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 78
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The club's active and resident members are thirty-three in number. A few
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years ago, the purpose of the club was so far enlarged as to include resident authors, also associate members who reside in other parts of Iowa, and honorary members who reside outside the state of Iowa,-these three additional without regard to sex. The annual and special banquets given by the Press and Authors' club are prime social events. Among the club's specially honored guests have been numbered John Kendrick Bangs, Richard Burton, Kate Upson Clark and Randall Parrish. The eighth annual meeting in November, 1910, was held at the Golf and Country club with Hamlin Garland as the guest of honor. The 1911 event, in November, was made memorable by the presence of Miss Alice French the "Octave Thanet" of the literary world. "The Hyperion."
There are many evidences of the results of "the Des Moines spirit," but none more striking than the success of the Hyperion club-a monument to the energy of Des Moines' young business men. The club was organized January 25, 1900. W. C. Cavanagh was elected president; A. T. Hale, vice president ; George W. Fowler, secretary; and R. W. Beeks, treasurer. The following, with the officers, composed the first board of directors: C. H. Casebeer, E. Paul Jones and O. H. Thomas. The object of the club was "to give entertainments and parties for the mutual enjoyment of its members." In 1904 the question of organizing an athletic club was talked of, and the Hyperion accordingly increased its mem- bership with one hundred new members. Three acres of ground adjoining Waveland park were purchased, and a clubhouse was built at an expenditure of about $7,000. In a year or two the new quarters proved inadequate. A tract of ground on the interurban line, north of the city, and on the Beaver road, was promptly purchased. The name was changed to the "Hyperion Field Club." The limit of membership was raised to three hundred. Plans were drawn for a new and beautiful clubhouse. The reorganized Hyperion now has one of the finest clubhouses in the Middle West, located on its own grounds comprising two hundred and twenty acres, overlooking the Beaver valley. It represents an investment of over $50,000. The present name of the club is the "Hyperion Field and Motor Club." Golf, automobiling, tennis and archery are included in its range of activities, with ample provision for shooting, billiards, etc. The present officers of the club are: President, Ralph P. Bolton; vice president. Ralph H. Plumb; secretary, John Kingston; treasurer, G. E. Mc- Kinnon ; directors, James G. Berryhill, Jr., Jansen Haines, R. F. McAdoo, James B. Green and Frank J. Koch.
The Commercial Club.
The Commercial exchange, which in its day performed an important part in the awakening of Des Moines to its opportunities, was organized January 24, 1888. The first directors were: L. Harbach, Theodore F. Gatchel, Jefferson S. Polk, Tacitus Hussey, N. S. McDonnell, James Watt, J. D. Seeberger, W. W. Witmer, R. T. Wellslager, J. E. Clarey, Norman Lichty, W. B. Bentley, Gus Smith, and Herman Younker. L. Harbach was president, with Theodore Gatchel and Jefferson Polk, vice presidents and Tacitus Hussey, treasurer. The name was changed from Commercial exchange to Commercial club by articles filed in 1902. The present officers are: E. T. Meredith, president; H. H. Stipp and Len Harbach, vice presidents; L. E. Stevens, treasurer ; Geis Botsford, secre- tary. These. with the following, constitute the board of directors: D. F. Givens, H. H. Polk, Mack Olsen, Jerry B. Sullivan, B. S. Walker, Milton Gold- man, Nate Frankel, James B. Green, Frank Camp, Walter St. John, B. F. Kauff- man. W. B. Southwell, J. A. Getchell. The present membership is about 750.
The Commercial club of today is one of the most potent factors in the recent progress of Des Moines. Its members are behind every movement for efficiency in administration and for the development of opportunities for the city's ad- vancement.
DES MOINES CLUB HOUSE OF THE HYPERION FIELD AND MOTOR CLUB
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The Greater Des Moines Committee.
Of the several small organizations which are making the Des Moines of today a sure prophecy of the Greater Des Moines of tomorrow, foremost in influence and achievement is the Greater Des Moines committee. So many activities are directly traceable to this small body of trained business men that the public has come to look upon "the Boosters' club" -- as the committee is fre- quently called-as sure of success in its every undertaking. The committee was organized with a clearly defined purpose. Its platform is a model of direct statement :
First. The establishment of a freight bureau.
