Evening Star Newspaper, March 9, 1925, Page 22

22 New Million-Dollar Lansburgh Addition Opens Tomorrow Night Store Covering 10 by 15 Feet in 1860 Now Uses Nearly Six Acres—Only Its Policy Remains Unchanged. TLanshurgh £1,000.000 & Bro. addition ate displays were becoming the fash- Ton. And on the night of the opening of the store of “Lansburgh & Bro.” at this new address there was a gala opening and display for the inspec- [tion of the public much similar in ld.a 1f not in scope to the opening which will take place tomorrow night Henry Lansburgh remembers that night. He talks proudly of the show | windows which 10,000 persons striv- ing to get into the store crashed in. He smiles as he recltes the damage caused by the over enthusiastic public that night. * This bullding, nucleus of what will open a their store formally for the inspection of the | public tomorrow night. That's the intrinsic news of it. But back of this lies a story which refiects the growth and development of Washington as judged Dby the medium of a store | which has acted as the supply counter | for public demand since 1860, some | 65 vears ago. It is a truism that hroadens and develops the residents pass through a similar evolution. And ollary to that axiom is that the | stores which serve the residents must | also expand with those they serve.| Al of which apropos of what follows. About a vear before the Civil War. | when Washington was a fairly sizable village, Gustave and Max x,nnshurgh“ came here from Baltimore and opened two stores—one at eventh street and one a bit further up Seventh street, near 1 street. But as the Rambler, who lives and breathes old Washington, pointed out a few week ago In a historical sketch. the city directory of Washington, in 1862, con- tained the entry: “M. Lansburgh & | o. fancy goods agency. 322 C| rorth” and a few years later this| So Lansburgh's stayed there until ddress was supplemented with the|the present day, augmenting from | time "to time, as the demand broad- ened and became more insistent Shortly thereafter, No. 426 Seventh Street was taken over and incorporat- ed in the store, and then 42§ Seventh street. The expansion continued apace during the steady but speedy develop. ment of the city. Finally the store | purchased the Kelliher estate prop- erty on Eighth street and erected a high one-story buflding with a sk 1ght therein. This skylight was for | the purpose of displaying silks and | fine goods under daylight illumination s0 that shoppers might see exactly how the colors appeared under natural light Parenthetically, this is another commentary on the developing fasti- diousness of Washington's buying | public. Another Important Addition. of a city then, became the present day Wash- | ington knows as Lansburgh's. The only elevator in a commercial building In Washington was one of the unique features of that store Ah! there was inlaid wood: newly designed showcases; every effort giv- en to meet the changing taste of the public, which was rapidly becoming more fastidious in its shopping. There were four floors in this new building with a floor space of approximately 24.000 feet, far less than one-tenth of what the present store will have with its new addition. | | information “over the Bank of Wash- on.” It seems that this must have lLeen the starting point of the busi- | which reflects the growth of civic and commercial Washington. At any rate, there are few here today who remember when the little store er the Bank of Washington™ sold | ,estrings, collar buttons, hose, | stles and fancy little knick-knacks varfous ts. That was the first| era | ness Second Era Starts. sacond started wnen the Balti- Bargain House, at Seventh | under the old street address| cvstem, opened between I and K| streets. This was in Civil War days, | for that address is contained, to quote the Rambler, in the directory of 1863 | 1t seems that the brothers had already | started to expand. Cambrics and alico then began to enter the In- ventory lists of the store. Dry goods The more The greatest, if not the most portant, addition to the store when the new building was erected o iy to satisfy | on EIghth street in 1916. Six stories hecame part of the HUD e and the|in helghth, this new, snow-white | v Yertiro Drospersd: | structure made it possible to enlarge | The store was then known as the | the store to the point where 51 de- Raltimere Bargain House. It was|Partments were housed under one| i posing little three-story | 702 . e e, ‘Wlth its chimney, &s can| The scope of Washington's develop- i ment may be seen in the line of be seen from the drawing