Decatur Democrat, Volume 57, Number 42, Decatur, Adams County, 17 October 1912 — Page 1

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VICE PRESIDENTWRIGHT PULLS THE VALVE, STARTING MACHINERY

SWEETEST SPOT IN THE STATE Adams County And Decatur Officially Declared Such Today

BEET SUGAR PLANT —— Formally Opened ’Mid En- , thusiastic Cheering of Vast Throng. i PRESIDENT McLEAN , f ",Sakes the Presentation— 1 t i Speeches in Response Given by Citizens. _ 1 1 Adams county in general, and Deca- s ,r a particular, are the sweetest 1 spots in the state. They were otfi- * <ialiy declared such at 11:46 o'clock ' when President McLean, of the ( Holland-St. Louis Sugar company pre- | sent>~ to the county the million dollar I beet sugar plant, the first in the state 1 <of Indiana, and said the word that first 1 into motion the machinery of this ' vast plant. Thus the fondest hopes, and the air ! castlee, not only of this company, ' v.hiili already has two other similar plants, of the residents of ' ■..e aunty, and the business men of ’ iii ty. have materialized The opening of this vast manufactory this morning was one of the ' greatest, events of the home-week, and rook place midst a cheering crowd of thousands. 1 Prior to the hour set, ton o'clock, 1 multitudes gathered at the factory, ' and thronged the four floors of the main building. The platform for the formal exercises was erected on the second door, under the great dome ' over which hung the balconies of the 1 two upper floors, and commanding > also a view of the full lower floor. In the cent?t of the dome on strands ; leading to the top waved myrians ot ; small flags, in the national colors, and national designs, were draped about He balconies. Ou the third balcony was seated the Packard band, which gave a half hour's concert, and the triumphant mu sic. with gay, waving flags, and scar's, : il ■ xers from the vast assembly of men and women, greeted the arrival of the officers and committees on the platform at 11 o'clock. Sealed on the platform were C. M. Mel an, president and general manager. and B. C. Hubbard, secretary and treasurer, of the company, occu- ■ ying chairs at the front. In the second row were the bjjaTd of directors of the company, who arrived Tuesday, and held the regular monthly meeting at the plant prior to the opening. They are Arend Visscher, John J. Caprcn. ; -orge E. Kollen, Cass T. Wright, John J. Pfeifler, George P. Hummer. A. B. Darragh. Albert Lahuis. Seated also on the platform were F. H. Hubhard, local manager; William Kremers, local superintendent; E. M. Wagner, chief agriculturist, and C. B. Wilcox, secretary of the local management: also J. Fred France, clerk of ‘he supreme court, the home-week committee, and a number of Decatur business men whose efforts secured The factory, and press representatives. P H. Hubbard, local manager, presided, and in a few remarks touching upon the happy realization of hopes and dreams, in this moment, introduced President McLean, who said, in Part: “In the opening of this, the first ’>eet sugar factory In Indiana, it gives ”s great pleasure to note the enthusiaem displayed by the people of this * otnmumty, and especially the farm ers. « r o 'mngimtnlate you today for th< merest you have displayed in this '’otnpany and in this industry. This ndustry is capable of expansion and enlargement, in this beautiful state and 1 ,p w facts of general interest may Prove valuable to you In forming an “stimate upon which to base your JUl Ument of the possible enlargement

