Nevada State Journal from Reno, Nevada • 8

PAGE NEVADA STATE RENO1 NEVADA' SUNDAY JULY 7 1957 Long Before it Was inished Ely Hotel Held a Grand Ball The State Capitol Building? At Same Stand CAPITOL 86 YEARS AGO Heritage America Talk and all corner of the original building This stone like portions of all four corners was partly obscured by the addition of wings to the build ing in 1913 14 It is probably the cornerstone with a cache of old documents coins and ore sam ples but no one appears to be certain It will be an interesting treas ure hunt in some future year to find the stone But it is to be hoped the familiar old building has several more useful years before the wrecking equipment goes to work build the hotel in Ely his favorite name was appended to it Many a regular visitor to Ely from elsewhere in the west makes his headquarters at the Northern It is especially appealing to those who know something of the his tory of the great heyday of min ing camps The Northern of the pair known as Tex Rickard and Hall still lends to the old inn that indefinable something that makes a hotel distinctive usually called "But for tfie one per cent willing to put up with the other persons present had disappeared behind swinging doors along Car son St before the grand orator the Hon Robert Taylor had finished his address All these things are recorded with minute precision but the alert Carson Daily Appeal neg lected to say just where the cornerstone was placed Masonic records are said to single out the northeast corner but the stone was not inscribed Mr study advanced the theory o( the northeast i i vices as padded instrument panels improved door locks and recessed steering wheels Speed actor Some safety officials might re ply that even if speed neces sarily a factor in determining how badly a person gets hurt definitely a factor in causing acci dents But even this conclusion is open to question The accident rate on high speed highways like the Pennsyl vania and New Jersey turnpikes is far under the national rate Most safety experts point cessive speed rather than speed itself as an important factor in causing accidents A car doing 30 on glare ice may be guilty of excessive speed while one going 70 mph on the Penn sylvania turnpike in perfect weather is not Weather and road conditions traffic intensity driving ability and the condition of the car itself say the experts are all factors in determining whether speed is excessive That is why safety organiza tions like research group are against setting a na tional speed limit applicable to all regions all drivers cars By JAMES HULSE I In official circles in Carson City there is a plan to tear down the aged gray stone Capitol Building and to replace it with two flashy modem structures for the executive and legislative branches of the government Those who have the inclination and the influence to bring about the destruction of the old land mark have not yet given a date to their enterprise but the struc ture seems to be never the less doomed A Reno structural engineer early this year told the legislature the old silver domed edifice is dangerous a firetrap and a death house in the event of a major earthquake He said the gover office and the legislative chambers would not be safe in the event of disaster The official recommendation was destruction of the building Although the removal is prob ably several years away there are some who forsee a delicate historical problem when they begin to crumple the walls TJie problem: the old cornerstone of the original building must be saved and there is a doubt about exactly where it is located No one it seems is certain which of the native stones is the resting place for the documents and trophies which were deposited on June 9 1870 The events of that day have been pieced together in a docu ment prepared in 1946 by Mal colm McEachin then secretary of state for Nevada Mr McEachin entitled his pamphlet "A Corner stone for the and he provided considerable informa tion on the occasion The 1869 legislature had au thorized the construction of the building on the in Carson City The lawmakers had created a seven man Board of Capitol Building Commissioners who worked without pay in planning the new seat of government They awarded $250 to Joseph Gosling for the best set of plans Peter Cavanaugh of Carson City was the contractor Most of the dignitaries in the state were present for the 'cor nerstone ceremony There were bands from Carson City Virginia City and Gold Hill Strong lunged orators miners Chinese charcoal burners farmers Sho shones Paiutes Washoes rail road men and politicians min gled in the spring sunshine shar ing the refreshments The first governor the energetic Henry Goode Blasdel passed among the celebrating Nevadans It was the biggest day since state hood A colorful parade threaded through the heart of the little capital city past the new Vir ginia and Truckee railroad sta tion and the new mint building Down the street to ward the skeleton of the new capitol