of the| g o,qq which were then placed on sale neighborhood of that day, towerlng | E0O%s Which weto then pliced of salc full half story above the adolning| . joey of calico and linens of a few huilains. - Horse cars passed - the | ST, ©f Slicd and aens of 3 e 1t was the dav of sedate dis-| 4 (ising the fact that the world. play, in so far as goods were CON- |y oy Alasks to Parls, contributed cerned. and the day of qulet. easy. |, (jcles which were sold in this en- bumdrum buying, in so far as the|,, g.q establishment. Fur from the ! ebgBpine Punlic was fooncamat: | polar reglon; linens from England Then came a change. Washinglon|,nq geotland; laces from Ireland and was changing. This store had to ex- | Baogboot *po (ces TR0, (TEIINg vt pand to keep up With the pace the|googy from the fashion seat, Paris— city was setting. The city was be-| g0 and carpets from the Orlent; coming quite the metropolis. SO, | ilks and satins from far countries. “hat more could be done by the store | than to capitalize the use of the| More than 500 employes appeared name “Metropolitan Dry Goods Store” | were neede on the rolls by 1920; a shopping serv- ice had been instituted; the telephone and to move to the old Intelligencer Building, at 515 Seventh street, under the old numeration system for ad- dresses, just north of where the Jen- ifer Building now stands. This took piace in 1866, just after the Civil War days, when a more dignified and impressive Washington was begin- ning to make its influence on busi- ness felt. B Drop “Bargain House.” Tt will be noticed that the words “bargain house” had been tossed un- ceremoniously into tha discard. The word “Metropolitan” stood out it was not or the post office could be employed as & purchasing agent by the pros- pective customer; all an outgrowth of the little store over the Bank of Washington. Before the erection of the new ad- dition, which will be thrown open to the general inspection of the public { | | And | square feet o long before the adjoining | amount tomorrow night, Lansburgh & Bro. had acquired 220,000 square feet of floor space and some §50 employes. Acres of Floor Space. Wednesday the firm will have taken over control of 288,000 f floor space, which would something between five By formally to building on the north of the Metro-|and six acres of floors if stretched politan Stora was leased by the Lans- | out on the same plane. ive con- burghs to create the then impres “double store”—two buildings nected by an archway Meanwhile the =upply the demand of Washingtonians to be broadened. like collar buttons and found in the original store, the counters now were boast- ing silks and fine linens, counter for had socks, little notion | way That represents the physical de velopment of the store. There were deys in the past when Lansburgh's was open as early as 5:30 o'clock in the morning to accommodate that al- Instead of articles | most extinct type of Washingtonian as | who wanted to go shopping on the to market. And there were times when the store did not close its “black | doors until late at night to accommo- goods,” dress goods and on one floor | date others who were not able to of the building even a manufactur- ing project was launched under Charles Leonardo. Miss Annie O'Brien, who is still with Lansburgh's can sit down today and tell you how she ran errands in that institution Cotton dresses, mantillas, “waterproofs”—mers names present generation which nothing of the gorgeous hoopskirts and magnificent busties of yesteryear all these wers manufactured under the direction of Leonardo and during this era The double-store hurgh's development started in the early 70's and ended in 1882, when the ‘store advertised what probably will always be recognized as the “higgest move in our business career.” This was quite a bit further north on Seventh street, to Nos. 420, 422 and 424, on which site part of the present Soventh street building now stands. The public had become far more discriminating. The great division in the old era and the recent era fis marked in that move. Where previ- ously only articles of rather an es- sential nature were sold, the new store took up and handled articles which had ornamental use as well as serviceable utility; luxuries, as they to the stage of Lans- | knows | spend other hours in daytime shop- ping. On the whole, Lansburgh's grew as Washington grew; broadened as Washington broadened; enlarged lines of merchandise as the demand dolmans, | for it became general. In the background, growing into the store as the years passed by was an intrinsic something called “policy,” which, despite its intangibility, is valued by the proprietors today at a far higher figure than the materlals on the shelves and in the show cases. For “policy” is the magnet which pulls goods off shelves and adds bricks to structures. Maxim of the Store. The founders of tha business, ac- cording to the Rambler, who seems to know such things about everybody, “were full of good human nature, and they mixed it with their business.” The maxim of the store, as quoted to- day by Stanley Lansburgh, is: “A cus- tomer's money does not belong to us unless that customer is entirely satis- fied. These are the things that constitute policy. With this sort of a back- ground, Lansburgh's was the first name to be placed on the membership roll of the Better Business Bureau, which was organized here some time i i i are called, began to creep in. Elabor- | 7222 2R T 7 T TRl 77 T T 2T LT 77 27 277 2 TR0 22, On 2d, 3d and 4th Floors of Lansburgh & Bro.’s New Store Furnished and Installed By Joseph Kaszab Manufacturer Bank, Store and Office Fixtures High Grade Interior Finish Chicago THE EVENING STAR, FIRST HOME OF THE “BALTIMORE BARGAIN STORE” WASHINGTON, 0., MONDAY, MARCH 9, 1925. PERSHING IS GUEST D OF CUBANWARHEAD Honors Dead of Battieship Maine in Havana—Sails Home Tomorrow. By the Associated Press. HAVANA, March 8.—Gen. John J Pershing, with his mission, on their way home from a South American tour, will be guests at a dinner in their honor this evening, having as host the Cuban secretary of War, Gen. Armando Montes. Gen. Pershing, Admiral John H Dayton and Minister Frederick C. Hicks, with their aldes, are expected to sail on the battleship Utah tomor- row morning for New York. Yesterday morning the entire mis- sion attended unveiling ceremonies at the monument to the victims of the Maine and in the evening were guests of honor with Ambassador Crowder at a dinner given in the presidential palace by President Z Among Ruests present were resident-elect Machado and his wife. The importance of the brotherhoods of the various republics of North and South America in promoting world peace was stressed yesterday by Gen. Pershing in an address at the un- veiling of the monument erected by Thix wax the firat extablishment of Lansburgh & Bros., located at ago for promulgation of truth in ad- vertising, for the checking of customs bordering on the shadow of non-in- tegrity. And it was peliey also which led to the institution of the service depart- ment, which has become one of the most important branches of the busi- ness This service has nothing di- rectly to do with passing over of KOO nd taking money in exchange It is facilitating and alding of the customer to obtain satisfaction There, complaints—"if an: supple- ments Stanley Lansburgh—are re- ceived; “will call” purchases are ad-| justed, gifts are wrapped, and even an income tax expert is on hand tc aid employes and patrons alike. During the expansion a barber shop for youngsters was established in the addition of 1916. This has since changed its clientele, or, rather, added to it, for the mothers who once brought children there to watch shears snip away the curls and locks now themselves are seated across the aisle from the children while their shingles, bobs and hirsute growth are tonsorially treated. Beauty Shop' to Expand. A beauty shop also has found a| place at the store, and the new addi- | tion will permit the enlargement of this department The latest addition, according to Stanley Lansburgh, has been planned | because of the imperative need for more space. Additions in the paat because of the increas- ing varieties of goods demanded by the public. This variety and the quality accompanying it, it was stated at the store, cannot be bet- tered today, but the space for its display and the need for more quan-| tity rather than better quality was the mot.ve force behind the addition. A system of grouping corelated lines of merchandise has been in- augurated by the firm in arranging its departments in the new addition. Thus the shoe department and men's furnishings will be on the first floor, the women's ready-to-wear depart- ment on the second floor, all yard §00ds and a rest room for women on the third, the children's department, toy art needlework, beauty shop and barber shop on the fourth; up- holstery and floor coverings on the | fifth, as well as trunks and bags and china, glass, lamps and housefurnish- ings on the sixth floor. i The offices will be also greatly en- larged by reason of the new addition, with especial attention given to the department of accounts conducted for the benefit