Second. The encouragement of steam and interurban railways."
Third. The promotion and encouragement of existing and prospective fac- tories through money and personal effort.
Fourth. The encouragement and promotion of public institutions.
Fifth. Influencing by all proper means the general public to appreciate their city and patronize home industries.
Sixth. Compiling and publishing industrial and commercial statistics of the city.
Seventh. Compiling and publishing matter showing the city's attractions, as parks, public buildings, colleges, the army post, etc.
Eighth. The establishment of a news bureau to advertise the city abroad.
Ninth. Procuring, so far as practicable without expense, the publication by the local press of facts and figures showing the growth, industries, interests and attractions of the city.
Tenth. Seeing that strangers and visitors to the city are properly entertained.
No one who has followed the trend of local events, can question the great value of the public service rendered by this organization. The Greater Des Moines committee has strikingly demonstrated the efficiency of thoroughly or- ganized and well directed effort; and, too, the far-reaching significance of that great fact in the moral universe which the Wise Man put into the words, "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth, and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty." The committee has in the main lived up to its self-imposed decalogue. Perhaps the most striking illustration of its public serv- ice is to be seen in the working out of the first commandment in its decalogue.
The work of the committee relating to the establishment of a freight bureau was promptly organized with E. G. Wylie in charge, and, under his manage- ment, has been remarkably successful. It has had for its aim the destruction of artificial handicaps hampering, and in some instances even killing, manu- facturing and commerce in Iowa cities. Some specific examples indicating the character of this work and its results are as follows :
(I) The Southern states are the main source upon which, in recent years, Iowa has drawn its supplies of lumber. When the source of supply was the northern white-pine territory the freight rate into Des Moines and into Omaha upon that commodity was the same figure, and for a time there also existed a parity of freight rates from the South into the cities of Des Moines and Omaha ; but there were successive increases of the rates made to Des Moines without reciprocal increases to Omaha. In recent testimony it was shown that the Omaha yards could lay southern lumber down in Valley Junction with a freight- rate advantage equivalent to 34c per 1,000 feet, as against the ability of Des Moines to lay the same character of lumber down in this suburb. By persistent . and well directed effort a realignment of rates has been secured so that on this southern lumber the rate to Des Moines now has been restored to a parity with the rates to Omaha, giving Des Moines the advantage of its geographical loca- tion. It is indicative of the importance of such corrections to say that within three years the outbound shipments of Des Moines' manufactures from lumber have increased four-fold in amount.
(2) Throughout the state of Iowa there was much animal waste that, in-
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stead of being a source of wealth, was a menace to health. On the inauguration of freight-rate reform by the committee, attention was directed to the desirability of utilizing this offal, or semi-offal, in the manufacture of glue, but the freight rates did not permit the economical gathering together of this waste at a point where it could be utilized. The successful outcome of endeavors to overcome this obstacle resulted in the building and equipping of the plant of the Iowa Glue company which soon was turning into wealth much that had before been lost.
(3) Repeated endeavors had been made to bring about the manufacture of Portland cement in Des Moines, but every endeavor had been abandoned owing to the existing intrastate freight rates and what were believed to be peculiarities of the Iowa law relating to freight rates. This subject, however, was taken in hand with much care and thoroughness and a solution worked out and approved by the proper State authorities, which enabled the building of the plant of the Iowa Portland Cement company in Des Moines. As originally promised it was to have a capacity of 2,500 barrels of Portland cement per day, but more recent plans contemplate at least doubling the capacity output.
(4) Until recently commerce by railroad with the states east of Illinois was burdened by charges for the short hauls between the Mississippi river points and Des Moines, a service which between Keithsburg, Ill., and Des Moines, for instance, is but 159 miles, --- rates that in certain instances were as high as was charged on traffic having origin in St. Louis and destination in St. Paul or vice versa, --- the transportation between those cities via the shortest route being 575 miles. A correction of these rates was earnestly contested by the railroad com- panies, but these charges for the part of the service lying between Des Moines and the Mississippi river were eventually ordered materially reduced. Where under the new rates the transportation tax for this service is $1, under the old rates the business interests of Des Moines paid approximately $1.17.
