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mu WINNETKA WEEKLY TALK Nearly Everybody In Winnetka Reads The Talk VOL. VIII, NO. 50. WINNETKA, ILLINOIS, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1920 EIGHT PAGES PRICE FIVE CENTS NORTH SHORE WAGES NEW SKOKIE FIGHT Prepare Fresh Arguments tc Present Before Forest Preserve Commis- Preservation of Valley sion for FINAL HEARING MARCH 3 Skokie Preservation Association Met Yesterday to Arrange further Plans Renewed interest in the fight by the north shore to provide for the converting of Skokie valley, the beautifu! strip of wooded land and marshes on the western outskirts of Wilmette, Winnetka and Glencoe, in- to a Forest Preserve was the result cf an announcement yesterday of a new public hearing in Chicago on Wednesday, March 3. " Close on the heels of the announce- ment of the hearing, which is believ- | ed 10 be the most important meeting for furthering the project, came the news of a special meeting yesterday of the board of directors of the: Sko- | Sahib ; ! {activities of the club and its commit- | kic Freservation association. Will Present Final Plans Headed by William S. Elliott, who addressed the Plan Committee cf the Forest Preserve committee at the public hearing, February 18, the di- rectors: made final preparations for the presenting of their plans to the commissioners. At the hearing to be held at 3 o'clock in the rooms of the County Commissioners, fifth floor, court house, all north shore residents who have had an opportunity to study the valley are asked to attend to present their views. Mr. Elliott, in reference to the di- rector's meeting yesterday, voiced the belief of the association that there is a widespread and fast-grow- ing sentiment in favor of the Skokie valley preservation plan. "In providing a place of recreation to the millions of people in Chicago and its suburbs in the years to come, there is probably no more beautiful and convenient a spot than Skokie vailey. . "Unless prompt steps are taken to insure its preservation, the valley will loose its natural beauty as the tide of unrestricted pleasure-seekers and realty men unwittingly select it for pursuit of pleasure of business. It is the opinion of the Preservation association that the time is now or never. New Trier Weak in Politics "New Trier township has never proved strong in county politics and therefore this new project, fostered by hundreds of prominent men from the north shore, has aroused con- siderable interest and favorable com- ment among the county commission- ers, who are working hard to prepare a great park for future generations. "In view of the fact the commis- sioners are endeavoring to learn the sentiment of the people on the plan, the attendance at this public hearing on Wednesday will aid them in ar- riving at a decision." Mr. Elliott said that practically all the organizations which have foster- ed the plan for years were prepared to again present their arguments be- fore the commissioners. In reference to possible opposition which might be made at the hearing, Mr. Elliott declared that since the real plans of the preservation pro- ject had been outlined, the opposition had been reduced to a few indivi- duals. SALESMANSHIP TO AID WELFARE DRIVE HERE The first few days of the 1920 cam- paign to raise funds for the support of the Winnetka Center of the In- fant Welfare society, has proved very successful, according to a report yesterday by Mrs. Lawrence Howe, 175 Chestnut street, chairman of the finance committee. The committee, by the application of first class salesmanship arguments, has raised $850 by personal subscrip- | tion and in bringing the drive to a conclusion next week the committee expects to pass the $3,500 mark set as a goal for the maintenance of the Chicago Commons station. The com- mittee consists of Mrs. Robert Stev- enson, Ir., Mrs. Charles P. Mordock, Mrs. Donald Dallas and Mrs. Howe. This is the first year the local branch has endeavored to raise the funds, for Winnetka's Chicago sta- tion, which has proved invaluable in bettering living conditions in the Polish-Italian district, by direct sub- scription and unaided by a benefit performance Playfield to Vote On Officers March 2 Executives for Coming Year to be lected at Annual Meeting at Com- munity House Tuesday 1 : : The annual election meeting and association will be held on Tuesday, March 2, at 8 o'clock munity House. Recommendations of the nominating committee for officers for the coming year have been post- The following candidates. nominating committee of the associa- | tion are: President--Bowles King. Vice President--C. E. Burkhart. . Secretary--John Ritchie. Treasurer--M. K. Meyer. Director--Wallace Rumsey. Director--E. E. Parr. Director--Barrett Conway. Thus far the members