Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-01-13
Growth Of City Indicated By
Lack of Quarters for
Victims Of the Fire
FRIEDMAN HAS NOT
COMPLETED PLANSa
Swirles Unable to Say When
He Will Reopen Store ;
Owners to Rebuild

An indication Of how Ottumwa ia
growing how business is building ur2
and how conditions in general are get
ting better, lies In the news that the
merchants who were burned out In the
disastrous blaze of Tuesday morning.,
are having considerable difficulty TIL
securing places in which to open urss'
even temporary quarters. Store
rooms in OttumWa are at premiums
and very few are vacant. It has been
many years since prospective tenants
had difficulty in finding buildings. Up
until less than year ago, there were
from three to six or seven good store@
rooms vacant much of the time, but AS
canvass OF the city at present shows
that practically every bit Of availableR
space is taken and is doing its share%
to add to the prosperity of the city.
Business property has also become;
more inviting to investors and realg
estate man who himself owns conSidys
cradle property, states that buyers cai69
be found for almost any piece OF prop
erty along Main street as soon as there
Is hint that 1t Is on the market
Begin to Look Around. 81
Those who lost their stocks, by the
OA<sAS aAS OCS1IuAA6 IOudy, W S1uxylSSx
around for places to locate until their
former buildings can be rebuilt, aiIA
the owners having expressed their iEasls
tention OF erecting new structures teSl
take the place of those destrOyed,s
Roy e. Stevens has established Aa
temporary Office in the Brucnnlan tall
or shop directly above the place form
erly used by the store. In the nlean*
time he will look for a place to ops,slS
new store. The Friedmans are unsS
decided about where they will 90 als8
though they will open up again ak
soon as they can, N. Friedman, preS1s
dent of the concern, said today. JAmeeS|
Swirles does not know vet what he
will do either. although Mrs, w. Asa&
Harper and Mrs. j. d. Browning. OWN
ers of his building, expect to rebuildsa
Whether he will locate there again OIL
note is undecided.
WooIworth Opens Soon.
The WOolworth store expects to heA
open for business Saturday morntnGs
The west half will be partitiOned OIL
from the rest Of the store, the work
men beginning today to board up The
place. The east half is not badly dam
aged except near the Office where the
roof has fallen in. This will be hxe6S3
at once and that portion Of the stores|
which is the main part, will be uBedsA
The empty room on West SecOnds#
near Court, formerly used by Roth
Brothers real estate Office. has been
rented by the Woolworth people tOsa
store goods in and to handle the artisz
cles now in the west half of the Mains
street store which are not damaged.saT saT
Have Own Insurance. SH
T. d. Sprague, superintendent Of Es
w. Woolworth & Co., from ChicagQY
has been in Ottumwa today and haA
assisted the local manager, r. H.sSS'
Blake, in getting matters adjustedsS
There is to be no regular adjustments
in the loss in the store. The Wool
worth people handle their insurancoM
matters among themselves. That tnS}
they have company which is fOrm0d2
by the officials in the main OMcoS and
all business connected with 1t is take1
care of by them. The loss SUSTAINED ~
by the Ottumwa store is simply d9*S
Quoted from the fund that Is set as1doea
for that purpose.
others Coming Soon.
Other insurance adjusterS for thMgS
various companies in which the nyoM
damaged stores carried policies wtlIN
be here or are here now They VIII
make a complete adjustment afteI
they have gone over the facts and
made their regular adjustments Hal
company with the local agents f0I#
their concerns. This is expected tG8
take some little time and the ownereS
Of the places where the stocks were
only partly damaged are awaiting the
adjusters' action before they 60 aheadM
any further in their removal OF the
goods. BIN
Leases Are Different. sS
The matter Of the leases is anothef#
question that is being given considers
able attention by both the owners and
the occupants of the places today
Some of them call for general termS
nation OF the lease at time like thiSS
while others state that all propertyA
shall be rebuilt for the occupant. ssS