Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 26, Number 213, Decatur, Adams County, 8 September 1928 — Page 11

elephant rock LEFT BY GLACIER ° r Interesting History Uin y inquire have been received rdL "Elephant Rock", the huge 1 DAced in 'lf* A(lams county W " de [ P vard as a memorial to rkte Gane Stratton Porter. The I tlie JL taken from the bed of the river, a few miles southVXU How the boulder eM .0 be called Elephant Rock is Td flnftelv known, but its enor"ous size and the fact that when a looks at the rock from acerNaugle H * reatly resemhlea an lam lying on its side, probab.y £ much to do with the naming of “‘The* following letter from W. N v Logan state geologist of Indiana, explains the origin of the rock: Indianapolis. Indiana. near Friends: ■The sample of Rock Which you sent me is called •gneiss’. ■ It is probably a metamorphoses grantte which had its home somewhere in the old crystalline belt of rocks in Canada. During the Glacial Period when the larger part of the surface of Indiana was covered with a thick laver of ice this boulder of gneiss i was carried down into Indiana by the ice as the sheet of ice moved southward from Canada. When the ice melted the boulder was heft as a part of the Fort Wayne glacial moraine which exists in the vicinity of the I St. Marys river. ■ The rock is composed of minerals such as feldspar, quartz, hornblende, mica, pyrite, and smaller quantities of other minerals. The minerals are in the foim of crystals of varying size. While this gneiss is not as durable as some granites, It will) form a very durable monument. “Such a glacial boulder is called an eratic', 'a wanderer’ because it has wandered so far from its original home. “It seems to me fitting that this boulder, the result of the operation of one of nature’s marvelous laws, should be erected in memory of one who was a lover of nature in its varied forms and who strove for the preservation of natural environments. "Yours sincerely, "W. N. Logan, "State Geologist.” The dimensions of "Elephant Rock” are about 10x11 8% and weighs the same as granite which weighs ISI> pounds to the cubic foot. To deduct from these dimensions o' a square block allowing for the rounded formation of Elephant Rock makes a near calculation to determine its weight. o — HORSE GIVING BLOOD TO SAVE HUMAN LIVES Rochester, Mich. (United Press) — Tess, one of the world’s greatest life-savers, observed her 15th birthday at Parkedgle Farm here today.'■ Tess is a mare who has never been hitched to a wagon hut who has. nevertheless, pulled thousands of lives out of danger. When she was four years old she was added to the herd which is maintained by the Parke-Davis Research Laboratories to provide serums in the war against disease. It was in May, 1917, that die came to Parkedale and she was immediately assigned to the group Producing tetanus antitoxin for the Protection of the American soldiers. In the e even years she has been on the job, Tess has produced 1,023 Quarts of tetanus antitoxin, containing 265,062.950 antitetanic units, ’hich amounts to thousands of uses. The soldiers in the war and numerou civilians since then owe eir lives to Tess who has enabled >nem to be protected from the dan--Bers of infection from lockjaw. Although Tess is serving man in a unique way, she is no martyr to science or to humanity. She has ’‘■'cady exceeded the life expectancy t ie average horse and seems well J Oll1 ’ nt with her lot. She has never npn sick or laid off for any reason. o— France Honors Gould f^ Paris ~<U.R) — Like John D. RockeFr' er / r ’ ' v,l ° wa9 ma de an honorary torto man for 1,18 Klfts for the resand t's* 1 n ’ he Veraai Hes royal palace Gonl,| h t ßheims cathedral, Frank Jay France bePn named a citize n of o Excellent Rules make* 1 ? U e two things which will tend tn’t ,apPy ln ,his ,lfc ,f we "t---veg ' ' lem - Tlle flrst is ’ never *° help- n i' es °* ,n,, t "lint we cannot ourwivM le 3PPnll<3 - never 'ex Chatfleh* ah ° Ut Whßt we cnn he, P-~ " 0 — Poor Memories »W» t Ur ° e ne ‘ n , ten knews hls wals » • says a clerk in a men’s store.

