USA > Ohio > Allen County > A standard history of Allen county, Ohio : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development > Part 54
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Prof. Wendell Eysenbach of Delphos was teaching piano in Lima when Mr. Feltz first entered the musical activities of the community. Among other early piano teachers were: Nannie Worley (Mrs. Hughes), Sallie Smeltzer, Hortense Young and Miss Folger. Delphos was always a musical community ; it drew from Gomer, Vendocia and Vaughnsville -all Welsh communities, and with Hugh Owens as musical director Del- phos was the first city to put on an Eisteddfod ; while it won many prizes it also offered them; the Misses Buzzard and Cochran, who were famous singers in Delphos, entered the, musical life of other cities after study- ing abroad, and their names were known on the concert stage. There was an unusual musical venture in Spencerville in 1910, when M. C. Schricker purchased the Keith Hotel of sixty-five rooms, and converted it into a school of music-the Ohio Conservatory. The plan was to make it a music boarding school, but since the students failed to come because of the inaccessibility of the place, and the lack of the necessary advertis- ing the place reverted again to a hotel. While Mr. Schricker knows stringed instruments, he engaged teachers for piano and all music fea- tures. The sign, Conservatory Hotel, causes the stranger to ask about it.
So many Allen County musicians have studied abroad that it is unsafe to mention some unless all were included, and yet Edna DeLima (Mrs. J. W. Van Dyke) has made her mark as a soloist; Marguerite Zender as an actress, and Nora Sprague as an understudy to Julia Mar- lowe; the musical ability is in evidence, and with music taught in the public
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schools none need escape discovery ; as supervisor of public school music, Mark Evans has a boys' and girls' chorus of 125 voices, and there is a high school orchestra that brings out the musical ability; there is no question about the future of music in Allen County since it is given attention in all of the public schools. When a boy is ready to leave the high school orchestra there are theater orchestras and bands awaiting him. The Elks' Hussar Band and the Lima City Band are conspicuous in the parks in summer, and there are jazz orchestras innumerable, and some prefer the jazz. A newspaper clipping says: "Jazz, syncopating, aggra- vating, tintinnabulating and unmistakable, smote the ears of members of the South Side Mission as they approached the house of worship for an hour of prayer," and to them it was most sinful.
"The music appeared to emenate from the mission; had his Satanic Majesty himself appeared, the church members could not have been more startled ; they looked through the portals; it is alleged they saw a youth of seventeen sitting at the piano, wriggling his fingers and swaying his body in unison with the music; also there was the scent of cigarette smoke contaminating the church air; the jazz player is alleged to have had a cigarette between his lips," and thus jazz has manifested itself in the community. There are music critics who openly condemn jazz. The news item says the boy was arrested, but was released on his own recog- nizance for hearing in police court. Later, he was acquitted. The South Side Mission is not the only religious organization that has quibbled' over music. In some instances the organ was admitted into the Sunday school before it was allowed in the church service; some sang low and some sang high, and with an organ to regulate the tone the church choir finally became recognized as a necessity. "Zion am a hard road to trabel, I believe," but music usually prevails.
"Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag, and smile, smile, smile," and music seems to be effective. As an industrial secretary of the Lima Young Men's Christian Association, doing his work at noon hours, S. C. Biddle reports that the small cabinet organ he carries had helped him to gain audiences with factory men; the noonday luncheons so common among business men assembled in clubs are always featured with com- munity singing ; it has been demonstrated that men will sing when some one takes the initiative, and song folders are distributed in many public meetings. The community watchword, "Lima leads," is suggestive, but there are musical activities everywhere; the Bluffton College Conserva- tory making special efforts as a music center. From the range of pro- grams issued by Prof. G. A. Lehmann as music director, nothing escapes Bluffton college. Ever since its organization in 1911, this music depart- ment has been one of the mainstays of the musical life of Bluffton and community. While the Welsh are not the only musicians in Allen County, they have had an influence in focussing attention upon the community. Let all unite in the chorus :
"There's a long, long night a waiting Until my dreams all come true ; Till the day when I'll be going down That long, long trail with you."
