Middletown transcript., 1881-06-03
INTRODUCTORY.

There is a vital force giving impulse
and direction to progress in the world
of business which may be known as the
force Of concentration. Its workings
are seen in commerce, in manufactures,
and even in agriculture 4; but are espec-
tally noticeable in the consolidation OF
railroads, which has formed such re-
markable feature in the history OF the
past quarter Of a century, and which IS
still going on even more rapidly than
heretofore By this principle OF consol-
idation the cumbersome and costly or
ganization of fifty little local railroad
companies, with fifty presidents, fifty
boards of directors and fifty sets OF Off
cials. clerks and agents are done away
with, and one competent manager,
with an efficient staff, conducts the
affairs of the consolidated line fifty
times better than before.
The advantages and economies OF
concentration, so strikingly illustrated
nv the example of the railroads, are
still more obvious and more important
in what has been known as retail trade,
where the transactions Of fifty small
dealers are consolidated into one great
business. The gain is not only seen in
the conduct of the traffic, as i'll the case
of the railroads, but it is also seen in
the buying and manufacturing Of the
goods dealt in. Not only can the goods
be handled and sold at far less expense
and with far greater satisfaction to all
parties, but the reduction of invoice
cost in large lots from first hands is a
still more significant consideration.
Concentration in this branch of com
merce breaks down the distinction that
has heretofore existed between whole
sale and retail traffic.
Descriptive.
To bring the concentrating principle
into practical effect in business three
primary requisites must be secured :
First, an appreciative spirit in the COM
munity second, ample capital; third,
and most Indispensable Of all, an organ
izing intelligence, with genius for insti-
tuting order, system and discipline,
backed by unfiinching courage and per-
sistence OF purpose. Philadelphia, tie {
city of homes, with a population ac-
counted conservative, but quick to un-
derstand and adopt better conditions
for the household, has furnished the
first requisite of an appreciative public.
Mr.. John Wanamaker has supplied the
second and third terms of the equation,
the material resources, and the mental
and moral forces to make the same
available The working together Of
these several factors has resulted in the
marvellous development of that vast ag-
gregation of agencies for the supply of
all human wants, known throughout
the civilized world as Wanamaker's
Grand Depot. Here business is carried
on by the modern methods, with all the
aids afforded by modern invention, by
steam, by electricity, by the pneumatic
despatch, and the best appliances known
to the arts. Here the potent principle or
concentration and consolidation is fully
carried out. Here the requirements of
the individual, Of the family, and Of the
community are supplied from the first
sources of supply, with no intervening
agencies whatever to pay tribute to.
Here all the wants that civilization inn
poses upon mankind are brought into
contact with all the resources that civ
iliZatiOn has developed for meeting such
wants.
The Grand Depot.
The phenomenal growth of the Grand
Depot marks an era in the history of
trade, plainly pointing the way which
the business of the future is destined to
pursue. The establishment occupies
the square between Thirteenth and Ju-
niper streets, on the south side of Mar
ket street, extending through to Kelly
street with an Arcade reaching to
Chestnut street. The main ground
measurements are 374 feet north and
south by 25S feet east and west, besides
the Arcade and adjoining premises oc-
cupied by the business. The ground
floor of the Depot measures two and a
half acres, the largest single floor era
devoted to business purposes i'll the
world. The galleries and Easements to-
gether all measure about two and half
acres, making five acres all told, packed
full for the most part from floor to cell
ing with the choicest products of the
mill and the factory, the furnace and
the forge, the workshop and the studio.
To enter the Depot at Chestnut street
and proceed straight through the main
avenue to Market street involves a walk
of over a hundred an eighty yards, and
there are very few public avenues in the
greatest cities where so many people
will be encountered and so much worth
seeing will be met to attract the eye.
On an ordinary busy day there will be
twenty-five hundred people an hour
passing both ways under the clock at
the entrance of the Arcade; and during
a pressing season, as about Christmas
time, it is within reasonable limits to
say that thEong of forty thousand Wis
itors surges through the main avenue
daily.
AS is very commonly remarked, q
view of the main floor from the An
tique Gallery, west of the Chestnut
street entrance, strikingly recalls the
Centennial Exhibition. There is the
same wealth of display, extending about
as far as the eye can reach the riches
of the world brought together from all
lands and representing all departments
of art and industry, tastefully arranged
to be shown with advantage. There is
the sameness of spaciousness, and, what
is especially noticeable, the same ample
illumination, the whole place being
light, bright and cheerful. Then there
are the same groups and crowds of
sightseers moving about the many
aisles and avenues, now gathering