of the club have indicated entire satisfaction with the committee as no other can- didates have been offered since the nomination committee made its | choice. | tees during the year. That the club [is in good financial shape is shown in [the recent report of Darrell Boyd, I chairman of the Finance committee, of officers of the innetka Playfield | 'NO DANGER FROM FLOODS in the Com- | ed on the bulletin board at the house. who | | were selected two weeks ago by the | Reports will be read of the | I'Secretary, John E. Lutz. | that more than $1000 has already | been collected through letters sent out last fall and the committee is now working hard to add $2000 more the sum, which will be used in se- curing a 9 hole addition to the course. Alfred Horsman, secretary of the club, in notices sent to the members, urges an early turnout of the men this 'spring. The notice adds that new members will be welcomed. The registration fee for the coming year will be $2.00 for adults and $1.00 for those under 16. NO PANIC IN AMERICA FORGAN ASSURES CLUB Credit System Will Save U. S. from Crash says Dzvid R. Forgan to Winnetka Men's Club Declaring that a panic in the Unit- ed States resulting from unsettled conditions or financial upsets was very unlikely at this time, David R. Forgan, financier and president of the National City Bank of Chicago. re- assured those members of the Win- netka Men's club who have entertain- ed thoughts of a general crash of the money market. He was the speaker at last Tuesday evening's dinner held at the Com- munity House. His subject was "Credit". He said: 3 "The danger of a panic at this time is extremely unlikely. The fund- amental cause of a panic is due to the breakdown of our credit system. There was a time when cur credit was none too sound but with the establishment of the Federal Reserve system there is little liklihood of it cracking. It was this system which | saved the war. "Credit," said Mr. Forgan, "is com- paratively new. It means that you buy. and buy. And pay by and by." The financier's address summed up in: Deposits in any bank are merely credit; suceess is measured by money; the H. C. of IL. will soon re- cede to nearly normal; the Federal Reserve System is a Republican in- vention but the Democratic party get the credit for it; the kaiser and his {crowd of swelled heads brought about ithe war; U. S. credit saved it; charac- ter will be the biggest asset during the reconstruction period; labor is down to earth once more after three knockouts, to wit: the police strike in Boston, Gary's victory in the U. S. steel strike and the recent coal : strike. Mr. Forgan began his entertaining | address with a number of humorous | Scotch stories. Action to change the meeting nights of the club so they would not conflict with those of the Winnetka Post of the American Legion was rul- ed unnecessary as the next meeting night would not conflict. BOOKS FOR LENTEN SEASON The Winnetka Public Library has | {received a list of appropriate books | | for Lenten reading. | well as profitable reading matter at Each year there | |is a great demand for entertaining as | | the local library and to aid the res- | {idents in the selection of books which | ¢mbrace both qualities, Rev. E. Ash- ley Gerhard prepared the list which was carefully selected. Already a number of the recommended books have become popular. WINNETKA SCHOOL ASS'N. ORGANIZED | New Organization Result of Petitions Circulated for Three Eight-grade Schools--Elect Officers and Directors Windes and Marsh Say West Elm Street Site Is Three Feet Above High Water At a meeting of citizens held at the New Trier High school Thursday night the Winnetka School associa- tion was formed. The purpose of the association, as stated at the meet- ing, it to promote interest among the citizens of Winnetka in the educa- tional problems of the community. The association desires the best from | the school system that can be ex- pected and thoroughly believes that | through the assistance of the citizens in the study of school problems a better and wider understanding will | result. Officers of the association are: President, Walter E. Shoemaker; Frank Ascheim The direc- tors are: S. C. Hancock, Leonard H. Roach, C. S. Tackson, Arthur F. Klein and Sherman Orwig. The forming of the association is a result of a petition which was cir- culated and signed by a great many residents of the village asking the Board of Education to establish three eight-grade schools in the village in- stead of consolidating the higher grades in the proposed West Elm street school. A vigorous campaign of survey and study of the school problems is to be made immediately. A committee will be appointed to do this work and present plans. At the meeting Samuel Hallet Greeley spoke of the impossibility