I London’s Pigeon War Reduces Birds By 2,000 —(INS) j London. — The great war against ' i pigeons, waged by the London authorities because the birds were becomI Ing too numerous, has ended, and now there are 2,000 less thaiiTiFfore. A time limit of three months had been set for the extermination but ! the pigeons so successfully eluded any attempts upon the lives, that it required six months to get rid of 2,-1 DOO of them. There was great opposition to the 1 extermination, many lovers of animals protesting against the action. ' | The loss of 2,000, which never fall to I attract the visitors from over-seas. LAWN OF COURT HOUSE BEAUTIFIED Landscaping Os Grounds Add Much To Beauty Os City’s Business District One of the pleasing changes the Home Comers will notice in the business section of Decatur is the laiftiscaping of the Adams county court house yard. The first step towards beautification of the grounds around the court house was started by the Rev. Leonard W. A. Luckey, Ph.D., of New York City, a former pastor of the Decatur Presbyterian church. Prompted by a desire to do something for the "old home town," which he loves to call home, Rev. Luckey, donated S2OO with which to buy shrubbery and plants to place around the court house. The shrubbery was purchased from a nursery company in Ohio and today is growing nicely. Seeing the possibilities and taking Rev. Luckey’s gift as a nucleus in the beautification of the court house grounds, the Civic Department of the Decatur Woman's Club, took the matter up with the board of county commissioners and asked that they be permitted to purchase more shrubbery, plants anil flowers for the lawn. The county commissioners not only accepted the offer of the Woman’s Club, but agreed to employ a gardner to look after lhe lawn, plant the flowers and keep things looking nice. The Woman’s Club purchased a considerable amount of shrubbery, evergreens and flowers and James Gaskill, an experienced landscape artist, was employed by the county to set "out the plants and make the flower beds. In the center lawn, flower beds have been made and, during the entire summer, bright and cheerful*flowers have given their beauty in the plan of beautifying Decatur and the business district. Around “Elephant Rock”, which was moved from the bed of the St. Marys river, a few miles southeast of Decatur and placed in the southeast corner of the court house lawn, little evergreen trees have been planted. This big rock, weighing some 50 tons I and originating in the bed of the river during the glacier period, bears a broze slab, dedicating the rock as a memorial to Mrs. Gene Stratton-Por-ter. former Adams county woman, who gave fame to the Limberlost region, in and around Geneva, Adams county, through her writings and books, namely “The Girl of the Limberlost,’’ “Freckles” and other best’ sellers. Evergreens have also been placed around the Peace Monument, dedicated to the soldiers and sailors of Adams county who gave their life or fought for their country in the Civil war. Flood lights have also been placed so that a ray of light is thrown on memorials. The county commissioners have not stopped with the idea of encouraging the beautification of the court house grounds, but have also made several needed and worthy improvements in the building. Recently, the walls 4n the corridor and stairway have been repainted and the ladies and men’s comfort stations have been improved. Outside entrances to the toilet rooms have been made and new fixtures and equipment installed in the rooms. Rumania’s Baby Kins Takes To Sea Bathing; Enjoys His Vacation —(INS) - Bucharest. —King Michael, youthful king of seventeen million people who has just completed one year as ruler of Rumania, is spending his vacation at the seaside trying to strengthen his body with salt water bathing In a wonderful little house in Mamaia, a small watering place on the Bleak Sea, near Costantza, the young king is enjoying a holiday with his mother. Princess Helen and several members of the royal family of Greece. Bathing in the open sea has been especially recommended for the monarch by the royal physician. During tlie winter of 1927, King Michael was not in very good health and was taken to the Italian Riviera where he could bath in the Mediterranean. He continues his gymnastics and his tiding. In September, King Michael will leave Mamain for Sinaia, in the Carpathian mountains for a month’s stay.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1928.

First Auto In Adams County Bought In 1900

By F. Q. If wo have the facts right It was along about the year 19m) In the spring of the year after the apple blossoms had bloomed and most everybody was ready for almost anything that Johnny Smith did It. What ever made him do it, he has never said and no one else seemed to have had any responsibility In the matter so whatever their opinions were or may have been, is now and was quite incompetent evidence and we will let it go at that. The point at issue is, that Johnny did it. It cost him at first eight hundred and fifty bucks to do it and when he drove out onto the street as captain at the wheel of that emit: yonic automobile, the populace of our thriving little city was perfectly thrilled, or do I mean stunned? No, we han’t say that this initiatory performance was funny, rather it was quite serious. Did you ever hear of the little railroad that was under construction down in Arkansas and had got it sties laid up as far as the main Street of the sleepiest town that

One of Decatur’s Oldest Industries . 1 > z &* • ■ ® A, JKuw. SB- ?■' The Krick ■ Tyndall Co. joins in extending a hea rt v welcome to all OLD HOME WEEK VISITORS

The Farms Os Adams County —are as prosperous as will be fount! anywhere. The wise and thrifty farmer wh o knows farming from the money making standpoint raises bigger and better crops with properly drained soil. We will be glad to furnish information and estimates of cost of tile drainage. Ask us for particulars.

