USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > Some Fort Wayne phizes > Part 5
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So. while it is seldom that sickness is of benefit to anybody or anything. there are exceptions, and that once case of lung trouble brought to Fort Wayne one of its best citizens.
ALBERT C. ALTER
A STRANGER, looking at the accompanying picture, might get the idea that Mr. Alter is bigger than his automobile. He would be very excusable for the entertainment of such a notion, because the picture looks that way. But such is not the case. The snap- shot was taken on Washington boulevard as the machine was going at the rate of 397 miles an hour, and this was the best we could do. The fact is that Mr. Alter isn't much taller than the height represented by the diameter of the hind wheel. He isn't simply "a" little man-he's " the " little man. If you doubt it, read the sign painted in gold letters on his place of business at the transter corner. The court house is right across the street from it.
The subject of this sketch is a living proof of the falsity of the assertion that there's nothing in a name. The verb " alter" according to wise old Noah Webster and a few other authorities, means the same as " change," and this tells in a word just the manner in which Mr. Alter made his money. No, he didn't make it on 'change, as many another man has done: he sim- ply made it out of change- small change, pennies, nickels, and dimes. He started in as a hustling, thrifty newsboy, crying his wares on the very corner of which he is now the boss, a splendid example for the " newsies " who congregate there daily and make life interesting for those waiting for their cars. We hope they'll all peruse this little story and profit thereby. One day he found himself in charge of the Aveline news stand. Gradually his prosperity increased until he was able to open the present finely equipped cigar and news stand on the busiest corner of the city. All of this and his other evidences of prosperity - not excepting the automobile - have been accomplished because he has tried to treat everybody right, not forgetting, of course, Mr. Albert C. Alter.
OWEN N. HEATON
H AVE you ever noticed that the elevation of a lawyer to the judgeship at once invests him with all the dignity and the air of authority which is characteristic of the office? Of course, no material change comes over the man or his attitude toward his fellows, so it seems that the transformation takes place in our mental view of him. Such has been the case with Owen N. Heaton, whom, ever since his recent election to preside over the Superior Court of Allen County, we have dis- covered to possess a whole lot more of the aforemen- tioned qualities than we ever noticed before. As the uniform of the policeman, the soldier or the railway con- ductor gives them an importance which they cannot possess when not attired in these habiliments of author- ity. just so the imaginary robes of justice produce a change in our view of the man inside of them.
Judge Heaton was only seven months old at the time of the attack on Fort Sumpter, so he has a good excuse for not having a civil war record. He is a native of Allen County. He began life on a farm in Marion township in September, 1860, and knows as much about cows and rutabagas and Plymouth Rocks as he does about Black- stone. He began his education in the common schools and then spent three years in the Fort Wayne College. Leaving the college in 1885, he became convinced that he wanted to become a lawyer, so he began the study of the big, clumsy, leather-covered volumes in the office W. P. Breen. and learned so rapidly that he was admit- ted to practice the same year. Since then. he has risen to a high place in the bar of Allen County and of Indiana. In the fall of 1902, he was the Republican nominee for Judge of the Superior Court, and was one of the com- paratively few representatives of the party to receive honors at the hands of the voters of the county.
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WILLIAM C. BAADE
T HERE'S no telling where a boy who drives a team of mules is apt to land. It is no easy task to get a full day's work out of two stubborn representatives of the genus hinny, and the lad who makes a success of an attempt to do so is certainly made of good stuff and is bound to go higher. That also is apt to happen to the one who bungles the job. James A. Garfield was a mule driver: Charle M. Schwab, the man who broke Andy Carnegie's heart the same day that he broke the bank at Monte Carlo, began life's activities by driving a team of mules attached to a dray. So did William C. Baade. That was in '59. From that humble yet ele- vated position. the industrious lad who had shown a Spirit of perseverance in conquering the will of the dray team, was given a job as clerk in the grocery with which he was employed.
Then one day young Baade's ability was again recognized and he received an appointment as a mail car- rier from the Fort Wayne office. Leaving this employ- ment at the end of two years, he took a place as clerk in the Pittsburgh shops where he remained for some time. He then returned to the service of Uncle Sam, taking a place in the postoffice as stamp clerk.