CHAPTER XLI
THE.OPEN DOOR OF THE COMMUNITY-THE HOTEL
While the Daniels cabin in Lima was a hostelry for the circuit riders attending court in Allen County, and a merry group assembled there christened the town by casting names in a hat, it is popularly understood that John P. Mitchell was the first man to invite the public to abide with him temporarily, and since he once walked to Wapakoneta for flour, he must have had the comfort of others in mind-must have been a public spirited citizen. It was called the Lima Inn and was located on the site of the Lima House, the name Lima always having been associated with the name of the hostelry.
The Lima Inn was opened the year local government was established in Allen County ; while it occupied the site at the corner of the public square on Market and Main streets, the cattle ran out and the settlers knew where to look for them when they heard the bells; travelers knew the milk supplied at table was the genuine article; the citizens who had cows would note the direction of the bell in the evening, so they would know which way to go in the morning when rounding the herd up for the milking time; the cows would be lying down and the bells would be hushed, and often deer were lying with them when they were found in the morning. The Lima Inn was a double log house, and it was a welcome sign to travelers; the Lima House still sustains that relation to the traveling public-the only public house in Allen County that has never changed its name.
In 1832, there is mention of three hostelries-Lima Inn, and the Musser and Bashore-both carrying the names of the pioneer families operating them. Hotel or tavern licenses were granted in an early day to Mr. Mitchell, James Crozier and Samuel Washburn, the latter a citizen of the Fort Amanda community. A small card issued from the office of the Chamber of Commerce calling attention to the many advantages to be found in Lima mentions five hotels (first class), without designat- ing them, and it is said there are about fifty lodging and boarding houses, so that travelers are cared for in the community. Sometimes it is neces- sary to make reservations in advance to obtain accommodations at the first class hotels.
In Lima the Lima House and 'Hotel Norval are under one manage- ment and operated as a chain of hotels; the Waldo and Manhattan are rental properties, while the Barr is owned by O. O. Barr, who is its land- lord-the only landlord owner, and the Argonne in progress of building is a stock company, mostly Lima capital, and all that is modern in hostel- ries is promised in it. The Argonne is in the nature of a memorial of the young manhood who faced death in the Argonne forest in the World war. Because of the cafeteria competition, all Lima hotels are operated on the European plan. Table de hote days are now relegated to past history ; the self-serve tea rooms and cafeterias have supplanted the old- time public dining rooms and restaurants; the waiter and the accom- panying tip are eliminated under the modern plan, and a home-like atmos- phere prevades everything ; one need not be accompanied by an escort, and one may talk with others without the formality of an introduction ; one may choose his own menu and no one is to blame but himself ; while
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some prefer table de hote service, the majority seems to have welcomed the opportunity of self-service.
Never again, said two or three hotel men when asked about the American plan hotel service. However, in communities smaller than Lima where cafeterias are unprofitable, one may have table de hote and leave as much change for the waiters as his better nature dictates-or he may demand food, and not so much service. There are men and women who remember the tavern bell, although hotel men now say they cannot operate a dining room at a profit. Some one has written:
"The landlord has tricks that are novel and quaint, As people who travel know well-
He gives the old tavern a new coat of paint, And names it the Palace Hotel."
The old hotels had bar rooms and all had running water-whenever it rained the water ran from the roof, and perhaps the profit from the bar offset the loss from the tables when the American plan of operating hotels prevailed in Lima.
