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 57
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Having delivered his departed friend's message, Mr. Polk in his stately, yet kindly manner, said his farewell, adding, "And may God bless you and permit you all to meet again !"
It was indeed a farewell. On the 5th of November, 1907, the spirit of Jefferson S. Polk took flight.4
After years of delay, several mishaps and much extravagant mismanagement, the Sixth avenue bridge was finally, in 1907, completed and thrown open to the public-a Melan-arch bridge built of brick and stone and concrete at a cost estimated at about $140,000.
The first anniversary of the Greater Des Moines movement was celebrated in the Commercial Club hall, September 12, with over two hundred leading members present. P. C. Kenyon presided. Lafayette Young, Jr., told his hearers what Des Moines had done during the past year and what it would do during the next five years-much of his prophecy having since been realized. He urged the erection of a great Coliseum, and the laying out of boulevards connecting the city with its parks and with the Army Post. More and better buildings of the type of the Fleming building was urged-a number of which have since been erected. County Treasurer Dobson, Freight Commissioner Wylie, of the Greater Des Moines committee, F. H. Luthe and others enthusiastically followed up the subject --- Mr. Wylie talking more exclusively of unjust discriminations in freight rates which should be removed. The total membership of the club had increased to 755.
The financial panic of the fall of 1907, sometimes called a "flurry," was an event too serious to be dismissed as a mere episode. It left its trail from one end of the country to the other-in broken fortunes, shrunken incomes and financial failures. It began October 22, and was caused by an unprecedented run on the New York banks, following the insolvency of the Knickerbocker Trust Company. The panic was vigorously met by Morgan, Stillman and other millionaire bankers of New York, and the storm-center rapidly shifted to the
4 The will of Mr. Polk divided the large estate between the widow and four surviving children. Harry H. Polk and George B. Hippee were named as executors.
COL. E. F. HOOKER Manager of the Frink & Walker Stage Lines centering in Fort Des Moines
COL. SUMNER F. SPOFFORD The popular landlord of the old Demoine House
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West. With general solvency, there was general inability to cash checks and to secure funds to pay off maturing loans. A currency famine in a time of pros- perity and plenty ! Des Moines bankers promptly met the emergency by issuing a clearance-house certificate as a temporary circulating medium,-having first satisfied themselves that the principal business houses and manufacturers would accept them in lieu of cash. A few hundred miners demanded, and were paid in, cash, but the general public accepted the certificates and in a few days, the banks resumed. Locally the harm done to business was only temporary.
The death of Harry West, October 24, removed from Des Moines one of the most genial of men and a prominent business man. He was 57 years old, and a son of the pioneer banker, Capt. Francis R. West. As bank cashier with B. F. Allen, as manager of the Liverpool and Des Moines Packing Company, and in all public measures, he was a leader among men.
At a meeting of the Commercial Club, on the evening of November 7, the subject of interurbans held first place. J. F. Blake, general manager of the Fort Dodge line, C. H. Crooks, general freight and passenger agent of that line, Frank S. Cummins, general superintendent of the Inter-Urban Railway Company of Des Moines, and others, presented the inter-urban as the greatest factor in the development of a city. Mr. Berryhill followed with an explanation of the recent financial flurry and with suggestions as to the financial future of the city and the country.
The erection of the Fleming building was accompanied November 9, by the tragic death of Harry H. Grahl, one of the best known metal construction con- tractors in Iowa. By a misstep he fell down the elevator shaft the entire eleven stories.
The constitutionality of the Des Moines Plan was affirmed by Judge Howe, of the Polk County district court, in a carefully prepared opinion read November 23, 1907.
John MacVicar, ex-mayor of Des Moines, after a year's absence and study of municipal problems in New York, returned in December, and announced himself a candidate for a seat in the council under the Des Moines plan. At first men did not take his candidacy seriously ; but, as time wore on, it became evident that "John" would have to be reckoned with.
1908-THE YEAR THE DES MOINES PLAN WENT INTO OPERATION.
The market-place question reached the petition stage in January, 1908, when about 1,500 citizens united in a petition praying the city council to set apart an adequate market-place for country produce.
The Juvenile Court established in Des Moines in 1907, was reported, in January following, as a gratifying success. Miss Lillian Matthews, probation officer, reported several hundred cases investigated and dozens of children taken from criminal surroundings and placed in good homes. A few delinquent chil- dren had been sent to the reform schools. A large percentage of cases did not reach the court, but were adjusted through the efforts of the probation officers. The Federation of Mothers' Clubs, the school teachers, the clergy and those in charge of philanthropic institutions rendered valuable assistance. The willing- ness of the judges of the District court to hear cases had been a great source of encouragement. The Board of Supervisors had not as yet cooperated to any appreciable extent.