By this time, Mr. Baade had a notion that he could safely engage in business for himself, and four years ago he established the book and stationery store which is still conducted by him. The business has run along smoothly and he is glad he did it.
Upon the death of Councilman George Hench, Mr. Baade was appointed by Mayor Berghoff to fill the va- cancy, which he did very acceptably for six months un- til the close of the term.
167#
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J. ROSS M'CULLOCH
T "HIS is a picture of a club man. John Ross McCul- loch is entitled to the appellation. Ross is a bachelor, has the inclination for club life and also the money. He works for the Hamilton National Bank as first assistant cashier. In club life he is active and use- ful. Besides knowing just how to swing a club he is vice president and a member of the house committee of the Kekionga Golf Club and also a member of the board of directors of the Anthony Wayne Club. He is devoted to athletics and has a regular physical diet. He began his muscular development in Fort Wayne in November, 1869. He got his early training in the Fort Wayne pub- lic schools and the schools at Tarrytown, New York, and finished his education in most advantageous sur- roundings in Washington, D. C.
Magellan went around the world in 1519-1521. Ross McCulloch followed him in 1893-1894. It only took Ross sixteen months to make his trip and hesides seeing the sights and getting a full knowledge of the world's his- tory he had some of the events not only indelibly en- graved on his mind but also on his hody. He is tho- roughly posted on travel. Ross came back to Fort Wayne full of pigment punctures and ambition. He be- gan his duties at the bottom of the ladder in his father's bank, the Hamilton National, and has carefully worked his way to the position which he now holds. While on a recent trip to the British Isles, Ross was a guest at Skibo Castle, the Scotland home of Andrew Carnegie. Ross saw Andy play golf for exercise. Since then the Indian clubs at the McCulloch gymnasium have become covered with cobwebs and Ross now gets the caddies very busy at the golf links. He does not wear the same golf suit Carnegie does but he plays just as good a game and, at the time this was written, was the second player on the club team.
66
ALEXANDER B. WHITE
A MAN who does not live farther away than three blocks from where he was born can truly be called a native. Alex White was inducted into the joys and tribulations of this world on Barr street near the city building. Now he lives on Clinton street a few blocks away. In the past thirty-three years he has not com- plained about Fort Wayne as a place in which to live. After leaving the Fort Wayne public schools he went to the University at Oxford, Ohio. What he did not learn there he acquired later in the Pennsylvania Military Academy at Chester, Pennsylvania. He marched home from Chester to embark in the bicycle business. He made the wheels go for a while and then sold out this business to enter the White Fruit House with his father, the late Captain James B. White.
When Alex left the military academy he thought the sword was a mighty thing. Since he has become treas- urer of the White Fruit House he is impressed with the fact that the pen is mightier than the long steel knife. Besides attending to his enormous duties in the busiest retail house in the city he finds time to do other things. At one time he served the Second ward in the council by appointment from Mayor Henry P. Scherer. He never got oratorical while in the council chamber but he looked at all public questions with a trained business eye. He knows what is good for Fort Wayne and what is not. That is why he goes to New York City every few weeks to find out what is good for Fort Wayne. He is tho- roughly progressive and can drive a bargain and also a fine team of horses. He has not contracted the gaso- line buggy fever yet because he admires horseflesh too much and always has a fine team to hold the ribbons uver. He is always busy looking for a chance to boom Fort Wayne and he usually finds the opportunity.
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77 77 73
DAWIT
有有有
NOW
WILLIAM P. COOPER
A MAN to whom Mr. Cooper is a stranger, if such there be in Fort Wayne. might ask, "Do what?" But the person who knows him wouldn't have to guess that he means simply this: "Lean on the New York Life, as I do."
Mr. Cooper is the company's general agent for this section of the state of Indiana, and he has not only done the insurance people good service but has favored thou- sands of policy holders and their dependents in getting them to lean on a good company.
Mr. Cooper began his career in Fort Wayne, where he was born on a summer's day in 1852. He was a school hoy during the troublous days preceding and during the civil war, and graduated from the high school of this city in the class of 1868. To still better equip himself for life's battles, he entered Dartmouth College, at Hanover. New Hampshire, and was gradu- ated from that institution in 1873,
Mr. Cooper spent several years in the newspaper business as a writer on papers in Fort Wayne, St. Louis and New York, and as a correspondent for several metropolitan daihes. His journalistic work was of an attractive, clean-cut kind.