of customers with charge accounts. The telephone order serv- ice and m order department are also given additional space through the enlargement. Elevator Growth Incidental. Incidentally, the store that ohce boasted the only elevator in a com- mercial building in Washington to- day has nine of the latest improved type elevators, with a specfally in- stalled safety system for the doors Under the roof of Lansburgh & Bro.'s store also is a hospital for the benefit of employes who may need attention during working hours, as well as for emergency cases ari: ing among shoppers on the floors. The building today has protected fireproof stairways for use in emer- gencies and the fixtures are all of the most improved type. The store also controls property on E street, once known as the Bush Building, which can be used for future expansion, as well as a six-story structure across the street from H\e} Eighth street store, now being util- ized as a garage and warehouse. | In the list of employes appears a carpenter, as well as & painter, who are kept continually busy with vari- ous little items needing attention in the store Window displays will be one of the outstanding features of the new ad- dition, just @s they have been in the Seventh singet store. The firm points | to the window at Righth and streets as heing the prospective scene of some of the choicest displays in | local department store visual adver- | tising. The policy of the institution also demands the services of 30 buy traveling in all parts of this countr and abroad on the lookout for mer- chandise. Suggestions for articles not found in the store by patrons are re- ceived by means of a “want-slip system, whereby the firm checks on the demand, and instructs the buyers in their scouting expeditions | Educational Department. An educational department is also| being conducted by Lansburgh's for | the benefit of employes, the princi- | pal items of the curriculum being the | aystematization and teaching of qual- | ity in wares. | All employes, moreover, are pro-| tected by a group life insurance| policy, premiums on which are paid| by the store, and vacations with pay | of one to two weeks are allowed dur- Ing the Summer. | Lansburgh's bas also afiliated with other stores throughout the country in the co-operative buying of mer-| chandise and to conduct a clearing| house for merchandising problems. | Among the recent innovations has| been the establishment of a New Ydrk office. | And this very same store, which | has developed from a salesplace for | notions, is now a member of the Na- | tional Retail Dry Goods Assogiation, of the United States Chamber of Com- merce and of the Washington Chamber of Commerce, as well as of the Mer- chants and Manufacturers' Associa- | tion and the Better Business Bureau. | | In 1860. when Gustave and James | Lansburgh knew Washington, they laid the foundation in a space of 10 by 15 feet square. Now the floor spacés amount to more than five acres. In thar interim there has been a changing panorama of man- I ners, styles and social customs. The | store changed its scope with the manners and evolving cus- | changing |toms. The merchandise changed and | | But the original policy as laid down, it is held by the store, has never changed and the same policy that was in effect at the start of the develop- ment of this business is promised to be continued in effect throughout the present era and into the future. “We are old-fashioned in one thing only,” said Henry Lansburgh, “and that is—honesty.” Black Cross Liner Freed. KINGSTON, Jamalca, March 9.—Sat- isfactory arrangements having been made, the libel for debt against the Black Cross Line steamer General George W. Goethals lifted yes- terday and the vessel released to sail Marcus Garvey, so-called “Provisional ‘resident of Africa,” who now s In Atlanta Penitentiary, is a prom- official in the line he a incnt Seventh street, between I and K streets, northwent | tion of Miss Ida May the heads of the institution changed. | | The | nine-car train jumpe. { QUAKE DESTR | Beautiful Window Effect! Lansburgh & Bro. New Building Cor. 8th and E Sts. N.W. Individual designs made in treatment of merchants’ show windows properly displaying higher grade merchandise to better effect. - " Standard Art, Marble and Tile Co. Scagliola — Marble — Mosaic — T errazzo — Tile — Ceremic — Slate Artificial Marble (Scagliola) Artificial Travertine Stone A P22 E T T E 2T T2 277, V77711171111 1721 77777 P E e T 2 e L 2 a2 22 2, 334 C Street Northwest Washington, D. C. Telephone Main 7414 the Cuban government in honor of the 266 Americans