Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-01-27

the product Of the farm, getting cas-
4 lily and cheaply to better market,
than their neighboring small towns
have afforded them in the past L
have 1t on good authority, that Oska-
losa has done all of this, that the right
of way to Buxton is all arranged for
by Oskaloosa business men and grade
established, and the line will be built.
DO Ottumwa business men propose
to sit idly by while all of this rich ter
ritory is actually 'gobbled up by our
sister city, without a strenuous effort
on our part to get ours?'
Time to Wake UP.
Gentlemen, it is time that we
awoke from our Rip Van Wrinkle slum-
Der, get abreast of the times, wake up
to our opportunities, reach out and
pluck the fruit easily within our reach.
4 ut is not enough that Ottumwa has
magnificent stores. beside some Of
which it might be said that Solomon
in all his Nglory' looked like calico
wrapper at a rummage sale.
MAKE it possible for every farmer
and every coal miner and the inhabi-
tants of ever hamlet within fifty miles
of Ottumwa to know for himself that
Ottumwa has all the advantages. we
know she has. Make it easy for them
to come to Ottumwa and you will be
very happily surprised at the result.
/ 81 have confined myself this even,
ing especially to the Oskaloosa- Eddy
vile route, principally on account (of
the fact, that this route has been more
foil oh 4, @%1, IL.
we were so near to having it establish.
ed. There are other routes, several
of them, going into the richest agri-
cultural districts in southern Iowa
through good towns that would pay
route we have told you, Of Let us
not stop now to study routes particu.
larly. Let's do something. Let us, as
a Retail Merchants Association, prove
that we are organized for mutual ben
eft, and for the building up of Ottum-
wa and her retail Interests. l would
be delighted to see a start made to-
night, the ground work laid for an in
ter-urban camI6aign. Let's get to
work and bujYd inter-urhan railways,
never losing sight Of the fact that
when you are working toward building
1 inter-urba,h lines out of Ottumwa you
are doing splendid service for Ottum-
wa andS her retail interests"
Send Regrets.
w. J. Donelan, proprietor of the St.
Louis store, expressed his regrets at
!lfnot being present at the banquet in
a message received from Abba. Mr.
Donelan wished his fellow merchants
every pleasure at the banquet. His
message was received with clapping
OF hands, when read by Toastmaster
| Haw
Trade Abuses.
Stephen Barnes in responding to the
toast Trade Abuses took broadside
at the various soap clubs formed in
OttunWa and at the numerous solicit
tors Tor skirt and waist patterns who
invade the resident district. His views
on Trade Abuses" are in part as fol-
lows: Cutting prices on certain
staple articles to stimulate trade is
one of the things l consider trade
4 abuses. Putting up a saleable article
for price less than that paid the
wholesaler to attract custom is anoth-
; er. The various soap clubs about the
city which command greater volume
of our business, and the canvassers
with skirt or waist pattern invested,
are Overrunnfng the city and eating
up our business. The retail merchants
; ought to have the business of the citi-
zens, for they pay dearly for it. The
soap clubs or the canvassers pay no
tax, they rent no buildings, and they
have but little money invested in their
project, yet they are doing a great
volume of business which rightfully
, belongs to us. Another thing which
!, consider trade abuse is the care
lessness expressed by manufacturers
with regard to the honesty of their
employees. I believe that every manu-
facturer should see that the men in
! his employ pay their bills promptly.
; have had one experience with man
employed in cigar factory. He was
) slow pay, very slow, indeed. l brought
the mater up before his; employer, and
; he said that was none Of his business.
= replied that would make it some
! of my business to avoid selling his
, cigars, and since that time none of his
make have been in my cigar case"
ottunwa the Future City.
Cheers and clapping of hands greet
ed w. H Cooper, who spoke as fol
: lows on "Ottumwa the Future City,
! "This subject is one of the prob
t lens which all Ottumwans are deeply
: interested in, and 1 am sure that il
r we could \ anticipate the future, we
5 would no doubt see great possibilities
l for our city But we are only men and
: cannot measure the hidden values OF
!, the future. But we can take advan
tage of the opportunities as they
} come to us from day to day, and i'm
prove the future by the history of the
past, for we can look back and review
our mistakes or success which we
have made. We can only realize from
observation the needs and wants of 8
growing city. Ottumwa is geo
graphically located in a prosperous
and fertile country, surrounded by 6
great agricultural producing territory
And beneath her fertile soil lies i'm
mense rich coal fields which are one
of the revenue producing factors il