of the West Elm street site saying that the building could never be built until the Skokie had been drained. Windes and Marsh have shown that the building site is three feet above the high water mark of the Skokie. Mr. Bell they show their investigation: Mr. Laird Bell, Winnetka, Ill. Relative to the flood conditions in connection with the Elm street school site, we have taken elevations over the entire tract between Elm street on the north and Oak street on the south, Glendale on the east and Lake street on the west. We have from this survey made the Topographical Plat which was de- livered to you yesterday, upon which we have also shown the sewers and water main. During the heavy floods of the spring of 1919 the water reached an elevation of approximately 41.0 feet above Village Datum. You will note on the topographical plat that the 410 foot contour is approximately the east line extended of Berkley avenue, and that the ground rises gradually toward the east end of the block where it reaches an elevation Vice ~ I'reasurer, President, Mrs. Charles N. the result of of 44.0 feet or three feet above high | water. Windes and Marsh, "This should effectually dispose of the idea that the site for the new school is not suitable for building," said Mr. Bell. "The flood line men- tioned in Mr. Marsh's letter is 475 feet from the east end of the proper- ty, and two or three hundred feet from the probable site of the build- ing. Drainage of the foundations and boiler rooms is an entirely simple engineering matter. "And it must be understood that this is the flood line of the unusual flood that even covered the Indian Hill links in many places. But even 'that flood lasted only a few days. There is no reason why the play- ground should not dry off as least as quickly as the links. and tiling will, as the experience of the Park Board shows, accomplish a great deal" NOTICE The office of the Win- netka Weekly Talk is now located at 556 Center Street with Mr. George F. Gonsalves. Fulton; | and | In the following letter to | Deep ditching | School Cfficials to Help Citizens Superintendent and Board President Will Ask for Discussion of Prob- lems at Meeting Monday Night Residents of Winnetka in the neigh- | borhood of the Horace Mann school | are planning to turn out in full force | at the school building on Monday i night, March 1, following an an- | nouncement that a vitally fmportant | meeting, dealing with the problems inow causing considerable comment in | school circles, will be held at 8 : pil os On o'clock. The meeting is under the ciation, of which Mrs. Frank Craw- ford is president. Superintendent of Schools C. W. Washburne will pre- sent the three most important prob- lems of the school system: 1. Individual promotion throughout the schools. | 2. Departmental work in the | seventh and eighth grades. | 3. The new school. | Mr. Laird Bell, president of the | Board of Education, will present the | views of the board on the various | projects and both he and Superinten- dent Washburne have requested that those at the meeting who wish to be enlichtened on the details of the plans, present their queries to the speakers. It is hoped to hold a frank discussion on all matters pertaining to the Winnetka schools in that the sentiment and desires of both citizens and school officials may may be more thoroughly understood. BREAK GROUND FOR NEW $40,000 BUSINESS BLOCK Another building of the Georgian type of architecture which pre- dominates the famed business section of Lake Forest, is to be erected in Winnetka by G. L. Zick, proprietor of the Zick Dry Goods store at 803 Elm street. A temporary permit for the crec- tion of the 2-story brick structure , to cost about $40,000, has been issued by Superintendent of Public Works W. A. Gibbon and the first ground was broken yesterday. The ground floor | will be divided to provide business quarters for two tenents. The upper floor will contain four attractive apartments and the front of the building will be of white stone. Ac- cording to George F. Gonsalves, building contractor, the new struc- ture, which is expected to be ready for occupancy before June 1, will be one of the handsomest in the village. The site of the store and apart- ment building is west of Mr. Zick's present location and is separated from the M. K. Meyer bank build- ing at 791 Elm street by an alley. The transfer of the property by Mr. Meyer to Mr. Zick was recently made for a consideration of ap- proximately $10,000. Due to the unfortunate fact that that it was found necessary to make several changes: in the ar- chitectural plans, to comply with the building ordinance, only a tem- porary permit could be secured, but another is expected to be given with- in a few days. The architect is Chester Walcott of Winnetka. N-C-4 HERO