1 '/rW LU' makersofOraintile.

never had a < linnmber of commerce and the first train of an engine and two flat cars had pulled up to the last rail? And how the entire community, black and white, stood around the monster properly attired and in course of time the engineer stuck his head out of his cab and yelled, "look out, I’m going to turn around,” and every, body ducked? Well, Johnny and his new liability had some such experience. Only, that when Johnny started down the street everybody climbed a tree. We can vouch for that because wo were there and we were also up a tree. It was a trying time for all—especially the ladles. Johnny had the flrst automobile in Adams county. Cotti.l It have been possible that there could have been a first automobile, with accent on the flrst? Why, it is just as plain as can be that the very day before Johnny got that machine that there was no more of an automobile in Adams county than there was an internationalist, if you get what I mean. A good many hadn't even sttspicioned an automobile.

Some thought maybe it wasn't quite pious to even talk about the darn things. One can readily see that Johnny was (courageous, willing to take a chance both financially and physically. We’l] say he hsd courage. We can’t say that we can at this distance of time properly describe that machine. Perhaps we may give you an Idea of its construction and appearance by saying, go out and take 11 look at a 192-1 model and what ever It Is Johnny's machine wasn't. Johnny's machine had a bright red body, the hind end of which worked up and down to admit and discharge passengers and looked and worked like a set of false teeth. The engine was all right, had two lungs and an exhaust like tlie discharge of sixteen Inch guns. The wheel with its steering apparatus was a very complicated affair, one could tell that by the tracks the machine made, said tracks being in sperical, almucantar, and diurnal circles and also in obtuse, rectilineal, oblique and acute angles. Complicated war. right because Johnny’s eyes were perfectly normal, and his hands steady. It was a great day when Johnny asked us to take n tide. We were younger then and reckless as the dickens and we hopped to it. It was very thrilling. We were very proud

For many, many years we have made Decatur our home and have been glad to do so. We are proud of our hi tie city and think it the finest spot on the map. During Old Home Week-a week set aside for the return of a large number of our old friends-we wish you all the joy and happiness in the world and trust that we may have lhe privilege of meeting the many friends and visitors who know us. AGAIN WE SA Y WEEC OM E ! The Krick-Tyndall Co.

and still complimented ourself. Looking back now with culm judgment w< ate inclined to think that it was our confidence In Johnny thaX helped us to be brave. Johnny never had many accidents. That red body may have had perhaps a dozen or so punctures. Johnny was a pretty good driver. Our community took proper pride in Its progressiveness and not long after Doctor Miller and Doctor Clark joined the lodge and that started the ball to rolling or the wheels rather, and soon the highways of our littlicity and countryside took on the gas and oil smell now so very familiar. We feel confident that Johnny Smith has some claim to fame. He exercised an American prerogative, “started something.” He said, “come on, boys.” and flirted with fate. Talking about (outage and initiative, have you seen many of the lads around here driving tin aeroplane? 0 Bridegroom Disappears Kelnersville, Wls. —(U.R) — Hundreds of villagers “got their money’s worth” here a few days ago when they danced at a party which was to have followed a marriage ceremony—but didn’t. When the time came for the wedding the bridegroom. Emit Patsorick, was absent. He has not been seen since.

BEET CROP NOW IMPORTANT ONE One of the outstanding events of Decatur s Old Home Week in 1912 was the opening of the new factory of the Holland St. Louis Sugar company here. Thousands of persons Inspected the new factory during the week. Since 1912, the Holland-St. Louis ' sugar factory here has operated day I and night for a period of some 100 days every fall. Adams county farmers have taken to beet growing until today, the sugar beet crop is one of the leading and important crops in the county. Growers are guaranteed a profitable price for their crop. The meal sugar factory, which happens to be the only sugar factory in the state of Indiana, has meant much to Decatur and Adams county during the last 16 years. A large acreage of beets is under cultivation in the county and surrounding counties this year, with indications of a bumper crop. o Get the Habit—Trade at Home. It Pays