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|of this industry in Indiana This one factory will use over a hundred thousand tons of beets each year for which the farmer will receive an average of l'> per ton. And the factory will employ two or three hundred men every day in the winter. "When we first came to Decatur to look over the country our Mr. Wright was immediately in favor of locating here." Following Mr. McLean's speech, in behalf of the company in general, who was loudly cheered, Mr. Hubbard spoke, in behalf of the local management, telling why they located here, in part, as follows: “When we first struck Decatur we were impressed with the excellent condition of things in general, and when one of our number suggested this to be a good place to locate, I said, ‘Well, we'll go to the only man I know in this town and see what he says about it,' so I went to A. H. Sellemeyer and stated our proposition, which caused him to jump out of his chair. In fifteen minutes there were fifteen or twenty boosters at the hotel and when it was suggested that we 'make an inspection of the county by auto>twenty minutes saw twenty to twenty-five machines ready and waiting We later concluded that a live bunch like this was worth considering.' 1 Mr. French Quinn, replying in behalf of the city and the county, said that the officers exercised wise judgment in selecting Decatur as the site of their plant. "Gentlemen, of the sugar company, I hope that this industry will | grow throughout the state and that the I happy recollections of this the first i opening of a sugar factory in Indiana | may long be treasured in the mernor-; les of Adams county people.’’ C. J. Lutz, our well known attorney, I spoke to the assemblage following Mr. Quinn, and he remarked: "This 1 is the most auspicious time in the history of Adams county. Our farmers I never failed when called upon, and what was thirty years ago a wilder-1 ness is now a blossoming, beautiful garden spot of the middle west —and we owe it to the farmers who saying ‘can and will’ went forth and 'did.' Fifteen years ago an enterprising farmer went forth and complained to his fellows that our roads were not good enough for hauling and today Adams county roads stand first in the state in miles of stone roads built. And that is due to the farmers. And I presume that when these officers came to this city and saw that the patriotic farmers had spent one and a quarter million dollars in building roads they probably thought that such a place was a good place to erect a million dollar monument to American industry. There will be discouragements—l found from my own experience that you cannot raise sugar beets unless you plant them, and then it takes work to raise them. Good farmers raise good beets. And in conclusion I must say deep down in our hearts we welcome among us, these men who have made prosperity ours, we appreciate what you have done for us, and we thank you for it.” Mr. Lutz was then followed by an old Adams county boy. a home-comer, T Fred France, of Indianapolis, clerk of the supreme court, who responded in behalf of the state, for her first sugar plant. He said: "About an hour ago I was informed bv the citizens of the committee that I was expected to respond upon this occasion in behalf of the state of Indiana. Unluckily the band of state officials who were to have been here were delayed In coming and it devolves upon me alone to extend to this new industry a hand of welcome in behalf of our state. lam glad to be hpre to congratulate the people upon securing this factory and I wish to assure you of the hearty co-operation of the state with yon in making a success of this new industry, which will mean an increase of revenue for our people On the part of the state of Cana we welcome this industry to “ ..a *•" 'V”' to accelerate its growth. I hope the ■ relations of the ,x>ople and the com(Continued on p sge -1

DECATUR’S NEW SUGAR FACTORY » I i• : ' i - i -u —J • —r ... L. - j Officially Opened Toda i--Erected And Equipped at Cost of Nearly a Million Dollars

TRAMPLED BY COLT: i Stanley, Young Son of.D. F. , Hoffman, Was Seriously ! ( Injured Monday. i i ! BY EAGER COLT J Which Ran Him Down—Dr. Hoffman of This City Attended the Boy. Stanley, the twelve-year-old son of 1 D. F. Hoffman of near Linn Grove, , was seriously and painfully injured , Monday, when in attempting to drive ; some horses from pasture a four-year-old colt ran him down inflicting severe contusions about the face and body. The young lad had gone to the pasture to let the horses out in order to bring them to the barn for feeding purposes and they in their eagerness crowded the lad in such a manner that the colt ran him down. He lay under the horse’s hoofs and was trampled about the head and body. Across his face he was cut seriously and bruises on his body gave evidence of the accident. He was carried to the house and Dr. Sterling P. Hoffman of this city was summoned to attend the injured lad. Dr. Hoffman stated that while the boy was not seriously injured he sustained hurts that will keep him fro it/ attending to his regular duties for some time to come. - o THE COURT HOUSE NEWS. The appeal of Will Ward to the supreme court makes necessary a call for the county council to meet to ap- i propriate money for defense of poor. The appropriation is exhausted,, and as there is an immediate need for more in the prompt administration of justice, a request was made that the ■ county council appropriate S2OO more sos this purpose. The defense of Ward has been conducted as a poor person. In her will probated today Mary Isabella Johnson gives to her grandson, Carl Zimmerman, all her estate. This is to be held in trust for him till he' becomes of age, by Lina S. Light. | Should he die before, it is to go to, Lina Light. The will was written De- p cember 5, 1911. Mrs. Johnson was formerly Mrs. Bell Grimm Schlagel, whose death occurred this week. Licensed to wed: Cecile Shoemaker Ford, born July 12, 1891, stenographer, daughter of Abraham Shoemaker, to wed I<eon H. Rupley, blacksmith, born October 17, 1890, son of M. G. Rupley, of South Whitley. Will Ward, adjudged guilty of conspiracy to steal, who was granted appeal of his case to the supreme court, has filed application for an order of court, directing the clerk to make a transcript of the proceeding? and for the court reporter to make a long-

Decatur, Indiana, Thursday October, 17 1912.

