Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 133, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 June 1911 — RIGHT-OF-WAY GIVEN AND CONSTRUCTION IS BEGUN. [ARTICLE]

RIGHT-OF-WAY GIVEN AND CONSTRUCTION IS BEGUN.

Purtelle Starts to Build Railroad and Offers Limited Number of Shares of Stock for Sale.

The Republican is between two fires. It would like to boost Eugene Purtelle ' and his projected railroad if there was Sufficient substantiality about Mr, Purtelle’s movements to make us feel that we were giving the public a correct guidance in the matter.

But on the other hand, we do not want to do a single thing that might cause any person to invest a cent in Purtelle’s railroad, when there is a chance that bis movements are not sincere or that he is misguiding himself by his enthusiasm. All the land owners between the south township line have signed a contract to give the right-of-way to the railroad company, with the exception of Mrs. J. W. Pierce and Thos. Cain. Mr. Purtelle promised that as soon as the right-of-way was secured he would begin construction and he has Btarted it. He has put two men to work and let the contract for some grading at the Big Slough crossing to John Holder, a farmer living near there. But he has not planned the expenditure of any fixed sum and no one is able to say how far he intends to proceed with the construction. He says he is unable to hire labor for less than $2.25 per day. There is no sense in paying that sum for this work. If he has the backing to build the road' he should do like other builders do, get cheap labor that is familiar with that sort of construction work. Mr. Purtelle says he will build a bridge across the Big Slough ditch and that he will buy the cement by the bag here In Rensselaer to build it. That is very foolish business when he could buy it for little more than three-quar-ters the price by getting it in quantities. • This Tuesday mornliig Mr. Purtelle started out to Bell stock. He wants to put fifty shares of . stock on the market at $25 per khare. This would bring him in $1,250,, a very insignificant sum if applied to the construction, but it was pointed out to Mr. Purtelle that he might spend from SIOO to SSOO in the construction and then change his base of operations to some other place and have a very good balance in his favor. He did not like the suggestion and said he would not do such a thing, but he could not get/away from the fact that it was possible for him to do It. It was suggested to him that he deposit the . money from stock sold here In one of the Rensselaer banks and have It arranged that the money could only be checked out for construction labor. He refused to do this, saying that he wouid send the money to his Hammond bank, where he could get favors. The Republican has asked Mr. Purtelle many questions, pertinent and impertinent, and he has been quite evasive and reluctant and has never given us any cause to feel confidence in him or his scheme. If you want to point out to him a way to give confidence he blankly refuses to take advantage of it. A newspaper can not boost when conditions are such as these and greatly as we would like to boost the road and its promotor, we can see nothing at this time that looks worthy of a boost, except that Mr. Purtelle is busy and persistent. Such pluck has done things before and will again and may in this instance, but the prospects are but a faint shadow of our hopes. The stock Mr. Purtelle offers ife “fully paid and non-assessable” but there are not many people who want a $25 share of railroad stock. . If the people thought there was a chance of the road being built or if they had confidence in Mr. Purtelle there would be many willing to give a donation of $25 to the project For the present there is little to expect and Mr. Purtelle will doubtless have much difficulty in finding investors unless he does something to make the people believe that he te acting honestly and in good faith.

Prof. E. 8. Tillman was here qver Sunday from Lebanon. He is raising four acres of tomatoes thiß summer for the Lebanon canning factory and cannot stay away" long at a time. The average crop raised for the canning factory there last year paid S9O per acre and we expect Mr. Tillman to beat the average tomatoe grower as he does the average man. He Is coupling chicken raising with the tomato cultivation and will have a busy and we trust a profitable season.