Metropolitan Airs

If the stranger has somehow been I laboring under the impression that Ann I irbor is a slow old college town, without I sny of the advantages usually possessed by progressive American cities, he will I nd himself greatly mistaken. Ann rbor has a first-class electric railway, I 6everal good hotels, an opera house, a I model system of waterworks, electric I lighting, gas, and, best of all, progresI' 6ive newspapers. What better advanI taLes can even Detroit offer? Let us glance flrst at the WATERWORKS SYSTEM. This is owned and operated by the wide-awake and enterprising Ann Arbor Water Company. Though less than six years oíd, it has laid twenty-six miles of mains- mor than the city of Jackson has laid after twenty years. The supply of water is drawn from springs and flowing wells, and is colleoted in two reservoirs, two miles west of the city. Thenoe it is pumped to a storage reservoir located 175 feet above Ann Arbor, giving a storage capacity of 3,000000 gallons, affording the city a constant pressure of from sixty to ninety-ftve pounds, making absolute fire protection and also affording motive power for elevators and small manufacturing establishments. The pumping works are located near the springs. They contain two pumps, one with a capacity of 2,200,000 gallons a day and the other with 1,600,000 gallons. That the citizens of Ann Arbor appreeiate the value of the water supply is shown by the f act that already the company has made 1,300 taps for water connections and is now supplying over three-fourths of the citizens. The steady and constant growth of the city is in no smal! measure directly attributable to the excellent service supplied by the water company. The board of directors is composed of the following naraed persons: Prof. Charles E. Greene, Charles E. Hiscock, A. Kent Hale, Titus F. Hutzel, and A. W. Hamilton. The office of the oompany is looated in the Hamilton blook, ■where the president and superintendent, A. W. Hamilton, can be found ready to take orders at any time. ANN ARBOR'S HOSTEL.KIES. A hospitable city always makes good provisión for its guests. That Ann Arbor does this, every traveller is willing to alrirm. There are no palatial hotels here - jou seldom fïnd them except in large cities - but there are several houses which yield to no others in point of comfort or convenience. Cook's Hotel, the largest in the city, is a four-story building standing on the corner of Huron-st and Fourth-ave, (lirectly opposite the court house square. It contains seventy-five rooms and, with the furniture, is valued at 850,000. On the ground iioor is found the lobby, finely frescoed and furnished with upholstered ebairs. a lartre dininc room and an gant bar. Theladies'parlor on the second floor is prettily f uraished, having B piano, sofas and all the other conveniences. Several large sample rooms are ecattered throughout the house All of the apartments have been fitted out with entirely new f uraiture, and expensive Brussels carpets cover the floor in every story except the fourth. Two elevators - one for freight and one for passengere - will soon be running from basement to roof. The house is heated by Bteam and lighted by eleotricity and gas. The present proprietor, A. L. Nowlin, formerly of Romulus, Mich., is determinedl to place the hotel on a par itH the best to be found in the state. The Germania Hotel was wected in 1885 and is now the P'operty of Michael Staebler. lts value, iocluding site and furniture, is not less ftan $25,000. This is a large three-story building, finished off in hard woods and nandsomely deoorated. It has four large ?ample rooms, one of which is the largest 'n the state. The bar-room, lobby and aining hall, on the first floor, are furn'shed with all the modern conveniences, and steam heating is provided for every fooni in the house. The hotel is now mnaged by "Wra. L. Frank. The Arlington, a pretty little hostelry, "Dtaining sixteen rooms, and the jTanklin, a three-story building with 'orty.three rooms, also deserve mention. THE POSTOFFICE. A good indication of a city's prosperity is the amount of postal business it transacts. In this respect Ann Arbor makes a very creditable showing. The receipts of the office during the year ending Jnne 30th, 1891, from sales of envelopes, stamps, etc, and box-rents, were $25,041.38, an increase of $1,704.47 over the year previous. The total expenses were only $14,451.90, leaving a balance of 811,189.48 in favor of the government. The total number of domestic and foreign money orders issued was 5,101 , representing $38,656 29. The value of the orders cashed was 8110,947.86. The number of registered letters and pareéis received was 4,290; and the number sent, 1,847. The sale of stamps yas enormous - exactly 895,052, of which 701,492 were of the two-cent denomination; 145,220 pestal cards and 233,725 stamped envelopes were disposed of. Seventeen employés, under the direction of Postmaster E. E. Beal, are kept on the pay roll. Of these seven are carriers, the free delivery system being extended over the entire city. The postofBce building stands on the corner of Ann and Main-st. It is a fine three-story structure. During the evenings of the college year, the lobby presents a very animated appearance, thronged, as it is, by hundreds of eager and expectant students. STREET TRAPFIC. It is no longer necessary for Athenians to travel on foot or indulge in the expensive luxury of a horse and carriage. Electricity now transports passengers from one end of the city to the other - from the Michigan Central depot, on the north, to the fair grounds, on the south; and from the court house to the city