Des Moines was honored in January, 1908, by the presence of many bishops and prominent clergymen and laymen of the Episcopal church, the event being the fifth annual Missionary Conference of the Protestant Episcopal church of America. Among the bishops present were Edsell and Morrison of Minnesota, Brewer of Montana, Williams of Nebraska, Morrison of Iowa, Hare and John- son of South Dakota, Mann of North Dakota, and Brent of the Philippines. The venerable Bishop Hare presided at the opening meeting of the conference Vol. I-26
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in St. Paul's church on the 16th. Questions of a decidedly practical nature received most attention from both clergy and laymen. One of the most popular sessions was an evening given over to the church in the Philippines. Bishop Brent eloquently pictured the progress of civilization in the islands and the duty of continuing the work well begun. Dr. A. S. Lloyd, secretary of the Board of Missions, gave his experiences and observations in the Orient, and pleaded for a more generous support of the cause of foreign missions. The conference lasted several days.
The First Local Campaign Under the Des Moines Plan.
The hold-over committee of three-hundred citizens early entered into serious consideration of the selection of men to carry into effect the reforms embodied in the new commission law. On the evening of January 17, the committee met and was addressed by President J. J. Hill, Attorney I. M. Earle, and others. Secretary Dillon read the report of the first sub-committee,5 in which was presented the difficulty of selecting five men who could be elected and would serve if elected. It recommended another week for consideration. Lafayette Young, moved a new sub-committee of 25 to suggest candidates. The members of such committee were separately nominated and elected.6 H. E. Sampson was appointed secretary to the committee.
A vote had been taken by the first sub-committee, on candidates for mayor and councilmen, and I. M. Earle was the first choice for mayor, with 46 votes. The other names in their order were: E. W. Waterbury, John MacVicar, J. G. Olmsted, Henry M. Rollins, B. S. Walker, J. W. Hill, John McKay, Sr .. J. B. Sullivan and W. H. Baily. The referendum for councilmen brought out John MacVicar, with 72 votes. The other names in their order were: Charles S. Worth. D. H. Kooker, J. G. Olmsted, A: B. Elliott, Al. C. Miller, H. M. Rollins, Simon Casady, A. K. Stewart, H. H. Coggeshall, J. B. Sullivan, B. S. Walker, C. L. Gilcrest, Eugene Waterbury, A. J. Mathis, I. Friedlich, H. C. Wallace, J. B. Lucas, I. M. Earle, G. L. Garton, W. H. Baily, C. E. Campbell, I. M. Lieser. L. Harbach, H. U. Keazey, J. R. Hanna, John McKay, Sr., S. B. Garton, J. W. Donovan. Many of those named had, however, refused to enter the field as candidates.
The committee of twenty-five entered at once upon their difficult task. The members met daily at noon lunch, and formulated many a good ticket; but in every case there were those who refused to run. Later, the original committee was raised to 500 and the sub-committee to thirty-five.
On the 21st of . January, the sub-committee, after much consideration of availability, united on the following ticket: For mayor, Eugene W. Waterbury ; for councilmen : Charles S. Worth, James R. Hanna, Buffon S. Walker and Harry C. Evans.
On the 24th the committee of 500 heard the report. The meeting was far from unanimous. There was no censure of the personnel of the ticket. It was conceded to be made up of good men, and was representative in character. The principal objection raised was that the method of selection was undemocratic. After a somewhat heated discussion-which at times overtaxed the ability of Chairman Delmage to preserve order-a vote was taken on candidates. The committee was sustained by 137 votes for Waterbury to 38 scattering votes. On councilmen the nominees of the committee were sustained by votes ranging from 106 to 164 for their nominees, against a scattering vote in which Mr.
5 The first sub-committee was: George M. Van Evera. J. W. Hill, Harvey Ingham, Lafayette Young, I. M. Earle, Sidney J. Dillon and J. G. Olmsted.
