Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-03-27
Wonders of Tulsa Inspire
Topeka Writer to ElOquenCe

Il lOElOQucuCc
papers and do not purpose 10 recapi-
tulate il here. But If a newspaper
man could visit Tulsa and not be
seized with "A mad desire to write
something about the town. he would
give convincing proof that the DAYS
of his usefulness were over. | want
no such reputation.
But a man is seriously haudi-
capped when he begins 10 write about
Tulsa The town is 50 tremendous,
80 raw, so unbelievably new, so boom
AXE. and yet 50 apparently substan-
tlal that one is puzzled.
rs II renl?' "Will II never stop 60
"Nill it blow ~ and vanish in thin
air when the oil boom collapses ?'
These are questions the visitor finds
himself asking and many Tulsa mon
frankly say they don't Know. other
announce in loud voice and with SUI
preme confidence ,hat the town IS as
solid as a rock in It's foundati ons and
that its future IL assured For myself,
| told a friend before / left:
Truth sounds Like a Lie.
81 don't dare go home and tell the
truth about your town. No one would
for truth and veracity. The PLAN,
Lldnt truth about Tulsa sounds like al
Internal lie"
Tulsa looks like city of 80, 900 in
its downtown section.
Its finer residences are literally
mansions.
Its Country club would be a credit
10 g. city thrice its size.
It's office buildings are skyscra pers.
Its school buildings are models OF
convenience and sanitary perfection.
Its churches and Y. NJ. G. A. b. lid
ing are palatial.
Its sidewalks and curning and nav
ing are Of the best
Its retail stores are not exceeded
anywhere-nor are the prices.
Its hotels are n credit &c city twice
| its size and they are always full
Its banks and other financial irsti-
titions are housed in skyscrapers and
have the mos. elaborate appoint
ments.
Its people are open handed, free
hearted, whole -souied. bat absolutely
money mad - thinking, tai X / n &,
dreaming, almost eating Gil. oil, oil.
When a Tulsa man speaks of money
at all. IL is OF millions. Smaller fig.
ures do not interest him. Usually, II ~
to explain how he made his million, or
his first two or three, or how some
friend of his hal Just sold out his OIL
holdings for five or ten or 20 mil
lions ] smiled at these Arabian
knight tales at first, but soon
learned that they were the truth. III
nally when someone told me that
there was one Tulsa man who had
twenty millions in good United States
dollars-not investments, but the real
hard coin, tucked around in a half
doZer Oklahoma banks and elsewhere
i swallowed it without question;
didn't even eulp.
Statistics That Cause Headache.
Tulsa supplies all comers with sta
tistics that make them dizzy, but
they don't start to tell the real story.
1t can't be told in figures. The real
story of Tulsa is a romance-a com
edy just now, with a touch of melo-
drama and threatening any time TO
turn into "A great tragedy. Yet it is
but fair to say that for four years
the enemies of this thriving city have
been waiting for the bubble to burst
and it hasn't done ii, and shows no
signs of doing so in the near future.
Whether It ever will burst rests with
Tulsa's own people, and they appear
alive to the possibilities. They are
building to minimize the effects of a
sudden drop in the price of oil, as
might follow the unheralded cessation
of the European war, and are en-
couraging factories, small and large,
to provide for their payroll popula-
ton, should such an eventuality en-
sue at an early date SO Tulsa is
alive and awake and nothing will be-
fall her if she can discover means to
forestall it, and her business men are
nothing if not resourceful.
In 1902 Tulsa was a small trading
point at the terminus of the Frisco
railroad, with a population of 1900
people. A few years later oil was
discovered In oklahoma and Tulsa be
gan to grow. In 1910 the government
census showed $4,000 population. A
special government census taken in
1914 showed $4,000 people, and the
best estimate now-and this is really
conservatives $4,000.
Oil, of which 117,000,000 barrels
were produced in the Mid-Continent
field last year, has of course, con-
tributed the major portion to Tulsa's
prosperity and growth, and the liberal
hearted C,l men of wealth have made
it possible for Tulsa to set the pace
she has set, and is keeping up.
Tulsa is the center of the largest
high gravity oil field in the world, and
60 per cent OF the worlds supply of
gasoline is made from oil produced In
the field Of which Tulsa is the center.
The oil producers naturally have