Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1889-11-22
Rutler's Prosperity.

/ :
say without fear of contradiction that sine,
Buffers organization it has never enjoyed
the substantial prosperity of which it can
now boast
In the parlancc of the street. men are
heard to say that Butler is having q
boom" This is a misnOmer We associ
ate with booms the idea of unduly inflated
values and extravaganza of ideas pros
perity dependent largely or entirely upon
some local development or influence which
of necessity is short lived. and which when
dead carries the boom with it the grave.
| We venture the assertion that there is not
a town in Western Pennsylvania of the
same population and doing the same vol
ume of business that can offer cheaper
homes or living.
As to extravaganza in the management
of the interests of the town, nothing could
be farther removed from the truth than an
assertion of this kind If our citizens are
in error it is rather in the opposite ex-
IRENE. The names of Duffy. Purvis, Berg,
Reiber. Campbell, TrOutman, and King
Ter and host of Others are rather the very
synonyms of conservatism and prudence.
As to our oil business. 1t may be argu.
ed that its benefit to the the town is mat
ter of but q brief time-its history will
soon be told No one can deny the posi-
biity of Buffers occupying the central and
distributing point with reference to the
county's oil production for twenty five
years and who will dare to predict that our
county's output of oil twenty five years
hence will not equal that of to day. How
long since Greece City's production might
have made scores of our citizens rich with
more moderation and conservatism on their
| part. Eight or ten years ago who
| dreamed of a Thorn Creek or Glade
| Ran fieldi And four years ago who could
have guessed the wealth of the Connoque
Messing Valley west ofu
| But suppose we take the most pessimis-
tic view of this phase of the matter. Sup
posing this industry were shortly to cease
| being feeder to the interests of Butler--a
| condition of things most improbable-we
| have still left To us more wealth by thous-
ands of dollars than we ever had. We have
1 more men of enterprise and business tact
| and sagacity than we ever had and We have
more natural advantages than has the city
of Denver to-day with its phenomenal size
and growth. More water flows over the
| channel of the COnnoquenessing than is
| found in the Platte river where Denver Is
| located and which constituted her only
water supply when she boasted of her %,
| 600 population. We have supply of gas
| for fuel and light that Denver has not, and
may never have-fuel that is without a ri
val for both economy and convenience, and
| in the event of an exhausted supply of this
| as a fuel We can get coal laid down at our
| factory doors, in quantities practically in
| exhaustable, at price that would he re
garded as incredible by that western city,
| viz: "A fraction less than four cents u bush
| ell.
| In addition to all this We are surrounded
| by an agricultural section that could feed
| 30, 900 people as easily as 5000. All these
| things combine to make Butler the cheap
| est place for living of any town, with which
| the writer is acquainted, east oc west, af-
| fording equal facilities for making money.
In the light of these things the question
| may be asked, why has Butler been left SO
| far hehind her western sisters in the race
| for distinction? TO one who has visited west
| ern towns and made study of the causes
| that led to their rapid growth, in nine
cases out of every ten, this is the answer
Western people TdHt their town or city tC
grow. They bend every energy and offer
every inducement and, if need be, make
sacrifices in this direction. They talk
about their particular locality; they dwell
| on its advantages over every place else;
! they are lavish in their praises of it to Wis
ltorS; they spare no pains or expense in
| advertising through the press to the far
| theSt limit of the country, and real estate
| men sing its praises in every novel and at
tractive way.
| Concentrate the same energy and the
same varied efforts toward making of But
| Ter place of Importance that have been
used in the upbuilding of Denver, Pueblo
and n score of other western cities of my
acquaintance and within less than five
4 30
are very sure that if some of our good peo
pie of Butler would visit some of these
points whose merits and superior adyan-
| tages have been published to the fou
winds, they would come home prouder OF
| their native town quietly resting upon heI
substantial merit though never heralded ia
| the world.
We are glad to note that our people are,
| to degree greater than ever before mani.
| Testing q home enterprise, we allude tC
such Industries as the 5. G. Purvis & Co.
lumber yard and planning mill, which
through the energy and sagacity Of its pro-
prietors, has kept pace with the ever in
creasing demand for building and oil well
material To the grain elevator recently
built by Ii. J. Klingler q Sons which can
not fail To prove an Investment of profit to
| the proprietors as well as public benefit
| tn the town and community. TO the plate
| glass works, the bottle glass works, the
| Ball Engine works and others, which, if moi
due entirely to Butler capital and enter
prise have all been fostered and encouraged
| by it, But the greatest stride that has
| ever been taken in the direction of Buffers
material and permanent growth by any in
dividual citizen in our place has been
taken by our fellow townsman, Jos. Brit
tain, Jr., in conceiving the idea of con
L L.
do not say that he has been moved to this
out of pure philan thropy; We're he inter
rogated on the subject, he would truthful
ly say that it was the personal profit that
would accrue to himself that he saw in il
that led him to take the first step in this
| enterprise, but i'll the business he has SCI
on foot, his personal interest and the gen
| eral interest of the town are so nearly
/ identical that he cannot enhance the ont
| without furthering the other.
As to the business itself no one questions
its heavy profits for moment for the
simple reason that the materials constitu
ting the base of more than dozen cheml
cal products, viz, salt water and waste
wood represent no commercial value in
manner, the one, an oil man would gladly
give away, if the sit would rid him of the
nuisance the other the farmer would glad
iture for the mere cost of taking it away l.
Butler the proper place to locate such /;
plant' We nnhestatingly say yes, and
would challenge any one To name any
point in the broad state of Pennsylvania
that combines rs many advantages for the
manufacture of chemicals as does Butler
Is Joseph Britain the right man to under
take such an enterprisef Does he know
anything about the chemical business? W,
lust as unhesitatingly say yes, of all tn,
enterprising men of our town he has proven
himself to be the best fitted to both con
ceive and cOnsummate the scheme. lii
business integrity has never been impeach
ed, cannot be. He possesses the ability {,
grapple with large schemes to a degree be
yond any young man of his age of my ac
quaintancc and to favorably impress mel
of capital with the plausibility of scheme
in indomitable energy he has no equal il
the town. He is not n chemist, no on,
says he is he lays no claim to this himself
A man TO own and control an iron mil
does not of necessity need to be either
puddler or nail cutter. Neither does a mai
need to know all about analytical chem
istry to successfully operate n silver mine
such skill is always at command at price
Mr.. Britain has already secured the ser
vices of a first-class chemist, who comes T.
him from one of the largest chemical work
i'll the world.
Is the scheme going to succeed Gu
unmodifed prediction is, yes, and we meal
to help it succeed. We beSpeak for tn
enterprise the substantial support AM
patronage of every man in our town an
community who has any money to invest
Can we not emulate the spirit of wester
men who have not only built up cities bu
amasSed colossal fortunes in the very fac