There have been many modifications material in amount in various other rates. These examples are cited as indicative of the results accomplished and the nature of the work in progress, and as suggestive of other gains-as in increased manufacturing, selling, and shipping, which may logically be expected to result from continued efforts in these directions.
The financing of the Coliseum, with the speedy erection and furnishing of the building, was undertaken by this committee, and, when it had raised all the money possible by subscription, its members gave their individual obligations for the balance, ----- some $35,000.
These do not measure, but rather illustrate the public spirit evinced by this committee. Whenever there is money to be raised by subscription for any purpose which will redound to the general good, whenever there is discoverable. a wrong that needs resistence, the Greater Des Moines committee has a way of acting while many are getting ready to act.
The officers of the Greater Des Moines committee are: President, Lafayette Young. Jr .; vice president, F. C. Hubbell; treasurer, T. P. Sharpnack; secre- tary, Ralph P. Bolton; freight commissioner, E. G. Wylie. The one notable change in the officiary of the committee is the retirement of Lucius Wilson, the first secretary, who resigned early in 1911 to enter upon similar duties in the larger field offered at Detroit.
The East Des Moines Commercial Club.
The East Des Moines Commercial club dates its birth from January, 1905. D. H. Kooker was then elected president; Addison Parker, secretary ; and A. C. Miller, treasurer. These, with the following, constituted the first directory : J. A. Mckinney, Charles S. Worth, R. P. Bolton, A. B. Elliott, C. B. Dockstader, Frank A. Mathis. From small beginnings the club's membership has grown to about three hundred. Its present officers are: H. F. Leibsle, president ; L. A. Jester, secretary ; A. O. Hauge, treasurer ; additional directors, Charles Engleen,
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George W. Richter, William Brereton, F. T. Van Liew, F. A. Mathis, S. Nesting, and William Donovan. At the outset the club avowed its objects to be to build up the East side from the railroad to the river, to beautify the river front, to secure substantial and beautiful bridges and to do all else in its power to bring together in a closer bond of union the East and the West sides, thus building up a greater Des Moines. Its banquets and business meetings and its working committees have done much to stir East Des Moines to its duty and opportunities.
The Golf and Country Club.
The Golf and Country club of Des Moines was organized in October, 1897. The first officers were: President, N. T. Guernsey ; vice-president, G. I. Gilbert ; secretary, C. A. Cheshire ; treasurer, Frank P. Flynn ; directors, O. H. Perkins, W. E. Statler, W. W. Witmer, W. E. Cless, Craig T. Wright, J. G. Berryhill, E. G. Pratt, F. C. Hubbell, Arthur Reynolds, Frederick Field, N. T. Guernsey and John R. Clarkson.
The first links were on a forty-acre tract near Ingersoll park. The first clubhouse was a modest affair soon outgrown. Six years later a long lease was obtained on a beautiful hundred-acre tract west of the first tract, upon which a capacious and sightly clubhouse was erected, with hardwood finishings and mod- ern equipment. The new clubhouse and the splendid golf links stretching far to the north and west gave added impetus to the membership, which rapidly in- creased from seventeen to a membership of about two hundred and forty. This has since been materially increased. The following named gentlemen have suc- ceeded Mr. Guernsey to the presidency: Frederick Field, George F. Henry, E. C. Finkbine, Sidney A. Foster, W. O. Finkbine, James G. Berryhill, Charles S. Denman, J. B. Weaver, Jr., D. W. Corley and J. W. Howell.
The amusements of the club are not confined to golf. Its tennis court, east of the clubhouse, is one of the finest in the country and has been the scene of several brilliant tournaments. Archery has its devotees, some of whom evince marked efficiency. Bowling, baseball, trap-shooting and cards are also in the list of attractions. The golf links have drawn many to its tournaments and the golfers can point to many excellent scores made by its members and visitors.
The clubhouse has from the first been the scene of many brilliant social gath- erings, and scores of notable banquets have been held within its walls and on its capacious porches. The Saturday evening dinners have proved a popular feature, attracting hundreds who rarely give themselves time for outdoor amusements. The University Club.
Several years ago a University club was organized in Des Moines, with club rooms, but little to attract its members, and in two or three years it suspended.