6 The enlarged sub-committee named was: John M. Read. Johnson Brigham, S. F. Dunshee, Charles N. Page, C. L. Gilcrest, H. B. Hawley, A. K. Campbell, George Boody, Paul Jones, T. F. Stevenson, W. H. Arnold, Mack Olsen, Pleasant Mills, J. H. Henry, James Donovan. H. E. Teachout, S. B. Garton, Frank Randolph. W. H. Baily, A. O. Hauge, C. W. Terrill, E. D. Hamlin, H. C. Evans, H. E. Sampson and Henry A. Haas.
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MacVicar led with 79 votes,-no other candidate receiving more than 16. But the ominous result of the ballot was that more than 200 votes were cast against "the ticket."
Soon the field was full of candidates. Mr. MacVicar early announced him- self a candidate for a seat in the council. The old city hall alliance made a vigorous effort to capture the movement. Many good men entered the field. The campaign opened. Meetings were held in every ward in the city and the candidates were patiently heard. Sometimes candidates would come in groups on invitation; at other times they would combine and "hire a hall." In not a few meetings there were informal joint discussions between candidates. In many, a volley of questions was fired at the candidates. As the campaign neared its close, it became apparent that the following of Mr. MacVicar was in a majority and that the "citizens' ticket" was lost-with possibly one exception. But the election, on the 30th, swept even that one down with the rest.
Lorenzo Harter, a pioneer merchant of Fort Des Moines, died January 23, aged 68 years. One of the first dry-goods stores in the little city was that of Ring & Harter, at the corner of Fifth and Walnut. Lorenzo's father, Philip Harter, was proprietor of the old Cottage Avenue House, which became a head- quarters for the soldiers during the war.
The Supreme Court, on the 18th of February, gave a lengthy and exhaustive opinion (written by Judge Bishop) sustaining in all respects the constitutionality of the municipal commission law adopted by Des Moines, thus removing the last obstacle to a practical application of the law.
Before the Des Moines plan election, the old city council had increased the wards of the city from seven to nine; but, on the 24th of February, the council repealed the ordinance restoring the original seven wards.
The Civic League, early in March, endorsed the citizens' ticket with one exception. Wiser than the committee of twenty-five, the League named ten candidates for councilmen, any four of whom, in their judgment, were worthy of support, namely: James R. Hanna, Buffon S. Walker, Charles S. Worth, E. D. Brigham, J. L. Hamery, I. M. Lieser, J. B. Lucas, John MacVicar, C. W. Schramm, and A. K. Stewart. The League also endorsed Mr. Waterbury for ınayor.
A Good Government club was organized in March with Edwin Hult, presi- dent ; E. D. Sampson, vice president ; J. A. Baal, secretary ; and A. O. Hauge, treasurer. The club membership included many men deeply interested in muni- cipal reform. The club threw its support to the citizens' ticket.
Charles Aldrich,. "journalist, soldier, legislator, publicist, historical collector and man of affairs," and the founder of the Historical Department at the State Capitol, died March 8. His funeral was held in the building which owes its existence to him, and at his old home Webster City, a military funeral was ac- corded him. In the ceremonies on the IIth, Dr. Frisbie, Governor Cummins, Colonel Crossley, Judges Ladd and Deemer, John A. McCall, S. H. M. Byers, Lafayette Young and W. S. Dungan, bore strong testimony to the worth and public services of the deceased.
The venerable President Eliot of Harvard was the guest of the Grant Club, on the 15th of April, and on the following forenoon spoke at Drake University. At noon he lunched with the Harvard Club and met many representatives of the Des Moines Plan and plied them with questions as to its practical workings. A Harvard dinner was held at the Chamberlain Thursday evening, in which, as in his other speeches, he bestowed high praise upon the Des Moines Plan as the best contribution yet made to municipal reform.
The result of the primary, May 16, was the virtual defeat of the citizens' ticket, though it gave "one more chance" to its candidate for mayor and to three of its four candidates for councilmen. The vote for mayor was: A. J. Mathis, 5,414; Eugene W. Waterbury, 3,380. The remaining candidates received votes ranging from 22 to 1,918. For councilmen, the eight having the highest
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number of votes-entitling them to place on the ticket-were John MacVicar, 6,399 ; John L. Hamery, 3,733; Charles S. Worth, 3,520; Wesley Ash, 3,488; James R. Hanna, 2,742; Buffon S. Walker, 2,248; Charles W. Schramm, 2,244; W. H. Brereton, 2,104. The thirty-five other candidates received votes ranging all the way from 80 to 2,018.
