Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 April 1950 — Page 43
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Emmet Monroe Smith
93-Year-Old Businessman Believes City Entering Era of Development
By EDWIN C. HEINKE
1960.
INDIANAPOLIS —a city of ‘a million population in
That is the firm conviction of Emmet Monroe Smith,
. “Landlord of The Point,” and one of Indianapolis’ lesser-
Mt. Vernon High School,
known millionaires.
And Emmet Smith has been around long enough to
know what he is talking about. He is 93. Every morning promptly at 9 o'clock, the trim, slightly bent figure briskly approaches the doorway at 9% Kentucky Ave., unlocks the padlock and walks upstairs’ into a little cubby-hole office almost as old as he is. Thus the man who collects some $65,000 a year rents from 30 tenants on the 430-foot frontage on Kentucky Ave. and 200 feet 'round the corner on Illinois St. is open for business. And predictions, too, and some reflections. aN. “FACT OF THE matter is we'll go to a million population before 1960 if things go well,” said the owner of one of the city’s most valuable real estate properties. “We've got everything in Indianapolis and Marion
taking care of lots more manufacturing which is going to come. “Were on the verge of a boom.” Very shortly, Mr. Smith sees a new era in downtown building development. It will be an era of downtown apartment buildings, close to the stores, close to where people work. “If I were 30 years younger, a young man again, I would put up a 25-story hotel on this spot in a minute,” said Mr. Smith. “But I'm too old to start a new venture like that.” ” o ” MR. SMITH said he has had offers to sell The Point, raze the ramshackle bullaings that
“house 30 tenants.
“But I never will as long as the government takes $850 out of every $1000 I'd receive as
ALLAN
Son Hulbert acl Jere
Mere nx Been talk “about that but that’s about als . Few persons in Indianapolis know of this man whose very life blood 1s business. At 93 he still runs his real estate in-
ting old and better Hp rt myself any more,” he said.
# EMMET MONROE SMITH
"7 SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 1050
The Point
Thrift is a virtue.
goon: Fealied that! fhe word ‘of
business was his life. When he was 18, he went into the hard-
‘ware business in Vanderburgh
County, made money. He got a job sweeping out
&
A
Son W by Bill Oates, Times
and by “1898 had built the Delaware County National Bank into a sound institution. Down he came to Indianap-
olis to build the Indianapolis> “ate the company that ran The
Martinsville Rapid Transit Co.
taff Photographer. Walter , . . a hotel man. he purchased The Point property. Eventually he sold out almost all his real estate, content in his later years to oper-
Repair job ,
‘Work’ Is Advice Of Emmet Smith
Smith at 4241 Broadway. He also has two sons, Walter B., who operates the Lorraine and Brevort Hotels, and Hulbert J. owner of the American.Specialty Co., 1038 Madison Ave.
Mr. Smith has never called a
‘doctor -in his life, has made only
two or three visits to one, those for minor ailments, “I guess I just inherited a good constitution,” he declared. “But I've never boozed around until 2 in the morning and I quit smoking 15 years ago.” Mr. Smith eats everything. He arises at 7 a. m. sharp, after eight hours sleep, eats a big breakfast, goes downtown. Those crudely penciled *“vacancy” or “for rent signs” you see in the windows or the doorways around The Point are Mr, Smith’s handiwork. . “They're crude all right,” he laughed, “but: they serve the purpose. 1 believe in thrift, which is just the opposite of what the government believes in” Advice to the younger generation? ‘Get a good education if you can and apply yourself in dustriously to some business. Work hard and take care of
County. i the purchase price,” he stoutly vestment company, keeps the was born ‘on a farm near the bank.at Petersburg in 1877 in ‘1901 and another inter- Point. yourself.” “We ve got good surrounding asserted. books, does odd jobs on the Evansville -Nov. 1, 1856. His and wound up running it in urban line to Plainfield. He’ mcm om "The phone rang in the cubbyterritory in which to expand. “Just couldn't afford to sell at = property—repairing leaky fau- father and mother came from. 1892. Seeking broader fields to. sold them both out at good A WIDOWER, Mr. 8mith lives hole office and Mr. Smith said
We've got agriculture, industry, and we've got the facilities for
Counselor's Post Leads to Bench
By ROBERT BLOEM THE SWIFTLY rising political career of William E. Steckler ended yesterday. Today he is Judge Steckler-— out of politics by law, judge of the Southern Federal District for the rest of his life unless he quits or is promoted. Until a few days ago, Judge Bteckler was Public Counselor under the Public Service Commission. In swearing-in ceremonies at the Federal Building yesterday afternoon he. became the second Public Counselor in less than 20 years since the office was created to wind-up with
lifetime appointment to the fed-
eral bench. The first was Justice Sherman Minton, recently: promoted from the U. 8. Circuit Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court. s 8 = ’ THE NEW JUDGE is 36 years old. His home town paper, the Mt. Vernon (Ind) Democrat, calls him a “selfmade” man. He is a native of Mt. Vernon, son of William Steckler. who for .many years operated. a ‘machine shop there and who
any price. Only thing I'd consider would be a 99-year lease.
