Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-23
AFFAIRS At SOUTH OMAHA
Fight on Designation as Reserve
City Surprises Bankers,
DEFENSE MADE AT CAPITAL
Magic city Men wiz Make Trip 60
Washington In Their own
BehaIf-CIt Liaht
Problem.

r. r. Eblld nHh - ~ NANANhf
senting the interests Of the South Omaha
national banks. expect TO go to washing
ton to walt on the comptroller OF the cur !
rency on the matter OF the application OF
the South Omaha banks to make South
Omaha a reserve city. 1t Is understood
that some Of the Omaha banks protest
against this action and urge the comp
troller to withhold approval OF the petit
ton OF South Omaha on the ground that
the two cities are practically one and make
use OF the same clearing house.
The comptroller, according to dispatches,
has decided to give a hearing as soon as
the South Omaha representatives can ar
range the date Of the same. Until that
time no action on the application will be
taken.
j. c. French OF the South Omaha Ma
tional bank said. in explanation yesterday
afternoon: THE advantage OF making
South Omaha a reserve city Is this: Ma
tional banks in cities OF less than 1900
population are required to keep a Is per
cent reserve Of their deposits. OF this sum
three-fifths is kept in the vault of the
bank and two-fifths. at the option of the
bank. may be deposited in a reserve city.
Any city which has the consent Of three
fourths OF the national banks may apply
for the privilege OF becoming a reserve
city, provided the population Is over 5000.
1t may be readily seen from the large busl-
ness done in the state, from South Omaha
as a center, 1t would be to the advantage
Of country banks to deposit their reserve
in South Omaha to meet conditions Of the
live stock market.
Protest Comes as Surprise.
I'VE applied for the privilege some time
ago and had no idea that any of the
Omaha banks would enter an objection.
Most of the South Omaha banks are affill-
ated with national banks in Omaha. The
point to the objection seems to be thai
South Omaha and Omaha are under the
same clearing house association. Undoubt-
eddy, IL South Omaha becomes a reserve
city, 1t will draw off some of the reserve
now enjoyed exclusively by the Omaha
banks.
Mr.. Folda and myself expect to start
for Washington as soon as we hear def
nitely of the date set for the hearing. I
presume this date will be about Saturday,
: f. w. Clark, cashier of the Union Stock
Yards National bank, spent part of the
day Wednesday in the office Of the city
O clerk preparing data for use before the
. comptroller to show the volume of bust
4, ness done in South Omaha, as revealed
by the clerks record. and the claim which
o the banks of the city advance for recognl.
g ton.
Lighting Bids PuzzIers.
The city council is TO have a special
d meeting as a committee of the whole
some time before the close of the week
: to investigate the lighting proposition.
The new company has apparently the nd
vantage of the bid for the city lighting
by SIS, having placed a bid for the public
light at $40 per arc. y 1t Is unknown,
however, whether the Aew company in
tends to enter the field of commercial
lighting. If not, Electric
Light and Power company comes for
ward with the argument that the royalty
N now paid on private lighting would
amount to 81 per lamp for each public
light. This would make the bid So
cheaper than the bid of the new company,
ID to say nothing OF the taxes to be paid
by the company which has so large a
system Of private distributing lines.
n The new company offers to produce
k commercial current for ~ cents per
Is kilowatt hour and 6 cents excess, while
the Omaha Electric Light and Power
company offers the current at IA cents
and s cents.
he II It is the intent of the new company
al to produce commercial current in com
he petition with the old company 1t will be
is Obliged to pay a royalty of 3 per cent
Y, of it's gross earnings. 1t is likely that
" the new company will make 1t clear to
the council before the matter is taken
IN up in the committee of the whole just
No how far it will seek to supply commercial
co current.
If the new company gets the contract
- the old company will be relieved from
- paving the royalty and will be able with
=" out loss TO reduce about Il of a cent
ne the price to the consumer. But with the
rs advantage OF an established system tht
or Omaha company would doubtless meet
DE any price proposed.
OF AdaIr In sOuth Omaha.
II Lou Adair was lodged in the South OmahS
lis jail yesterday. He is said to be chief d
IL a gang of daring men who have broker
into and robbed many freight cars II
no Omaha, South Omaha and suburban points
ha He was captured with a number OF hi
III associates a few nights ago while making
nd away with a wagon load of meat, which
&c was secured in South Omaha. This capture
II was made near Papillion on the Papio. TIT
OF sarpy county authorities and the railroad
u secret service as well as three or foul
IL Omaha detectives figured I'm the capture
which was an exciting chapter. A revolver
battle occurred, in which twenty-five shot
were fired; in spite of which no one wa
hit. and one of the suspected men escaped
- Since the car Of meat was broken int
in South Omaha, Adair was placed in tn
South Omaha jail and will be srraigned II
police court as soon as the county attorne!
fixes a time. Adair said yesterday tina
he would waive his preliminary hearing
but wanted an attorney, so that the bont
might be made as low as possible. He sal,
he could furnish a reasonable bond AM
did not propose to lie in jail.
"a As the latter days OF the fourth montl
zee of 1909 approach, 1t appears that the soutI
~, Omaha market Is TO show gains In receipt
10. for the year, II the splendid gait of tn,
,st last two months Is kept up. Already tn
receipts i'm sheep show an increase OF owe
~. $1,000 head. This gain has been stead,
Ird from the first Of the year. January an,
no February showed a big decrease in hog
and a moderate decrease In cattle owe
1908. For the first time yesterday the de
-th crease in cattle was wiped out and TN
comparative statement shows a gain of 5G
II hAng ala Vha aa1Wn.ga w-hg.L - .