The campaign narrowed down to the citizens' ticket against the field, and, after a strenuous two-weeks campaign, the field won. The vote on the 30th resulted as follows: For mayor, Mathis, 8,863; Waterbury, 5,187. For coun- cilmen, MacVicar, 9,488; Ash, 8,191 ; Hamery, 7,739; Schramm, 7,520. The vote for the defeated four was as follows: Worth, 5,756; Hanna, 4,837; Brereton, 4,635 ; Walker, 3,559.
A proposition for the establishment of a Superior court was defeated. A proposition to expend $50,000 for a market-place was carried.
"Aunt Becky" Young, the well-known and beloved army nurse of the Civil war, and J. H. Stuckey, adjutant of Crocker Post, died on the same day, April 6, '08.
The 27th day of May witnessed a unique gathering in the Capital city,-a reunion of the veteran railroad men of Iowa. The Iowa Railway Club gave the veterans and their families a lunch; the city firemen gave them an exhibition run, and the Second Cavalry-succeeding the Eleventh at the army post, put on an exhibition parade, review and drill. In the evening they were welcomed at Foster's by representatives of the State and the city. Peter A. Dey was one of the conspicuous figures in the assemblage. President Winchell, and other officials of the Rock Island road, were present. The best part of the meeting- the unreportable part-was the flood of reminiscence of the old days of stage- coaches and pioneer railroads.
"Seein' the Wheels Go Round."
The members of the new commission-or "council"-first met in conference, on the 3Ist of May, to lay out the work for the coming year. The council was a fairly representative body. At its head was a man of years and experience, having long served as police justice, an East-sider, a democrat and a prominent member of the Baptist church. Mr. Mathis' career as police justice had been marked by almost excessive leniency; but the vote showed that his election was due not alone to the wide-open-town vote, but also to the vote of large numbers of the church people of the city.
The most conspicuous member of the new council was Mr. MacVicar, a man in middle-life, a past-master in experience on municipal affairs, and at the time secretary of the League of American Municipalities. His residence was in North Des Moines, and he had long been a representative of the interests of that section. A former mayor of North Des Moines and, after the consolidation, mayor of Des Moines, his knowledge of conditions which needed reforming was unquestioned, and he had long been a leader in the movement for city ownership of the water-works.
Mr. Ash was a miner by trade; had served as deputy sheriff of Polk county, and was an active member of the Miners' Union. As a vote-getter he was a surprise to most people. As a successful employer of labor and enforcer of law, he was thought to be well fitted for either one of two departments in the Council. His residence was in the far-eastern portion of the city.
Mr. Schramm owed his success at the polls to his course as city assessor, having convinced the public that he was a respecter of values rather than of persons. He was also a trained accountant, and especially fitted for the depart- ment of finance.
Mr. Hamery was a resident of University Place, was a real-estate man of moderate means. He owed his election to his well-known zeal for the cause
RUTH McPHERSON MORRIS
"AUNT BECKY" YOUNG
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of municipal reform and his well-developed instinct as a runner-down of vice and crime.
These five were all relatively poor men and therefore representative of the masses. Fortunately there was no conflict over departments. The mayor's department-that of public affairs-was fixed by statute. The department of finance naturally gravitated toward Mr. Schramm. Public improvements was the choice of Mr. MacVicar. Mr. Ash chose parks and buildings and Mr. Hamery was not reluctant to take the department of public safety. It is not necessary to follow the subsequent conferences of the councilmen. Suffice to say that each evidently felt a due sense of individual responsibility for his de- partment, and at the same time, in a general sense, a responsibility for the four other departments. The pressure of office-seekers was strong; but, in the main, the appointments were satisfactory. The one conspicuous failure, revealing a weakness in the law which publicity eventually remedied-was the election of a chief of police not acceptable to the head of the department of public safety. But, after a full and fair trial, and an excess of "politics," that official was ousted and the choice of Mr. Hamery was substituted.
The formal change from the old to the new occurred on the 6th of June, 1908. On the morning of that day, the nine aldermen of the old council, repre- senting seven wards and the two townships, Des Moines and Lee, assembled to conclude their work. Mayor Mattern presided and Aldermen Waterbury, Brereton, Christy, Donovan, Fraley, Hamery, Johnson, O'Grady and Staley, were in their seats. The retiring mayor administered the oath of office to his successor, and Mayor Mathis administered the oath to the incoming councilmen. Thus, after fifty-six years of trial, the old system, having served its day and genera- tion, was set aside for the new.
