Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-03-02
MEN MAKE THE TOWN.

n reorganiZe the COmmerclal aeeoni
ot,on 40 as to make it broader IN us
nnrnoses and more powerful numer.
icaIiv brings to mind the oft repeateu
assertion that towns are mace NY VI
men and the kind of men determines
the kind of town
Wa are wont to believe that towns
1row big and prosperous because VI
the,r location on some trade route or
because of their proximity to rich
consuming districts or some otncr
thing that has to do with external
considerations. When you come r1snt
down to fact, the real reason ior Dig
citv lies in the kind of men VINO make
IN the city. who direct It's enterprises
md who back 1t with their brains,
their time and their money. The r1ghl
kind Of men can make metropolis
nnt ~ q wilderness; they can make
the,r CITY the center of a vast distrlct;
thsv can even build up the very dls.
rr,ct itself There are thousands OIL
Instances Of the truth that men make
the town. Some seventy-fve years
ago the cities of Milwaukee and chi
cago came into being. Mllwau ,t 'st
was favored with an excellent lake
harbor and good high ground on when
to build. Chicago, hundred mlies
down the lake, was q swamp WIN
long stretches of beach upon Whlcn
me surf roared. Milwaukee ENJOYED
any natural advantages that exlsteu'
The men of Milwaukee were ord,.
nary. hard working, industrious ana
thrifty citizens. Their city grew IN
the natural trend Of events; M1lWau-
kae today is twelfth among the cities
NJ the nation. .a~ ~--
The men Of Chicago were some
thing more than Just good citizens.
Thav had visions, they had confidence,
thev we're public spirited. The men
81 Chicago learned the secret OF co.
nneration early They encouraged
enterprise. they aided others to de-
velon business. they planned how the
interests of the city could best be
advanced. they did more than o1fer
sugRestions-they got into the mar
mass and gave their time and their
money to everything that was de.
sinned to make Chicago bigger anu
more prosperous and better place
q live. The men of Chicago were
heart and soul in such movements as
q now on in Ottumwa. They banished
salAshness and the measure applied
"a avarything was "Will it benefit the
cnmmunity?" The What do get out
Of it" feeling was burned at the STAKE
Chicago was collection OF enterprls'
ing public spirited, hard headeo'
sound business men, and not coilec,
ton of houses in which people lived
and stores in which they bought their
supplies. =, NJ
The results are known to all. 10
day Chicago ranks second IN size
among the cities Of the United States
and fourth in size among the cities
Of the world. In the last fifty years
II has grown faster than any of the
large cities and gives promise OF
some day topping the list. 1t Is
prosperous city and great fortunes
have been made there. 1t is splen-
did city in which to live, its morals
compare favorably with other great
centers and on the material side OF
life 1t offers everything worth while.
Chicago is a monument to the truth
that cities are made Of men and the
kind OF men determines the kind OF
II.ity. And Chicago is not the only
monument to this ideA You, your
self If you will, can think of score
Of cities that have grown and pros
pered because Of the kind of men
who founded and built them, because
of the cooperating Of the men, because
81 their public spiritedness. Plenty
OF Illustrations exist.
The men of Ottumwa can make this
city bigger, better and buster and the
path which will lead to such an attain
%ment has been blazed by Chicago
and other cities. The men of Ottum-
wa can make no better start than by
getting into the harness that the new
Commercial association will provide
and pulling together to advance the
interests of the city.
A bulletin Just Issued by the