, 1905-09-13
John N. REEVE

Secretary Of the Board of Trade
coast resorts. Mr.. Martindale's fameas
an interesting talker is world wide and
his remarks were heartily %applauded.
1t was his third address before the
board. He said in part:
MIR. MARTINDALE's SPEECH
Mr.. President, and Gentlemen of the
Board of Trade of Wildwood, Ladies
and Gentlemen: When | last had the
honor of addressing your organization
it was about this time last year. There
were two interested listeners here then
who have crossed the great divide.
They were Mr.. Patrick f. Dever and
Mrs. William G. Gross. OF Mrs. Gross
| want to say a few words to illustrate
a point | desire to make about the in
~culcation of an intense public spirit in
this community of summer residents
at Wildwood-by-the-Sea.
When | first met Mrs. Gross l could
hardly keep from smiling at her eX-
IRENE earnestness when she dilated
upon the beauties, the healthfulness,
and the happiness to be found in her
beloved Wildwood. She had no pa
tience with grumblers. They were
like a jarring note in a great symphony
of harmony, and she never rested I'M
til she was able to get the Earring note
in tune. | have repeatedly said before
this that | have never before been in a
place where there was such unanimity
of loyalty and civic spirit manifested
among the people as have found here.
Paraphrasing "a sentence from William
Winters Life in England: "There
are, of course, grumblers; mention has
been made of a person in heaven who
complained that HIS cloud was damp,
and HIS halo didn't set well around
his head.n We cannot have perfection
but the individual who could not be
happy in Wildwood-in SO far at least
as happiness depends upon external
objects and influenees-could not rea-
sonably expect to be happy anywhere.
| have sometimes thought that the
solidarity of sentiment which exists
here may indeed have been partly
moulded through the earnestness and
enthusiasm of the late Mrs. Gross.
The topic of the first address | had
the honor of making before you two
years ago was "Publicity," and my
argument was along the lines of a COM
munity of interest in the advertising of
this resort. You cannot but have OBJ
served yourselves what a happy and
astonishing result your acceptance of
my suggestions has produced.
One of the best ideas of the tremen-
dous bounds of prosperity that have
been experienced in Wildwood can be
found in the reports of the Marine
National Bank for 1903, 1901 and 1905,
showing the total resources are just
about double in 1905 of what they
were in 1908, and the advance in real
estate has kept pace with the increase
of the banks resources. One of the
signs of the times is the awakening of
our sister borough, Holly Beach, as
evidenced by the Inauguration and in
corporation of the Holly Beach Board
ofTrade. They have secured the names
of a large number of wide-awake men
who evidence an eager willingness to
work for the improvement and deyel-
opment of Holly Beach, and their pres
ident, Mr.. Carl Haswin, is a man we'll
fitted in my belief for the discharge of
the duties pertaining to his office. ]
expect great and good things from this
Board of Trade, and am very glad it
has been organized, because it cannot
help but be a stimulus to the Wildwood
Board of Trade; and, Mr.. President, |
hope you will excuse me if | say ONE
very plain things about the Board of
Trade, which | would not say were it
not that the situation warrants the
truth being told.
AS far as | know there has not been
a single meeting of any committee of
your board held this summer; nor, as
far as l know, of the board itself. Of