Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-08-10
BUSINESS OF
CITY ALMOST
D 0 j bLED IN
SIX MONTHS
C.. of C. Figures Show Re-
markab|e Increase in Pop.
u|ation and Various In
duStrieS of Omaha. =

Omaha's business has almost
doubled during the first six months
of this year in comparison with the
same period Of 1918,
The bureau Of publicity Of the
Chamber OF Commerce has com
lletcd the compilation Of some data
showing what Omaha did in bust
ness way during the first six months
of this year and for the sake OF
comparison, he has procured figures
that tell the story of the same lines
of business and industry during the
first six months of 1918.
Population Now 225,oo0.
To begin with. it is estimated !
that at the end of June of last year
the population of Greater Omaha
was around 10000 to 10000. A
survey of residences, apartments
hotels and boarding houses furnish
es pretty conclusive proof that the
population of the city at the end O
June, this year, was not far iron
225,000 By some it is believed te
be considerably more than this.
During the first six months Or
last year ia new industries an,
lines of business came to the city
During the corresponding perioo
of this year there were 523, an in
crease of 322 per cent. :
High prices of labor, and materia
had tendency to retard the .hnfld
ing operations, but Notwithstanding
this, during the first six months OF
this year, esS permits to build vert
issued, as against 467 for the cor.
responding period of one year ago
The cost of the structures repre-
scented by the permits this year ag.
gregated $2,688,727, as against S..
0Sl,8l5 last year.
Many Real Estate Transfers.
During the first six months oil
this year, transfers of city real es.
tate numbered 5,253. as against
3,245 for the same period of last
year. This years transfers indi-
cate the value of the property sold
to have been $l7,441 SOL, whereas
the total of the sales for the six
months of last year aggregated 49,
46l ,295. The gain of this year over
last was "a per cent.
Bank clearings are said to indicate
the condition of the business pulse
of the city. Grant this to be fact,
the business pulse of Omaha is fully
up to- normal, for during the first
six months of the present year the
clearings aggregated $l.442,50o,154,
as against ST, S0,701.7l5 for the cor
responding period of 1918 or gain
of 5 per cent.
Postof6ce receipts for the first
half of This year totalled 81 ,168, 1857,
or 5 per cent more than. during the
corresponding period of one year
ago when they were Sl,109,494.
Banks Show Big Gain.
And while the bank clearings and
the postoffice receipts were show
ing substantial gains. the same was
true with the bank deposits. Dur
ing the first half of last year depos-
its aggregated >$114.666,763, while
during the first half of this year
thew climbed to $l23,765,7O8, gain
of 8 per cent.
That there were large sums Of
money deposited with the building
and loan associations is apparent
for during the first six months OF
this year. the dividends on such
investments aggregated $84l,938. as
against $805,890 at the end of June,
one year ago.
Everything considered, Chamber
of Commerce and other business
men are enthusiastic over the
strides made by Omaha during the
first half of the present year and
have no hesitancy in predicting
that the pace is to be maintained
for a long time.