On Wed- nesday noon the Des Moines Women's Press Club entertained at the Grant Club rooms. On Wednesday afternoon the ladies were given a drive about the city, ending with a luncheon at the Country Club. Thursday afternoon the P. E. O. Society received at Pythian Hall, and the D. A. R. received at the home of Mr. Charles T. Hewitt.
There were two distinct surprises in the Congress, one not altogether agree- able, but, as it turned out, helpful; the other a happy one. First, Oscar Chris- man, Professor of Paidology, Kansas State Normal School, aroused the wives and mothers by declaring in substance that man's love for wife and child is merely animal instinct and that women are the only ones capable of disinterested affection. Instead of winning the approbation of "the gentler sex," the pro- fessor raised about his ears a cyclone of protest which left him confused and silenced. In the main his paper was excellent, giving good reasons why schools and colleges should give girls scientific training for motherhood. The other surprise was Mrs. A. J. Murray of Washington, a colored woman with a paper on the Mothers' Club among Colored Women. Mrs. Murray evinced rare refine- ment and intellectuality, in appearance, manner and voice, and in the subject- matter of her paper, which withal abounded in that sympathy which makes the whole world kin.
A pleasant incident of the Congress was a chorus of two hundred boys from the grammar grades of North Des Moines schools, under the direction of Mrs. Margaret L. Weber. The patriotic songs sung with vim, and with evident training, created no little enthusiasm. Mr. Hussey's "Iowa, Beautiful Land," was especially well received by the visitors from other states.
The first day of June, 1900, witnessed the formal dedication of the Home for the Aged. The program included brief addresses from prominent friends of the institution. The congratulations were expressed with a degree of warmth evincing far more than ordinary interest.
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FLORAL GARDEN, UNION PARK
SCENE IN UNION PARK
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June 16, Harry West bought the Des Moines Packing House property, con- sisting of two large buildings and about thirty acres of ground. Eastern capital was thought to be behind the purchase.
Early Sunday morning, June 17, the new Auditorium was destroyed by fire. On the following Monday, a citizens' meeting was held at which plans were laid for the raising of from $15,000 to $30,000, which, with the insurance money, $25,000, was deemed ample for a new, larger and better auditorium than the one destroyed. It was decided to rush the building that it might be ready for the forthcoming Republican State Convention-on the Ist of August. The consulting architect was reported as saying it couldn't be done, but-it was done! On the following Wednesday the contracts were let, and on the first day of August, as announced, the convention assembled in the new auditorium!
The Music Teachers' National Convention was held in Des Moines, June ยท 19-22, and was a notable gathering. Representative musicians from all the large cities and many of the smaller cities of the country were in attendance and participants in addresses, discussions, recitals and concerts. The principal attraction was the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
A Gloomy Fourth of July.
Few residents of Des Moines can forget the gloom which hung over the city on the Fourth of July, 1900, when the fate of Maj. E. H. Conger, our Minister to China, and Mrs. Conger was in serious question, with scarcely a ray of hope that their lives would be spared. For weeks, the members of the foreign legations had been besieged by the infuriated Chinese hordes, and the only apparent alternative was quick death, or slow starvation. The suspense lasted until August 14, when the allied troops raised the siege. Those were anxious days for the relatives and many friends of the Congers, and the relief was great when word came that they were out of danger. Then came the news that Major and Mrs. Conger had again set foot upon American soil. Soon followed the reception given them at the Auditorium, and many social functions in their honor.
The home-coming was temporarily beclouded by the mistaken zeal of a local correspondent who wired Minister Conger, on his arrival at San Fran- cisco, asking him if he would accept the republican nomination for Governor. The Major's response left him in a receptive attitude-no more; but, on arriving in Des Moines, that experienced politician found that long before his return "the pins had been set up" for his fellow-townsman and friend, Mr. Cummins, and his receptive attitude promptly changed to positive declination.
The wholesale paper house of Langan Brothers was burned July 6. The firm removed to temporary quarters until a new and larger building could be erected.
