USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume II > Part 24
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Other clubs of a like nature and comparatively equally successful are the Lions Club and the Kiwanis Club, each of which has a large membership and are energetic and active in the same line of work as the Rotary Club.
In addition to these there are the Advertising Men's Club, the Salesmanship Club, the Knights of Columbus and the Doctors' Club.
All of these organizations exercise great influence in bringing business men together, enabling them to become acquainted and to assist each other in every proper manner.
NEWSPAPERS
It would be an almost endless task, and one that the writer will not essay, to tell the history of all the newspapers of this city. Fort Worth has been the graveyard of the hopes and aspirations of ambi- tious men who, without capital, and oft-times without experience, have undertaken the work of furnishing the public with a newspaper in Fort Worth.
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
It was in March, 1860, that Fort Worth had its first paper. It was started by a man by the name of Cleveland and was called The Enterprise. How long it continued and what became of it the writer has been unable to ascertain. It went out of business during the war between the states.
The second attempt was made in October, 1871, when Maj. K. M. Van Zandt, John Hanna, W. H. Overton, Sam Evans and Junius Smith bought from Maj. J. J. Jarvis the press and material of a paper at Quitman in Wood County and moved it here and started the Fort Worth Democrat. It was edited by John Templeton, a young lawyer, who subsequently became attorney-general of the State of Texas. In October, 1872, the paper was sold to Capt. B. B. Paddock, who assumed management and control on the first of January, 1873. He continued its publication until June 30, 1882, when it was merged with The Live Stock Journal, owned by George B. Loving, and changed to the Fort Worth Gazette, which, during its continuance confessedly was the best paper ever printed in Texas.
Captain Paddock retained an interest in the paper and was the managing editor.
On July 4, 1876, The Democrat started the first daily paper, coming out as a morning paper on the morning of the Centennial year, unannounced and unheralded, without a single subscriber or a line of advertising. The audacity of the enterprise made a favorable impression on the public-spirited and generous people of the city, and they rallied to its support with enthusiasm. But there was neither room nor a patronage for a daily paper in a city of 3,000 people, and the patronage, however liberal, would not furnish it with the necessary nourishment, and it was a financial failure from start to finish. It was a wide-awake, enterprising little sheet, advocating with zeal and enthusiasm every measure that its owner considered for the upbuilding of the city.
In 1873 the Fort Worth Standard made its bow to the public. It was owned and managed by Mr. J. K. Millican, who came hither from Homer, Louisiana. It was followed the same summer by The Epitomist, established by Will H. Lawrence, who came from Law- rence, Kansas. The panic of 1873 sent it to the happy hunting grounds. On its demise L. R. Brown, who had been associate editor, leased the material and started The Post, which lasted about three weeks. The public realized that there was not room enough for two papers, much less three, and failed to accord it any patronage. The Standard lasted for several years, but finally succumbed to the inevit- able.
The Evening Journal, The Mirror, The Evening Star, The Eve- ning Mail, The Tribune, The News and many others came and went down in the years that followed. The experience of one seemed to have no effect on the ambitions of the men that knew how to run a paper.
In the spring of 1885 The Gazette, which had been run under high pressure, was forced to suspend. It was purchased by a stock com- pany, organized for that purpose by Major Van Zandt, Walter Huff-
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
man, Morgan Jones, W. L. Malone, B. B. Paddock and others who desired to have a good morning paper in the city. The ownership finally passed into the hands of Mr. Walter Huffman, who during his life time kept it up at great sacrifice and financial loss. But its stand- ard never faltered. It was a good paper, published every day in the week. After the lamentable death of Mr. Huffman his widow essayed to continue the publication of the paper. It was still conducted at great financial loss, and during the panic of 1893 Mrs. Huffman realized that she could no longer stand the strain incident to its pub- lication, and sold the paper to Captain Paddock. He had neither
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STAR TELEGRAM BUILDING, FORT WORTH
desire nor ambition to continue in the business, and was only actuated by a wish that the paper should not suspend. He proceeded at once to organize a company to take over the property. He associated Mr. W. L. Malone, Mr. E. G. Senter, who was publishing an afternoon paper, Hon. Barnett Gibbs, Mr. Sawnee Robinson, Mr. O. B. Colquitt and some others and turned the plant over to them. It proved not to be a very happy family.
