Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (June 13, 1908)
IS THE MORMXG OREGOSlAN, SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 1908. NEW HOME OF THE PORTLAND COMMERCIAL CLUB IS FORMALLY OPENED i ! : m "1 K iL ' c v 'i,--. 3ftS sr li PHii xS s-sn -x.- $xxx x. if A1 4- ,.'3 - " , ,'V SV . - j HOW NEW COMMERCIAL CLUB HAS RISEN FROM ASHES OF OLD History of Greater Organization Dates Prom Fire of April 6, 1906, When Quarters Were Totally Destroyed. THE new Commercial Club dates from the fire of April 6, 1906.' On that date the quarters oft the or ganization on the top floor of the Chamber of Commerce building were destroyed by a fire that swept the entire top story of the build ing. It seemed then that the organiza tion had suffered a hard blow, but in reality this seeming disaster was a bless ing in iWsguise, for it meant the build ing of a bigger and better club. Before the smoke had stopped rising from the ruins of the club, its president, F. "V. l.,ead better, called a meeting of the board of governors the night of April G in his offices in The Oregonian build ing, and the old home of the Concordia Club at Sixth and Alder streets and the rtjuarters just vacated by a restaurant and grill were rented that same night ing to be for a la-rge, modern structure. It seemed advisable to float an additional $100,000 bonds, which was done. A splen did class A building was erected, of teel fabricated structure with concrete and tile floors and expanded metal par titions. A curious fact In connection with the building is that upon its com pletion it was found that its cost ex ceeded the original estimates only $18. The original estimates of the rent of the building showed that- the income would be sufficient to pay the fixed charges of maintenance, 6 per cent in terest on the bonds, taxes, etc., and still leave a net sufficient to retire $10,000 per annum for the payment on the bonds. The original estimate was exceeded nearly 60 per cent, and as the building now stands it will pay between $5000 and $6000 a year above the original estimate. The new home of the Commercial Club was com pleted at a cost of JlBO.OiO and was ready for occupancy on May 1. . X z 9 H "--.- - ; ----- m m" m m P 'lir I Tni ii i MnnMiiit in- I-' - -- --- . -t,- v li L SrV I ft tili ,M I f?5- f JWliS- "-hmA MW-l r- WO H ' S$ 4 s .x-V.:.X-.... :p-- f j m x,,.J.,...-.w- r . - ! - . i MM HHii IK '4 t.'.xf', ' for use as temporary quarters. So en thusiastically was everything attended to that .the club was installed in the new loca'ion the following morning and lunch eon was served as usual on April 7, with out the dining-room staff falling to serve even a single meal. At Jhe next meeting of the board of governors, which was largely attended, a number of financial men were present upon invitation, and plans were discussed for providing a club home. F. W. Lead better suggested that a building be erected for a permanent home for the club. It was planned at first that only & clubhouse should be erected for the exclusive use of the organization, similar to the Arlington Club. It was finally deeideii. however, to erect a business block, leasing a portion of the structure for commercial purposes, thus in time irwklng the building self-supporting. The matter of financing such a propo sition next came up -and at a meeting in the temporary quarters of the club T. B. Wilcox ' addressed the members . and pledged $5000 toward a subscription for the purchase of a suitable location upon which to erect the building. Committees were organized and within a few days SiTO.OOO had been subscribed to a bond issue for the purpose of erecting the Ibuilding. t lie plan being to issue 6 per cent bonds to that amount, to be retired on or before 20 years, the stock to be held Jn trust by the board of governors as lheir successors were elected. The location was finally chosen at Fifth and Oak streets, and purchased at a cost of $:),oe.O. The land has increased in value, so that today it could be sold for ,$150,000. A building committee was organized of five members of the bondholders and five of the board of governors, as follows: Theodore B. Wilcox, chairman; J. C. Ainsworth, treasurer: El L. Thompson, secretary: Adolphe Wolfe, Julius Meier, W. P. Olrts. Hugh McGuire, t. W. Hod son, F. W. Leadbetter and Edward Khr man. This committee had charge of the con struction of the building and the expen diture of the money. Ion Lewis was the architect and -the . original plans for a building were enlarged, the demand seem- DESIGN OF ROSE CARRIED OUT IN QUARTERS OF THE CLUB Commercial Club Decorations Have Caroline Testouts on Them Rooms Are Beautifully Finished. ' THOSE3 who have Inspected the hand some new quarters of the Portland Commercial . Club, now that the or ganization is comfortably housed In Its own new building, have expressed their admiration for the splendid furnishings and complete appointments. The rooms Rre striking because of their beauty of finish and harmony in coloring. Because of the excellent taste displayed in choos- ingTthe furnishings, the whole four floors occupied by the club are a succession of delights. Perhaps the most striking thing about the fittings if that tTiey were, almost without exception, made in Oregon. A pretty fancy that has been carried out Is the rose design that confronts ono everywhere. .In all the linens "there is a wreath of roses, with the club's mono gram, P. C C.,- in the center. Napkins, toweling and carpets bear tiiis reminder that Portland Is famous for its roses, and the glassware even is etched with Caroline Testouts. The silverware lias the same decoration and the roses are carved in the arms of the big arm chairs and on the legs of the tables, so that the Portland rose is really the crest of the Portland Commercial Club. The cost of furnishing the club's new home was nearly $,000. Everything was designed locally and manufactured here. The matter of furnishing the club, in stalling the steam heating and steam cooking plants, the ice-making ma chinery, the four elevators in the build ing and the decorating was in chSige of the firm of McNaughton, Raymond & Lawrence. The different rooms of the club have Individuality, all maintaining a dliferent color scheme and exemplifying