USA > Indiana > Vanderburgh County > Evansville > History of the city of Evansville and Vanderburg County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 48
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HISTORY OF VANDERBURG COUNTY
schools in this city which are attended by 3,000 pupils who do not attend the public schools at all. In the way of hospitals, asylums and homes, sev- eral of which have been mentioned in this work, we have 12. We have entering here, seven different railroads and five electric interurbans so that we have in the way of passenger trains entering and leaving, 60 each day. Many people presume that since all this talk of the "railroads having done away with all the steamboat interests," that there is no steamboat trade at all, yet we have 12 different steamboats entering this city. As to the street railroads, many are in the dark. We have 30 miles of it and when it comes to sidewalks, we have 250 miles of them. We have 40 miles of sewers and 50 miles of improved streets. While our waterworks is now being rapidly put into complete order and which will be made so much better by the addition of the filtration plant, it furnishes every day 30,- 000,000 gallons of water. We have a $200,000 custom house. We have a $750,000 county court house and we have now in parks, exclusive of those which are in contemplation, 181 acres. A very important thing to consider in looking over any city with a view to locating in it, is its death rate. A concise death record has been kept up for years and the average rate per year is 12.7 per cent on the 100, which is lower than that of al- most any city of like population in America. It is needless to say anything about our different business associations or the Metropolitan Fire and Po- lice departments, as they are treated of in other places in this book, but to give an idea of what it costs to keep up the public schools, we would state that a fair average is $225,000 per year.
One reason for the good health of the city is that we are blessed with a splendid board of health, which is composed of physicians of high standing. We have a milk and food inspector and sanitary inspector and a secretary of the department of health and charities, and particular attention is given to keeping the city at all times in a sanitary condition. Filthy yards, stag- nant pools and great ash heaps are not allowed to exist, nor is the garbage allowed to be dumped around anywhere and we have an officer whose duty it is to attend to everything of this kind and he does his duty well.
Since the above was written there has been a canvas of the matters suggested for this city, and the committee decided on the one "The City of Opportunities." The Crescent Queen of Industry received third prize.
Both were suggested by Mr. W. H. Greer, who says :
"Please accept my sincere thanks for the first and third prizes offered by The Courier in the contest for the best motto for the city of Evans- ville. I certainly feel honored by the acceptance of my motto by the com- mittee appointed to decide on a suitable motto for our city, also for the favorable consideration of the third.
"Either motto-'The City of Opportunities' or 'The Crescent Queen of Industry'-is appropriate to our city.
"This is a 'City of Opportunities' for young, middle aged and old; in fact, for any who will grasp the opportunities that nature has provided.
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Located on the banks of the Ohio river, surrounded by a fine agricultural country, adjoining the banner agricultural county of the state (Posey county), having an inexhaustible supply of coal for fuel, the open gate to the south, transportation facilities by water or rail to every point of the compass, it is verily 'The City of Opportunities.'
"Our city has good drainage and good foundation for the heaviest buildings, being situated above the flood stage of the river, abundant clay for brick manufacturing, building stone comparatively near, as high a stand- ard of morality in its citizens as any city of equal population, in fact the opportunity is here to make this 'City of Opportunities' one of the leading commercial, manufacturing and residential cities of the United States.
"Not wishing to take up too much of your valuable space-for I could go on showing the opportunities Evansville presents to citizens or stran- gers, merchants, manufacturers, mechanics and farmers-I will again thank you and the gentlemen composing the committee who selected the motto and awarded me first and third prizes.
"Yours respectfully,
"W. H. GREER."
The Evansville Business Men's Association has just held its annual election, and Mr. Ben Bosse, a most active and influential citizen, was elected President. A better choice could not possibly have been made. Mr. Varney Dixon, a son of one of our pioneer merchants, retired after long service. His speech was much to the point. He said among other things :
"In retiring from the secretaryship after five years' service, I feel it to be my duty to offer a few suggestions for your consideration :
"First, I am heartily in favor of a consolidation of all the organizations under one head, with the regular meeting nights for each branch and quar- terly meetings of the main body.
"Second, If this cannot be accomplished this association should revise its constitution, that there can be no stock sold and new members should be solicited on the basis of a small initiation fee.
"The present stockholders could arrange a trusteeship to protect their holdings and guard against commercialism. To have weight and influence on questions affecting the public good requires numbers and a common in- terest and if you can get away from the thirty dollar share of stock, you can get new members. Your property is practically paid for and is worth more than the outstanding stock and it certainly does not look to me like a good business proposition to keep adding a liability against the property by issuing more stock.
