Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-10-21

struggling to enter the city and with the
great development of the country about
It the real estate and commercial move
ments In the city BECAME out of proportion
almost to reason. About lsS6-Ss almost all
of the present large ONCE buildings OF
Omaha were built. Many of these are five,
six and seven stories in height, with almost
as many hundred rooms, and when the
boom died, as 1t did In the late sos these
large buildings and real estate in general
died.
The Foolish Boom Days.
1 suppose the statement so often, made
is true that nowhere in the cities of the
central west was the depression felt more
severely than in the city of Omaha. In
no other cities were values inflated and
commercial conditions so strained as there.
In the boom" period everybody spoke Of
their strategic location. ETC., which would
inevitably make it the largest city west OF
Chicago and commercial values were based
upon such hopes and aspirations. / was
! told that in the midst of the BOOM" sur
veyors had staked out a great part of east
| ern Nebraska in town lots and that every
one anticipated great metropolitan CEN
! ter in a few years. When the crash did
come. its causes were not hard to find.
AS in all the neighboring states, Nebraska
! farm values were greatly inflated and
mortgaged and when a single years crop
even slightly failed. the great superstruc-
ture built upon crop successes came down
like a house OF cards. The railroads
ceased building and began a general re-
trenchment policy, the jobbing interests be-
gan to slacken their operations and build
ing came to a standstill. And right In the
midst Of the great industrial depression
/ a ,f a,1 dat he,
ditions seemed to be Frightening, came the
terrible crop failure of 1894
1t will be much more interesting, how
ever, to speak of conditions as they are
than as they have been. There are few
cities in the country where the resusoita-
ton Of industry is more noticeable than
! In Omaha. In a year almost, It seemed
to me, the entire spirit of the people had
| changed and where there was once
lethargy and Industrial despair, now all is
hope and enterprise. The best indications
too show that the renewed activity in
industry is but an attempt to adjust itself
to business conditions that have for five
years been growing with a steady gain
year by year and that the new development
is far away from boom"
Now n Real JobbinE Center.
The first index Of this revival of industry
and commercial activity is seen In the
wholesale jobbing section OF the city.
In its essence Omaha's chief industry al
ways has been and probably always will be
its jobbing business. Within the limits of
Kansas City and st. Joseph on the south
and the Twin Cities on the north there is
no large jobbing center nearer than Des
Moines on the east and Denver on the
west, and all this area. comprising the
| tot -
sas and the greater part of South Dakota,
Wyoming and Iowa, is all within the pos
sible trade area OF the city. As one goes
down through the. large area devoted TO
the jobbing or wholesale businesses here
he is Immediately struck with signs of new
life and progress everywhere. As an Illus
tration, one OF the large dry goods firms
NJ. e: Smith & Co, doing probably several
1 million dollars worth OF business a year
will shortly go into new building costing
about 10000 This doubling OF their ca
pacity was but to meet a need due to the
doubling of their business. Another large
machinery and implement house is also
about to go into additional buildings, thus
doubling and even trebling their capacity
in order TO meet changed business de-
mands. In the city there are about ~
wholesale. jobbing houses which in 1905 solo
sAouNlofNNV NpiAA VI 6OOuSt ana the mos
conservative business men in the city esti
mate that this year the figures should bt
from Sl0o,OO0.00O TO s175,OOO.O0O
In the retail lines also the same new
activity naturally is seen. Upon one cor
ner there is being erected large moderI
building that is to be occupied by a larg,
; department store now doing business II
cramped quarters. The retail section hai
, been compelled to move farther and far
Their out in order to give room to the job
! bling interests, and today many of the ono
residential sections are occupied by de
partment and other retail stores
, Manufacturing and Packing.
{ In manufacturing. Omaha's progress
has also been remarkable. They have nov
an investment OF about $40 100000 and tn
output OF which, in 1895, was about $3.50.
10000, In this connection we cannot fai
{ to speak OF omaha's growth as a packing
! and. live stock center. In these lines /
now occupies third place in the country an,
I have been told by cattle men throughou
the west that IL is in quality and enter
: prise equal TO the best. OF course, I ar
. now including South Omaha, which Is
separate municipality, but a part OF tn
|, Industrial zone OF which Omaha proper
the head. In 1884 the live stock market a
Omaha was first opened and it's receipt
I that year were $500 cattle. a6S6 hogs. SIS
sheep and 4.oS9 horses and mules. In ~