The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-10-07
WILL Be A GREAT CITY.
A Visitor Tells Of the Impression
Helena Made Upon Him
Three Years Ago.
It struck Him as an Infant Denver
and Now He Knows
That It Is.
.Iohn G.. Gallup Talks Overwhelmingly of
the Future and What Can BE Done
for tho Capital.

for the CnpiGnis
John C. Gallup, OF Denver, is among the
~yisitors in Helena. He ia not altogether a
stranger here, his first visit having been
made three years ago, coming with Peter
Winnie. He was 40 favorablv impressed
with tho future of Helena that he became a
member of what is commonly known as the
Denver syndicate, now interested hero to
the extend of q good many hundred thoa-
sand dollars. MIR. Gallup was in Helena q
year ago, and so this is his third visit. tie
il one OF the younger generation OF Denver's
active, progressive business men, a director
in the Union National bank of that city,
interested in q number of extensive enter
prises there. and withal q very conservative
man, Talking yesterday about Helena and
the operations of himself and associates,
he said: when / visited Helena for tho
first time three years ago, an impression
was made which has not only not been
effaced by time, but on the contrary has
grown with each succeeding visit. 1t was
that Helena was the infant Denver, and
that it was only . question of push n the
lause of a few years when this superbly
Animated city OF the northwest viii! lead all
others in this section in wealth,
population and business. 1t was not
backward in showing in a substantial
my faith, and now after the lapse OF
three years l can say that I am thoroughly
satisfied with my investments in Helena. !
have just returned from an extended trip.
in which I visited a number Of cities OF
about the same class as Helena. In none
of them did I find the price of real prop
erty as low as it is here. and in none was
there SO much property or the people 40
sanpuins of a big business. When you
compare Helena with other cities YOU see
how many advantages she has. There Is
the oity of Syracuse, N. Y, with a popula-
ton Of 1000 {, and yet last week the bank
c%learances here were double what they ever
were in that city.'
Helena has more things to learn, as have
ali prosperous and growing communities.
One OF the things is to make the city AZ at
IA possible, to spend money on
public improvement, and at the same time
not make the taxes too high. No oity IN
the United States. of the size of Helena,
has finer business houses. But the city
shonld do its share OF improvements.
/ understand there is q project to
GRADE Broadway, and that the expense
will be S25, 900 or $780, 900. I have boon told
by a man who is thoroughly convsrsant
with this class OF work that it can be done
for $4,000. It would be a great public i'm
provement to do this work, but at the, same
time the cost should be kept within reason
able limits. While our company pays q
great deal of money into the city and
county treasures in the shape of taxes, and
the assessments and the levy are high, We
do not complain, If a fair proportion ID
spent in improvements which will add to
trouble with q high tax rate lies in the fact
that it deters foreign capital from coming
In. Now in Denver the rate is but one per
osnt. You can 60 east Or across the water
and with little difficulty secure capital for
that city on this count. Almost the first
he is approached to put his money in a new
town is, What is the tax rater If it is
high, it is very hard to induce him to open
his purse. The taxation of mortgages also
keeps out foreign capital. At the last ses-
sion of the Texas legislature an
act called the allen law was passed.
AT the time there was a deal on with
some Englishman to put l 1000, 600 in that
state. The passage of the law killed it,
and now there 10 C move OH foot to call the
Texas lawmakers into special session to
amend or repeal the act. Helena has so
many advantages that it is only necessary
to do a few things to make them count.
between two big cities. For this reason
she will become, a. is Denver in her sec
ton, the greatest transient city in the
northwest. For people coming from the
east Helena is an excellent place to break q
long journey, to stop a day or a week. But
to have people to do so, two things are
necessary. One is a union depot, and the
other an opera house. tn union depot is
not an impossible problem by any means.
There is not a business man in the city but
Who could afford to take one share, at least.
in such a scheme, and in this way the
capital to carry OF the plan could be Sc
cured. It would encourage other roads to
ever done in the city. I understand there
is a good prospect of having a new
opera house in the spring. hope the pros
pect will become 8 certainty, because it
will be one of the greatest factors in the
prosperity of the city. Helena is now the
railroad and the business center of the
state. Let it be made convenient and
pleasant for the stranger, and the benefits
arising from that source alone will DO sim
ply incalculable. It will also attract, as it
has already, the eattlegrowers and miners
from other sections of the state, who have
made sufficient money to live with their
families in a city where there are advanced
schcols, churches and all the advantages to
be had in a live and progressive COM
munity."
Il will be very much surprised con-
cluded MIR. Gallup, ''if there are not two
new railroads in Helena within eighteen
months--ths Burlington and Northwestern.
From here / am going east, and 1 expect to
invest more capital in this city. The Kan
sas farmers paid off to eastern people dur
ing August about 100000 600 of indebted.
ness. This money is ready for reinyest-
ment and many of those who have put
money in the paririe states will not do so
again. Some of it. and l believe a consid-
cradle portion, will come here. I had an
idea when l started for Helena this time
that / would find n dull town. But / have
been most agreeably disappointed. There
is lots of g%o-ahead, not only among indi-
vlduals, but among the corporate bodies.
such as the gas, water, electric lighting and
street car companies. The water company
people told me that during the season thsy
have averaged five new house connections
each week. This does not look to me like
dull times or a falling off in population"