"Third, An active effort must be made for new members to provide revenue to sustain the association. Good work cannot be done when only your bare necessities are provided for. It takes money to make an asso- ciation produce results just the same that it takes money to inake a success of your business."
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The meeting was well attended and enthusiastic.
The following committee was appointed to investigate the ways and means of Evansville representation at the Ohio Valley Exposition at Cin- cinnati : Col. Frank B. Posey, A. W. Igleheart, Sydney Ichenhauser, J. H. Rohsenberger and John D. Craft.
As can be readily seen, the latter part of this work is devoted to what the future has in store for this great and growing city. I have given many points which will redound to its advantage and have not called on others for their views, simply because they seemed so plain to me. But I almost daily see articles which have their bearing on the future of Evans- ville and one of the most recent is from the pen of Col. Charles Denby, who began his young life as a lawyer here. A portion of his history has been given in another part of the work. How he rose from one position to another till he became consul to China, is a part of the history of his native city. He is recognized as one of the foremost diplomats of this country and is now consul-general at Vienna. His special report to the State Department is entitled "Entering Foreign Markets," and that is just what this city with its immense manufactories proposes to do, for it pro- poses to send its goods world wide.
Col. Denby says :
"In a general sense the American merchant regards the foreign market as a natural phenomenon, and he is inclined to consider the problem of the approach to it to be solved along the broad laws of supply and demand. A not very profound consideration will show that for a proper understand- ing of foreign countries as markets for sale of merchandise, investigation must be pushed farther than the question : 'Is there a demand for my goods in such a market?' The demand itself must be analyzed and all the ele- ments which give rise to it must receive the most careful attention in order to arrive at a sound conclusion as to the advisability of introducing goods in any country."
Mr. Denby points out that the easiest form of demand to meet is the demand for an article or commodity already in use, and the easiest way to supply it is to sell the commodity for less than the present consumers are paying for the identical thing.
"If a producer in America can learn of a field where buyers pay for an article which he produces more than the price at which he can deliver it to them, his problem is free of difficulty; all he has to do is to produce his goods and arrange for their transport and sale. For such a business his concern is chiefly for accurate information as to cost of manufacture in his own field, freight rates to the foreign market, agency arrangements there, terms of payment, duties on imports, etc." But Mr. Denby adds that foreign trade does not usually. present such a simple aspect.
"For nearly all manufactured articles adaptation must be made to meet the exact wishes of the foreign buyer in order to secure a foothold," says he. "The manufacturer sometimes makes an article adapted to American
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consumers which he thinks should find a sale abroad. He is almost cer- tain to find, however, that in style his article is not exactly what the for- eign consumer wants; that it is better perhaps than the foreign article; that it is so made as necessarily to cost more than the foreign buyer is ac- customed to pay. In such a case there are two points of view possible for him. Firstly, he may decide to adapt his article to the demand of the for- eign market in quality and price, in manner of packing and delivery, in de- tail of credit and payment, and thus he may obtain a sale.
"This method is subject to certain disadvantages, however. A man- ufacturer who has created a trade in America for a high-class article, ad- vertised and commended by its excellence, is naturally unwilling to place a similar but inferior article on a foreign market. It would be bad busi- ness policy to do so. The manufacturer may be convinced, however, that his own goods are in reality so much better adapted than the foreign made article to the purpose for which intending that they should find a market in competition with such foreign articles in spite of the difference in qual- ity and price.
"The problem now becomes one not of adaptation in quality and price, but of bringing the foreign consumer to learn of and appreciate its superi- ority. This calls for the highest skill of the merchant. It is in this line that consuls and trade agents can be of the most valuable service to the American merchant."
Mr. Denby cites several examples. To show that it is for the American manufacturer to introduce a better article than now in use at an increased price. He says, for instance, that the American typewriter has made the demand which it now fills abroad; the American prepared grain products, breakfast foods, cereals, etc., have given rise to a new and rapidly extend- ing market abroad; the American soda water fountain, he points out, is also making its way in foreign countries. To sum up, Mr. Denby believes that the time has come when the American manufacturer should quit mak- ing the foreign market a dumping place for the stuff he is unable to sell at home.
