Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-11-02

The location of the towns. together
with the.natural advantages. is such
that | have the fullest confidence in
their destiny. The distance from
other places is about right, central
position in Wisconsin. and other
characteristics tell me that you are on
the site Of a great city. and further
more, | will say that you have another
great advantage. You are cities with
good crowd of business people who
have both money and enterprise.
True there may be some petty differ
enceS at times but taking a wholesale
view of the two cities you have people
that are made of the stuff that can
push a city forward. Furthermore,
| the towns have been presented by
nature with a friendly appearance.
All this goes in as good will in the
! building up Of city.
From a municipal and economic
standpoint the advantage of smaller
towns consolidated is settled queS-
tiOn. The success which has attended
consolidated towns is in majority of
cases SO marked as to place this
matter beyond doubt. We are even
| consolidating in Chicago. New York
| and Brooklyn have been consolidated.
Green Bay and Fort Howard have
been consolidated. Public improve
mentS can be conducted on a larger
scale where you are dealing with a
larger population under one head.
On January 9th, 1888. in the course
of letter to E. P. Arpin of the
Business Mems Association, / also
dwelt upon the advantages of consoli-
datiOn and the giving Of the cOnSOli-
dated town good original name.
There are eleven Centralias and five
Grand Rapids in the United States.
1t is impossible to do any advertising
in the east for Grand Rapids, Wis,
because a Grand Rapids, Mich, gets
the full benefit Of it. We have now
to add to Centralia, Wisconsin in large
type, and then take care that it is not
cOnfOunded with the other ten Cen
tralias. | note that the name Central
Rapids has been suggested. | have
nothing particular to suggest about
the name, but a name composed of
two words is today Objectionable and
out of date. The poStoffice is in many
instances spelling towns with two
names as one word by dropping the
second capital letter. For telegraphic,
railroad and other commercial pur-
poses two names are bad. a single
name is best.
know it is difficult to make changes
but we must come to them. People
get used to things and do not like to
give them up, but the history of the
world teaches us the survival of the
titteSt. The railroad SupercedeS the
stage coach, and the steamboat, the
sailing vessel, and in the progressive
march of civilization we must adapt
ourselves to the demands of progress
Siye campaign. The growth Of a
center in which we live should not be
handicapped by being known to the
world as separate halves Men must
mOdernize themselves every day and
keep their ideas modern aud re-
juvenated. In helping to push
forward city people must get near
the practical and adapt themselves to
lines which will promote the prosperity
Of all. There should be no hesitation
on the question of consolidation. 1t
must benefit the combined COM
munity.
| do not necessarily Suggest Gent
rapida" as a name, it may not sound
euphoueOuS but if you adopt a consoli-
dated name get one that is original and
that will stand out like the rock of
Gibraltar. An original name is worth
great deal to city. Names are
getting scarce and may have to be
coined. We sometimes take half a
day to get a name for new stations.
The finding of name is good thing
for school or voters contest.
You can use this letter in any way
you see fit as it gives my personal
views on what / consider the best
interests of Centralia and Grand
Rapids. Yours, respectfully,
LUIS JACKSON.
Industrial Commissioner.