It is the last year of peace
for a large part of the world. There was a second
Balkan war, but it was also the year that brought us the concept
of the forward pass. Ragtime music was in along with
dances like the Bunny Hop. Woodrow Wilson is elected
president with less than 50% of the vote because of a split
in the Republican party. Congress and the president
signed on to the income tax... 1% for anyone making over
$3,000. In their wisdom, they exempted themselves from
paying.
In Sugar Creek, things were
looking bleak, the problem was Elliot W. Major, 28th
governor of Missouri (1864-1949), a Democrat from St.
Louis. In March the Missouri State Senate and House of
Representatives passed bill no. 516, also known as the Casey
bill, written by State Senator M. E. Casey and
Representative John F. Thice of Independence, whose district
the refinery and 600 citizens resided. Governor Major,
at last years' Democratic party nominating process, pitted a
local man who would have made a much better candidate,
William Cowherd. Cowherd was very popular locally, but
the votes were in the bigger St. Louis area. Jackson
County and the Pendergast
machine did vote for the jerk. Even the Independence
Examiner got into the act of massaging the Governor's arse.
In an editorial, "Here's to Governor Major", on
March 20, the newspaper eulogized on what a wonderful and
honest man he was. They lied. In defending the
Standard Oil plant in Sugar Creek, they in effect said that
just because Standard Oil is a bunch of crooks, that was no
reason to destroy the town.
And what a neat little town
it was. Located in a hilly valley bordered on the
north side by the Missouri River and the refinery, about a
mile or so south was one of the best and most successful
amusement parks in the nation. Running from the
refinery entrance several blocks north a dozen business
prospered. And it was all threatened by Governor
Major. Over half the 600 residents worked at the
refinery. The town existed only to serve the employees
and their kin. Everyone owned their own home or were
paying for it. The only hotel, "The
Standard", catered to single employees, most of whom
wanted to own a piece of the American dream, your own home
to raise "The Greatest Generation", as they were
now being born.
P. M. McAvey, owner of the
Standard Hotel/restaurant, located three blocks south of the
main gate. His business depended entirely on the
number of men employed at the oil plant. There were
also six general stores, three saloons, a pool
hall/barbershop/eatery, another barber shop, a drug store,
three coal-and-feed stores, a lumber yard, a union church
with two more churches on the way, and a new $25,000 school
house. There was also a physician.
"I have been in
business here for years," said J. F. McMains of the
Sugar Creek Mercantile Company. "I built the
building and my total investment is about
$15,000." He was also going to lose $1,000 a
month in sales if the refinery went belly-up. Mrs. L.
W. Bollinger, wife of the Postmaster, located in the drug
store. She was also the owner of the business, said,
"We have a prosperous little village here. Most
of us own our own home or are paying for them. To take
the oil industry away from us will be to drive us away from
surroundings that are dear to us. Yet we will have to
go if the refinery is closed.
W. G. Dye, who runs a
grocery and general store said, "I came to Sugar Creek
busted. Now I am pretty well fixed and would like to
stay that way. Of course I would have to move with the
rest. Sugar Creek would turn into a frog pond.
The Journal reporter called it a "lively little
town".
Socially, Sugar Creek was a
breath of fresh air from a bunch of silly laws like you
can't drink beer and play pool at the same time. To
prevent this from happening on March 26 a delegation from
Kansas City, Sugar Creek, Independence, went to Jefferson
City to talk to Governor Crook. Among the VIPs were Judge
Allen Pruitt, Bernard Zick, Jr., Olney Burrus, Judge G.
L. Chrisman, and Judge R. D. Mize. They all left
by train from Kansas City and all were
Democrats.
The judges made their
argument from a legal standpoint, mainly that the
elimination of the Standard Oil Company in the state would
leave Missouri in the hands of another monopoly.
Others argued that the destruction would cost the state a
lot of tax money. Finally the people of Sugar Creek's
representatives were allowed to speak. William Pavey,
employee of the Standard at Sugar Creek, resident and
taxpayer: "It spells ruin for us. There are
seventy of us who have bought homes and what little we have
is invested in them. Shut down the company and we will
have to begin life over again." He continued,
"We have just completed an addition to our school
house, thereby issuing $12,000 in bonds. Send the
Standard out by the state and there would be one room of the
8 in that schoolhouse needed, and those left in the
school district could never take care of the
bonds."
Edward Lynn, John Walker,
George Hackett, and James McMain, all from Sugar Creek, told
the same kind of story. McMain is a merchant and it
would wipe him out, he told "his highness",
"If this bill does not become law, my stock of goods I
could move elsewhere. But my real estate and my
buildings would be worthless. Mr. Hackett said that he
had been working at the refinery since he came here.
"The savings of a lifetime are invested in a $3,000
home in Sugar Creek. It would be a hard line to start
over again with my family of seven children." His
pleas only gained him a street named after him. B. F.