who lost their lives when the battleship Maine was sunk by an explosion in Havana Har- bor the night of February 1898 “It seems fitting,” sald Gen. Peshing, “that there should exist a very inti- mate relationship between the oldest republic on this continent and Cuba, the youngest. We have watched our small sisters’ growth with sincere licitude. Such things naturally form the basis of a mutual confidence and triendship that will grow stronger with the passage of years, “But in the larger sense we belong to the great brotherhood of American republics, and n that status all of us have a destiny to fulfill. Our several republics are founded on the theory of government by the people. “The task that presents itself to every American republic is not only io develop the untold resources of the ST. ANTHONY’S PLAYERS OFFER ‘PEG 0’ MY HEART’| Theater Success to Be Presented in | Brookland Parish Hall on St. Patriek’s Day. he St. Anthony's Players of St Anthony’s Parish, Brooklyn, are to e a play, “Peg o' My Heart” 8t Patrick’s Day, March 17, at $:15 p.m.. in the parish hall for the benefit of the parochial school. Miss Elizabeth Mattimore is to take the title role. Others in the cast are: Misses Louise Bishop, Anna May Famous Bootmaker Is Buried in Austria With Signal Honors Was Successor of Cobbler- Poet Immortalized in Opera of Wagner. By the Associated Press. March 9.—The German newspapers pay high tribute to Peter Menth, Austria’s most celebrated | bootmaker. who died recently, aged $4, at Kritzendorf, Austria. Menth was buried in the historic costume of Hans Sachs, his great medieval | predecessor, whom Richard Wagner | immortalized by making him the cen- tral figure in the “master singers of | Nurembourg.” | The original Hans Sachs was a poet as well as being famous as a boot- maker, and Peter Menth not only adopted Hans Sachs’ costume, but also | he knew most of the songs and| rhymes in the 20 volumes of the! bootmaker's collected works. Former Minister of War Baron von Auffenberg-Komarow of Austria de- livered the funeral oration, while | scores of celebrated Austrians stood Dbeside the grave. Menth was credit- | ed by his army officer customers as | being the world best maker of cavalry | boots, which were his specialt | RED SHOW Booth HERRIOT SEES Praises Krassin for at Lyon Fair. | LYON, France, March 9—When| Premier Herriot yesterday visited the Lyon falr the first stand at be stopped proved to be Soviet exhibit Leonid Krassin, the Russian Ambassador, welcomed him and the {wo conversed on the possi- bility of tive commercial and in- dustrial relations between France and Russia, especially with regard to Rus- slan tobacco, woods and foodstuffs M. Herriot congratulated M. Kras- sin on the order and method drawn in arranging the exhibit and | its richness which a Ru Indianapolis to year's convention of is entertain the this American new continent, but at the same time to prepare each Individual for a wise participtation in the government of which it is a part.” The American general made a plea for the establishment of complete pan- American co-operation and under- standing, declaring he considered it would be the most important step ever taker. toward the peace of the world. Others who spoke st the dedication were Presldent Zayas and Admiral Dayton. As a tribute of the King of Spain to the Americans who lost their lives in the sinking of the Maine, the Spanish Minister jaid a huge wreath At the monument's base. Members of the American Lezion Post here, of the Spanish-American War Veierans and the Cuban War Veterans’ Association and representa- tives of the Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution attended the ceren Saflors from the U. 8. 8. Utah, fi | ship of Rear Admiral Dayton, also Fitzmorris, Richard Price, Thomas Brosnahan, Herbert Walsh, Edward Frank and Bernard Crowley. The play is given under the direc- Madigan. The St. Anthony’s Players have previously won favorable comment by their presentation of “My Irish Rose” “Seventeen.” Rev. P. Di Paola, pastor of the parish, has taken a great in- | terest in the work of the players. STUDENT HANGS SELF. Leaves Note Explaining He Died for Love. ATLANTA Gn March Mer- chant Maddock, 1. a freshman at| Georgia Teck, and whose home is in New York City, committed suicide yesterday by hanging himself in his room in the school dormitory. The youth’'s body was found by his| roommate hanging from the door | of a closet inside the room A note, addressed to a young woman of this city, in which the youth luld! that he would rather die than to be} denied the privilege of seeing