Los Angeles herald., 1906-02-20
WONDERFUL DEVELOPMENT
OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES

| city of Los Angeles. The wages paid,
| including salaries of officials, i'm these
strictly Industrial manufacturing en-
| terprises at the present time must
amount to considerably over $4,000 600:
the rents paid for premises, including
uptown offices, amount to more than
g. 600 900; the cost of material, including
freight, to more than $780, 00O for
power there Is expended annually con-
siderably over 100000 and the value
of the finished products runs to above
$40, 900, 900.
During the past three years there has
been expended annually i'm the city from
$10,0 00V to over SIS, 900 for the
building of new structures, including
houses, business blocks, factories, etc
During the year 1905 the number of per
mits issued by the superintendent of
buildings for the city ran to over 90C0
At least 5000 Of these permits were fer
new structures costing all the way from
$1,000 for cottages for wage earners up
to ten and twelve story steel frame
buildings costing i'm some instances as
high as $250,0OO. The expenditures
made by the Huntington syndicate in
extending street car lines and inter-
urban electric lines has amounted to
not less than S5,000,00O year; perhaps
i'm the five years the total expenditure
has run to $30,OO0,0O0 There are in all
more than a dozen of these electric
lines running out of the city of Los
Angeles to distances varying from six
to ten miles, to as much as thirty
miles. These lines radate from Los
Angeles like spokes from the hub of a
wheel and run out to all points of the
compass. This work is still going
steadily forward
At the present time there are n total
of sixteen commercial banks i'm the
city, with deposits of quite S50,000 900.
This shows an increase during the year
1905 of more than $20,000,00O. These
sitXeen banks on January / paid dive
dents at the rate of from six to twelve
per cent. Besides these commercial
banks there are nine savings banks Of
a magnitude worthy of consideration
doing business in the city. These saw
ings banks have at the present time
deposits aggregating over $4,000, 600
showing an increase during the past
year of considerably over $S,000,000. The
dividends paid depositors during the
past year by these savings banks
dividends paid to stockholders amount
ed to perhaps $350,000 for the year.
At the present time the paidup capital
of all the city banks of all classes ap-
proXimates closely $9,00OO0O and the sur
plus of these financial institutions COM
Dlned is quite SlO,OOO,OUO.
The general conception outside of
Los Angeles is that all we have here
is climate. We willing concede-indeed,
we enthusiastically proclaim-that eli
mate is indeed our largest asset. There
is no doubt there are communities with
larger wealth than ours, there may be
communities surrounded by vaster re-
sources than we can boast or care to
claim, but we do claim and boast tha t
there is not "a spot on earth which
can successfully contend with us in
the matter of climate. But climate is
not ALL We have a back country, a
largo and rich one, and we have a
field here for varied industrial enter
prises, as the figures given heretofore
must show, We may not have as broad
an area of farming lands as that sur
rounding many other cities, but there
are few sections of this or any other
country where there are so many acres
of ground each one of which will pro-
duce annually a carload of products
whose value will, in some instances, run
as high as $1,000 when landed in eastern
markets. Indeed, that sum has been
doubled in many instances during the
past year on single carloads of citrus
fruit gathered from the trees on a single
acre of ground. Besides oranges and
lemons. there are crops produced here
of winter vegetables, such as tomatoes.
green peas, cauliflower, cabbage, new
potatoes in January and February, and
celery, the value of which crops, coming
from a single acre of ground, will run
all the way from $100 to $500. These are
facts not known outside of this COM
munity TO a great many people, who
think the eastern tourist crop is the
only one we have. That may be the
most valuable, but it is reinforced by
a great many others, the aggregate
value of which is an almost inestimable
sum of money
The community is an exceedingly rich
one. as shown by the per capita dis
tribution of its wealth. Wages are eX-
ceedingy high, employment steady for
competent men. The farmers are pros
porous beyond what is common else
where. very large number of our
people are those retired from active
business, who have left behind them
in the east business interests, financial
and otherwise, from which they draw Il
very large revenue annually, which they
spend here in the expenses of their
households and in many instances a
good deal of this goes into new enter
prises in this community.
From For California" Magazine