The Champ Clark-Dolliver discussion at the Chautauqua grounds, North Des Moines, on the afternoon of July 13, was notable chiefly because it brought together two prominent congressional debaters, both of whom were then well advanced on the high-road to premiership in their respective parties. But the debate itself was one only in name. Few who heard it. can recall anything said beyond a few stories well told and many clever touches of raillery. The coming together of the two men added nothing to their fame, but added to the gayety of the then fast revolutionizing institution known as "Chautauqua"-originally a course of study, with incidental recreation.
The opening of Bates Park on the evening of August 14, under the auspices of the North Des Moines Improvement Association, was one of the minor events in the history of the public parks of Des Moines. About three thousand people Vol. I-24
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attended the exercises. J. M. Orvis presided, reciting the circumstances under which Mrs. Bates had given the original park. Mrs. Bates was introduced by Mrs. Ogilvie and bowed her acknowledgments. Park Commissioner Foster, Rev. G. L. W. Brown and others made informal addresses. Band music and fireworks closed the evening's exercises.
The retail merchants of Des Moines organized, August 21, under the name "Des Moines Retail Merchants' Association." Harry West acted as chairman. I. Friedlich, a prime-mover in the organization, demonstrated that the association could be made very effective, particularly in the running of excursion trains into the city, and generally in preventing existing abuses. Messrs. Frankel, Emery, Seeley and Chase spoke approvingly. The association elected M. Frankel, president ; and Frank Carrell, of the Harris-Emery Company, vice president. Twenty-three dealers and firms at once united with the association, and others afterwards joined.
Za-Ga-Zig Temple of the Mystic Shrine, was instituted in Des Moines on the evening of September 4, by Imperial Potentate, Windsor, and his associates. The temple began its career with six hundred charter members,-a record unex- celled in the history of the order. Frank O. Evans and Charles H. Austin were given chief credit for the remarkable showing. The first officers of the Temple were: George Macartney, potentate; F. O. Evans, chief rabbon; C. H. Austin, recorder ; Homer Miller, treasurer. The Shriners parade including two camels, made a striking appearance on the streets.
A Great National Gathering.
On the night of September 8, five hundred delegates to the convention of the International Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen arrived in Des Moines, and were welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd of townspeople at the depot. A committee representing the Commercial Exchange and the local firemen met the grand officers at Davenport and escorted them to Des Moines. On Monday, September 10, more than two thousand members were greeted by Grand Master Sargent as he called them to order in the new Auditorium. The seventh biennial convention of the Brotherhood, held in Des Moines, is still referred to by many old members as the most successful and enjoyable one in their recollection. It lasted several days and was replete with interest. The welcome at the Audi- torium was from all Iowa and all Des Moines. Secretary of State Dobson, for Iowa; Mayor Hartenbower, for the city of Des Moines, and President O'Bleness, for the State Federation of Labor. The responses were numerous and gratify- ing. Grand Master Sargent informed his welcomers that the Brotherhood represented 36,789 members, an increase of 9,550 in two years; 564 lodges, an increase of 26 in two years. It had paid claims, during the past two years, aggregating $883,572. A. B. Cummins added his welcome on behalf of the people of Des Moines, paying a tribute of praise to organized labor.
Tuesday evening, for the first time in the history of the Ladies' Society, of the B. of L. F., the ladies gave a public reception. It was held in the Auditorium, with Mrs. Annie Krissinger, president of the A. B. Cummins lodge of the city, chairman of the meeting. The program consisted of addresses, music and an exhibition drill. Thursday night the Auditorium was the scene of a grand ball and banquet given by the local conductors and engineers.
The first of a series of successful horse shows was held in Des Moines Sep- tember II-14. It was conducted under the rules of the National Horse Show and Exhibitors' Association, and placed Des Moines in a class with the larger cities of the country. W. P. Chase was president and D. R. Mills, secretary, of the local association. Liberal cash prizes were offered by many public-spirited
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corporations, firms and individual citizens of Des Moines. The show was well patronized and was a "social event."
The awful tragedy at Galveston, the tidal wave which swept over most of the city, drowning many and leaving many more homeless, appealed so strongly to the sympathies of Des Moines that a Galveston relief meeting was held in the City Hall on the 13th of September, at which committees were named to solicit subscriptions. A benefit home entertainment netted nearly $400.