Larkin, who is a farmer and sells his veggies to the town,
said, "There is no doubt in my mind the removal of the
refinery would mean the wiping out of Sugar
Creek." The governor had made his mind up a long
time ago. As he was Attorney General before and had
helped to initiate the suit against Standard in 1908.
Waters/Pierce was a St.
Louis based distribution company without a refinery.
Missouri had been divided down the middle. Standard
didn't go into St. Louis, and W. P. didn't dare try to
compete with Standard. The Governor and the W. P. Oil
Company wanted to buy the Sugar Creek refinery, but Standard
said no, and purchased land in Wyandotte County, Kansas, and
prepared to dismantle the Sugar Creek plant and move the
operation across the state line, leaving Missouri with only
one oil company, but no way to make gasoline which, in 1913
replaced kerosene as the most manufactured component of
crude oil.
This was not the kind of
outcome expected by the federal anti-trust laws.
Standard's attorneys petitioned the State Supreme Court for
a rehearing. The company also promised to enlarge the
capacity of the refinery if permitted to stay.
The town did get a break
when a fire broke out in a combination pool hall and lunch
room, owned by Sherry Simpson. At 8:30 in the morning
of April 4th, a fire started in the flue pipe of the kitchen
area. It was feared that the whole business district
would be destroyed, as there was not a brick in town.
To the rescue came the Standard Oil fire department, saving
the day. Besides destroying the pool hall, and
adjacent building was damaged. The properties were
owned by the Standard Warehouse Company, no connection to
the big refinery. Loss was estimated at $2,000 but was
covered by insurance.
Amongst all the turmoil
Fairmount Park opened officially on May 4th. Admission
was 10 cents. But as last year, fishing was allowed as
soon as the ice thawed. Balloon races were again going
up, a contest between balloons from St. Louis and St. Joseph
was billed as "The Race of the Saints." A
cabaret was built and the boats got a new coat of paint,
picnic tables were added to the picnic area. The
vaudevillians were now working in an outdoor theater, and
the German cafe was still being called the German
cafe. That would soon change.
Electric Park had made many
improvements, too. A new ride called the "Ben Hur
Roller Coaster." Two cars full of patrons ran
along parallel tracks racing each other, powered by gravity
and the weight and movement of the passengers.
On Sunday, May 4, Kansas
City's newest amusement park opened to the water
lovers. DREAMLAND, located along the tracks that took
people to Fairmount Park along the Blue
River. 500 boats and canoes were rentable. A
6,000 square ft. dance floor was constructed. McGain's
12-piece orchestra played. Concessions were to
be added later. There must have been a lot more water
flowing to the Missouri River via the Blue than there is
today. Because of a drought in the summer, the
enterprise was a flop.
This spring started out wet
east of the Mississippi. Hundreds drowned.
Opening day at Fairmount Park was practically washed
away. It poured all day. New rock on the packed
walkways were washed away. It was a good day for the
fish in the lake, as there were no fishermen.
After a few weeks of
intense rain, the 18-acre lake was again in danger of
breaking the dam and flooding downtown Sugar Creek, fires,
floods, and political pestilence threatened a piece of the
American dream.
In between the cloudbursts,
balloons took to the air. But it could be
dangerous. On May 11, an aeronaut named Henry Sparks
jumped prematurely from 200 feet. It was not high
enough for his parachute to fully deploy, and his demised
was saved by electrical wires that broke the fall, finally
hitting the ground with a thump in front of the refreshment
stand, missing all six thousand spectators. Later that
day Teddy Clark, 12 years old, jumped from moving trolley
and received possible internal injuries. He just lived
a few blocks east of the park, he must have been heading to
Kansas City.
In early May the Supreme
Court of the State of Missouri foiled the Governor's plans
by agreeing to a rehearing of the Standard Oil's
ouster. The Standard didn't really comply with some of
the provisions, while Price/Waters did. They were just
screwing with the state or were just showing complete
incompetence on the part of the company.
The high school graduating
class of 1913 was Charlie Mallinson, Jr., and Mary
Spicer. As a soldier in WWI, Charlie would get gassed
and died of his injuries in 1923. Thursday the
middle-school kids put on skits. Friday night was the
time to receive the degrees, which was as impressive as a
college degree is now, as most kids just didn't finish high
school. Getting a job as soon as possible was more
practical.
The school board had just
adopted a new rule that all teachers had to live in the town
of Sugar Creek. Mr.Hinkle of KC, the principle, didn't
want to move, so he didn't renew his contract, and was
immediately hired by the Independence School District to be
principal of Ott School. H. J. Liggett was then hired
to fill the vacancy. The grade school had four
teachers. Miss Green was a new addition as the town
was assured of survival. The other grade school teachers
were Miss Edna Marsh, Miss Mamie Farrell, and Mrs. Edith
Pritchett, who, in the 1960s, taught Sugar Creek kids how to
play the piano. The high school had one teacher.