With the most harmonious efforts its success was not a cer- tainty. With discord in the management it was doomed to disaster. Mr. Paddock transferred his interest to Mr. Malone in order to give him control, hoping thereby to bring about a solution of the trouble.
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
Soon thereafter Mr. Malone died, and with his death the paper was doomed. Mr. Senter associated with him his cousin, Selden Wil- liams, who came from Tennessee to engage in the business. They could not make it a success. In the late summer of 1897 they sold The Associated Press franchise and the subscription list to the Dallas News, and suspended publication without a word of warning to the city. For a long time thereafter Fort Worth was without an organ or an advocate in the way of a daily newspaper. It felt the loss keenly, but there was no one to step into the breach and assume the respon- sibility of the publication of a paper. There had been such a fatality attending every effort that men hesitated to put their money into another venture. Finally a man by the name of King, from Boston, came to the city and proposed, on certain conditions, to start a morn- ing paper. The people wanted a paper so much that the conditions were eagerly accepted, and Mr. King started The Herald. It lasted about a month. The promoter pocketed the money that had been advanced him and hied himself to new and fresher pastures. When The Gazette was sold to The News it left a large number of men out of employment. They proceeded to organize a co-operative company and published The Register. They got what business they could at whatever prices they could obtain, and on Saturday night divided the proceeds among the working force. Among those interested was A. J. Sandegard, who is still an honored citizen of the city. The Register rapidly grew in business and favor. The public applauded the nerve of the promoters and gave it such liberal patronage that it soon had money in the bank. The first time such a thing had hap- pened to a Fort Worth paper. It was finally merged into The Fort Worth Record, under the management and control of Mr. Clarence Ousley, who subsequently sold it to Mr. William Capps and he in turn to the present owners of the paper.
The present owners of the paper and its active management are Messrs. W. H. Bagley, president and publisher, J. H. Allison, vice president and manager, Hugh Nugent Fitzgerald, editor. Its equip- ment is of the latest and most approved known to the publishing business. It has justly earned an enviable reputation and is regarded as one of the best morning papers in the state and is destined to become an influential factor both in local and state affairs.
In December, 1905, Messrs. Wortham, A. G. Carter and Dorsey started an evening paper, called the Star, the initial number of which was issued February 1. 1906. Mr. Wortham was president and editor and Mr. Carter, business and advetising manager. It was a live, enterprising sheet but was a financial failure. It continued for nearly three years, at the end of which time it purchased another evening paper, called the Telegram, and moved into the building at the corner of Eighth and Throckmorton streets, where it remained until the 5th of December, 1920, when it moved into its present commo- dious and substantial building which has been erected at Seventh and Taylor streets, at a cost of around $600,000, and the present building, plant and equipment represent over a million dollars, nearly all of which has been earned by the paper, and is among the most
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
complete newspaper plants in the country. It is owned and managed by the active members of the company, Mr. W. C. Stripling and Mrs. W. G. Burton being the only two stockholders who are not actively engaged in the publication of the paper.
It now has a larger circulation than any paper printed in Texas. Its gross business for 1920 approximated $2,000,000. It has at the present time about 200 employes, with a payroll of approximately $30,000 per month. Its bill for white paper exceeds $100,000 per month. Its equipment is of the highest character and its new home is the finest, most modern and most complete in the Southwest.
ALL-CHURCH PRESS
Another publication worthy of note is the "All-Church Press," which publishes the Fort Worth Tribune, Houston Times and Dallas World. It has but recently constructed a magnificent plant on Fifth Street at the cost of $150,000. It is the largest weekly newspaper organization in Texas. They employ about 100 people in the Fort Worth plant alone.
It contemplates, as soon as the news print situation makes it pos- sible, to extend the field of its activities and to establish "All-Church Press" newspapers in every available city in this section. Mr. Doug- las Tomlinson is president of the company and Homer Tomlinson, general manager.
Other publications in Fort Worth are: The Fort Worth Anzeiger, Jewish Monitor, Oil Field Review and the Western Oil Journal.
The Live Stock Reporter, as its name indicates, is devoted to live stock interests and is recognized as the official and authentic advocate of that interest. It is published by Ray H. Mckinley, an energetic, enthusiastic newspaper man, and covers the field of its activities in a thorough, comprehensive and intelligent manner.
The "Fort Worth Press," the latest candidate for the patronage of the public, made its entry into the field of journalism October 1, 1921. It is an evening paper, belonging to the Scripp-McRae syndicate and chain of papers throughout the country.
