Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-02-07

luiIlWd, iowa. under the ACt OF congress
of March 8, 1879.
OTTUMWA SAVING MORE MONEY.
Bank deposits on January II, 1905,
$3.74o,0O0.
Bank deposits on January 80, 1906.
$4,443, 900.
Bank deposits on January 26, 1907
$5,100,000.
Much has been said of late concern
ing the prosperity in which this year
of our Lord, 1907, finds Ottumwa and
Ottumwans, but nothing that has been
said bears as much weight as the fore
going figures. Just glance at them
ial prosperity shown by the truest
barometer-the bank deposits.
Ottumwa has had banks since the
now grown-up city was an infant in
swadding clothes And from the first
the thrifty citizens deposited their saw
ings. Year by year these deposits
grew, not with great gains, for Ottum-
was growth has always been steady
and not marked with spurts in growth
or booms. And in 1905 these deposits
had reached the then top figures of
$3,740,O00.
And then came a boom, unrecogniz
ed, it is true, for it was not the sort
of boom that is ushered in with in
Hated prices and ushered out when
these prices drop; but it was none
the less a boom. 1t was healthy
boom in property values, general in
crease in the per capita wealth and
the banks deposit gains give the proof.
In January, 1905, the deposits were
$3,740,000. In January 1907, they were
$5,100,000, an Increase of $1,360,000,
or SO per cent.
And just look at the figures in an
other way. During all the years from
the time the first bank was opened in
Ottumwa until 1905 the deposits grew
until the s3,740,0OO mark was reached.
Then in the next two years an increase
was made that amounted to SO per
cent. more than one-third, of the
money deposited during more than a
quarter of a century.
Granting that Ottumwa has popula-
ton of $4,000, as the best estimates
since the last census give this figure,
the per capita deposit is $204 In 9TH
er words the total amount on deposit
in the Ottumwa banks If divided equal
ly among the residents, it would give
S204 to every man. woman, child and
baby in the city.
There are few cities that can show
such substantial conditions.
From any point of view the in
crease in bank deposits gives an ire
futable evidence of growth and pros
perity. To dispute it you must argue
with people who carry in their bank
pass books material evidence of an in
creased general prosperity.
The bank deposit increase is the
more fattering because Ottumwa is a
city of homes and there are probably a
greater percentage of people here own
ing their own places than in any other
city in state of home owners. New
localities and unsettled cities show
greater bank deposits, because the
banks in these cases are utilized tenn
porarily to store the surplus funds OF
non-residents who are looking for loca-
tons. But in Ottumwa this is not the
case. The bank deposits represent
here the family surplus es and savings
and when this money is taken from
the bank it is only to be used in the
channels of trade with home merchants
and in buying and improving Ottumwa
property.
With this kind of people, working
steadily, receiving good wages and
saving money, OttumWa's steady
growth is assured
And with tie Commercial association
united as it never has been before
there is every reason to believe that
this growth will be accelerated.