Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-10-13
HENRY F. MICHEL
On Business Mems Organizations

On BUSINESS MenS ORGANIZATIONS
TIME various business mems associations
i Of the city play a tremendous part IN
the life Of Philadelphia, a part when rs
not always apparent on the surface, nuI IN
none the less effective, according 10 tirnrA
T.. Mfrhcl. president OF the Market street
Business Mems Association.
"Thc business mems associations, said
Mr.. Michel, 'arc not only well to the 'front.'
in every city Improvement, but many OF these
are originated by the associations. rake
for example. our own association. IL ~
now fifteen years old and its membership
includes practically every business man ana
property owner from the delaware rover 70
Fortieth street. Originally, 1t included on'S
the territory from the Delaware to the
Schuykill River. but later its limits we're
extended.
Like all organizations OF the kind, it
was formed in order to secure improvements
for the street on which our members nav"
their places Of business. In union there is
strength and the men who were in business
on Market street early came to realize TINS
truth Collectively we have accomplished
things which would have been impossible Tor
individuals or even for a small group OF men
| to have done because the unified opinion OF
| all the men doing business on street As 70
what is required in the way OF improvements
or changes naturally carries lot OF "clgH''
| whether the case in hand is matter 10 De
| decided at the City Hall or among ourselves
|
same AS that of every other business men
| association in the city, and much OF what
| has been done to make philadriphla one "i
| the greatest commercial cities In the Lht"d
| States may fairly be said TO have orie'ha''H
I'm the business associations or at lohst 10
| hnye received substantial aid from them
Repaying Market Street
| 1.-The first big job Of the Market street
| association and the one for which 1t really
| Il nOyrin n
| which was accomplished nine years ago 1t
| took us a long time to get this done. but Il
| was done at last. The condition Of the street
| I'm the days of the old cobblestone pavement
was something ;errble, and as there Sechri
| 70 he no disposition on the part OF the city
| authorities TO ropaVe 1t, an agitation was
| heeun TO that effect by the merchants them
selves Four hundred merchants doing
| business on Market street got together in an
| effort TO get the street repaved and otherwise
! nut into proper condition. AS | said, It was
| n long fight for We encountered nero" op-
| nosition from the then City Administration
| hut we finally won out and got the be'l
paving that was then on the marker,
| after the battle for rcpaNIhG was won
came that for adequate lighting thCihtie@.
Again we we're successful in getting what
We we're after, and today there arc f"w better
or more attractivcly lighted streets in IN"
world than Market street lt Wns nho,HFr iP
instance of what can be done by n we'll
organized and powerful business mems as
soCiation.
Tho Barkers Vanish
"The lighting was almost entirely the
work of the association and so was another
instance Of the improvement OF the business
nniohborhOod which was perhar" more ap-
parent to the ear than TO the eye jhere had
| beon for some years itinerant selling en-
ternrises which employed the use OF what Is
| commonly known RS barkers, with oc-
casionaI bass drums and other noise making
devices, which had great tendency &c
| cheaper the neighborhood ana hc'u"i'S VI"
no one any good,
'"This matter was brought to the attention
Of the association and it was decided to take
action to suppress this method OF attracting
attention. We took 1t up with George D.
porter Gt'rm,,o the Director Of Public Safety, ant
II vas stopped by the police. There was al
nrdinnnce under which the subject came, but
from years OF disuse it had not been enforced
until the complaint Of the association
brought it to the attention OF the authori'
| ties.
The Delaware Bridge
,"Tvelyc wears ago the Market Stree
uusiness Mems Association went on recOrC
a favoring n bridge between this city anC
| camden and we were the first ones actively
to nush the project. Frank Reiszner, wa
then president OF the association and he wa
an enthusiastic champion OF the bridge plan
A. thnt time the idea In mind was TO have
~ H'briGge between Market street, Phiadcl
nbin. and Market street. Camden, and will
The traffic in the volume in which it wa
in those days, the plan vas perfectly feas
;hlo Later, when it became plain tha
W"rkot street could not alone handle tn
Whilgdelphu- Camden traffic, tn" support 0
me association was then given toward
| delaware River Bridge.
''In these early days OF the agitation tD
; the bridge connecting the two cities, tn
association attempted to get both the Stat
and the city authorities Interested In tn
} project, but 1t vas pigeonholed as n goOC
sn the sing Interests When 'tS the OGsa matte e
of the Xroper sise for the bridge came n,
later " support of the association was a