In March, 1908, a second University Club of Des Moines was formed, chiefly through the efforts of Ward C. Henry, its present secretary. Avoiding the mis- takes of its predecessors, this organization made no attempt to open club rooms, committed itself to no ambitious projects, made no effort to accumulate funds in the treasury. Recognizing a grain of truth in the cynical philosophy that man finds his warmest welcome at an inn, and a substantial fact in the experience of many of its members that a club finds its most inexpensive welcome at a hotel, the University club has confined its meetings to a series of informal dinners "every once in a while," as opportunity has offered for securing some distin- guished educator as the speaker of the evening. The principal speakers thus far have been President George E. Maclean, of the State University of Iowa, Presi- dent John H. T. Main, of Iowa College, Grinnell, Dean George H. Vincent, of the Chicago University, since called to the presidency of the State Univer- sity of Minnesota, President Harris, of Amherst College, Dean Wilcox, of the State University of Iowa, and President John Nollen, of Lake Forest Univer- siťy.
These distinguished educators have in their turn considered a wide range of themes, social and educational, and every dinner has been an inspiration -- and
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that without resort to any artificial stimulant other than the regulation coffee and cigars.
The club dinners have been held in the Chamberlain hotel, and the attend- ance has been large, and representative of many of the colleges and universities of the country, of all the learned professions and of the several university, col- lege and high school faculties of Des Moines, also of the leading corporations and commercial houses of the city. The total membership of the club is about one hundred and fifty.
The New Des Moines Club.
During the summer of 1908 plans were laid for a social organization of lead- ing business men, to be known as the Des Moines Club. The original idea was to erect a handsome and exclusive clubhouse with ample space for lawns and gar- dens, and toward the accomplishment of this purpose a site was purchased at Fifth and Chestnut streets. This location was not approved by many of the members, as they considered it too far from the center of the business section of the city, for the club was not to be for millionaires but for business men. It was decided to secure a location suitable for a business block, a part of which could be leased for stores or offices. The first few months of 1911-nearly three years after the first plans were laid -- were busy ones for the building committee, for then the contracts were let, and the construction was begun. The structure from a point of architecture and equipment will rank second to none in the State. The first two floors are given over to business purposes and leased for a period of ten years or longer. The third, fourth and fifth floors will be occupied by the club. The building occupies sixty-six feet on Eighth street and one hundred and thirty-two feet on Locust. The cost of the building is to be about $200,000. The luxurious fixtures, furnishings and decorations will cost nearly $50,000. The new Des Moines club, in beauty of design, elegance of appointment and excellence of cuisine, will be unsurpassed. The formal opening will probably be early in February, 1912. Charles Hewitt is president ; F. C. Hubbell, vice-presi- dent ; C. H. Martin, treasurer, and John Evans, secretary. The building com- mittee is N. Frankel, B. F. Kauffman and F. C. Hubbell. The house committee is : B. F. Kauffman, Lafayette Young, Jr., and F. C. Hubbell. The trustees are : Charles Hewitt, F. C. Hubbell, C. H. Martin, N. T. Guernsey, Lafayette Young, Jr., A. R. Amos, D. W. Smouse, P. J. Mills, C. S. Hunter, C. A. Rawson, H. H. Polk and B. F. Kauffman.
The Library Club.
The Des Moines Library club was formed as a temporary convenience for the better entertainment of the State Library association which was to meet in Des Moines in October 12-14, 1909. The first meetings of the club were so helpful and enjoyable that all were agreed in that it should be made permanent. The presidents of the association have been three: Johnson Brigham, Ella M. Mc- Loney, and Helen M. Lee. The club has about thirty voting members and fif- teen associate members. Its meetings have been, in the main, literary and social. The latest meeting, in October, 1911, was a musicale at the home of J. G. Olmsted, president of the city library board.
The Press Club.