As president of the Fort Wayne Board of Education, Mr. Cooper did much to maintain the high standard of the schools.
At present he is a member of the Board of State Charities, one of those positions which affords a lot of worrisome labor without the accompaniment of a salary. The cheerful performance of these duties. reveals a prominent feature of his makeup.
Mr. Cooper has been connected with the .New York Life Insurance Company for ten years as agent and gen- eral agent, and now is in charge of the company's business in a considerable portion of Northern Indiana.
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JOHN J. O'RYAN
H ERE we see Mr. O'Ryan returning from a run on the road.
This cool-headed man, besides attending to his daily duties as a railroader, is one of the prominent members of the city council of Fort Wayne. He is now filling his third term in that body as a representative of the Third ward.
As you may have observed, Mr. O'Ryan is a passen- ger engineer on the Pennsylvania railroad. He began Service as a fireman and won promotion on merit. At the throttle almost every day of his life he holds the safety of hundreds of lives in his hands, but with his cool head and steady hand sending the steam locomotive over the rails he carries his passengers to their journey's end without accident. His has always been duty well per- formed. Likewise, we haven't heard many kicks against his official career in the city council, and his popularity is attested by his repeated re-elections.
Physically he is the biggest man in the city council. He is pretty big other ways. He has a big heart and a big mind. These are the reasons of his personal popu- larity. On his hrst election to the council he won the nomination over half a dozen aspirants. He won at the polls in his subsequent elections easily. Mr. O'Ryan is now thirty-eight years old, a comparatively young man yet.
He was born and always lived in the ward which he now represents in the council. He was educated in the city schools, and on the public questions of the day. national, state, and municipal, keeps abreast of the times. In his social life his pleasant ways have brought him so many good friends that it is almost a relief to get out on the road for a breathing spell.
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PRAISES
OF
FORT
WAYNEI
AUGUST M. SCHMIDT
B UT for the location in this city of Concordia Col- lege, the name of Fort Wayne's present city clerk would not be August M. Schmidt. He came here from Saint Louis, then his home. at the age of 15. to attend this Lutheran educational institution and, immediately after his graduation in 1880, determined to remain here, accepting a clerical position with the hardware firm of Prescott Brothers, but resigned it a year afterwards to enter the employ of the Wabash Railway Company as a clerk in the treight department. His executive abilities won for him rapid promotion and he rose to the position of general yardmaster, remaining with the company until 1895 when he embarked in the insurance business. In May, 1896, he was appointed clerk of the municipal boards of the city and held the position until the adop- tion of the charter amendments legislated him out of office.
But he soon returned to public position. When the election of the spring of 1901 came on he was nominated by the Democrats for city clerk, Henry C. Berghoff lead- ing the ticket for mayor. It was a hotly contested municipal campaign. Captain Charles E. Reese, a sol- dier in the war with Spain, was the Republican candi- date for mayor and F. Will Urbahns. a popular young railroad man, for clerk. Mr. Berghoff and Mr. Schmidt won. the latter's wide acquaintance and personal pop- ularity being elements of strength to the ticket. He en- tered upon the duties of the office and is the present city clerk.
Mr. Schmidt has for many years been connected with a number of local building and loan associations and they have been largely benefitted by his executive abili- ty and splendid business management.
Mr. Schmidt is one of the city's popular vocalists. Here we see him singing his favorite solu.
70
HOMER A. GORSLINE
N most cities a policeman is a never-present help in time of trouble. It isn't so in Fort Wayne. Super- intendent Gorsline has ordered otherwise, and as a result there is nothing to be seen but a blue streak at the very moment that a "trouble" call comes in to the station; the sapphire-colored stripe through the atmus- phere is simply the hurry-up glimpse that you obtain as the brave officers get their legs busy carrying them tu the center of agitation.
