El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-08
Three Years Of Development In Deming
By R. BEDICHECK.

, plant didn't remain a junk pile very
long The Graphic soon became a pa
per that pleased the eve. and its mes
sages each week We're so filled with
bubbling optimism that many who
/ had before been blind to possibilities Of
/ this region awoke to the realization
of the untold agricultural resources OF
/ the valley Possibly no other single
agency has done so much to unity Opin-
/ ion upon this point as the Deming
] Graphic
Organize Chamber of Commerce.
The time was ripe in March. 1910.
and Lee o. Lester and a few other
boosters decided that a chamber of
} commerce should be formed for the pur-
pose of getting Deming and the MINI
bres valley before the outside world,
and giving inquirers reliable and au-
thentic Information concerning the
situation here. / fell in with the
movement and boosted 1t along TO the
best of my ability
After much banquetirfg and extended
/ speechmaking. the child was born. a
lusty brat with an irrepressibIe ten
dency TO make itself heard throughout
the length and breadth of the land.
There were about 80 active members To
start with, and the income ranged
around $3.50 per month.
Ralph C-Ely was elected first presi-
dent and 1 was elected first secretary
of the Deming chamber Of commerce.
Considering the slender means at our
E disposal we Uld4t EOnElQEEd ole noise.
Paid advertising at that time was not
TO be thought of. 1t was a matter Of
enlisting the sympathy and awakening
the generosity OF the editors Of various
Z publications. to the end that we might
get a hearing with their readers. Their
generosity in printing our boosting
stories was a great factor in the sue
cess Of our advertising campaign The
Albuquerque Morning Journal. The Fl
PasO Herald and Times, the santa Ee
New Mexican all gave generous space
TO news stories and Writeups from
Deming, and from these papers, other
Z papers copied our matter, so that il
WIS only a short time before the
, southwest generally realized that
there was something doing in Deming.
Avenues OF Publicity Opened Up.
The novelty OF our system of irriga-
ton opened up other avenues Of pub
licity- Trade journals all over the Unit
ed states were glad 10 print stories
which we prepared concerning the
development of this valley by means OF
pumping. We also were able to land
[ illustrated articles in great daily pa
pers all over the country, which pub
Lefty cost US nothing save the salary Of
the secretary and postage. Inquiries
were followed up religiOusly. and ey-
cry prospect which came kept on the
string until he either settled here or
refused TO answer several letters
It was not long before the effect Of
the work Of the chamber of commerce
came to be felt BY every business in the
town. and this, Of course. strengthened
the organization materially The mem
bership grew. and before long a com
mlttee. composed Of G. J. Laughren,
John COrbett, c. H. Hon and W. z. Holt
made a canvass OF the business men OF
the town and secured monthly contri-
buttons TO special advertising fund
They met with a ready response Gen
erous contributions were made by the
business men Of Deming and about
$500 per month was raised In this way
Han=H
printed. and several advertising con-
tracts were given
Increase in Revenue.
Under the very efficient mana cement
OF A W Pollard, president. and V. S
Hills. secretary, the second year wit
messed a great increase in revenue, and
a very com prenenslTe and effective ad-
Verusing campaign was inaugurated
the results Of which are every day In
evidence The mantle Of leade has
now fallen upon H II Kelly. and the
Work IS going forward with augmented
Vlgor and mQst gratifying results.
As an illustration Of the confidence
Of peming in the value Of intelligent
publicity. a special fund Of $1,000 was
subscribed here in five hours for the
purpose Of putting on a years advertis-
ing campaign in The Ell PasO Herald
As 1 am personally in charge Of this
campaign, II might seem egOtistic to
comment upon the returns which we
are daily receiving from this publicity.
Suffice II to say, that we were exceed
lngly fortunate in choosing the me-
dunn for this advertising. FL Paso is
the natural distributing point for pros
pectors in the southwest. A man who
Is interested in this section leaves
some point in Ohio let US saw for IL
lustration. He has been attracted per-
hapS by the advertising which the SAN
IA Re railroad is doing for the Pecos :
valley, or by the advertising which the
government is DONG for the Elephant Z
Butte project. or by the advertising I
which the bureau OF immi era ton is I
doing for New Mexico. This prospector /
finds that FL PasO Is the most conven-
lent point for establishing headCuar- I
ters- From this center he visits vari- (
Gus points IN the surrounding section I
in which he is interested. Here we are \
aole 70 get before him with our sdVer- Z
Using in The Herald. It takes him but
three hours TO get here. and when he
gets here he sees a proposition so far
ahead of anything else that he has been
SHOWN, and about nine out OF ten OF
such prOspectOrs invest either in bus
mess or in farm lands. In this way
Demlng is enabled TO benefit largely BY /
the advertising of the whole southwest
and that Of the whole Of New Mexico. So
Tar, no other community in New Mexico Z
or western Texas seems to have tum-
bleo to the effectiveness of this adver- I
Using. They will wake up in time ana
then Deming viii have something else
Just as novel and just as effective The
ulSrlng gushing feature OF Deming is
that it stays always a little way in
advance
subscriptions of 81 Per Month.
I notice in this mornings psper
March s. 1879 the following item
from neighbOring city of about twice
the size of Deming-
AT a meeting of the chamber OF
commerce. propositions for the placing
the chamber on a firm basis were dis
cussed- One suggestion which seemed
10 meet with favor was advanced BY q !
prominent business man. to the effect
that % Of the business and professional I
men be immediately signed up TO agree
TO pay a years dues at the rate OF 50
per month, or S24 per year. and that
this sum be collected in advance to
form a fund for the handling of the /
business Of the chamber Of commerce
Another suggestion was that the pres
ent board Of directors be succeeded by
an executive committee for the trans q
action Of all business. and that meet /
ings OF the entire membership Of the I
chamber be held oftener than once a
year which has heretofore been the
custom. These two propositions have
been taken under Amusement by the
members.
This tremendous proposition OF sub G