Hammond Times, Volume 6, Number 255, Hammond, Lake County, 17 April 1912 — Page 30
6
THE TIMES.
RIDGE ROAD FUTURE
Lake County's Most Frequently Used Thorouhgfare. It Grows in Im- . portance.
The man with an imagination, the man who can look ahead a few years, the man who bases his visions of the future on a real knowledge of facts of the Calumet region must see that the Ridge Road Is to be the future residential section of this great manufacturing districtThe Ridge Road is well named. It
extends across the entire county from the Indiana-Illinois state line to the town of Hobart. Its course is east and west but It varies some from a direct east and west line. This is due to th"? fact that it follows the great terminal moraine which thousands of years ago formed the shores of L.ake Michigan.
It is on of the geological wonders of the Calumet region. There Is considerable sentiment about this o'd road. In the age .of the mammoth anl the mastadon it was the shore of a shallow sea. A hundred years ago it was an Indian trail. Seventy five years ago It was an important cross t aunty wagon road. TMk to High Cirouad. It became a road for the reason that it was one of the few ridges . in tha northern part of the county that was high and dry at all times of the year ; nd was always passable.
Today it is the great trans-county thoroughfare for automobilists and Hffords the tourist a fine view of the beautiful valley of the Little Calumet river. Its availability as a residential dis trict comes from the fact that It Is the first high ground south of the bed of the Little Calumet river. North1 of thia river the territory is
so cut up by railroads, so traversed by endless swamps, so near the busy smoking industries that It is difficult to convert it into an ideal residential district. But south of the river on this splendid thoroughfare, only a twenty min
utes automobile ride from the cities of Gary. East Chicago, Indiana Harbor
and Hammond, the Krie road winds
through the woodland giving occa
sional glimpses of green fields and
cultivated farms. A fire at Opportunity.
If the property owners along the
ridge road take advantage of th
present conditions to make the Ridga
Road the scenic highway of the region
If they widen the road to 100 feet and
make it a boulevard. If they pay some attention to the architecture of the
homes they build; the future of this
thoroughfare is made. It. will be the
Michigan boulevard of the Calumet
region.
In certain sections of the east, cross roads villages are made beautiful, by
the adoption of styles of architecture
which are In keeping with the sur
roundings. The Tfact is recognized that
the architecture of rural homes should
be different from those in the cities.
This idea should be worked out on
the Ridge Road. A Ridge Road Im provement association should be form
ed. The owners of farm lands along
this beautiful thoroughfare sttouid
pay particular attention to the plant
ing of trees and the care of the lawns
in front of their places.
. In this way the eyes of thousands of automobile tourists will be attracted to this beauty spot and in time the road will become one of the famous
thoroughfares of the state of Indiana
Even the taverns along the road anl
at the cross roads could be made beautiful and the whole thorotighfa re
from one end to another could becoma
a delight to the resident of that terrl tory and a Joy to the passerby. Steps in this direction are being tak
en now and It is tflieved that in an
other five or six years one of th
pleasures of a visit to the Calume
region will b an automobile trip ove
the entire length of the ridge road.
Mayor Schlieker
of East Chicago, a Live Wire
v. - 4 js - i& -
course transportation Is the all Important matter to be considered in selecting a site for such an apartment but there are lots of Bplendid sites
that might better be filled with attrac
tive apartment buildings than to sj occupied by the improvements which
now disgrace their owners.
The total funds of the Root and Shoe
Operatives' Vnion of Great Britain now
amount to $669,000, which is a gain in
the last half year of $23,000. The
membership of the union is 32,928.
The average wage received by bricklayers In Kngtand is $9.72 a week for fifty-two and one-half hours. The bricklayers in Germany receive $7.60 a week, and are required to work fiftynine, hours. There are 125.000 women and girls in Chicago who work in factory or shop. The 10.000 who belong to the Woman's Trade Union League are planning a campaign to unionize the remaining 115.000. The cork industry in Toulon. France, pays a wage that is very small. Girls engaged in counting and sorting earn
as little as ID cents a day. while those working the hand operated knives receive 30 to 40 cents a day. The wages of most of the higher paid employes do not exceed 75 to 80 cents a day. A new agreement, providing for a alight Increase in wages for electrical workers in California. Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizon? and Idaho, has been negotiated by the Pacific district council of electrical workers. The new agreement dates from Jan. 1, 1912, and will hold good for one year. The general executive board of the tTnited Brotherhood of Carpenters and
Joiners Is holding its spring session in Indianapolis at present. Among the matters to be considered by the general executive board during this session are the Chicago strike and the plans for the erection of a home for aged and infirm carpenters and for the sick and disabled members of the organization.
THE MOST WIDELY READ NEWSPAPER in northern Indiana the times.
WHY ARE HEADER!
YOU NOT A TIMES
THE FLAT BUILDING IN THE CALUMET REGION Does It Pay? No Comparison Between Chicago and This Locality Because of Difference in Conditions.