cets, electrie fans, the plumbing. “I used to repair the roof on
England and they prospered. Young Emmet taught school,
Federal Judge William E Steckler devotes a sizable disre of hi record .
..8;-helps-select-a-
while. Mes. Steckler. chats. with David, 5...
s time to his family.
Here Rudy, The sleeping. boxer. is Jeef.
exercise his knack of making money, he moved to Muncie
Rud lends his other a helping hand in the Kitchen of the _.Steckler home at 5843 _N. Keystone Ave. .. ..
profit, got into real estate in the hub of the state. In 1911
the Hyaline Corp. a
with his two daughters, Mrs. Helen White and. Miss Mary E.
yes, he'd be right down to fix that pipe.
" Photos by John Spicklemire, Times Staff Photographer.
Judge Steckler instructs David eft) a and Rudy in the use of a
jigsaw in the judge's basement hob
by sho Pe.
pected to Horr. raplly now
still lives in the southern In- partment of Methodist Hos- ABOUT THE same time he former Gov. Ralph Gates the In that office his duties were. bought "the longest and bitterest podiana town. He went through. pita) began to take an active part in young attorney was appointed to take the rate payers’ side - gpja)l plastics manufacturing litical battles in state Demo- : that the last step has been : taken.
then . came to Indianapolis to study law. Judge Steckler got his law training in Indiana Law School which later became a part of Indiana University. He attended classes at night and during the day worked in the credit de-
He received his LLB degree in 19368, was admitted to the bar the same year. He continued his studies another year under . one of 10 scholarships awarded the top members of his class and received his JD degree in 1937.
Young Democrat politics in Marion County. He served as county chairman and : district chairman of that organization. His first political “job,” without salary, was a member of the Marion County election commission. Under the administration of
as the Democratic member of
the state election board, consisting of one member of each party and the Governor. - He became Public Counselor by appointment of Gov. Schricker a year ago, his first paying political office.
Firms Of Unincorporated Cumberland Do An
By DAVID WATSON, Times Staff Writer CUMBERLAND; : ‘Apr.. 15—This little unincorporated. town
{sn’t bursting at the. seams just feel the condition coming on.
Inside ‘the business and residential district the population .
now, but local business men can
numbers only about 600. The figure can be pushed up to approximately 1000 if everybody within one square mile is counted. The
‘main street, U. S, 40, is lined with service stations, restaurants and stores. Cumberland is the home of a greenhouse firm doing business on a state-wide scale. A small animal breeding establishment
gored by business and fraternal organizations. - . ® = MAIN OBSTACLE to any rapid expansion of Cumberland is the lack of new housing developments, according to some
Packed with chuck holes, the
residents feel that bad roads are the greatest single objection raised by potential home builders. North and south sections of the community are open for settlement, but western expansion is blocked by cemeteries.