different periods of decoration. The ladies' dining room Is done in white enamel and blue and the ladies' reception room is of the style of Louis XVI. The main dfning room, which is 40x100 feet. Is early Eng lish. This room is on the eighth floor and commands a splendid view of the snow-capped peaks seen from Portland. An attractive feature is the large French windows opening out on the balcony run ning around two sides of the building, and from where a splendid view of the city is obtained. The reception room is on the seventh floor and a grand stairway leads from this floor up to the dining-room above. On the landing of this stairway is a large art glass window facing the south. This window shows a view from almost any portico on the higher parts of the city, with roses climbing the porch posts and snow-capped mountains in the dis tance. Thp reception room is done in green, with large English morocco-covered easy chairs m mahogany, with large center tables of mahogany" and two large fireplaces. The billiard and pool-room Is on the sixth floor, 40x40 feet, containing 20 ta bles. . This room presents an animated scene during the lunch hours, when about 100 members can be seen' there, engaged in this form of recreation. The smoking-room, worked out in dark fit tings. Is also located on the sixth floor. The fifth floor is given over to bachelor apartments for members and to guest rooms, where visitors to the club are quartered. There are 26 rooms, with running water, baths, two telephones and all modern conveniences and over half are occupied by regular members of the club. A feature of this floor is the beau tiful row of rooms along the s'otith side of the building that are kept for guest purposes. The rooms on this floor are Intended for, the use of members and out-of-town guests and the charges are only such as to cover the expense of maintaining the rooms. Friday Is ladies' day and women are admitted to all parts of the club at that time. On other days ladles are admitted only to their own dining-rooms. EFFECTIVE PUBLICITY WORK BY - PORTLAND COMMERCIAL CLUB Through Advertising, Population of State Has Been Increased Eleven Per Cent in Fifteen Months. F.OMINENT as is the social side of the Commercial Club and the oppor tunities it presents for good fellow ship among its members. It has a more serious mission that Is being carried out under the direction of Tom Richardson. Tills Is the exploitation work thai Is bringing wide-spread oublicity for this city and state. Incalculable good is being accomplishes. Four years ago the Portland Commer cial Club inaugurated a campaign to ad vertise the resources and advantages of Oregon and appropriated thousands of dollars to spread intelligence about the state. An executive committee, made up of nine of Portland's most successful men in finance, industry and commerce, had charge of the distribution of the adver tising fund, and directed the general pol icy. From that time there has been no letup in the campaign and the results are believed to have been unparalleled in the history of community advertising. Out of this movement has been bom the new Oregon spirit. The Oregon Development- League, that hundred-sided or ganization that has enlisted the aid of every public spirited citizen to make Ore gon a greater state, had its origin In the fertile brain of Tom Richardson, manager of the Club, and was an outgrowth of the Commercial Club's publicity work. Petty jealousies among the dtfTarent communi- PAST PRESIDENTS OP THE PORTLAND COMMERCIAL CLUB JJvVf ' Xri -My VvWM -"' X'i r-?P("- rs . JWS- '893095 JAPS Mi h J897' fFS, S97Z&98 89S - S9& J.M. CAK, ties have become a thing of the past. : There is a genuine community of interests throughout the 80-odd cities represented in the Oregon Development League. Elaborate advertising campaigns cost money, but the casn has been forthcom ing. Never in the history of the state has there been such a splendid spirit among all sections. xhe attention of 60,000,000 people has been directed to the great pos sibilities of this state in all branches of agriculture, dairying, fruitgrowing, min ing, etc. The resulting inquiry has been enormous and the names and addresses of inquirers have been supplied from the Portland office to every one of the organ izations comprised in the Oregon De velopment League. The results have been definite and cer tain. Twenty-seven thousand two hun dred and fifteen one-way tickets were sold in four months from various parts of the United States to Portland and other Ore gon points and in 15 months the popula tion has increased 11 per cent, a tribute to effective organization and advertls-. ing that has never before been excelled. Business men's excursions from Port land to outside points have been a strong feature of the publicity work, tinder the leadership of the Commerrlal Club, train loads of representative citizens of the city have journeyed to the outside business centers in this state as well as to other states. These commercial pilgrimages have done no little to wipe out state lines and bring the different sections of the Coast together to work for the common good. Advertising with light leaflets that gave the railroad rates to different points in tills state, together with condensed sta tistics, were circulated broadcast, 75O.000 being sent away on one occasion within 12 weeks. A master stroke by the Commercial Club that accomplished a great deal for Oregon was the prize contest recently de cided, during which $ort was distributed In prizes to SO prize winners. Interest was excited all over the country, as well as in many foreign countries, and over 1,000,000 words were printed about Ore gon in publications as widely separated as the continents. The resulting favor able publicity for this city and the state was beyond computation. Passenger and immigration agents of all the railroads have been kept ad vised of the progress of the campaign carried on In this state and they have assisted it in every way possible and have done this state great good. Perhaps the greatest benefit of the work, aside from the thousands of new settlers, is the spirit of emulation that has come to the smaller communities of the state and their earnest work for de velopment that has followed.