At this writing the great question is what population will the present census give the city of Evansville. Conservative people place the figures at 75,000, while others claim that it will easily go to 80,000. It is unfor- tunate that it was taken just before the recent large plants had been added to the city for they would have brought in quite a number of workmen and their families who would have increased the number to quite an ex- tent. One of the most pleasant things to consider is that since the Board of Reviewers have finished their labors, their figures show an increase of $1,300,000 of assessable property over last year. There is no question that the property is here and their report should certainly have the effect of causing the tax rate to be reduced. Naturally as the city grows larger the taxes will grow less, because the amount of extra improvement made by the city will consist only of extending water mains. If new streets are
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built, or old ones extended, the city's proportion of the cost will be very small and it is therefore pleasant to everyone who owns property here to know that the taxes which have been grinding them down for the past years, will soon be reduced to a reasonable limit. If the odious city debt of which I have spoken could only be wiped out, it would be a great thing also in the way of creating a reduction.
Regarding this increase in taxable property, due credit should be given to Marcus S. Sonntag and Frank Lohoff, for the valuable assistance which they have given to the board. It has been too much the case in the past, that corporations would put in their holdings at any figure which hap- pened to suit them, without due regard to the real value of the same. In this matter Evansville has been handicapped for years.
Another thing for congratulation is the fact that the Evansville Business Association which has always been such an important factor in the wel- fare of Evansville, has taken on new life and its work during the next year promises to be of great value. Mr. Ben Bosse, than whom there is no more enterprising citizen, has been selected as president. Those who know him, know full well how full he is of push and energy. If new life can be forced into this association, Mr. Bosse is the man to do it. In his very first speech before the association he made many valuable sugges- tions. He also has a plan for increasing the membership which is a good one. He stated that he found on investigation, that there was only 300 members in the association, while Evansville has between 10,000 to 15,- 000 crafters and business men, all of whom he claims should be members. He also called attention to the fact that the younger business men were in- clined to shift the responsibility on the older heads and were not joining as they should. He thinks that the way to get a great number of new mem- bers is to charge a small initiation fee and small dues and not compel each member to purchase a share of stock in order to become a member. Mr. Bosse showed very plainly how the coming of one big institution will in- fluence others and made the plain statement that the coming of the Vulcan Steam Shovel Company which was brought here by the E. B. A. was the cause of the recent sale of a certain piece of real estate on Main street at $2,000 per foot front. He added that he knew that this was only the be- ginning and that several other industries which had been waiting the action of the Vulcan Company had now made up their minds to come. He im- pressed on the members the necessity of acting promptly and to the point and stated very truthfully that when a concern first wrote about coming here, they did not expect to have to wait a year before they could get a definite answer. His idea is that the time to strike the iron is when it is hot and while the writer is not in favor of these wind-booms which have caused ruin to so many cities, he also knows from his own business ex- perience, that delays are very dangerous and that the time to do business either with an individual or a corporation is right at the drop of the hat. Evansville has been held back in a great many ways through too much con-
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servativeness on the part of certain citizens. If all of them believed that it was wrong to let go of one dollar out of one hand before two were safely clinched in the other, this place would never be any larger than it is now.
Happily Evansville is past the point where it has to take chances on anything. The various points referred to in other portions of this work easily impress themselves on any institution seeking a new location. It is a well-known fact that institutions desiring to change locations are very much like sheep. Let it be known that one or two great concerns have found a splendid location and the rest follow. However, it is poor policy to rely wholly on natural advantages. If it takes a small amount of money to bring a plant here, that will at once make money for the city and its people, the money spent in getting it here, is well spent. No one should be "penny wise and pound foolish." Mr. Bosse also spoke of the Coliseum. In the opinion of the writer this is almost as much needed as a bridge across the river here, or another railroad. As it is, we have no large buildings in which to accommodate the crowds who would come here at any time when there is great attractions and a city in that condition is in- deed badly off.
Another old landmark will soon give place to a modern structure.
A concrete hospital of 30 rooms, modernly equipped with sunning par- lors, X-ray apparatus, operating and ambulance rooms, is now being built at Riverside avenue and Walnut street by Dr. Will Gilbert. The building will be three stories high. The dimensions will be 132 by 75 feet. The cost will be about $50,000, complete. The site is now occupied by the Saunders company with a livery barn.
Still another evidence of progress is as follows:
The Hercules Buggy company, soon to be the largest buggy factory in the world has more business than its present plant can handle and is con- templating a large addition. The company is doing an enormous business and the sales for the twelve months past in 1910 have run 25 per cent ahead of any previous year. The company on July 15 paid a quarterly divi- dend of one and three-fourths per cent on preferred stock.
W. H. McCurdy, president of the Hercules Buggy company, when seen at his office, said :
"I am very much pleased over the year's business. Our sales show an increase of from 25 to 30 per cent over the largest year we have ever had. During April and May we were compelled to take all of our salesmen off the road as we simply could not take care of the large demand for Her- cules buggies. So great has been this demand that I have seriously con- sidered putting a large addition to the buggy company and also an addition to the body and wheel plants. This move, however, has not been fully de- termined and will not be definitely settled until my return to Evansville about September I.