The Press Club of Des Moines was organized at a meeting held in the Savery hotel on June 20, 1909. Regular quarters were soon established at 412 Locust street. The first officers of the club were: President, J. M. Pierce, of the Home- stead ; vice presidents, Harvey Ingham, Register and Leader ; W. G. Hale, Daily News; Harold Young, Daily Capital; E. T. Meredith, Successful Farming; secre- tary, C. C. Nye; treasurer, W. H. Wiseman. From its inception the club has had a remarkable growth, and its present membership is more than two hundred. The present officers of the club are: President, J. M. Pierce; vice-presidents,
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Harvey Ingham, W. G. Hale, Harold Young, E. T. Meredith, and C. C. Nye; secretary, Bert N. Mills; treasurer, George Gallarno. The Press club has de- veloped strictly along social and literary lines, and has given many highly enjoy- able entertainments for its membership as well as a number of interesting func- tions to which the public has been invited. In August, 1909, the first annual frolic of the club was held at Ingersoll park. At that time a play was produced by the members called "An Hour at the City Hall," a good-natured satire on the then city officials. On New Year's eve, 1909, the club gave its first gridiron dinner, at which Senator A. B. Cummins and Congressman J. A. T. Hull were the guests of the club and the subjects of much harmless lampooning. The 191I gridiron was a rollicking take-off on the members of the thirty-fourth General Assembly, then in session, and nearly five hundred places were occupied at the tables. Dr. Frederick A. Cook, the Arctic explorer, was a guest of the club at a dinner in February, 19II, after which he delivered his lecture, "The North Pole and After," at the Auditorium. The organization is now at home in com- modious quarters in the Press club building at 712-714 Locust street.
The Des Moines Admen's Club.
In a city of State and national conventions-hundreds of them every year- it would hardly seem possible that the list of I91I could include a "first an- nual." But on the 13th of February the first annual convention of the Iowa Associated Advertising clubs-about three hundred members and guests-was called to order in the parlors of the Savery hotel, with delegates present from all parts of the State. The delegates were not simply the advertising men on the newspapers, but included all who believe in and operate legitimate publicity. methods. The delegates were welcomed at a noon lunch by the Press club of Des Moines. Frank Armstrong acting as toastmaster; Mayor Hanna, for the city ; Lafe Young, Jr., for the Greater Des Moines committee; E. T. Meredith, for the Commercial club, and T. W. Le Quatte, for the local Admen's club, united in giving their guests a hearty welcome. S. C. Dobbs, president of the Associ- ated Advertising Clubs of America, gratified the local boosters by assuring them that Des Moines "had more written about it in the last thirty days than had been written in the same time about all the cities of the United States and all the countries of the world combined !" . The published list showed there were present representatives from not only the principal cities of Iowa, but also from New York, Boston, St. Louis and St. Joseph. The convention closed on the second day with a dinner given by the Des Moines Admen's club, with President Le- Quatte as toastmaster. Mr. Dobbs, the principal speaker, gave his views on "The Advertiser's Duty to the Public." D. N. Graves, of Boston, complimented Iowa on its enterprise in arranging to send a special train to Boston in the sum- mer to attend the national convention of advertising men, adding: "It will be a privilege to have New England inoculated with the splendid spirit of the West." Many phases of publicity were presented in the convention and at the feasts. In this connection it may well be stated that for two years in succession the Des Moines Admen's club has held the Printer's Ink cup-a loving cup costing $500, awarded the club making the most practical use of its opportunities as an adver- tising club.
The Des Moines Real Estate Exchange.
An organization of recent birth which is making itself felt is the Des Moines Real Estate Exchange. Its organizers were B. S. Walker, R. R. Mccutchen, H. M. Porter, L. M. Mann, E. G. McIntyre and Mack Olsen. Mr. Walker was its first president ; Mr. Mann, vice-president ; Mr. McIntyre, secretary and treas- urer, and Messrs. Porter, McCutchen and Olsen, directors. Its capital stock was fixed at $25,000. An avowed purpose of the exchange is the advancement and protection of the great real-estate interests of the city and vicinity, including not only those of real-estate brokers, but also those of owners, tenants and builders.
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Another purpose is to strengthen real-estate brokerage by promoting high stand- ards of dealing and encouraging good-fellowship through cooperative work for common interests. The exchange would promote friendly and confidential rela- tions with property owners by serving their interests in the development and sale of their property and in protecting them from loss through dishonest dealers and bad tenants. The inauguration of a smoke reform is attributable to the activities of the organization. Its president is at the head of a smoke abatement commission appointed by the mayor.
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