The sale of Hardy C. Harris's interest in the Harris-Emery Company to C. H. Seeley, of Des Moines, September 15, was one of the big business deals of the year. Mr. Harris had been in business in Des Moines for many years and his later departure for California was a regret to many.
Robert M. LaFollette, then republican candidate for Governor of Wisconsin, was in Des Moines on legal business October 2, and cheerfully gave a local re- porter an optimistic view of the outcome of his campaign. . Senator Allison made a campaign speech at the State Capital October 3. A new organization of Rough Riders escorted the Senator from the hotel to the auditorium. Mr. Cummins presided over the meeting. Senator Allison, never a popular orator, made a characteristically strong and convincing speech on the issues of the day. During the afternoon the Senator was at home to his friends at the Savery.
"Beautify the River Front," now a settled policy of the Capital City, was scarcely more than a maxim in the late Nineties. In the fall of 1900, Warren H. Manning, the landscape artist, came on from the East to study our city, its boule- vards and parks, and from his study to make recommendations for the future beautification of the city. He found Des Moines "exceedingly fortunate in pos- sessing so much of its river frontage in the very heart of the business district and at a point where it may be seen by nearly all strangers passing into and through the city." He deemed it "important that this property be improved in order that strangers may have a good impression of the city. The thousands of citi- zens who cross the river daily should also have the pleasure and benefit that more attractive conditions here will give." Mr. Manning reasoned that the river should be made the connecting link of an extensive boulevard system,-a general plan to which the city is now thoroughly committed, and one which is attracting nation-wide attention.
After All, on the Old Site!
After months of waiting, and thousands of dollars spent in trying out the case in the courts, on the 13th of November, 1900, County Supervisor Morris called up the original resolution offered by him March 14, 1899, selecting the old site for the new courthouse. The resolution was originally passed by Messrs. Morris, Chaffee and Fisher, over Teachout and Mathis. It passed again, twenty months later, by the votes of Morris, Britton and Fisher, against the votes of Teachout and Mathis.
Lafayette Young, representing 25 East-side business men, had previously offered to present to the city the Gilcrest site near the river front opposite the new library building, an option on which had been obtained. He recited that the people of the county had three times said that the court house should be erected on the river front. He referred to the Mattes site which could be secured for $47,500. He showed the Board that the old site could be sold for $150,000; that by continuing to use the old building while the new one was being erected, the county would save in rents $50,000 ; that by the gift of the Gilcrest site it would gain $50,000,-altogether making a net gain to the county of $232,000. But the logic was lost on the Board. Messrs. Proudfoot & Bird were named as architects of the new building, and Supervisors Morris, Britton and Fisher were named the building committee. The "new-siters" did not yield without a struggle. They fought the action of the supervisors with varying success and failure, but in the end the "old-siters" won.
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In the fall of 1900 viaduct meetings and reports of viaduct committees were numerous, and to the optimistic the long-talked-of viaduct was in sight!
Followers of the history of Fort Des Moines are already familiar with the name of Lampson P. Sherman, younger brother of Major and General Sherman, editor of the Gazette, the pioneer whig paper of central Iowa, and long prom- inent in local business, politics and public affairs. After a long life of useful- ness, this pioneer passed away at his Des Moines home on Kingman Avenue, on the 24th of November, 1900. The officials of the city attended the funeral, and in consideration of the many forms of public service rendered by the deceased during his long residence in Des Moines, the city offices were closed for the afternoon. Rev. W. M. Walker, of the First Baptist Church, conducted the services. The honorary pall-bearers were P. M. Casady, E. R. Clapp, Conrad Youngerman, Barlow Granger, George Schramm and Thomas Hatton, -- all of whom soon followed him into the Beyond. The active bearers were Simon Casady, Henry Lehmann, C. C. Loomis, Bert Maish, Pleas Mills, Cyrus Kirk, Tacitus Hussey and Jesse Cheek, ---- all pioneers of Des Moines.
Des Moines as it Looked to J. S. Clarkson in 1900.
