Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-06-03
Our GROWING WILMINGTON.

print, elsewhere IN this issue. a let-
ter from Rev. Francis Burgctte Short
of New York city. IN which he sots
north. IN very interesting manner.
his Impressions OF the wilmington OF
today as contrastcd with tho wn-
mington of fow years ago. when he
WAS resident here. Dr. short IN a Della
~arcan by birth and residence during
his hoyhood and early manhood. and
for several years was pastor OF Ep-
worth NJ. ". church Later no went
90 tho young and vigorously grow
ing West. nlling pulplts NJ salt Lake
city and Portland. oregon. and thus
became familiar with the results Of /
tho spirit ot municipal enterprise and /
progress tina, has made such impress
upon many cities Of the Northwest |
and the racinc Coast But even his
familiarity with this nne spirit and
&C. natural sequences could not sup. |
press tho amagcmcnt he felt when !
noting ~ q glance, as he has done
during his tive recent visits here. tho
wonderful strides that have been made
by our own city of Wilmington dur
Ink the past two decades
There are IN wilmington today. and
always have been. no douht--certalnly
thoy hav. been In evidence during the
past half-century--num citizens
who complain that tho city IL slow.
They note the improvements "a they
are IN progress. but sive little thought
to their character or importance. or
the splendid advance they indicate.
somc individually and all of them In
a body. They do not seem TO realize
how tho city IL growing all the time,
slowly it may seem. but steadily. Nor
a. they think 90 make comparisons
with conditions few years hack and
note the dircrenee--~ difference that
.. really marvellous for the past ten
years.
Also, we have another class ~ citi-
sens-sood. ontorprisins and pro-
sre,sivo ciiiycns--who also fail 60
buuysntly express appreciation OF our
rr,at municipal progress. especially I'm
recent years. They encourage every
project for Advancement as Z, Gomez
up. and arr continually looking 70 the
future. They know wilmington Is
srowins. but they feel no inclination
o. Indulge In enthusiastic encomiums
They accept everything that comes
a. a mere matter OF fact.
yc, even these citizens. n they give
little reflection 90 the subject. vii
rnd their wonder stirred n they vii
pause long enough 60 give tho matter
sope consideration. Let them rencc'
upon tho rcally surprising changes
that have been effected In the vicin
iiy of Tenth and Marke, streets. TIL
au ront Hotel and Office structure
tho new public buildings; the nev
odd Fellows Hall the Wilmington
rrus, Co.'s building; the new publ
ihrnry: the Rodney Square, alread'
Showing what fine civic centre
coon viii be; the Widening OF Tent
stree, and Delaware avenue. and IN
numerous improving changes In bust
ncss properties all arounc the peish
borhcod.
80. wilmington is not slow.
never wns slow. From It's early day
A. kept moving. not with strides an
splurvcs. but steadily. Not n decen
MA ccnrus. but showed advancement
ia population and enterprise. GU
Quaker forbcars looked 20 the futur'
q century and half ago. In construct
tng market houses ahead OF the actus
needs 81 their day. old wilminsto
hea important stage lines In all q
rvctions. and wns prompt 90 enter n
n.ld ~ steam navigation. Whom tf
railroad appeared. wilmington either
il,erany invested their money In cor
struc,ion projects and subscribe
thouasnds of dollars which proved
total loss 90 thcm, but went far
build up the city. They were pr
srcrrlvc In their day whom they bu'
old inrtitut. Hall az Eighth and Ma
hst streets. the Masonic Temple. al
even the old Clayton House. whi'
Ne derided no much during its clio
,ns years. Each OF these enterprise
st ss ipception. was away ahead