STATISTICAL
The census for 1920 gave Fort Worth a population of 106,482. There are the suburbs of Riverside, Sycamore Heights, Polytechnic, Mistletoe Heights, Arlington Heights, Niles City and Diamond Hill, all lying adjacent to the city and are practically a part of the city, but which are not included in the census returns.
These suburbs have easily a combined population of 30,000, which do business in Fort Worth and are practically a part of the city, making the actual population of the city 135,000.
The assessed valuation of the city for 1920 was $128,203,419. The tax rate, including the special school tax, is $2.17 on the $100, pro- viding an income of $2,781,814.
The total bonded debt is $7,888,000, but by a provision of the charter the bonded debt of the waterworks system of $3,362,000 is cared for by revenues from the waterworks, and there is in the sinking fund $1,173,501, leaving a net debt of $3,352,499.
CHAPTER LI FORT WORTH INDUSTRIES
Next only to the transportational facilities of Fort Worth the packing houses and stock yards are the most potent factors in the business and economical life of the city.
That this has long been recognized by the city builders is demon- strated by their persistent and enthusiastic effort to secure these industries.
Prior to the advent of the railroads the cattle trails from all sec- tions of the state converged at Fort Worth. Here the herds from South and Southwestern Texas came by the hundreds of thousands every year, where they were "outfitted" for the long march across the Indian Territory and Southern Kansas to the shipping points in Kansas, Missouri and Iowa, and the pastures of Nebraska and the Dakotas and Montana.
This furnished an immense and profitable business to the mercan- tile firms engaged in the sale of such supplies as the herdsmen needed for the long drive.
Cattle in unnumbered thousands passed through Fort Worth to Northern markets for twenty years before it dawned upon anybody that here was logically the point to turn into dressed beef the surplus of the vast ranges of Texas. The owners of cattle, using the open range, were content to drive their herds over the long trail to the nearest shipping points in Kansas and Missouri, satisfied with the small profits gained because the range was free and expenses were small.
But the growth of the markets at Omaha, St. Joseph and Kansas City fired the imaginations of men of vision, and they began to plan for cattle killing establishments that should be to Texas what the Missouri River markets had been to the states that sheltered and encouraged them.
The Fort Worth Democrat, which had earned a reputation for "seeing things," first made the prediction on April 25, 1875, that some day Fort Worth would be a large producer of refrigerated meats for export. It harped on this in season and out of season and watched for every opportunity to advance the project. The editor, learning that a man was in Dallas negotiating to establish a plant there, went to that city and formed his acquaintance. It was learned that the Dallas people did not regard the project with much favor. The man, whose name was Richardson, only asked that the city make a dona- tion of six acres of ground for the plant. He was told that if he would come to Fort Worth that he could select the ground and that a deed would be delivered to him in an hour. He came and looked over the situation and selected the lands where the Bewley Mill now stands. Fortunately the land belonged to John Peter Smith and it was only necessary to tell Smith what was in the wind and the deed was forthcoming. He erected a small packing plant on the land now
657
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
occupied by the Bewley Flouring Mills. As he only essayed to kill and refrigerate hogs, and as there were very few hogs in Texas, the plant was shortlived. He soon sold it and went out about Cisco and put in a plant to make plaster from gypsum.
Shortly after this a man by the name of Higgs came to the city
A
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N. P. ANDERSON & COMPANY BUILDING, FORT WORTH
and in a few days secured capital to erect a refrigerating plant in the southeast part of the city. He killed a cargo of cattle and sent them to St. Louis, but that proved like sending coals to Newcastle, and his venture was doomed to failure. He sold his plant to Mr. Isaac Dahl- man of the firm of Dahlman Bros., the first clothing merchants in the city. He killed cattle and sent them to Liverpool by way of Galves- ton, but they were so long on the way that they did not arrive in
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
good condition. This ended the third attempt, but did not dismay the people of Fort Worth. They believed that this was to become a packing house center, and in 1890 thirty men got together and agreed to put in $1,000 each and purchase some lands and put up more money, share and share alike, as it was needed. Mr. H. C. Holloway was selected to manage the affairs of the company, and he bought lands where the present plants are situated and proceeded to build fences and lots and later on a small packing house. It had a capacity of 250 cattle and 1,000 hogs per day. About this time John R. Hoxie came to Fort Worth from Chicago, and as it was thought he knew all about the industry he was induced to put in more money, buy more land and increase the capacity of the yards.