building went the Grand Army of the Republic the Em mett Guards and National Guards from the Comstock the Warren and Currie fire compa nies of Carson City and the fra ternal orders including the Odd ellows and the Masons The latter portions of the parade included marching school girls and then citizens riding in car riages or walking as their cir cumstances determined Speed Limit says if you established forced a national speed limit of say 40 miles an hour wind up with such traffic congestion that have to re design the entire national highway What about the frequent charge that Detroit has contrib uted to the worsening accident rate by making cars too powerful for the roads they drive on? the automotive engineers reply: Horsepower has little rela tion to top speed The horsepower of a modern car has doubled in the past 10 years but its top speed averages only 15 mph higher Horsepower is needed more for acceleration than for high speeds You can get more speed by changing a gear ratio than by upping its horsepower More horsepower is needed for such innovations as automatic transmissions power steering and braking electric window lifts and air conditioning On a £00 hp car only 120 hp goes to the rear wheels holds regular Bible classes to help his men build new attitudes to wardlife The difference between scheine and the conventional res cue mission is that it provides regular employment in an atmos phere of understanding The more common rescue mission he says emphasizes evangelism and pro vides odd jobs when available When there are none their skid row inmates depart with their earnings to buy a bottle Zook spent five years running such a mission in Stockton Calif Convinced that was the answer he proposed his new approach to the board of directors but they thought business and reHgion mix believe you divorce the says Zook Things Going Well His Sacramento experiment has lasted only a year now but things have gone very well Cus tomers show interest in the work ers Zook and his wife them selves work up to 16 hours a day and take out only $50 a week for themselves His greatest problem is that some of the men just show up for their shifts On skid row only one man in a hundred fights his way back to be a useful mem ber of society Zook guesses This was the appearance of the State Capitol building in 1871 a few months after the cornerstone was laid Today the exact loca tion of the cornerstone is not clearly defined since latter day wings have obscured the original coiner and state records are not revealing on this point Some officials feel the old capitol should be removed in a few years but Eddy and I were caught be tween the casing and the stock room door which was forced shut by the onrush of water "Water was up to our armpits and coming higher I thought: climb on the which was merely a table for support of floor joists and hang on I directed We reached that bpace and climbed on the ledge I began beating with my fists on the floor Eddy kept saying Above there was a rush for axes and willing hands worked frantically It seemed an eternity as they located the sound from beating with already broken knuckles It was slow chopping through linoleum and floor boards to release him New Hole Cut But where was Eddy? A floor joist separated the two men and another hole had to be cut in the floor to release him Minutes later a Japanese reached under the floor caught Eddy by the hair of the head and pulled him to the floor above But too late Eddy Hillick was dead Doctors worked over him diligently and a pulmotor was hurried from the mines but it was of no avail His death was a shock to the community for Hillick had many friends 'in the area Only ren chie stilj lives to tell the story Mr Upwall having died in Elko a few years ago If one happens to get Vautrin to reminiscin he may double up hie fists and say "See ithese knuckles They are just a gentle The flash flood of however was one of the few tragic events associated with the Northern Throughout its nearly 51 years of history it has provided residents from far corners of the earth as well as the Ely mining district and White Pine county with good service and fine fellowship It was the leading hostelry in Ely until about 28 years ago when a group of White Pine residents joined in a corporation to build the Nevada hotel just a block east on the main thoroughfare Aultman street Not many years later incidentally Ole Elliott of the original Northern partner ship became co owner of the Ne vada with the late Bert Riddick Elliott who had retained owner ship of the Northern through the years then sold it to Tom Wheel wright and Ruth Archabal in the Mrs Archabal now Mrs Mark Lattin of allon and Mr Wheelwright now of Phoenix Ariz remain the owners today Memories Remain The more plush Hotel Nevada may have assumed the role of the No 1 hotel in White Pine county but the memories of early day Ely remain with the Northern or one thing the reputation of the great fight promoter Tex Rickard has remained great though he went