The cities of the Calumet region have their own building problems just as their problems are 1ndi'idual ones in transportation, industrial and city building matters. Flat buildings of a character that would make them a fine Investment in Chicago would never pay in the cities of the Calumet region and It is possible that the kind of flat buildings that would pay in this region would be a poor investment In Chicago. For instance In Chicago there are hundreds of flat buildings from which a rental of $250 to $500 for each flat Is secured. Such a flat would be a white elephant on the hands of the owner ir. this locality for the reason that the
man who could afford $250 a month fsrleither buys or rents a home or per
rent would own a $25,000 home 'on a large piece of ground rather than par the interest on that amount In flat rental. Way Plats At All. There Is just one excuse for building a fiat in a community where land Is a cheap as It is in Lake Count and that is the fact that it requires a comparatively smaller investment to provlda a home for a family in a flat building than It does to build a residence for him. A somewhat flimsy excuse for the
building of apartment buildings in the
cities of the Calumet region is the fa
that it. saves the tenant the trouble of
looking after his furnaces and keeping up the yard around his place.
But the facts are that there are very
few apartment buildings, with th possible exception of Gary, in which
facilities are provided for the care of
the furnace, the disposal of ashes and
garbage and the other conveniences of
a modern Chicago flat building.
in tuuoiucniig nai Duuaings as an
investment in the Calumet region the transient character of the population
should be taken into consideration. Cater to Transients. A family moves into the region, oc
cupies a rat, the head of the house
haps unsettled industrial conditions
lmpell him to seek new fields of en
deavor. The flat in this section of the country is at best a temporary shelter. To meet the conditions refered tj above It will be necessary for the builder of . flat buildings to do one of two things. Either build an apartment building with enough flats In jt to make it feasible to furnish heat, hot water. Ice boxes and other conveniences that will relieve the tenant of certain responsibilities so that he is relieved of the responsibilities of a home or cater to transients by building
East Chicago High School
ffrw'i ''iti' itl
: i r . . vi -.....y :
".if!
three, four, five and six room apart
ments.
T(ie small apartment can be rented
for a proportionately larger sum. tlicv
do not require any more attention on
the part of the landlord, they fill the
traditional long felt want and the de
mana tor them is greater than for any
other kind of rentable property. Investment Fnjrs.
For instance an apartment building with 16, 24 or 32 small flats in it could be built for a reasonable figure. One man could look after the. Janitor work
and care for the lawn. He could remove the garbage and act as the supervising agent of the building. A three room flat would bring $20 a month, a four room flat $25 a month, a five room fiat $30 a month and a sli room flat $35 a month. The heating of the building could be done much more economically for the reason that ex
pert firing would save coal and It would be easier to heat apartments tn
the same building than two or four
nat buildings where the wind gets a
full sweep from all sides. The best demonstration of the sue
cess of a large flat building is the
apartment that was built by J. R.
Brant of Gary after plans drawn by Bump and Berry of Hammond. The flat had 12 apartments which
have since been increased to 16. The building cost $25,000 originally and
the rental was $750 a month, or $7,800
a year. The building will pay for Itself
in five years and then the interest on
the investment will be approximately
20 per cent net. Demand Is Great.
It may be remarked that this was t
decldely modern building and ren'e.l
for $50 to $60 a flat. The demand for homes in Gary Is far in excess of the supply but It will be 25 years before
the cities of the Calumet region, and
especially Gary, will be overbuilt so
that there is no immediate rear or a decrease In the demand for apart
ments.
The problems of providing tempo
rary homes for the peopl who come to the region is about as serious In one
city as It is in another. The small flat
makes it possible for the young mar
ried couple, the couple without chlldren, the couple who is living in an
apartment temporarily until a home can be built to furnish a few rooms and live comfortably. Where the apartments are small it is usually advisable to provide room
for a cafe where the tenants, in the
building can get . part or all of their meals. This can be satisfactorily sublet to a good caterer who will find It to her interests to give satisfaction.
It Is safe to say that Hammond, East Chicago, Irfdlana Harbor and Gary could each easily fill Ave or ten S2 apartment buildings of this kind anl still have thedemand for a place to live as insistent as ever. Helps The Town Gron, From the standpoint of town boosting the small apartment Is a goo.l thing for the reason that it makes a family a temporary resident of the city in which such an apartment is built and this temporary residence usually
results In permanent residence there.'
'Friends are made and ties are formed
that make it hard to break away and go to some other city. k The apartment building with small flats is the solution of the question -jf providing homes for the people who will be swarming into the region in a. few months more. It is not the most satisfactory solution but it is the best way to meet the emergency. The investment will unqucstionabl v pay big returns and later on the flat
dwellers will become the owners of j their own homes in the suburbs. Of.
Itain Estiaifjte Him AM life Braumdhics
QASTEL
Phone 101
F. R. MOTT, President EDWARD J. EDER, Manager FRANK HAMMOND, Vice-President A. H. TAPPER, Treasurer J. S. BLACKMUN, Secretary.
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3420-22 Michigan Avenue
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Indiana Harbor
ouity Title
ABSTRACTERS
Hammond and Crown Point, Indiana Sccrcllary's Ofifiice Citizens German National Bank Building Hammond, Indiana.