After five years absence from his old home, Hon. J. S. Clarkson left with the State Register, with which his name is prominently associated, a few impres- sions of Des Moines as it then looked to him. He noted the metropolitan ap- pearance of the city, its new department stores and office buildings and the throngs of people on its business streets. It was his conclusion, drawn from ex- periences, as editor and general promoter of the city's interests, that had there been unity and cooperation at all times among her citizens, Des Moines in 1900 would have had a population of 150,000. He saw in and about Des Moines more natural resources to support a city than were to be found in the entire region round about St. Paul and Minneapolis. With railroad facilities surpassed only by Chicago, he regarded Des Moines as legitimately entitled to a population of 200,000. As Grand Rapids was the furniture center of the United States, "so Des Moines should be the manufacturing center for everything made from corn, oats, potatoes, flaxseed, and other of Iowa's natural products; while it had all about it, with railroads permeating every direction, the cattle and hogs to make it the great packing center. Nature had provided everything necessary to make Des Moines a city of a quarter of a million people and man could do the rest. At least the men of Des Moines could, if they would only unite and pull together, and pull as hard as the people of other cities do. In such suggestive words as these, and those which follow-uttered by a shrewd and trained observer, the reader of this history can see a prophecy of the Des Moines of the near future. Mr. Clarkson continued: "Open your gates, welcome capital, encourage new- comers, stop fault-finding, and put down envy and carping, and Des Moines will rise to a hundred thousand in the next ten years. Make your fifteen railroads hitch all their engines to the town, too, and help you pull for factories and for all corporations employing labor and bringing in capital."
A pioneer merchant, Frank R. Laird, of the once locally famous firm of Laird Brothers, died at his home on Oakland avenue, on the 9th of December, 1900, aged 75. He and his three brothers came to Fort Des Moines in 1854, and soon organized a general wholesale and retail merchandizing business which extended its operations far up and down the Des Moines valley. A disastrous fire consumed the stores occupied by the brothers, incurring heavy losses. The firm resumed business but was later dissolved. After his retirement from active business, Mr. Laird held several public positions among them that of County Treasurer. During his long life he was a leader in the Baptist church.
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December 19, Noah Brockway Bacon of Des Moines celebrated his IOIst birthday. He was visited by many of his old friends. He had been in the habit of penning birthday verses for his relatives and friends ; but this year he was too feeble to make the effort.
Few names figured more prominently in the history of Fort Des Moines than that of Dr. A. Y. Hull, father of Congressman Hull and Mrs. H. C. Potter. The Doctor passed away December 29, 1900, at the home of his son, H. A. Hull, in Kiowa, Kansas. He had passed his eighty-third birthday, but retained his usual vigor till within two weeks of the end. His funeral took place in Des Moines, from the home of his son-in-law, Dr. Potter.
The building record of the year of 1900 showed about $750,000 invested in new buildings. The large number of small buildings this year overcame the large figures of the previous year which included the big department stores. The Register states that a total of $1,250,000, at least, would be a moderate estimate of the building and improvement record of the year. Among the larger items were: D. S. Chamberlain, 35th & Grand, two-story frame and brick, $15,500; Rothwell Building Company, five-story business building, (for the Harris-Emery Company) $65,000; C. & N. W. Ry. Co., freight house, east Fourth, $20,000; Kirkwood Hotel improvements, $12,000; Adelia S. Martin, brick tenement, Seventh, $19,000, F. M. Hubbell & Son, four-story business building, 9th and Cherry, $10,000.
1901-A YEAR OF MANY DEATHS AMONG PIONEERS.
On New Year's Day, 1901, there was a brave attempt on the part of several groups of ladies, and of the "Y. M." and "Y. W." to revive the ancient glory of the day as a social event ; but the glory had in a measure departed. The younger generation of men were too averse to social formalities, or too busy, or other- wise preoccupied, to keep alive the venerable custom.
