IS
THE MORMXG OREGOSlAN, SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 1908.
NEW HOME OF THE PORTLAND COMMERCIAL CLUB IS FORMALLY OPENED
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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. .
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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
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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.