 The
same characteristics which made
Tom Taggart a success in the
world of politics contributed
strongly to his success as a
hotel man. Members of the
profession felt that hotel
managers were born and not made.
The ideal qualities to be
possessed by a man in the hotel
business were set forth in an
article in the Scientific
American Supplement in 1905. The
article stated that a manager of
a hotel should have a knowledge
of human nature, should be
tactful and should make each
guest feel that the manager is
concerned with his welfare. The
article went on to prescribe a
knowledge of law, hotel
cleanliness, a control of temper,
and a command of the employee's
respect. The author could well
have had Tom Taggart in mind.
Taggart met all these
characteristics. He was one of
those men, now rarely found, who
epitomized paternalism in the
running of his business. No
employee was too insignificant,
no helper too small. Each person
employed by Tom Taggart felt that
he was working for a good and
loyal friend. Although he was
gone from the hotel much of the
time, Taggart always managed to
keep up with the personal
problems facing each employee. He
remembered their names as well as
those of their family. Salaries
were not the highest, but no
employee ever lost his job
because of old age or illness.
Taggart always carried a roll of
bills with him, and often, after
talking with an employee, he
would hand a folded bill to the
man accompanied by a friendly
remark. He was "father
confessor" in his kingdom at
French Lick. Stories of Tom
Taggart still are vividly
remembered. Taggart was present
wherever work and improvements
were going on. His imagination
and foresight took shape in the
domain which he built at French
Lick. labor troubles were unheard
of, no unions existed, and the
hundreds of hotel employees were
characteristically smiling and
content. Taggart endeavored to
pay his employees in cash. For
many years this practice was
continued in spite of the Bankers
Panic of 1907, and World War I.
Tom
Taggart's first love was his
family. His four daughters and
one son were the pride of his
life. Friendliness was part of
the family, and the happiness of
their circle was well known.
Taggart was practically a one man
owner of the property, but in
order to keep the French Lick
Springs Hotel Company he gave one
share of the hotel stock to each
member of his family, and had
5,994 shares in his own name. A
similar family ownership held the
stock in the French Lick and West
Baden Railway Company. Taggart
gave the controlling stock to his
son, Thomas Taggart, Jr., and
split the remaining shares with
his family.
Taggart
worked unceasingly to improve and
beautify the French Lick
properties. In 1913 a modern
Pluto bottling plant was built.
The new plant cost over $60,000
and was completely outfitted for
the bottling and preparation of
the waters for shipment. In 1914
work was begun on the
"delux" building. It
faced the springs and was
connected to the mainbuilding by
a narrow corridor. Again the
traditional yellow brick of the
hotel was maintained, and the
rooms were the most swank in the
entire hotel. This addition cost
nearly $300,00 and stood where
the old Clifton Building had been
located. In 1914, Taggart built a
modern dairy barn completely
outfitted, and served by herds of
Jersey and Holstein cattle. In
the following decade many smaller
improvements were made. Porch
additions, a pump house, a golf
club house, a shelter house,
improvements at the printing
office, additional green houses,
elevator enclosures, bath house
improvements, lobby additions, a
laundry, a bake oven, a water
department building, and many
other plans of lesser importance
were carried out. In all of these
things Tom Taggart provided the
inspiration. |
|
In
the successfully operated resort
hotel several basic ingredients
are needed. Accessibility,
attractive buildings, fine
landscaping and interior
decorations, and a active program
of recreation. The stress was on
relaxation, peace and quiet. Tom
Taggart was determined to build a
resort which would adhere to this
recipe for success.
In addition
to buildings, Taggart wanted to
landscape and beautify the
grounds so that they would be in
keeping with the with the
improvements in the hotle plant.
Carloads of dirt were hauled in,
and many of the hotel lawns
raised. Hundreds of tress were
planted. Under the management of
the old French Lick Springs
Company, golf links were started
on the grounds. Under Taggart
these links were further enlarged
from the plot of ground once used
as a race track at the hotel.
Prior to 1910 the small golf
links were enlarged to an 80 acre
track containing 9 holes. A few
years later, Donald Ross, an
outstanding golf architect was
hired, and another 18 hole course
was built. Prior to 1923, French
Lick boasted two 18 hole golf
course complete with club houses.
Nearly under Taggart management
the Monon Railway station the the
hotel grounds was built, and
immediately landscaped and
decorated with cannas, and other
beds of flowers. In 1915,
lighting systems were provided
for the park at French Lick.
Attractive, round globed, park
lamps lighted the hotel grounds
at night.
The golden
era at French Lick was one of
bustling success in all phases of
the hotel business. By the second
decade of the twentieth century
Pluto water had come into its
own. The advertising campaigns
begun in 1901 continued at an
even larger scale and as Pluto
sales boomed, a chain reaction
set it. Increased sales brought
increased publicity, which in
turn brought increases in sales.
The new bottling works put the
water through several steps
before it was ready for shipment.
The water as it flows from the
spring was not in condition to be
bottled or shipped. It was found
that the gases contained in the
water caused coloration and
sediment to form when the water
was bottled. Under these
circumstances the water acquired
a disagreeable odor and made the
water unfit for drinking
purposes. To avoid these results
the waters were first pumped
directly from the spring to vats
on the fifth floor of the
bottling plant. Here they were
boiled by use of steam coils.
When boiled the gases were thrown
off, and at the same time Epsom
salts and glauber salts were
added to the water. The boiling
water dissolves these salts and
holds them in solution. Actually
these two elements are already
contained in the waters, but in
this process the water is
strengthened or
"fortified". The water
then passed to the fourth floor
where it was cooled and
clarified. On the floor below it
is further cooled before being
sent to the bottling rooms where
it is bottled, labeled and
packed. By 1919 over 450 carloads
of Pluto were shipped annually.
Annual sales had increased
steadily and in 1919,
$1,249,401.08 worth of Pluto
water was sold. Longtime visitors
to the hotel were not surprised
at the popularity of Pluto water.
For years people had drunk and
bathed in the waters at French
Lick. Every visitor was
encouraged to drink the water.
Doctors all over the United
States were circularized and
supplied with samples. Domestic
sales of the water was handled by
wholesale drughouses. With the
coming of World War I most of the
foreign mineral waters were cut
off the market. The result was a
boon for Pluto sales. Pluto was
shipped on the Monon Railroad in
freight cars with the "red
Devil" painted prominently
on their sides. At Gosport,
Indiana, the Monon connected with
the Pennsylvania Railroad and
from there to points east and
west. The "red devil"
roamed in every state in the
Union. |