ELEVATOR OF SMITH BROTHERS GRAIN COMPANY
He too made a failure, and the plant after a precarious existence was sold to Messrs. Simpson and Niles of Boston, neither of whom were practical packers. Mr. Niles was a business man, and under his management, with the assistance of Mr. H. A. Judd, still a citizen of Fort Worth, the plant earned money. The owners recognized the fact that the plant did not meet the requirements of the times, and with the assistance of some of the public spirited people of the city they enlisted the interests of Armour & Co. and Swift & Co. and secured the establishment of these concerns. Most of the thirty men who put the first money into the plant surrendered their holdings to make the deal go through.
The corner-stones of the buildings were laid on the 13th of March, 1902, in the presence of a large concourse of the citizens of the city. Just a year thereafter the first cattle were slaughtered. The packing plants, stock yards, horse and mule barns, hog and sheep pens cover an area of about 100 acres.
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
The business at once began to make great strides and has since had a wonderful growth, subject to variations due to natural causes, but with an ever expanding tendency.
The following figures show the number of animals of different kinds received from the beginning of operations by the Fort Worth Stock Yards Company in 1902 up to and including the year 1920:
A11
Year
Cattle
Calves
Hogs
Sheep 9,767
4,872
226,106
1903
375,799
70,999
150,527
125,332
10,094
732,741
1904
549,772
93,022
280,840
103,650
17,895
1,045,179
1905
663,660
148,427
462,766
125,270
18,033
1,418,156
1906
603,615
234,269
550,661
97,514
21,303
1,507,362
1907
707,631
314,442
486,679
112,853
18,507
1,640,112
1908
839,774
229,591
702,844
120,499
12,435
1,905,143
1909
883,353
314,022
868,333
188,066
20,732
2,274,446
1910
784,987
285,545
541,190
162,980
34,445
1,809,147
1911
690,840
192,713
556,201
186,535
37,361
1,663,650
1912
775,321
263,958
387,579
283,914
49,025
1,759,797
1913
965,525
219,629
403,761
327,527
56,724
1,973,166
1914
990,763
185,536
515,003
407,796
47,712
2,146,810
1915
794,505
149,926
463,879
363,003
54,640
1,824,953
1916
905,345
175,177
968,024
430,911
79,209
2,558,666
1917
1,646,110
313,427
1,062,021
405,810
115,233
3,542,601
1918
1,384,194
280,525
761,886
334,598
78,872
2,840,075
1919
1,031,342
235,292
587,904
453,292
50,275
2,358,105
1920
873,476
258,847
412,637
493,929
45,362
2,084,251
On January 1, 1906, Fort Worth ranked fifth among the cattle markets, coming after Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis and Omaha. and not much behind the latter two.
The above figures show a grand total of 36,730,066 animals, includ- ing horses and mules, received at the Fort Worth Stock Yards in the past nineteen years. The increase to be noted in the several years after 1915 were the effect of the strenuous effort to keep pace with the unprecedented demands of the Food Administration.
EXPANSION OF THE STOCK YARDS
When the stock yards were constructed, their capacity was about 5,000 cattle, 10,000 hogs, 5,000 sheep and 1,500 horses and mules. The accommodation for cattle was soon found to be insufficient, and in the spring of 1904 a new section of pens was built, making room for 3,600 more. Even this extension soon proved inadequate and work was begun on another section of pens, which when completed increased the capacity to about 12,000 or 13,000 head.
A new horse and mule barn was also completed, which doubled the capacity for that kind of stock.
About two miles were added to the line of the Belt Railroad and a
Horses and Mules
Classes
1902
132,174
79,293
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
roundhouse was built. Four new locomotives were also added to its rolling stock equipment.
The postoffice building was put up by the Stock Yards Company at a cost of $3,500.
The Stock Yards proper cover about 100 acres, not including the site of the packing plants, while to the north and east the company owns a considerable tract of additional land, on which are located some seventy rent houses for employes.
A. G. Donavan is General Manager of the Stock Yards and also Vice-President and General Manager of the Belt Line Railway, with W. C. Walker as Secretary and Treasurer of both.
Previous to 1902, there was an old Belt Line here, but the system has been much improved. It now includes about nineteen miles of tracks, connecting all the railroads entering Fort Worth with the Stock Yards and packing houses. Seven locomotives are used for handling the cars, and the line gives employment to about 100 men.
