The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1909-06-10
OAKLAND BUSINESS MEN
GIVE BOOSTER DINNER"
Upwards of Seventy Gathered About
Festive Board Last Thursday Night.

Last Thursday night, June 3rd, more
than sixty of the business men of Oak
land and vicinity sat down to dinner at
the Frantz Hotel. The dinner and this
gathering of the business men was
unique in that it was the first of the
kind ever held in Oakland, and every
one was present with one intention
boosting the county of Garrett generally
and the town of Oakland particularly.
The idea of such a gathering origin
ated with Lieut.. E. S. West, whose
motto. Boost, Don't Knock" met
with universal approval and resulted in
the gathering together around the fes-
tive board Of this number of progressive,
boosting citizens. The menu consisted
Of fried chicken, ham, potato salad,
cold slaw, pickles, Strawberries with
cream, cake, coffee and cigars.
After dinner Lieut.. West introduced
Mr.. Gilmor s. Hamill as the toast
master. Mr.. HamiIl prefaced his re-
marks by saying, Time, if taken at the
tide, leads to fortune" and Garrett
county was just approaching tn
hightide Of prosperity; the county seat,
! Oakland, with the installation of water.
sewerage and natural gas, and inter-
sected by the great state highway, was
the best summer resort in the United
States. The POSTMASTER then intro
dIced Mr.. E. H. Sincell, who spoke of
the resources of Garrett county.
Mr.. Slncell is familiar with nearly
every foot of Garrett county and conse-
quently well qualified to speak of its
natural advantages. He called atten-
ton to the fact that cutting out the tim
Der, while sometimes looked upon as
| being unfortunate, was in reality a
blessing, as it was opening up one of the
most fertile and productive farming sec
tons within the bounds of Maryland. He
directed attention to the fact that this
county has the largest wheat field in the
State and that we have two hundred
and fifty square miles of coal lands
good coal-and if properly handled it
would be a source of revenue, not only
to the present owners but their chill
dren's. children also. Eight coal mines
Mr.. Sincell continued, are now IN active
operation along the line of the Western
| Maryland Railroad-all money makers.
and this condition would result with un-
developed lands as well when they are
placed upon the market. He directed
attention to the vast quantities of fire
clay, kaolin, some iron ore and other
, minerals to be found IN the county, clos
ing his remarks by saying that in few
years the eyes of Maryland would be
turned to Garrett county as not only the
largest but the wealthest and most
progressive in the State.
The postmaster, Mr. Hamil, before
| introducing the next speaker, called at
ton to the fact that an option had been
taken on the water power along the
Youghiogheny river and that it was
only question of short time until the
vast power now going to waste would
be harnessed and made to serve man in
heating and lighting his dwelling, turn
ing the wheels of industries and adding
in other ways to the comforts now found
only in the most pOpulous centres. Mr..
Hamill then introduced States Attor-
neY Julius c. Renninger, who made an
able address on What We Need" He
very aptly illustrated the one great
need by story of stranger going
along country road and seeing a sign
''This Farm for Sail" Seeing the own
er of the farm in field nearby, he
asked him when he thought the farm
would sail, and the answer came in
stantly, 'as soon as somebody comes
along who can raise the wind" He
thought that an earnest concentrated
effort to interest capital would have the
desired result; that instead of shipping
great quantities of glass sand out of the
county, we could get glass factories To-
Gated here, and that a railroad along
the Yough river connecting Oakland
with Pittsburg was one of the possibili-
ties of the near future.
Mr.. Scott Z. Jones was the next
speaker and he gave an interesting talk
on "How We Should Treat Our Wis.,
itors." He said this subject should
have been: How We Should Treat
Non-Residents WhoCome to Our Town"
and that every visitor should receive
| such courteous treatment that thew
would carry away pleasant recollec-
ton of the town and its residents. He
advised the people to carry this idea into
their business dealings and give our
summer visitors fair prices so that they
could live here as cheaply as at their
homes. Mr.. Jones proved concusively
that Oakland was the best market for
country produce along the line of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
Mr.. G. Semmes Hhmill was intro