Capt. M. T. Russell, ex-park commissioner of Des Moines, and a former resident of Mitchellville, Polk county, died in California, July 2, in his seventy- second year. As a soldier he won distinction, having received from the govern- ment a medal for extraordinary bravery in battle. The captain's prison experiences form a thrilling narrative of personal history. Captain Russell was a member of the Fifty-first Indiana, and came to Polk county soon after the war, engaging in the grain business in Mitchellville.
L. M. G. Barnett, the pioneer photographer of Des Moines, died, with his- four children about him, on the 6th of July. He came to Des Moines in 1860 and opened a photograph gallery. His widow was a daughter of J. H. Long,. proprietor of the old Avenue House on Court avenue, a headquarters for enlistments during the war.
A decision by the Supreme Court, July 7, compelled another expression of the voters of Des Moines as to the erection of a municipal building. The almost fatal defeat in the former vote was the exclusion of women because of their sex. The case was brought by Grace Ballantyne on behalf of the militant woman suffragists of the city. The second vote, like the first, was for the building.
The Supreme Court confirmed the decision of the lower court as to the validity of the recent consolidation of school boards of the city, thus "leaving the coast clear" for the merger.7
Maj. O. L. F. Browne, long secretary of the Commercial Exchange, and latterly secretary of three mutual insurance companies in Des Moines, died early in July.
Maj. R. D. Kellogg, author of the famous resolution in the Iowa legislature in 1861, pledging Iowa's further credit and resources in men and money in maintenance of the national honor, died at his home in Des Moines, August 2,
7 See later chapter on Schools.
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aged 80. He represented Decatur county in the House in '61 ; and was major of the Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry.
A special car conveyed a number of state officials and Des Moines friends to Dubuque on the 8th of August, to attend the funeral of Senator Allison, who died on the 4th.
Senator Allison's Successor Chosen.
The death of Senator Allison created a vacancy which led Governor Cum- mins to call an extra session of the General Assembly, August 31, to determine the senatorial succession by directing a primary election to be held in connection with the November election, and to fill the vacancy until the expiration of Senator Allison's term. On the evening of September 4, the republican caucus named Governor Cummins by 58 of the 59 votes in the caucus-a majority of ten of all the republicans in the General Assembly. There were, however, 49 members who did not participate in the proceedings. The opposition organized to defeat the Governor, and after repeated joint ballots the General Assembly adjourned, September 10, to reconvene November 24-"without expense to the State"-for the purpose of electing the republican who should be nominated at the special primary, November 3. The "stand-pat" opposition organized to defeat the Governor. Ex-Governor Jackson was tendered the "stand-pat" sup- port, but declined to enter the lists. Maj. John F. Lacey was selected in his stead. The Major made a gallant contest, but to no avail. The star of Governor Cummins was still in the ascendant.
Death of P. M. Casady.
The long and useful career of Phineas M. Casady terminated on the last day of summer, 1908. So inwoven is the career of this sterling pioneer with the history of Des Moines and Polk county that little is left to be said except to note the general love and respect in which the aged man was held. As Mr. Hubbell well said of his old-time benefactor and friend, Judge Casady was "a strong power for good throughout his whole life." Judge Cole paid loving tribute to his capacity for friendships, and to the strength of his convictions. Isaac Brandt had known him for fifty years and had "never known him to do anything wrong." His funeral brought together men and women from all classes and conditions of society.
Candidate Taft Given a Royal Reception.
William H. Taft, the republican nominee for the presidency, spoke at the auditorium in Des Moines, September 25. The meeting was a state-wide affair and attracted many to the Capital. At Plymouth church in the early evening, Mr. Taft addressed an audience exclusively of women-of itself a unique ex- perience for a presidental candidate. His enjoyment of the ovation given him was evident. He said it "capped the climax." Thence to the East Fifth street meeting, where Fred H. Hunter introduced him to a vast assemblage gathered on the streets. His voice was husky from overuse and he spoke briefly, reserv- ing his strength for the big meeting at the auditorium. After two distinct ova- tions,-one when he appeared, and the other when he arose to speak-Mr. Taft in the auditorium, began in a tone too low to be heard in the galleries ; but as he progressed, the huskiness disappeared in part, and nearly all present could hear him. He had found no evidence of the much advertised factionalism in Iowa. He reviewed the recent record of his party, and paid high tribute to the "chief exponent of the recent moral awakening," Theodore Roosevelt. He spoke plainly of trusts and of what should be done to relieve the people of their exactions. He referred to the need of tariff reduction, and declared him- self in favor of "revision downward." He alluded to the recent panic and its
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