- © " THERE is no active business men’s association in Cumberland, although merchants are planning one. Most civic undertakings are sponsored by the Lion Club. Members conducted the drive which financed a Cumberland street
the Indianapolis telephone ex-
The Lions Club ‘has been making a survey of the community to determine if citizens would prefer to have their telephone system a part of the Indianapolis exchange. Residents explain such an arrangement, eliminating toll charges on calls to Indianapolis, would be especially advantageous to firms
of rate cases before the PSC. Principal cases he handled were the rate hike petitions of Indianapolis Railways, Inc, Illinois Bell Telephone Co. and Indiana Bell Telephone Co.
“» =u ” A BUSINESS MAN as well as a lawyer, Mr, Steckler
Estimated $2 Million Gross Business Arnwelly
The picture 1s expected to get better, ‘or at least more convenient, when a branch bank is organized here. It has been estimated that the gross income of businesses here
is about $2 million. Banking is currently done in Indianapolis, Wanamaker, Oaklandon, New
and individuals with business pjjaestine and Greenfield.
contacts in the Capital City. The proposed storm sewers would collect excess rainfall and carry it to nearby Buck Creek. A survey, preliminary to filing
The State Department of Financial Institutions recently approved an application of the Wanamaker State Bank for authority to establish a branch
concern, in 1946. His business career as well as his ‘political career, however, ends with the federal appointment. Last week he “disposed” of the Hyaline Corp. * His' appointment as federal district‘ judge followed one of
accounts in the other communities, business men said, because of the widely scattered deposits. There has been no bank here since the mid-1930’s. The Cumberland Coal and Feed Co. operated by J. C. Hill & Sons, alone accounts for about one half million of the annual gross income of the community. With the éxception of a 20-year gap, there has been a grain elevator.on the site of the Hill firm for the past 100 years. One elevator was destroyed by fire, causing the break in the record. The Hills
Philadelpnia, nd.
crat history. Even as the new judge stepped up to the.bench in yesterday's swearing-in ceremonies the party in the state still was rumbling slightly with repercussions. Political * aftermath of the appointment, however, was ex-
sells an average of one and a half million cut roses a year. Their plant is in’ the fringe area of Cumberland, with main offices in Indianapolis. They are currently growing for the first time in Indiana the Eucharis Amazonica, a small lily imported from South America. Orchids are also a part of their stock. From a hobby in a back yard, Howard Harlan has developed a small animal breed-
ing business to the point where
50,000 mice and rats are pro-
In 1938 Judge Steckler married Miss Vitallas Alting of Indianapolis. The couple now has two sons, William Rudolph, 8, and David Alan, 5 Their home is at 5843 N. Keystone Ave, -
BUCKLEY'S Restaurant has been drawing organizations to
.Qiiimberland for their dinner
meetings. ; W. E. Fry, owner of the Cumberland + Hardware Store, reports about $100,000 turnover annually. Mr. Fry is also
Jbuilding the town's only &rug-
store. Indianapolis expansion "and mushrooming business districts near the city limits have not dampened the predictions of
a year, One of the town’s restaurants roads are the problem of the «change, and other negotiations ledger, conditions look ‘pretty: 2... 8 They are supplied to labora- prises along the way beis the center.of Marion County county. All are unimproved. for a storm sewer drainagy good,” according to qperators ORGANIZATION of a new SMITH & YOUNG a green- tories and pharmaceutical fires tween their town and the Capi dinner-meeting activities spon’ SomW¥ civi¢ minded Cumberland project are in the mill. and managers, bank is not expected to harm house firm in roses, for research work. Siow bOI: = a
“makes shipments throughout business men. This shortage in lightin the aw An ont turn is blamed on the condition project. SHINE of an application with the oun- -, in Cutnbepland, The project is. ,, ted their fi 1 duced monthly by his firm. Cumberiand growth by busi- © grain dealer here grosses some- Of roads off the main thorough- A movement is now under 1y bias been iatle, Tow ynder eonsideration By. Be gow and have two _ The Harlan Small Animal nessmen here. They believe a thing ike a half million dollars fare. way to hook Cumberland to $= ; Dl it 0 5. prnger, . _.\. clsvators, in Gem and in Industry maintains an inven- ‘they can hold their own : ON THE business side of the » ; tory of about 100,000 animals. despite the spread of new enter-