limits on Packard-st. The total length of both lines is over four miles. Six electric motors and one trail car are in constant use. The value of the whole property is over $100,000. Good profits have been paid from the beginning, and it is likely that lines will soon be built in other parts of the city. Connecting with the Packard-st. line is the steam motor line, which runs over the south road to Ypsilanti. Four cars, one of which is open, constitute its equipment. Trains are run every hour, and during an average month at least 15,000 passengers are carried. The road is largely patronized, by 6tudents, in quest oi their best girls; by business men, in quest of bargains, and by ladies who wish to exchange calis, or do shopping when they may best be suited. TELEGRAPH FACILJTIES. Ann Arbor citizens and students use the telegraph very freely. No other city of its size in the state of Michigan sends so many dispatches in the course of a year. The AVestern Union company with its world-encircling wires, maintains at Ann Arbor a central office, under the direction of Milo S. Pulcipher, and a branch office, at the Michigan Central depot. Two messengers are kept constantly on the run. The number of cable messages recei ved and sent by the Ann Arbor office is surprisingly large The Postal Union Telegraph Company is also established at Ann Arbor A. j. Liesemer being the local agent Two offices are maintained- one in the business center and the other near the University. The business of the former amounts to $125 a month, that of the latte r. AMEBIOAIf KXPRESS (.OMl'ANV. The business of this company at Ann Arbor is larger than that done in most cities of its size, amounting to 330,000 a year. The number of packages sent and received annually is over 40,000. During the fruit season the shipments often exceed thirty tons a day. About 850,000 in money-orders are annually cashed. The office forcé numbers five persons - the agent, A. W. Ames, two clerks and two messengers. THE OPERA HOUSE. Ann Arbor has a good theatre, oapable of holding 1,200 people. During the fay season some kind of an entertainment is given almost every night. As might be expeoted, the Athenians are satisfied only by the best shows, and it s probable that the repertoire of Ann Arbor is above that of any other city n the land, with its number of inhabi.iints. Booth and Barrett, Janauschek and Gilmore's band, were some of the recent attractions. THE " HELLO " BUSINESS. Of course Ann Arbor has a telephone system. Xo modern city can dispense with it. Between fifty and sixty miles of wire are strung in this city. The number of eubscribers is 135. The Ann Arbor office is connected with every large city in Michigan, and with Ypsilanti free telephone service is given. MOULDEES OF OPINIÓN". An intelligent andcultured city will support a goodly number of first-class newspapers. Ann Arbor is especiallyfortunate in this respect. The Argus is the oldest of the papers, having been establishedin 1835. Itis nowasixcolumn quarto, and is edited and published by 8. W. Beakes. It is Democratie in politics. The Courier was established in 1861 and ia now the property of Junius E. Beal. It is exactiy" the same size as the Argus and Republican in politics. In 1872 Tue Ann Arbor Register was born. It has since changed hands several times. In January the paper became the exclusive property of Selby A. Moran. It is a seven-column quarto, Republican in politics, and has the largest circuation of any. newspaper in Washtenaw county. The Democrat has been pubhshed about thirteen years. Miss Emma L. Bower is the edilor and publisher. In politics the paper is what its name indícate?, Democratie. In 1879, the Washtenaw Post, the first Germán paper in Washtenaw county, was established. Louis J. Liesemer is now editor and proprietor. Der Deutsche Hausfreund, edited by Paul G. Suekey, shares with the Post the patronage of Germán reader?. The dailv Washtenaw Times was started in November, 1890, and is now owned by a etock company. The paper, which is ander the editorial management of FredC. Brown, is independent in politics. Besides these seven local journals, a number of college papers are published. Orr Llffhtlng. The Ann Arbor Gas Company was organized in 1858 and the first officers were elected on April 2d of that year. The company is oonsequently now in the thirty-third year of its existence, making it one of Ann Arbor's oldest industries. Only a small part of the original works remains; as fast as new and improved maohinery have come into use they have at once been adopted, so that Ann Arbor has gas works equal to any in the country for modern and improved machinery. The result of these improvements is shown by the reductioD in the price of gas from four dollars to the present price of two dollars per thousand for lighting purposes and one dollar and fifty cents for fuel. The increase in output of the company has been continual in spite of sharp competition of late years. The total output last year was 11,000,000 cubic feet. and this year it will probably reach 12,000,000 on. ft. There are 530 meters n use, seventy-five of which are used for fuel purposes. Gasoline has of late proven so dangerous, that the increase in this branch of the gas business has been wonderf ui, and forty stoves have been set this season. The convenience and economy of gas stoves have already been proved and it will be only a short time when they will become anecessity. By the use of improved burners, the Gas Company have given electricity a sharp competition, and a recent contract wit li one of Ann Arbor's most enterprising dry goods firms shows that gas has not had its day yet.