"For the past four months my factory has been building and shipping from 210 to 225 finished vehicles per day, and at this time we have orders
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in the house sufficient to keep us going to full capacity until September I. I look for a good business for the balance of this year and am now plan- ning the fall campaign. Our subsidiary factories have been compelled to run night and day in order to keep us fully supplied with bodies and wheels. Our product is shipped in every state in the Union, although the south, southwest and west are our best fields."
In this connection is introduced a well-written suggestion from the pen of Charles S. Hernly, who has done so much for this city :
ORGANIZATION THE KEY TO EVANSVILLE'S FUTURE.
"The advantages of Evansville so far as natural location and condi- tions are concerned go to make for great growth and development. There is no other city or location in Indiana that can compare with Evansville and it is destined to be eventually the largest and most thrifty city in In- diana.
"Nature has been extremely kind in depositing in and around Evans- ville the very best coal in the world in unlimited quantities and fuel is the greatest possible factor that can possibly enter into the building of a great city. Next to fuel comes transportation facilities and with the building of the Big Four into Evansville which is now under construction and with the development of a nine-foot stage in the Ohio river this city will take on a new life. These are only indications of what is coming to bring about the development of Evansville's natural resources.
"But with all of Evansville's advantages the thing most needed is new life, new blood and new money which is necessary to the development of her natural resources. The history of the world shows that the people themselves who are born and reared in the community with all the natural advantages are not the ones who take advantage of the situation and bring about great development.
"It takes great tonnage to make a great city and railroads will always build into a community where great tonnage is produced and as soon as Evansville people can show to capitalists now located in the great manu- facturing zone of the United States that skilled labor can and will be ac- cessible in and around Evansville by bringing into their midst some fac- tories that employ skilled labor, then Evansville will grow as it should grow. The mind grows upon what it feeds and the minds of the great manufactur- ing interests of the country have grown upon the idea that skilled labor cannot be employed outside of certain districts in this country. Hence they have been afraid to venture into new fields with large manufacturing plants. If a large concern were to start to build a plant today that would employ 5,000 to 8,000 hands, and that many skilled laborers were required to run their factory, where would they naturally go with this plant-to Pittsburg or Evansville?
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"Coal is cheaper at Evansville than at Pittsburg and coal is what made Pittsburg. Pittsburg was developed virtually by one railroad and the two rivers that meet at Pittsburg to form the Ohio, and after its development was assured all of the railroads in that section of the country built their lines into that city, and as Evansville grows she will get the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore & Ohio railroads and these great transportation lines are a necessity and will come.
"One thing that has never been dwelled upon here is the climatic con- ditions, which are superb. When the climate of Evansville is compared to that of Milwaukee for instance and the long hard snowy winters of the northern cities are compared to the mild winters of Evansville, it is readily to be seen what wonderful advantages Evansville has over the cities far- ther north for manufacturing purposes. When general conditions at Evansville are compared to any other city in Indiana there is no spot in the state that can be selected by the best expert in the land that compares even favorably with the conditions here.
"The inquiry then arises, why don't large manufacturing plants come voluntarily to Evansville? Whose fault is it, that of the factories or of Evansville people ?
"Without stopping to say whose fault it is or who is to blame another question arises and that is, has Evansville the right kind of organizations and has the right kind of work been done to bring the great industrial in- stitutions that ought to be here?
"The only thing to get them here and the only thing that will ever bring them here is a very close, compact organization of Evansville's business interests, which must be backed by the greatest degree of co-operation in such a way as to always put forward and show to the satisfaction of the great manufacturing interests of the country the reasons for the location of great factory plants in this city. Much is to be gained by stating the case strongly and well and at the right time. The day of commercial clubs and boards of trade sending out letters of stereotyped form are played out. When a great factory plant is to be located a man from Evansville must he on the ground with the factory people and he must be able to talk in such a way that he will impress the manufacturer that he has something extraordinary to offer. The trouble with Evansville is and has been that there are too many organizations in the city which are all in a way very good but the point I wish to make and impress is, that everybody in Evans- ville must belong to one strong, powerful, well organized industrial asso- ciation that will bring such pressure to bear upon large industrial institu- tions that they can be brought from what is now the large manufacturing belt or zone of the United States into this territory. This can only be done by a thoroughly organized, well directed and harmonious action."
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