The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-17

| mef nciBupOTSs- are CIu9teFe0 over from basement to lofty roof with hundreds of skillful mechanics undoing what had been wrought by Americas great est ire. Small forests of steel pillars have sprung up here and there and | thes will be shapen into noble ware
 houses with ornate exteriors, while
 down by the water front, where the
 ground is insecure. steam pile drivers
 are forcing long piles deep into the earth.
 But if thhe sights of this industry is engaging the sounds are none the less
 forceful. Amidst the din one hears the
 snorting of engines. the puffing of
 steam. the cough of the gasoline motor,
 the thud of the pile driver, the tattoo of the carpenters' hammers, the rumb- ling of the rock crusher. the click of
 the stone cutters, the clinking of ma
 sons trowe1s the hoarse rasping of
 saws, the thunders of debris rushing
 down schutes a hundred feet tall, the
 roar of the bricks and stones as they
 are dumped from the carts, the rattle
 of wagons, the shouting of drivers and through all the groan of trolley car
 as 1t makes 1t way amidst the busy
 scene.
 Now all this thing takes money. It Iis no wonder then that the pay roll amounts to $25.000 day or $150,000 a week What 1t means to Baltimore Is
 already seen in its stores and markets
 and what it will mean to the city's bus
 mess friends in the near future can only
 be estimated by millions of dollars. It lis now eight months since the hand of
 fate set this task for the Monumental City but it hahs been practically but four months of time in which it's pro- gressive people have had to work on their labor of love and restoration. This has been due to the laws delays and many a heartfelt wish has gone forth that all red tape might have been burned up in the furnace of last Feb ruary. \
 Let 1t be known to all men that in thisS limited time for rebuilding per- mits have been applied for that mean structures of a declared valuation of seven million dollars. Let it be known that 1000 houses were burned and that in the devasted district seven ty new structures are already occu- pied. Let 1t be known that about a hundred new houses are already in a stage of finishing out and that of the hundreds of others either begun or in the hands of architects. many are of such importance that the constructor usually gives himself six months for completion. Take these things into consideration and ponder on what Bal timore Is doing.
 It is an anomaly of the times that in the temporary distress of Baltimore the courage and aggressivcness of her mercantile men did not relax for a moment. It was judged by other met ropolitan centres that the commer- cial capital of Maryland was done for; at least for a long period. Hardly a week had elapsed before trade had as- stunned its original status here and Bal timore's customers were behgN served as of old. Her Board of Trade and her Merchants and Manufacturers Associa- tion,> in the new moment of hustle worked with redoubled vigor for tho city's good and as that which had been expected in other quarters, namely that Baltimore had lost her grip, did not occur, in reality. the seeming oppor- tunity caused those centres to get up spurt on their own account. Here and thre cropped up evidences that ob- stacles were being placed in the way of the Monumental City.
 Still Baltimore held her own and her business men saw with some satis. faction that their rivals had been re- duced to the expedieNt of giving free excursions over a line Of nearly a thousand miles to get that trade which 1t had been imagined would drop away from the metropolis of the south. Then Young Baltimore came to the front A group of Baltimores younger bus mess men; not necessarily the proprie- tors of great establishments, but men whose whole interests were wrapped up in such houses and in their own city. broached the idea that new, broad, liberal and lofty body which thorough ly represented all parts of the city's trade should be formed at once. This group modestly styled i.sclf the pro visional committee" and got to work with wonderful enthusiasm, and their enthusiasm spread like a fever. Bus mess firms endorsed 1t, newspapers ap- plauded 1t and lent their aid, and trav- cling men, home salesmen and makers of goods. almost to a man rushed in to join the procession. A meeting was called on the night of August 16. It was hoped that at least twenty-hv earnest men would attend to launch the new organization upon the commercial sea. A thousand came. Formal appli- cation blanks were distributed that night and of these thousands have been signed already. Of this provisional committee were Robert A. Courtney, Edwin M. Gibson. Samuel F, Hardy, James w. Clarke and George H. Gard ner and all of these would gladly have l remained in the background after the fulfillment of their mission but the first named was practically forced into the first vice-presidency and Mir. Gibson was made second ice-president Mir. Samuel H. Shriver, who has the con- fidence of the entire community, was made president of The Travellers and Merchants Association of Baltimore, for that Is the name of the body to which all eyes here have been turned in the last few weeks
 With All for Baltimore and Balti. more for All" as its battle cry, the or. ganizatiOn is already showing it's pow.
 CT. Preparing to fight all transporta tion determinations that work to tho | detriment to their own city, the officers are making public those cases in which
 merchants from a distance. who must
 pass through Baltimore, are prohibited by the transportation companies from stopping of al the great metropolis oi the Southland. In time they will have a beautiful and cheerful home, in fact,
 a fine club in which business friends from abroad shall have such a welcome and such comforts as Baltimore Is so
 notable an adept at providing.
 The indomitable spirit and the quick and catchy animus which inspires all
 Baltimore on the heels of disaster Is
 strongly emphasized by the instant suc-
 cess of the Travellers and Merchants and that tha sDirit dominates all sn-