HORSE AND MULE DEPARTMENT
The horse and mule department of the Stock Yards has had a steady and prosperous growth and has now a business of considerable propor- tions. In the summer of 1903, Messrs. Cooke & Simmons and R. C. High took possession of their brick front barn, with accommodations for nearly 1,000 head, and a year later Hicks and Anson of the Fort Worth Horse and Mule Co., took possession of the eastern barn, with capacity slightly larger than the older one. Within a year or two changes occurred, and in January, 1905, there were five other firms in good standing : W. O. Rominger, Robinson & Nance, R. G. Brown & Co., King & Whittington and I. B. Edwards & Co., each of whom was handling from 100 to 500 head of mules a week during the season and a proportionate number of horses, and in addition, William Barry was dealing exclusively in high class driving horses.
The visitor to the Stock Yards, alighting from the car at North Fort Worth, at once finds himself in a hive of industry bearing all the marks of a separate and distinct community. Half a block east from the car line is the entrance to the Yards, Exchange Avenue. The avenue is wide and brick paved, as also are the sidewalks. The first half block is flanked with stores and hotels. The Y. W. C. A. has a lunchroom and recreation rooms there, while across the avenue, on the north side, is the Stock Yards National Bank of concrete construction, as are all buildings along the avenue. Next to the bank is the office of the Fort Worth Live Stock Reporter, now in its twenty-fifth volume and under the proprietorship of R. H. Mckinley, and which is devoted to the publication of stock and farm news.
The Coliseum and Exchange Buildings set back some distance from the avenue, the intervening space, except in each case for a central walk leading to the main entrance, being laid out in grounds planted with shrubs and trees.
Beyond these buildings on both sides of the avenue are the stock pens, which continue for a considerable distance until the Belt Line Railway is reached.
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FORT WORTH AND THE TEXAS NORTHWEST
On the other side of the tracks, on somewhat higher ground, reached by a short flight of steps, are the towering brick buildings of the Armour and the Swift packing plants; the Armour plant lying to the north and the Swift to the south, in front of each plant being the company's main offices and the reception rooms for the visitors.
In 1908 and 1909, the Armour and Swift companies made extensive additions to their plants, with the effect of practically doubling their capacity. In 1908 the Swift Company increased the killing capacity twenty per cent by the addition of other killing beds. The hog cooler department was also enlarged thirty-three and one-third per cent, which furnished storage for a killing capacity of 5,000 head daily. Other notable increases in capacity were connected with the refrigera- tion. the freezer storage room for the handling of chickens, turkeys, etc., which by this time had grown to be a good sized depart- ment of the packing trade, the lard manufacturing plant and tank house. A four story building, 55x45 feet, was also put up to provide dressing rooms for the employes, and a restaurant fitted up, intended chiefly for the Swift employes, though outsiders were not barred.
Armour & Co. in 1909 spent half a million dollars in enlarging and improving their plant, their additions including: A beef cooler house. 160 feet long and five stories high, doubling the storage capacity of the plant ; a house for the manufacture of oleo oil, 160 feet long and three stories high ; an ice house of the same width as the original building, 160 feet and five stories high; and an addition to the fertilizer plant. 250 feet long, all the buildings being equipped with the best and most up- to-date machinery. With the completion of these additions Armour & Co. was enabled to slaughter and dress 3,000 cattle a day and 5,000 hogs in the same time.
During the same year, 1909, the Stock Yards Company spent fully $60,000 in improvements and planned a further expenditure of $100,000 for 1910. Extra pens were built in all departments of the yards, and the unloading facilities increased. Improvements were made with a view to encouraging the National Feeders and Breeders Show and assisting it to develop into an exhibition of fat stock second to none. To this end a large number of covered sheds were erected to the north of the Coliseum building and south of them were pens for fat cattle. The sheds had a capacity of 600 cattle and 108 horses: the pens thirty-two loads of cattle. These pens and sheds were equipped throughout with electric lights, water and sewerage, a forty-seven carload capacity was also made to the northern yards. and in the hog yards a twenty-eight-car addition was built. New railroad crossings were installed throughout the entire Belt system, and an additional locomotive purchased, this making the sixth, another mile of track was added. and a new concrete and steel Ideal track scale was installed, to replace the old one, at a cost of $6,000; an air system was installed for the pumping of water; also a more modern system of heating the Exchange building. Twenty rent houses were also erected for the benefit of yard employes.
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