While the wartime high cost of living was being discussed, travelers said Jesse James was holding forth again, and one who desired shelter had just as well not argue the rate question ; when a man registered and asked a landloard where he kept the stolen horses, the landlord protested, saying he had nothing but Fords; when another landlord said the sugges- tion looked like 30 cents, the prospective guest said it was a bed he wanted-but seeking accommodations elsewhere he soliloquized: "That bird tried to rob -" and then he found he could not be accommodated. The average landlord knows the traveling public better than he knows the immediate community. It is to the hotel clerk's advantage to be able to speak the names of guests who come again. They like to feel they have a friend when they are always among strangers. Before there were dining cars on all transcontinental trains, the French House in Lima was a popular hostelry. All through trains stopped for dinner, and the French Hotel was then the "high spot" of the town; it was operated by Charles Finney and John Bourquin, and was a social center for Lima citizens; the building is used by the Lima Truck and Storage Company today. The profit to the French House came from the dinner guests who came off of through trains, glad of such an opportunity.
There was a time when the Lima House, Burnett Hotel and the French Hotel were known to all. Hotel Norval succeeded the Burnett, and the Burnett followed the American-and Joseph Simon was pro- prietor of the American House. Hotel Norval is the third name designat- ing the same hostelry ; when J. C. Lindehmann acquired the Burnett and remodeled it, he commemorated a valuable horse in the name Norval ; he was a race track stallion. The Lima House has always had its present name, and the French Hotel collapsed when dining car service was estab- lished on the railroad trains. While there is a Harrod Hotel, and Minor Harrod is a pioneer, he only operated the house six weeks; it has always carried its original name. John Shade once operated the Lima House, and when Joseph Goldsmith acquired it he made of it a profitable hostelry. Mr. Goldsmith of the Lima House married a daughter of Mr. Simon of the American House, and thus the Jews once controlled the hotel situation in Lima. Mr. Goldsmith was recognized as a expert hotel man; he was always on the market early and bought the best of everything ; he always had a great many over-Sunday guests because of his dinner service.
While there is excellent hotel patronage four days in the week, Lima has never been rated as a week-end town. The bulk of the patronage is
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from Monday till Friday-transient patronage. The hotel is for the man away from home, but he spends as many Sundays at home as he can, the week-ends always being long when forced to spend them in hotel lobbies ; hotel lobbies, however, are forums where every economic question is dis- cussed, and the stranger need not be alone. The Immortal J. N. was frequently a guest at the Lima House; when the landlord was generous and threw off half the bill he was equally generous throwing off the other half, and thus celebrities are known in Lima hostelries. He would lift the veil unless people accommodated him; he was a star boarder everywhere, and he was equally well known to railroad officials; he never paid for anything. When the Immortal J. N. died several years ago the newspapers were filled with stories about his liberality. He finally lifted the veil.
The story is told of the Crepps tavern in Westminster-that the profits from it were used in building and maintaining a church, but not all land- ladies are inclined that way; it was a woman who did it-the church a monument to herself and her husband; it was destroyed in a storm, and the community did not rebuild it. The Spencer House in Spencerville later became known as the Keith, or Keeth Hotel, because when Johnzy Keeth acquired it, he thought to perpetuate himself, but when it changed hands again it was called Conservatory Hotel, and as long as landlords have no leases on their lives they cannot control the situation after they cease hotel activities ; it is said that Mr. Keith inspected all the material used in his hotel, and died before he had completed it. The Spencer House reflected the community name, while Keith Hotel commemorated the man who built it, and Conservatory keeps alive the memory of an unsuccessful school of music-there's nothing in a name, Shakespeare said it long ago.
It was Section Ten that had the hospitable hotel names. Landlord Savage was proprietor of Travelers' Rest, and after the town was called Delphos Joseph Ostendorf arrived by boat at night, but he would not venture through the mud and remained all night at the landing, going for breakfast next morning at Travelers' Rest. The American House and the Ohio House both flourished in canal days in Delphos; there were canal passengers and a stage coach carried passengers to and from the packets. The Phelan House serves the community today, and its cafe- teria ranks with others-serve yourself and have what you like, but in Spencerville and Bluffton the traveler sits down to a table, and a dinner is spread before him-American plan in the smaller communities. The records of the fire department mention two hotel fires in Lima-Hotel Cambridge and Hotel Uhlen, and the fire escapes are a requisite in all hostelries. The transient guest like's to know that his bed is clean and free from vermin, and in order to offer sanitary accommodations there must be efficient chamber-maid service.
