The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-09-07
MIR. T.. =. NORRIS RFI tTfES
STORY OF tGHIf,N

Serving ones fellow citizens In
position 60 full Of responsibility rs that
Of president Of the chamber Of com
merce without hope Of reward other
than the resDect and good will % y
the membership. constitutes really
true and loyal citizenship, What bet
ter evidence Of unselfsh service could
he evInCed hv those who havc m the
mast guided the destinies Of the cham
her than the fact that sava in one
instance. every one has declined 10
IN candidate for any public o"'cn?
It would seem that the title Eek -pres'-
dent Of the chamber of commerce
was sufficiently honorable In itself 10
satisfy any reasonable ambition.
This semi centennial OF the cham Der
is designed to he a symposium by the
ex-presidents of happenings during
their respective administra tons This
means, that men who shrink from
self exploitation must for the mo-
ment, cast aside their modesty ana
come into the lmelieht.
My advent official head of this
body was coincident with the ushering
In of the twentieth century. Upon
"a assumption of office we took over the
Young Mems business association,
which had exerted itself mainly to-
ward the securing Of conventions for
tIl~ WY iSAANit - iii tiiNE tttiVStAei
mere made more effective by the
merger, and during 1900 Wa enter
tanned a large number of influential
gatherings 1t was an excellent ad
vertisement for our city. We can
hardly realize that in 1900 you could
neither purchase 81 ticket nor cheek
baggage at Eliza station. yet such is
the fact, The cha mber remedied such
trouble in a very short while.
l. f, y, frs.x tA tA
that in 1900 our residential section
including beautiful Monument avenue
was only Lee District" part Of
Henrico county, taken on by the city
and subjected to city taxes. which
WE'RE TO ne expended in improvements
in that territory. The city had not
made the i'm provenents, the taxpayers
We're restless and we took up this
matter vigorously with the authorities
our efforts resulting In an initial ap-
preparation of $500 for sewers, fol-
lowed by the great development which
has taken place since in the West
I End.
The Johnson Publishing company
was launched in 1900. This is now
one of our leading industries. and OF
immense value to the entire South.
The electrical development of
James river was started in 1900. and
ii ever since
The first train over the Seaboard
Air Line was brought into this city
on June 2, 1900, an event which was
duly celebrated by both state and city
authorities under the auspices OF the
chamber, Many distinguished men
from all parts of the country were
present. and unstinted praise was ac-
corded 10 the energy of the protector
of this great enterprise
The Main Street depot. erected
Jointly by the Chesapeake ana ohio
and Seaboard Air Line railways, as
also other terminal facilities. were
provided to take care of the city's in
creasing business.
We secured q substantial appronr.a-
ton from congress for the improve
ment of James river, the largest. II
we mistake not ever gotten before or
since.
The Hotel Jefferson having been de-
stroyed by fire early in 1901, our eff
forts to secure large conventions were
thereupon aba 1doned for n while. We
did, however. prevail upon the con
stitutional convection of Virginia to
hold its sessions In this city, notwith-
standing determined efforts by some
of our sister cities to have 1t meet
elsewhere.
1ui ans i'Vl we lnstitutG1 plans Tor
the enlargement IL the Unitel States
government building, which was sue
cessfully carried cut by M successor.
We also stared PROCEEDINGS for the
enlargement of our city limits innu-
gurated trade excursions, NOW called
Better Acquaintance Week." and
held successful street fair, out OF
which grew the Virginia State Fair
association, We also induced the rail-
roads TO so arrange their outgning
schedules as to secure an early die
tribntion OF our newspapers.
The American Tobacco company
issued orders In the latter part of
1900 that the Mayo and Wright plants