her, was found near the body It was stated that Maddock indicated in the note that the young woman's parents had objected to him paying her atten- tion. A radio wire was used by the youth | = execute himself 1 PENNSY TRAIN WRECKED. | Tender and Three Cars Jump Track | { | and sailors. WO0D EXPORTS VALUE SHOWS DROP IN YEAR Decline Attributed to Lower Prices ' Rather Than Reduction of Shipments. Value wooden of exports of products from the States declined slightly during the Department of Commerce nounced today, such shipments in 1 being va d at $142,819,220. The de- |erease was attributed to the lower | price level in 1624 rather than a r duction in the guantity of material shipped. The United States also porter of woods on a large scale A ok ana|Imports for 1924 were ued at A bank on the side of the track kept | than the 1923 total | e ars Trom overturning. Ajthougn | In quantity, the bulk of American | Dofis of the 400 passengers was M- [, \lny 1iceq at “soft woods” such| E v 1; haken up. fuzed, a1} wecs tadiy A " as the Pacific coast fir and spruce and | . e the Southern pine, 0YS CHURCH, wood and United 1924 an- in Delaware. WILMINGTON, Del, Pennsylvania railroa Philadelphia at n.m ed at Townsend, Del tender and three March 9.—A train, due in was wreck- last nig! cars of the < an im- Posthumous Award of Silver Star. Posthumous award of a silver star | citation has been made by the War| Causes Crack in Chimney, Which Results in Fire. OTTAWA, March The recent earthquake is believed have been the primary cause of a fire which Saturday night destroved St. Victor's Roman Catholic Church at Alfred Russell county. The fire was caused, it is thought, by a crack in the ehim- ney resulting from the earth tremor, Department to the late Col. Frank A. Barton, a retired Cavalry cflicer, who was appointed to the Army from | the District of Columbia, for gallantry in action in the Philippine Islands January 1900. Delivery has been made to his widow, Mrs TLouise Wilkeson Barton, who resides in Ithaca, N. ¥ 9, Q 7 74 7 7 iz S 2 Fred Drew Artificial Stone for Interior and Exterior Assoclation of University W All Wt;rk Carefully Executed | Workmanship Unexcelled Work Done on Lansburgh & Bro. New Building | were present, as well as Cuban soldiers | Specializing in 1an | GIGANTIC POWER SYSTEM PREDIGTED Senator Norris Sees Even- tual Cheap Electricity for Every Home in U. S. | By the Associated Press BALTIMORE, March 9.—a publicly owned giant power system, which an Interlocking system of transmis- sion lines will be able to bring th benefits of a cheap and plentiful sup ply of electricity into every city town and hamlet in the United States, was prophesied by Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska as being inevita- ble and essential In the future. In the course of his address Sena- tor Norris contrasted the cost and methods of supplying electricity by private companies in America with those in force in Canada under the Toronto publicly owned system He cited the case of two individ- uals, one in Washington, D. C., and the other in Toronto, each of whom for one month used 334 kilowart hours of electric current in their homes. The cost in Toronto, he ex- plained, was $3.55. The cost in Wash- Ington was $23.18, Naval Officers Transferred. Lieut. Comdr. Joseph J. Broshek has been transferred from the Navy De- partment to the navy yard, New York: Lieut. Comdr. Aaron S. Merrill, from | the battleship Nevada to the com | mand of the U. S. McCormick; Marion C. Robertso: Department to th rnia; Capt. Barron P Corps, from the Naval granted leave of a Felix R. Holt, Supp! the D <hip Maryland depe rooklyn, N. ¥ Fred E. McMillen, Sup- ply Corps, from the Navy Department to the transport Henderson; Lieut Comdr. Lawrence A. Odlin, Supp Corps, from San Franeisco to Brook iyn, N. ¥ nd Lieut. Comdr. Ed- ward R. Wilson, Supply Corps, from the twelfth naval district | tleship Maryland. e Lieut. from t battiesh Du Bols, & | Academy, and sence; Comdr | Corps. from to the supply Lieut. Comdr mdr | to the ba Vestibule Doors, Stairway and Marquees Balconies Vestibule Doors Grill Work Railings Iron Stairway Bank Work Elevator Enclosures Fences Few of Other Important Jobs Chemical Labratory (Brookland, D. C.) Gallinger Hospital Armstrong Training School Eastern High School ‘Western High School Embassy Apartments WASHINGTON STAIR AND ORNAMENTAL IRON WORKS 2014 FIFTH STREET N.E. L. H. OTTO, Proprietor PHONE NORTH 3536 0 727, Fred Drew Compan Incorporated Cement and President and Treasurer Structural Concrete Wor Washington, D. C. Offices Woodward Bldg. Phone Main 17 T