to his reward in 1929 Even today residents of Ely can startle visitors with the statement that Rickard built the The name of the hotel of course indicates that Rickard was behind it His several gam bling houses in the Alaska gold rush days and at Goldfield were all given the same name the Northern And when Tex helped By ROBERT STRAND United Press Staff Correspondent SACRAMENTO Calif July 6 (UR) How do you save a skid row bum for himself and society? Vern Zook an air force veteran from Indiana has come up with a new approach put him in a business of his own "Work is the best therapy in the he says "But with the work must go spiritual redis covery The skid row derelict must return to Tramp Restaurant To prove his theory Zook opened a restaurant run by tramps for tramps It was so suc cessful he opened a second in one of the better neighborhoods and is using profits to buy a house to shelter his crew He calls his operation "Chris tian Service and Moore and en coming of the Nevada Northern railroad to Ely Sept 29 1906 Lower photo shows the Northern as it is today very similar in general outline to the original although a section has been added at the extreme left and the front and side elevations have been modernized The hotel was built by George (Tex) Rickard of fight promotion fame and several associates Vern Zook Discovers Way To Save Skid Row Bums He Puts Them in Business The cornerstone was placed corner The former state official with due ceremony by Grand said he located a smooth stone Master George Hopkins It has contrasting with the others which been determined that a few of the were rough in the northeast AtUNJuly22 Is will en title an address at the University of Nevada by Dr Orlo Brees noted speaker on the unique fea tures of American life A program in the summer series of public lectures dramatic productions and other cultural events Dr talk will be given at 11 am Monday July 22 in the education audito rium on the Reno campus and is open to the public at no admis sion charge With experienee as varied as his topics the speaker has been a coal miner a Baptist minister a salesman newspaper editor and publisher public relations coun sel New York state assembly man and senator author and lec turer Associated with the National Association of Manufacturers with offices in Palo Alto Calif Dr Brees has traveled and lec tured throughout the 11 western states tor the past few years During his twelye year legisla tive career Brees became known as a champion of free enterprise and the American way of life His philosophy is reflected in his lec tures such as "What Is Amer a of a heritage a way of life and a destiny American an eval uation of our educational system and Thermo an address on leadership and Worms Beneath the a humorous and satirical piece on political prob lems ast Driving Blamed As Only One Cause Of Highway Injuries By ROBERT SERLINGT i United Press Staff Correspondent NEW YORK (UP) Is high speed the chief cause of frightening traffic toll? Is the automobile industry contributing to highway slaughter with its race to build more and more horsepower into new cars Many Americans would promptly answer yes to both of these questions There have even been demands in Congress for such drastic actions as setting a na tional speed limit of 40 50 miles per hour and requiring manufac turers to limit the top horsepower and speed of the cars they build But virtually every reliable sta tistic gathered on the highway accidents points away from speed as the most important factor in causing injury and death Cornell auto crash injury research program which has investigated more than 8000 accidents reported the fol lowing facts on speed: acts on Speed 1 The average travelling speed of cars involved in injury produc ing accidents is about 48 miles per hour The average speed at impact is 41 mph 2 People can get hurt as easily and as severely in an accident at 30 mph as they can at 50 mph Severity of injury as related to speed does not begin to increase to any marked degree until 60 mph is reached Then the ratio takes a sharp jump 3 In the thousands of accidents studied 60 per cent of the ex tremely severe and fatal injuries would still have occurred if the speed of the vehicles involved had been held to 50 mph The director of the Cornell project John Moore says: One Segment evidence points to the fact that speed as an injury produc ing factor is only one segment of the accident problem and then only in a restricted sense Control of the very high speeds unques tionably would reduce injuries and deaths to some extent But many more drivers get into trouble at speeds of 50 and below than they do at much higher speeds and those who believe control of speed is a panacea to to the whole safety problem are doing the nation an The Cornell researchers have concentrated on what causes in juries in an accident rather than on what causes the accident it self But their data indicates that the injury and death rate can be reduced more readily by proper designing