Bisbee daily review., 1908-12-05


The Douglas chamber of commerce
and mines is now less than a year old
Its organization was attended by much
enthusiasm at banquet held in the
Gadsden MOTEL for that purpose in
February last. The membership al
the present time, while not as large
as during the first few months of its
existence, contains practically all the
prominent business men of Douglas
besides many property owners not
engaged in business.
The work of the chamber of com.
merce and mines has been done with,
out ostentation, but 1t has been of a
character to bring results. Consider
able beneficial advertising has been
done and there viii be few to doubt
the necessity of continuing this com
mercial organization in the important
work which has been done. To dc
this it must be kept in mind that
those who are serving the chamber as
directors and officers must have the
hearty cooperation of the citizens OF
Douglas.
Following is a statement Of the
board of directors Of the chamber OF
commerce and mines which viii give
a clear idea of the work done from the
beginning OF the organization:
Tc the Members of the Douglas Cham
Der of Commerce and Mines:
The directors have thought It ex-
pedient at this time to issue a state
ment as to the condition Of the cham
Der of commerce and to state
briefly what it has accomplished and
what are its plans for the future. As
Is known, the chamber was organized
last February with n membership OF
some two hundred. A secretary was
engaged who came on the ground
about the first of May and has since
bbeen in charge Of the interests Of
the chamber. The membership was
not as large as it probably would have
been had times been better. Many
persons who ordinarily would have
joined, were Obliged to forego the OPP
portunity simply because they had to
curtail expenses at every possible
point; yet the membership has re-
manned fairly constant and the funds
collected from individual members
and from special contributors have en-
abled us to accomplish good deal.
The directors assumed that it was
to be the main business Of the cham
Der to advertise Douglas and the ad-
jacent territory in all legitimate ways,
with the object of attracting people
and capital To this they have devot-
ed their main energies. Now the mat
ter of advertising town is something
from which immediate results can not
be expected. While il is true that the
directors can point 20 but few persons
and say that they have been attracted
to Douglas as the result of what adj
Vertising has been done, yet we feel
sure that a knowledge of the city and
of the surrounding territory of aAri-
IONA and Sonora has been brought to
the attention of a large number OF
persons; and of those persons il is
reasonable to suppose thai a certain
percentage will eventually find their
way here This advertising has been
done by means of booklets, newspar
per articles and direct correspondence
with a large number of persons, living
In all parts Of the country. It is ac-
knowledged that the booklet issued
by the chamber of commerce is one
OF the most attractive pieces of adj
vertising ever gotten out in this part
of the country. This has had a very
wide circulation. We have also spent
considerable money in newspaper adj
vertising, as result of which hun
dreds Of letters of inquiry have been
received and answered We made a
very effective display at the Irriga-
ton congress in Albuquerque, the re-
suits of which will be far reaching,
and in general the directors feel that
in the six months in which the cham
Der has actually been doing business,
the name and advantages of Douglas
have had wide circulation.
We have investigated very thor
oughly the matter of farming possibil
tiles in the Sulphur Springs valley.
We have, had experts on the ground
from the experiment station at Tue
son and also the great exponent of
dry farming. Mr.. Campbell. Negotia-
lions are now pending with him look
ing to the establishment of an exper-
iment and demonstration farm, by
which the productivity of the soil may
be demonstrated.
The directors are fully alive to the
desirability of advertising the mineral
resources Of this section and especial
~ OF Sonora. They realize that the
development of the adjacent Mexican
country will be great benefit to the
city of Douglas. They have not given
mining interests as ni.Sn attention as
they deserve, simply because of the