While the landlord and landlady once entered into the social life of a community, personality does not seem to count for so much in this economic age-service the single requirement. Sometimes the landlord's wife is housekeeper and looks after the comfort of guests, and some- times she superintends the kitchen and dining room service; a woman who has trouble with a single servant in a private home would find little pleasure in managing the hotel servants. As to guests and making them feel at home-leave them alone, and they enjoy it. The way for a guest to find out who is "boss," is to "start something," and usually he learns all about it. The landlord and hotel clerk have sufficient opportunity to study human nature.
CHAPTER XLII
ORGANIZED LABOR IN ALLEN COUNTY
There are many benefits arising from organization, and those who labor with their hands are not all who are benefited; however, a labor writer says: "As unionism grows, the greater power placed in its hands may be misunderstood and diverted to purposes of private profit, thus forming a veritable labor trust. This will not be possible, however, as long as leaders of the labor movement see fully the needs of wagework- ers, and remain true to their responsibilities."
While "sweat shop" tactics have never been practiced in Allen County, union labor does enter its protest and teach the following: "Let every worker demand goods bearing the union label, and nearly every trade of importance bears such a label on its product ; the woman who sweeps the floor can buy a union broom as well as the man can wear a union suit of clothes, and in making your purchase in a store inquire for a union clerk, and make it plain to him that the article you want must carry the union label, when made by a craft that has a label; constant inquiry for union label goods has made the merchant and manufacturer recognize the demand for them. Let organized labor continue to demand union goods, and it will not be long until every article used by man will carry the union label," and this bit of loyalty finds its counterpart in the Shorthorn cattle breeder who ordered roast beef at table de hote, and the horticulturist who demanded that apples be included in the fruit menu because he was a member of the Apple Growers' League. "In union there is strength," is a saying almost as old as the language in which it is written, and even agriculture, an occupation as old as the world itself, is casting about. for methods of protecting its particular interests.
When the chasm between capital and labor has been spanned by the bridge of better understanding, there will be fewer clashes in the eco- nomic world; there is said to be little union difficulty in the shops in Allen County towns ; there are open shops and with union men working side by side with men who do not belong to labor unions, Lima manufacturers are optimistic about the local labor situation ; while under wartime labor conditions there were a dozen jobs awaiting every man, the pendulum swung back again, and there were a dozen men awaiting every job; the manufacturers and men operating any form of industry have been able to ferret out the indifferent, inefficient workers, thus reducing their pay rolls, and in some instances it is said pay rolls have been reduced without lessening the production simply because the diffident workers have been eliminated, and capable men continue their efforts.
While many men employed in local shops belong to unions, organized labor does not control the situation by taking over the management, but through observation employers are enabled to see that sodden drudges- mere time servers, are not as desirable as workers who so plan their lives as to have leisure for recreation, study, and mental improvement ; it is all right to humanize working conditions, and to investigate the best methods of releasing human energy, and while the many war contracts brought about a scarcity of common labor and a shortage of machinists, it was not so acute in Lima as to restrict production; a local strike in 1919 resulted in failure, and labor conditions have been such as to enable the majority of laborers to own their own homes and live comfortably there; the laborers in Lima belong to the permanent class of citizens;
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there are not many floaters and not much unrest in Lima labor circles ; while unions exist, Lima industries are conducted on the open shop plan. While there are foreigners and negroes employed at common labor, there are many skilled workmen in Lima factories.
It is said that a group of progressive labor leaders among whom was Harry Thomas, secretary of the Cleveland Federation of Labor, first agitated the Ohio Workman's Compensation Law in 1909, and that there are now workmen's compensation laws in forty-three states, Alaska, Porto Rico and Hawaii; those not organized are the non-industrial states of the South ; under wartime conditions common labor has been paid for at the rate of 40 and 50 cents an hour, even laundresses receiving $4 a day for eight hours; nine hours has been recognized as a working day for men and eight hours for women; there are laws regulating the hours of labor for women and children, with restrictions lifted in canneries where there are perishable products ; in most industries labor has Satur- day afternoon off, a thing desired by Sabbatarians who feel that with a Saturday afternoon half holiday there is a better church attendance; the laborers themselves may answer the question.