hand copy of the short-hand notes of the evidence for use ot the defendant in appeal. County Clerk Ferdinand Bleeke has received word from Easthaven insane asylum at Richmond of the acceptance of Mrs. Anna Elizabeth King of Geneva, who was adjudged insane, and for whom application was made for her admittance to the institution. She has been in jail since the inquest and will be taken soon to the asylum. TO DEFENSE OF GREECE. — J. A. Vakrinos, formerly employed at the Howard Burdg shoe shining I parlors on Madison strp-zt, left this ! morning for Fort Wayne, enroute to New York City, from where he will . sail for his old home in Greece. It. will be remembered that the Grecian government called all of their citizens back on account of the war. | C. M. McLAIN. President Holland-St. Louis Sugar Co. The gentleman, though no* so well known here as the local officials, is held in high esteem as a business man of Untold qualities. Conservative, but progressively so, alive to the great possibilities of his business, he is worth knowing and we consider Decatur fortunate in having such a man connected with us financially. A dozen years ago he was the superintendent of the Holland public schools when the people of that city organized a sugar company and made him manager. He has since looked after their interests and when the Holland-St. Louis company was organized, he was 1 selected as the president. He is known 1 as one of the big beet sugar men of ! the country. As president of the comi pany he today presented this great inIdustry to Decatur, Adams county, and I the state of Indiana. PRESENT AT BIRTH. Os Eighty-year-old —Grandma Ferry Enjoys Visit. A distinguished visitor in the city was Abraham Barnett of Fort Wayne, who is past eighty years of age. He visited here with Grandma Ferry, who is past her ninety-seventh birth anniversary, and who was present at the time of Mr. Barnett’s birth. Mrs. J. L. Fulton ofsPortland, Mrs. Ida Beulah of Chillicothe, Ohio, are guests of Mrs. Rtobert Blackburn.

BACK TO ADAMS L. G. Williams, Famous Nine O’clock Washing Tea Manufacturer SELLS HIS INTEREST jin Adams and Buys Resi' dence in Blue Creek Township | L. G. Williams, a former Adams county boy, who for twenty years has been located in Indianapolis, in the manufacture of the famous “Nine O'clock Washing Tea" has sold his entire interests there and will return to Adams county. Mr. Williams has purchased one hundred twenty acres o r land in Blue Creek township and expects to spend the remainder of his life at the scene of his boyhood days, moving his family here. He will engage in the raising of sugar beets and also of fine stock Mr. Williams has been pre-eminentty successful and has made a fortune from his washing tea which is known in every household far and near. ALUMNI RECEPTION. The high school alumni reception will be given tomov-ow evening at 7 o’clock in the aigh school building and will be an enjoyaoie reunion of all who have in any way been connected with the school. AU former students, teachers, and all who have been.con- ’ nected with the school, are cordially I invited. i o DALLAS BUTLER BABE. A fine baby girl was born this morni ing to Mr. and Mrs. Dallas Butler, and is royally welcomed by all, includi ing the sister. Mrs. Butler was Miss Kate Krick. —— oi SERIOUS CONDITION. L — David Pierce, aged 63, the Wells ' county farmer, who suffered an attack . of paralysis Friday night while rei ■ turning home from Craigvllle, and lay i ! out doors during the entire chilly '. night until found the next day, is still ■ I said to be in a serious condition. It ; will be remembered that Pierce, who I lives a mile from Craigville, was found at daybreak Saturday, lying unconscious on the Ludy farm. BULLETIN. Chicago, 111., Oct. 16, 1912—(Special to Daily Democrat) —The following bulletin was issued at 1:30 today re- , garding Roosevelt’s condition: Pulse, ■ 90; temperature, 98.6 throughout the > entire morning; breathing easier. General condition excellent. » , o ■■ Mr. and Mrs. Otto Gross of Ashland, Ohio, who visited with the Bert . Dibble family at Middletown, are > I here to spend the week with other reli atives.

FACTORY FIGURES AND FACTS Relative To Our New Million Dollar Beet Sugar Factory

IT COVERS ACRES Description of Buildings— What the Big Plant Will Produce. , IN ANNUAL RUN Will Pay More Than Half Million to Farmers Annually for Beets. The Mammoth Factory. This mammoth factory, the first sugar plant in the state, and Decatur's largest industry, practically covers thirty-two acres of ground. This lies north of the city on what was former ly the Julius Haugk property, in a “V” shaped plot. The tip of the “V” is toward the north, formed by the intersection there of the G. R. & I. railroad which runs along at the west, and the St Mary's river along the east side. At the south is river road. Only a visit to Ure*£roiinds can give one an idea of the magnitude of 32 acres of buildings. These are as nearly fire-proof as can be made, and are of the “mushroom” style. All are of