Homer A. Gorshine, superintendent of the Fort Wayne police department, has held that important office since May. 1896, at which time he was appointed by Mayor Scherer. He has made a good record. He came to Fort Wayne when he was twelve years old and attended school several years. He was employed for a while in a clothing store and later left the city for a tune, going to Decatur, Indiana, where he held the position of deputy county auditor. He then went to Columbus, Ohio, and enlisted in the regular army as a band musician. After serving six years and rising to the sergeant-majorship- the highest non-commissioned office -- he was honorably discharged and returned to Fort Wayne. Again he turned his attention to the clothing business and was thus employed when he received his appointment as superintendent of police. He is a staunch Democrat and a warm friend of organized labor.
It is a noticeable fact that the daily police court "grind " in Fort Wayne is as small, perhaps, as that of any other city of its size in the country. Our people are, of course, a good deal more decent than you'll find else- where, but a large bit of credit is due to the well-man- aged police department, which performs its double duty uf arresting offenders and keeping a watchful eye on those who act as though they were about to commit acts against the best interests of society.
OF
POLICE
HOW MUCH
FOR IT?
INSURANCE NOLIELS
HENRY C. SCHRADER
M R. SCHRADER is from Germany-a long way from Germany. He never lived there. His folks did, though. It was seventy years ago that the parents of Mr. Schrader decided to forsake their native land and come to America. Maybe they decided to come earlier than that, but it was the year 1834 that saw them step upon American soil.
They first settled in Hardin County, Ohio, where the subject of this sketch was born. He spent his boyhood days there and at Logansport. Indiana, to which city the family removed in 1851. They later resided for a time at Wabash.
Mr. Schrader came to Fort Wayne in 1866. He has seen Wabash several times since then, but never wanted to go there to live. It works that way with everybody who once settles in Fort Wayne. The first thing he did here after getting acquainted with the points of the com- pass was to engage in the shoe business under the firm name of Markley, Schrader & Company.
In 1875 he began his career in the insurance. real estate and rental business. He has been so successful that he hasn't even paused during the long period in which he has transacted hundreds of thousands of dol- lars' worth of business in these various lines, and he hasn't any notion of even hesitating, as long as things keep coming his way as they have since he wrote his first insurance policy twenty-nine years ago.
In 1889, Edward M. Wilson bec.ime associated in the business with Mr. Schrader and the firm has since been known as Schrader & Wilson.
Mr. Schrader, during his long residence in Fort Wayne, has always taken a great deal of interest in public affairs, and has been identified in various ways with the development ot the city which adopted him.
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JOSEPH E. STULTS
THE word, coroner, probably comes from the French. courte, meaning to run. In the first place, if you want to be coroner, it is necessary to run for the office: and after you've got it, it is required that you keep yourself prepared to run immediately un the first call for your services. The picture shows Dr. Stults on the run. He's the coroner.
The coroner is the man who gets there after it's all over and starts a guessing contest as to how it hap- pened. Dr. Stults has been thus occupied quite fre- quently during the two years he has been in office. He didn't always live here, although he has been a Hoosier all his life. He was born in Whitley county, in 1850, his parents having removed from Stark county, Ohio. to that place and settled on a farmi in 1841. After a series of prosperous years as a farmer, the father of Dr. Stults went to Huntington county tolive. His popularity was shown by his election to the office of county treasurer in 1880. Dr. Stults had, in the meantime, been attending the public schouls and later spent a period at Roanoke Seminary to add to the store of knowledge he had gath- ered on the farm and elsewhere; so he was well qualified to take a position as deputy in his father's office.
Then he came to Fort Wayne and attended the old Fort Wayne College several terms before entering upon the study of medicine with two leading physicians at Huntington. Returning to this city, he entered the Fort Wayne College of Medicine and titted himself to engage in practice in 1880.
He was nominated for coroner by the Republicans in the fall of 1902, and was one of the comparatively few representatives of the party to win out in that memorable campaign. He is again the party's candidate.
M. D.
JOSEPH A. BURSLEY
"‘J JOE" Bursley says he has come back to Fort Wayne to stay. He likes to be a university pro- fessor pretty well, but Ann Arbor isn't halt as nice as Fort Wayne.
Mr. Bursley ought to like Fort Wayne. It was here he drew the first vital breath and Fort Wayne has been just as good to him since then as she knows how to be : her latest beneficence was in the shape of a seat in the Council Chamber. The sketch shows Mr. Bursley just arisen from the seat for the purpose of presenting an ordinance for the welfare of the city.