TELLS OF EXPERIENCES ON TRIP More than 150 members of the Winnetka Post of the American Le- gion, gathered at their bi-monthly meeting at the Winnetka Woman's club, heard first hand the experiences of James I. Breese, Jr., engineer on the N-C-4 when it made its famous trans-Atlantic flight. Breese, who is a resident of the village left Prince- ton university during the war to en- list in the navy from where he was transferred into the aviation service. In telling of the terrific strain to which the crew were subjected, Breese paid high tribute to the mas- terful executive abilities of Com- manding Officer Read. ONLY A RUMOR A rumor was circulated about town the first part of the week that ! the Village had purchased the Voll- {mann property on Elm and Linden i streets. This is not true. The Coun- | cil has been considering in a pre- ! liminary way the carrying out of [ the recommendations of the Winnet- tka Plan commission which calls for the erection of a new village hall on | Linden street between Elm and Oak streets. A conference with Mr. Voll- mann regarding the purchase of his property has been held, but no definite action has been taken. order | loftce at the Village hall. BIG BUILDING BOOM ENRICHES TOWNSHIP Statistics of Necrth Shore Towns Re- veal $1,893,574 Invested in Erec- tion of Hundreds of Beautiful Homes Here PROSPERITY HELD REASON Officials Attribute Influx of Home- seekers to Prosperity from the War ~ That the trend of the home-seek- ing population of Chicago toward the north shore suburbs is gaining in leaps and bounds is shown by figures gathered yesterday by New Trier Township Assessor George R. Har- baugh. The estimated costs of improve- ments, erected or in 'the process of erection, as represented by the build- ing permits issued in the towns of W ilmette, Kenilworth, Winnetka and Sie amount to approximately Although these figures indicate an | unprecedented boom in both the {volume and higher prices of the (building industry, they do not com- | pletely represent the tremendous {building "bug" which has come into vogue since the settlement of the strike last fall. Eleven Months Building The permits which furnish the basis of the statistics were issued from April 1, 1919, to February 20, 1920. But before the strike settle- ment, according to officials of the four villages, tke building industry was practically at a standstill. Since February 20, permits have been issued which would swell the total to nearly $2,000,000. An instance of the flourishing in- dustry: W. A. Gibbon, superintendent of public works in Winnetka on Wed- nesday afternoon issued permits for 4 residences of $15,000 each. Another permit for a $50,000 building was asked as Mr. Gibbon was leaving his T Winnetka Leads T According to the assessor's figures, Winnetka and Wilmette have an even break on the volume of improve- ments. But the former forges ahead by the quality of the homes. The figures are: Winnetka &..0..0 0000 $790,490 Glertoe! ou bid idiin 292,175 Wilmette... 0.0... 709,489 In addition to permits for build- ing since February 20, which rep- resent thousands of dollars, there can also be added to the figures the cost of more than a score of beautiful residences under coustruction on property not under jurisdiction of any ot the four villages. Kenilworth buildings under con- struction are not as numerous as in her rival towns, but they are of more costly structure. 'I'he volume of the industry in Glencoe is five times more. than in Kenilworth yet the estimated cost approximate only $100,000 more. ' The impetucus rush of people with costly home plans and bulging pocket books is attributed by Assessor Har- bauceh to the re-action from inactiv- ity during the war period. He de- clared also that part of the demand could be traced to unexcelled pros- perity, the north shore quietude ap- pealing to their conception of a true home atmosphere. The news is also reassuring to the various taxing bodies of the town- ship, each body receiving a certain percentage of the peimit funds. Although a large portion of the homes under construction are of moderate cost, many being cottages and bungalows, a glimpse over the permit lists of the four villages shows scores of homes ranging from $12,000 to $5,000. Some of the higher priced homes in Wilmette with the names of their owner or builder, value and address follow : Dr. A. Bertling, 315 Washington street, $14,000. T. Hartman, 1303 Sheridan road, $16,000. T. H. Copeland, 930 Chestnut street, $20,000. H. N. Claggett, 425 Lake street, $18,000. August F. Hallman, 800 Sheridan road, $17,000. A. W. Levy, 86 Chestnut street, $14,000. ' K. R. Beak, 343 Washington street, $16,000. D. Camell, 1525 Spencer avenue, $25,000. H. W. Allen, 803 Chestnut street, $18,000. Alterations on the Wilmette State