Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1912-06-13
MERCHANTS HIGH
LYPLEASED WITH
entertainment
Amusement H all Meeting A
Great Reception and Cordial
Welcome to Merchants and
Manufacturers of Milwaukee.


ed the meeting at the Amusement
Hall Thursday evening. 1t is esti-
mated that between four and five
hundred people were in attendance.
Many ladies were present and occu-
pied the balcony.
The Grand Rapids Band opened
the entertainment with the following
program: March, Hearts and Flow
ems and Les Picadores. The music
by the band was greatly appreciated
and brought forth hearty applause
and, by the way, the band received
many compliments from the visitors.
Vice President Arpin of the CONNER
cial Club acted, as chairman of the
meeting and with a few appropriate
remarks introduced Mayor Joseph A.
Cohen. Mr.. Cohen spoke of the re
lations of the merchants of Grand Rap
ids with the merchants and manu-
facturers of Milwaukee and went in
to detail regarding the statistics of
the industrial wealth of the city of
Milwaukee. Several times during
the Mayors address, he was inter
rupted by spontaneous outbursts of
applause. This was especially so
when he stated that the merchants
of Grand Rapids had bought great
quantities of goods from Milwaukee
and would continue to do so. He
also caused laughter and applause
when he said the Merchants and
Manufacturers Association were out
for business and wanted orders and
then We get a letter saying please
remit" The Mayor welcomed the
Association to the city and present
ed the big key to the acting presi-
dent, Mr.. Elmore, of the Association
saying as he did so that the city was
theirs and all the police were out
J of town
Mr.. Elmore, acting president, re-
sponded to the Mayor and accepted
the key to the city on behalf of the
Association He outlined the object
of the trip and said they were on a
aur of discovery and wanted to come
into closer contact with the busi-
ness men and to become personally
acquainted with their customers. He
stated that it had been a pleasant
experience to meet the business men
p,11 Sv,1n oS4
and towns. He spoke feelingly of
the hospitality shown to the members
of the Association wherever they had
been. He also gave an interesting
talk on business and congratulated
the city on it's appearance and the
progress made since the Association
was here before.
Mr. Arpin introduced Senator T. w
Brazeau, who after a few preliminary
remarks told story about mother
and little boy. The mothers one
theme of conversation was about her
little boy. but at one time she was
talking about other matters, when
the little boy pulled on her skirts,
and said, Lets talk about me-
Taking this story as an illustration,
Mr.. Brazeau said he was going to
talk about Grand Rapids. He told
the Milwaukee men what had been
done here in the way of beautifyinig
our city, the redemption of our riv-
er banks, and about the wonderful
waterpower here. He also spoke a.
bout our fortunate situation as a
shipping center saying that we had
three railroads and the Green Bay
& Western. Mr. Brazeau was applau
ed frequently during his talk.
Edward c. Bruce, Secretary of
the Association was the next speak
er. He spoke about the relations
of the city of Milwaukee with the
rest of the state and how the growth
of Milwaukee depended upon the
growth of the smaller centers. He
spoke about our chief product, paper,
how yesterday it was a tree stand
, ing in the forest and today was car
rying the messages of the world to
the four corners of the earth. He
: spoke of the pioneers and paid a
glowing tribute to the women pion-
eers who braved the hardships, per-
Z lis and tribulations of the early days
to give to US of this generation the
opportunities We have of developing
this great section.
Mr.. Arpin, then introduced the
! man, who has borne the brunt of
organizing and holding together the
f Commercial Club of this city, Hon.
: Geo. L. Williams. Mr. Williams did
f not waste a second in coming right
p straight at what he wanted to say
# He Interrupted himself, however, tc
e say that the Ladies' Federation were
/ the pioneers in the movement for
s beautifying Grand Rapids and thai
v the ladies went at it and got the mel
) interested and the credit for the great
Z progress made must be given to the
# ladies' Then he launched into his
5 subject and suggested that the Mer
y chants and Manufacturers of Milwau
f kee cooperate with the Commercial
e Clubs and Business Mems Associa
u tions in the smaller cities and town:
and get in close touch with them
s and help the smaller towns to de
velope- He outlined a plan whereby
the Milwaukee business men might
Is arrange to have representatives o-
II the different Business Mems AS
4, sociaticns from different sections OF
the state n1oa+ tho NFiiIyva17Izca RTI