brick, spiral steele, iron and concrete. Everything, including the machinery, is of the latest and the plant is the most modern of its kind in the world. The main building lies near the railroad, well up into the tip of the "V.” This main building is one of a stretch nearly eight hundred feet long, and sixty-five feet wide. The main building is about four' stories high and parts of the adjacent ones range from three to two stories.' The main room is the middle of | three which adjoin, and is 238 by 65 , leet. Here the principal process of sugar making takes place. At either end and adjoining ar« rooms, one for the finished product and one for wnat until recently was called “waste.” At the north is the warehouse, 232 by 65 feet. The finished sugar is stored here. This warehouse has a capacity of 15,000,000 pounds. Adjoining the “main room" on the south is the pulp dryer room, 122 by 65 feet. Here the pulp is dried after the sugar has been extracted. Until about five years ago this pulp was considered waste and wholly worthless. Since, it has been learned that it makes excellent cattle feed. Hence; the drying room. South of the main building, and separated from the oth-. ers is the pulp ware house, feet. Here the dried pulp is stored ' until taken by the farmers for their | cattle. The machinery in the pulp rooms alone cost $150,000, and is the 1 latest and most improved made. East of the main building center is, the boiler room, 130 by 42 feet. North of this is the lime kiln, 42 by 51, and ‘ connecting this with the main building is the machine shop, 61 by 30. At the west side of the boiler house in an alcove, between it and the main building, thus formed, is the smokestack—which is 180 feet high, which can be seen for miles around, and from which curls the smoke that tells to the world and state that one of the latest and best equipped sugar factories in the world, and the only one In the state, is in operation. The boiler house, as are all other departments, is equipped with the most modern machinery. The boilers provide steam for 3,200 horse power. All the coal handling and firing is done by machinery. Wherever machinery can be used in doing the ' heavy and mechanical work, this is ' provided. All the lifting and unloading of the beets, coal, stone, etc., is done by locomotive cranes. The lime kiln is a mammoth de- \

I | ailment, having a capacity lor burning 60 tons of lime rock. This is used , in separating the impu'lties from the ' sugar while it is still in juice form. The cooper shop is located north of the boiler house. Wondering how the many tons of I beets are gotten into the factory takes us back to the beet sheds. These num>er t,.ree, each five hundred teet long and holding 8,000 tons of beets. They are located between the railroad and the main building, extending south of it. Between each is a switch from I the railroad, and room enough to be brick-paved for the farmers' driveway. The beets are unloaded into these bins, the concrete floors of which slope to the center, where there are two flumes. The water of the flumes flushes the dirt from the beets and pushes them along to the main building. A stone separator frees the beets before they are carried up and automatically weighed and sent to the cutter which cuts them Into slices and shreds. Contrary to general belief the juice is not “crushed out." Hot water is run through the shreds, and the sugar-laden juice is taken out by the osmosis process. Waste is minimized. Even the water, which forms 76 per cent of the beet, is utilized. It is sent back through the beet shed flumes to wash ■ the other beets up to the factory. Switches Big Feature. The switches from the G. R. & 1. railroad to the plant were built by the Pennsylvania railway company at a cost of $30,000, and helped make possible the securing of this plant for the city.

Beets and Sugar Production. In their booklet, which the company has sent the wholesale grocers of Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, giving some concrete facts about beets and sugar productions, they say: The Decatur plant will consume during their annual run of about 100 days of 24 hours: 4000 car loads of sugar beets. 600 cars of coal. 12 cars of coke. 125 cars of limestone. 15 cars of cooperage. 4 cars empty bags. 4 cars heavy chemicals. For which they will pay to the farmers for beets... $550,000.00 To the railroads for freight 125,000.00 To labor and salaries 75,000.00 ' And several hundred thousand dollars for various other supplies purchased in the U. S., mostly in Indiana. The Decatur plant will produce about s 10,000 tons of standard granulated sugar. 5,000 tons of dried beet pulp. 3,000 tons of molasses. If all the beets used in one season ! w ere loaded on wagons, two tons to a ' load, with the teams attached and j formed in a line, this line would extend 237 miles or from Indianapolis to ' Cleveland. The sugar pulp and molasses annually produced, will load 975 freight ' cars, which, If shipped in a continuous train with their locomotives and tenders, would make a string eight and one-half miles in length. Practically the Same. The word sugar is not generic and is all but meaningless inasmuch as we have cane sugar, beet sugar, maple sugar, etc., which are identical. The Standard Dictionary gives the definition of sugar as ‘‘The white crystalline compound variously known as cane sugar, beet sugar, maple sugar, etc., according to its origin, identical chemically, having the composition (C-12 H-22 O-ll). Being identical it is impossible to distinguish one from the other, either by looks or analysis. The difference in the flavor of maple sugar, raw cane sugar and raw beet sugar is due not to the sugars, but to the impurities which they contain. As diamonds are the same chemically the world round so sugar is the same, no matter where produced or by what name it is called. A very large portion of the world's (Continued on Page 4)

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