Thanks to the copious
amount of liquid sunshine, Fairmount Park's lush grass and
beautiful flowers had never looked better. Because of
the acreage, lots of new activities could be included, like
tennis and handball courts. The tennis courts were
clay, but the handball courts floors were made from cement,
the first in Kansas City. It was called "Western
Style". Swimming lessons were given free in the
mornings by Professor H. C. Wilson, former instructor at the
New York City's swimming club in Manhattan. 10,000
baby fish were hauled from the government fish hatchery in
Nevada, Missouri, via railroad tank car, and dumped in the
lake from the railroad tressel that crossed over the eastern
part of the lake.
On July the Fourth, the
people of Sugar Creek celebrated their salvation from the
clutches of Governor Major, whose main goal in life was to
become the Vice President of the United States. In an
article titled, "Sugar Creek Was Glad," the
Examiner sent a reporter to cover the celebration in Sugar
Creek, and filed the following:
Sugar Creek's celebration
Saturday night of the Standard Oil decision of the supreme
court was sane enough to satisfy the most exacting apostic
of "sanity" in celebrations. There was an
almost entire absence of noise. But none the less
the people felt profoundly grateful for their deliverance
from the disaster which threatened their homes, especially
when they remembered how delicately their fate was poised
in the balance for several months.
The three saloons of
Sugar Creek voluntarily closed Saturday night, and the
proprietors went up to the school house and helped to
serve barbecued meat and soft drinks, such as lemonade, to
the crowd. This was on the south side of the school
house.
On the north side there
was a "feast of reason and flow of soul."
The crowd numbered about one thousand. A stand had
been constructed on which the Third Regiment band from
this city played several airs.
John F. Thice, of this
city, representative of the legislature from this
district, was made chairman of this meeting. Mr.
Thice worked hard in the legislature to save Sugar
Creek. Before he became an attorney he was for
several years an employee of the Standard Oil
refinery. In a brief introductory talk he drew a
picture of the Sugar Creek of the near future, with a
fourth-class city government, its own mayor and other city
officers, and streetcar service extending from the
Fairmount Park line.
J. G. Paxton was
introduced. He said, "I wept with you in your
sorrows, and now I am glad to rejoice with you in your
good fortune." He reviewed some of the work
that was done to save the refinery and the town from
destruction.
State senator Michael E.
Casey, of Kansas City, told how the bill which bears his
name was carried through the senate and finally lacked
only the Governor's signature to become a law, but was
vetoed by the governor, thus leaving the only hope for the
company and for Sugar Creek in a modification by the
supreme court of its decision, which modification finally
came.
E. C. Hamilton said that,
"Now that the heavy cloud had drifted away from over
the town, the time had come for the people to devote more
of their attention to educational and social
development. He said they had already made a good
start in their fine $30,000 school building.
And then after three
cheers had been suggested by the chairman and been given
by the crowd by the supreme court, the exercise
closed with a display of fireworks. The grounds were
decorated with bunting and pennants and lighted with
electricity. Many people from Independence attended.
Also in attendance were my
three-year-old mother and my 12-year old father. The
town would live and so would I.
Many picnickers were again
held at Fairmount Park, like the one for the Montgomery Ward
company's family and friends, all 5000 of them. Being
held at a different location every year, July 20 was
Fairmount's turn, this being the seventh year. Many of
the concession stands were leased by the picnic committee a
"competent orchestra" played. A 55-person
minstrel show was attended by 3,000. The dance
pavilion was taken over for three hours. Baseball on
the athletic field between the "Fats and
Leans". The umpire, A. J. Giron, manager of the
clothing department, called the game in the fifth inning in
favor of the Fats, 9, Leans, 0, in the middle of the game
when one of the "Leans" vigorously argued a
call. At the time the Leans were ahead 11-5. The
Lean causing the altercation was last seen being chased by a
pissed off bunch of skinny guys.
There were twenty-two
athletic events with $600 in cash prizes. All this on
a very hot day. A hospital tent with nurse was never
needed. The picnic put $3,000 in the park's bank account.
This was a record year for
large, corporate-type picnics at the home of picnics.
Like the Grocers' Association picnic, that drew 20,000,
Railway Passenger Agents, Irish-American Athletic
Association, the Railroad Club, and many, many more.
10,000 attended Labor Day
at Fairmount Park because of the 100 air temperature, many
went straight from the cars to the bath house to the
water. By 4 pm it was standing room only. For
the first time automobiles were allowed inside the
park. There were so many that some had to park in the
picnic area. Because of the heat the bathing beach and
some concessions stayed open an extra week.
This was a time when
husbands divorced their wives for sneaking a
cigarette. You could travel practically anywhere in
the world without a passport, and a person could take money
from one country to another without any problems. That
was about to change. The people of Sugar Creek won
their battle, but because of years of working with
carcinogens like benzene many, like my father who worked
there for 36 years, would die of brain cancer and other
health problems. The Price/Waters Oil Company was
promised competition by Standard, today try to find one of
their stations.
Copyright © 2007 John M. Olinskey