In 1895 Mr. Bursley was graduated from the Fort Wayne high school, and almost immediately afterward he went to Ann Arbor and began his studies in the en- gineering course of that institution. By the spring of 1899 he had learned it all and they gave him a nice diploma with a gold seal in the corner and tied with two yards of white satin ribbon. When he came home, he showed the gold seal and the satin ribbon to the Penn- sylvania Company and they hired him. For three years he was employed in the motive power department of the road, part of his duties keeping him in the shops, the re- mainder being spent in experimental work in testing locomotives.
For seven months. then. he was abroad enjoying the historical and natural sights of the old world. For one year after his return he was employed with G. E. Bursley & Company, the wholesale grocers.
He was elected as a Republican member of the City Council in 1002. His selection as a teacher in the me- chanical engineering department af the University of Michigan, has kept him out of town for some time, but he returns to give his attention to local interests.
ORDINANCE
74
SYLVANUS B. BECHTEL
- F this man should throw up his job and the Bowser company decide to abandon the department which he represents, it is safe to say that the aforementioned concern would go "kerflummux." He is the advertising man, the individual who is just now busy informing the people of unenlightened Europe that the only real thing in the oil tank line is manufactured in the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, U. S. A. Of course, everybody in America, pretty nearly, knows it already, and Mr. Bech- tel, while he is thoroughly in favor of giving America the best of it in most instances, feels as though the folks on the other side ought to be let into the secret. He is just now very husy doing the letting.
As a consequence, the fame of Fort Wayne is being still further spread abroad.
Like many of the other illustrious sons of the repuh- lic, Mr. Bechtel started in life as a farmer boy, his folks living near Middleville, Michigan. After leaving the high school at Wayland, the same state, he trained the minds of the younger generation in a country school for three years. From there he went to Grand Rapids where he handled the coin received over the counter of the business office of the Daily Democrat.
Then he came here. It was in July, 1890. Starting in as superintendent of collections, he illustrated the fact that he was heartily interested in the welfare of the Bowser company. So he was advanced to the position of superintendent of salesmen, and one year later, 1902, took his present position as manager of the mail order and advertising department of that important institu- tion. Incidentally, Mr. Bechtel finds time to act as superintendent of the Sunday school of the First Baptist church, and to officiate as president of the Fort Wayne Advertising Men's club.
ALL ABOUT OIL TANKS
e
WILLIAM C. RASTETTER
NE can hardly imagine how a man who is said to have wheels and other buggy material could be a companionable fellow to have about Will Rastetter. however, is one of the most popular young business men in Fort Wayne today. Will has lots of wheels and his buggy material does not need insect powder.
One cold winter day in January. thirty years ago, Will Rastetter was born in this very city. Although he is not a very tall man, he was graduated from the Fort Wayne high school with high honors in 1893. He went into business at once with his father, the late Louis Rastetter, one of the pioneer manufacturers of Fort Wayne. In five years Will was able to step in and take the entire responsibility of the Rastetter factory. He has kept pace with the times. With the advent of bicy- cles Will began at once to manufacture bicycle rims extensively, and most of the noted manufacturers use his rim. Now the automobile has pushed its way to the front, and we find hun making rims for the motor cars. His factory, ever mindful of the necessity of the horse. has kept on making vehicle wood stock of all descrip- tions. Like Helen's babies, he likes to see the wheels go. but unlike most men, he emjays seeing his own wheels go. They go well, and the output of his factory rolls all over the United States. A rolling wheel gathers no inoss, but it wears out in time, and Will is right on hand with the goods when this happens, Besides being very busy, he has time to be popularly sociable. Two years ago he was Exalted Ruler of the Fort Wayne lodge of Elks, and he is also a prominent Scottish Rite Mason. He is rapidly approaching the state of bachelor- hood and up to date poses as a man who is heart-whole and fancy free.
FRANK J. BELOT
- T seems as though the man who makes the must tell- ing gestures is the one who wins the debate, and when we trace it back farther we find that a good many forceful speakers, especially among the lawyers, learned to use their arms pitching hay. There seems to be but a step between stacking timothy and slinging rhetoric. So it is with Mr. Belot. For years he performed heavy work on the old Belot homestead in Perry township. where he was born in 1863, and built the foundation for a most successful after career.
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