Thirty-two years of widowhood were closed when on the fourth day of January, 1901, the anniversary of her husband's death, Mrs. Anna Parkhurst Bird, widow of Rev. Thompson Bird, passed away. Mrs. Bird came with her husband to Fort Des Moines in '48 and shared with him in the vicissitudes of a frontier pastorate. She never complained of her lot, "never doubted clouds would break," and when her bereavement came accepted it with a Christian forti- tude born of her great faith. Fortunately for the widow, from a worldly point of view, her husband's investments in the city left her a revenue ample for her simple life and few wants. Mrs. Bird was more than a pastor's wife: she was a pioneer educator. She erected one of the first school buildings in Des Moines, on the corner of Second and Locust streets, and there taught school for years. Mrs. Bird was in her 89th year when she passed away.
A movement for a more beautiful Des Moines took form at a meeting in the Grant Club rooms on the evening of January 24, when Chancellor Craig, Mrs. J. K. Macomber, Henry Nollen, Architect Hallett and others made pointed ' addresses and Park Commissioner Keffer presented stereoptican views of the good and the bad work done by other municipalities. A special committee, of which President Pratt and Secretary Cole of the Grant Club were members, was appointed to devise ways and means. The perceptible net gain of the movement of 1901 was the awakening of civic pride and of a sense of individual responsi- bility for the future of the city.
Whenever a building serving some worthy purpose is destroyed by fire, the loss is deplored by all who have the general good at heart, but when a building having been erected at large outlay of labor and money and dedicated to trade and commerce, is melted down by the flames leaving the projectors not where they were at first, but with a mass of debris to remove before the work can be begun again, the situation awakens profound sympathy. The Frankels' new department store building on the corner of Sixth and Walnut streets, one of the
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largest and finest of its kind in the West, was in two brief hours made a mass of ruins. The fire was discovered early on the morning of January 29, and before daylight it had completely destroyed the building. Only by the fiercest war on the flames was a general conflagration prevented. Even while the smoke was rising from the ruins, the indomitable owners of the building were in consulta- tion with an architect for the erection of a new building. Anticipating the out- coine, it may be said that the Frankels later acquired controlling interest in the Harris-Emery company, and sold the site to the Citizens' National Bank.
The new Rock Island depot, erected at a cost of about $100,000, was thrown open to the public on the first day of February.
Governor Shaw held a reception February 14, bringing to Des. Moines a host of Iowa statesmen and politicians.
The great Austrian singer, Madame Sembrich, filled a very successful engage- ment at the Auditorium, March 4.
Dr. P. B. Fagen, who with Judge Casady came to Fort Des Moines in 1846, and who was prominent in social and public affairs from that time until 1850, died in Santa Cruz, California, in February, 190I. The Doctor removed to the coast in 1850 and made a large fortune there in railroading and banking.
E. J. Goode died in Brooklyn, N. Y., early in 1901. Mr. Goode was a native of Louisana and was a Confederate soldier during the war. He was a lawyer by profession.
The death of Alderman Joseph E. Fagen, March 5, 1901, removed one more of the few survivors of the early days before Fort Des Moines was even incor- porated as a town. Mr. Fagen came with his father from Ohio in 1848, when he was only seven years old. His father was one of the first to locate in University Place, and the son continued to live there to the last. He was a nephew of Dr. Fagen whose death preceded his only a few days.
John M. Mehan, founder and president of the Capital City Commercial College, died March 9, after two years of ill-health. He was a Virginian by birth and was 56 years of age. He founded the college in 1884, with three teachers and a small number of students. The growth of the school called for frequent enlargement and in '88, W. H. McCauley, later president of the college, became associated with him. The two prospered and in a few years their roll included the names of a small army of young men and women.
Edward B. Whitcomb, long editor and proprietor of the Mail and Times, once an influential Saturday weekly published in Des Moines, died April 10, after a lingering illness. He came west in 1865, at the age of thirty, and became secretary of the Hawkeye Insurance Company. From '79 to '87 he was book- keeper for the State Register. Then he became proprietor of the consolidated Mail and Times. His influence on the social and political life of Des Moines was invariably cast for the betterment of community life.
The City's Parks in 1901.
"Municipal Art" had free course and was glorified at the Grant Club on the evening of April II. Park Commissioner Sidney A. Foster gave an account of the operations of the Park Commission since its creation in 1895. There were in Des Moines township (the west side) tracts of land devoted for park purposes as follows :
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