It is said there is a small surplus of female labor in Lima, available for cigar and candy factories; there are students of economic conditions who would like to see the women remain in the homes; a writer says that with increased living expenses women have entered factories, and instead of utilizing cheaper cuts of meat they all buy beef steaks because they have no time for preparing roasts and practicing other household economies known to many women. When the woman was the vine, and the man was the oak, there was little said about household problems ; she had the time and inclination to look after them herself. Because of labor demands and the need of an education, there is a law providing that no boy under fifteen or girl under sixteen years of age shall be employed in any busi- ness whatever during the hours when the public schools are in session, thereby rendering education compulsory, and men and women are able to see the wisdom of such measure.
Anything that makes the home more comfortable, renders life more happy, and has a tendency to better social conditions, is worthy of favor- able consideration, and such has been the mission and to some extent the effect of trade unionism in Allen County ; while the printers have always had unions-have always been slightly in advance of other forms of organized labor, the trade union movement in Allen County really began with the phenomenal growth of Lima, and it spread throughout the county wherever labor was employed soon after the oil industry attracted out- siders to the community. It was in 1885, that the eyes of the world were focussed on Allen County. When industries were attracted to the com- munity many of the men who came with them already belonged to labor unions; for several years the growth of unionism was rapid in Allen County.
The trade union movement has developed some bright intellects, and brought into active service many earnest hearts whose sacrifices and labors are part of the treasured blessing of unionism; when Labor Day comes round on the first Monday in each September, the skilled labor of the community walks forth, and the general public enjoys the parade and display features connected with the annual celebration. While it is so often the "walking delegate" that is before the public mind, it is well to remember that his relation with organized labor is that of financial secre- tary, treasurer and business agent. While the laborers are attending to duty, he is taking care of their combined interests, and some one says: "A oneness of purpose and unity of action under the trade union system .
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of organization, are forces that are simply irresistible, and cannot fail in their mission of mercy, justice and righteousness." While "open shop" prevails throughout Allen County, many of the skilled laborers belong to the different trade unions.
Co-operative marketing arrangements exist in many communities, and while they had not thought of it in that light Allen County farmers through the Grange, Farmers' Institute and Farm Bureau have effec- tive unions promoting their own best interests; the better farming move- ments are all an outgrowth of the idea of protection and self-preserva- tion ; in the 1920 political campaign, United States Secretary of Labor William B. Wilson' said while speaking in Memorial Hall in Lima that the national labor union had early recognized the question of franchise for women, but farmer organizations always have recognized the women. In agriculture the woman is always on a par with the man ; while she may not vote with her husband, she has a voice in the question of home economics ; the Institute programs take her and her needs into considera- tion. The Grange has always recognized the woman.
The newest thing in organized labor is the Farm Bureau of Allen County ; there is no one thing more thoroughly in accord with the spirit of the times than the law providing for agents in the different counties to confer with the farmers for the purpose of increasing the yield of agricultural products, and making the life of the farmer more enjoyable in every way, and the farm bureau is receiving loyal support in Allen County ; not so many years ago a suggestion of this kind would have met with criticism, and today it suggests the old-time method of teaching grammar-teach it without calling it grammar, because of the opposition to it, and many identified with the Farm Bureau do not look upon it as a union, although it serves their purpose in the same way that the trade union protects the factory man. An Allen County implement salesman, A: D. 1920, remarked: "When I had a wife and four children I worked on a farm for $19 a month," and there was a time when 25 cents an hour for farm labor, and 50 cents in harvest were regarded as exorbitant wages." Under war conditions Allen County farmers have paid higher wages, and when readjustment began they were the first to realize it.
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