than by making slower automobiles must be a parallel ef fort put forth to de lethalize the car Moore "or the simple factor of controlled speed will be only partially By "de an auto mobile Moore refers to such de Mystery Develops in Carson Where is the Cornerstone In ully Modern Old Northern By EIE READ Northern Hotel was scene of a house warming long before it was finished The occasion was the great celebration of Railroad Day Sept 29 1906 So great was the need for a dance hall to enter tain the more than two thousand guests and night revelers that carpenters hurriedly laid a in the unfinished hotel and it was initiated with a grand ball that evening Music said to be "softer and sweeter than melodies from was played by the great Helds Band from Salt Lake City and many remember the echoes of the beautiful strains of "Where the Silver Colorado Wends its as they reverberated into the canyons wending southward and westward from Ely Still Inviting hotel 'Northern is not only a memory to oldsters who were youngsters fifty years ago but is a hostelry of modern and inviting quarters for the traveling public of today The new modernized Northern Bar has opened its doors inviting one to step into the same part of the building which boasted of a Northern bar just half a century ago Its tapestry and furnishings are of the latest design and it could not be outdone by its dis play of 21 year old Scotch and other imported liquors Its soft friendly atmosphere sug gests a delightful place for relaxation It was in 1905 when the great awakening came and Ely be stirred itself to supply accommo dations for the strangers within its gates (Tex) Rickard and Ole Elliott of Goldfield be came interested A company of hustling foremost citizens listing Thomas Rockhill and Joseph Stevens with Rickard at its head was formed and a foundation of a princelyhostelry was laid An army of workmen were employed and by Nov 7 1906 a fine hotel adorned one of the main corners in Ely Nothing but the best was the aim Plumbing was installed and every room supplied with hot and cold water In the matter of furnish ings the largest eastemmd west ern outfitting houses were drawn upon and ah that was finest was purchased The sojourner of days had no fear but he would find a home on his visit to the Ely Store Rickard also established a cloth Ing store with Al Meyers his fath er in law as proprietor It later became known as urnishing Shop As early as Dec 1 1913 a parcel of the budd ing was leased and the Steptoe Drug opened its doors The first floor corner site of the building was also the home of the irst National Bank of Ely for years That section is once again the Northern Bar It was in 1911 when (Tex) Hall leased the building for $700 a month from the corporation Tex it is recalled was a "fine and working for him at the Northern bar was Eddy Hill ick "Oscar Upwall was also an (employe renchie Vautrin one of oldest residents lived at the Northern for more than 25 years and well remembers the summer of 1913 The weather was sultry Threatening Clouds On August 26 threatening clouds made an appearance early They came over with a sure prom ise of violence and at 11 that morning thunder crashed and lightning struck A omi nous cloud hung over 11000 foot Ward mountain to the south With another crash the cloud opened up Residents watched its funnel "Jike appearance with anxiety £Then an avalanche of water poured down Murry Canyon and into downtown Ely where Hotel Northern felt the bulk of its force Hall had a large supply of ex pensive liquors and cigars stored in the basement The storage room extended under the side walk Hall fearing his supply might be destroyed by the del uge filling the basement sent Oscar Upwall Eddy Hillick and renchie Vautrin below to bring the cases to the upper floor Water Comes ast The water was coming in fast and they were moving the cases bucket brigade style' renchie was calling "Where are those high priced at once said Vau trin recalling the experience were under the sidewalk and I thought the building had heavy slab door had broken out between the boiler room and the stock room A room full of water came at us with more coming through the coal chute It had such volume and force it was a veritable whirlpool whipping up barrels and boxes sending them spinning round and round Oscar wrapped his arms around a barrel and was whirled close to the stairway to safety ocal point of a violent flash flood that claimed the life of one man in its basement 44 years ago is the 51 year old Northern Hotel on Aultman St Old photo at top shows The Northern adorned by workmen as construction neared completion in the fall of 1906 About five weeks before the building was finished a floor was quickly laid in it and a big ball held in celebration of the 4 44 ELY'S HISTORIC ABUILDING AND TODAY IrS 1 BiliH BBlMBBalMl Hi I iw 4 'A is kWh I 1 4 I Wl tri i I A I i 1 I 1' I i jfehaMW' 1 i rl 2 1 1 4 A i 4 WW 4 i i 1 4 Jr JrfegS a 4 mm abSSE Ama 'mTn Tr 4 III Ttfc I iwKll Wil WWjj Igt $5 rS 11.