Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 159, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 July 1912 — ARE THE MATCH FACTORY PEOPLE STILL BLUFFING ? [ARTICLE]

ARE THE MATCH FACTORY PEOPLE STILL BLUFFING ?

Ask Extension of Watermoin and Change of Contract With Commercial Club—Faith Questioned. The match factory people put in most of Tuesday and Tuesday evening in Rensselaer, trying to secure from the city council a promise, to extend the watermain from its eastern terminus at the J. C. Gwin property to the factory suburb. No agreement was reached. The members of the council will do nothing to retard the factory starting, but they are justified iii exercising considerable caution in going to the expense to extend the mains and they feel that the showing so iar made hy lhe-match factory -pro= motors is not conducive to much confidence in them. The council held a special meeting Tuesday evening to discuss the various matters at issue with Mr. Sterling and the gentlemen who ha<T accompanied him here. Mr. Kohn, who is now active in the concern, did not attend the meeting, but had helped to formulate and had approved the plan of action outlined by Mr. Serling on behalf of the match company. They first asked the council to extend the watermain to the factory and later to the corporation line. They would then continue it to the factory. They would not give a bond to guarantee that the water would be used any certain length of time and City Attorney Leopold advised against the extension without a bond. After several attempts to get together the meeting adjourned and the match factory people returned to their homes In Chicago and Elkhart. They acted considerably put out because they had failed to get the promise of the city to extend the watermain. Another effort made by the representatives of the company while here was to get the commercial club to alter the contract which bound them to begin operating their factory by the first of March. They asked that this be changed to read August 15th. The match factory people were bonded int the sum of SIO,OOO. If a change is made in which the bonding company does not concur, the bond would be valueless. A few of the smaller claims against the match company were settled. It Is understood that no settlement was made where the claims were not discounted at the rate of 10 per cent\_ The meeting Tuesday evening was characterized by quite a little of Mr. Sterling’s style of, bluff. He continued to talk about the mmcgy his company had to carry out its plans and seemed somewhat embarrassed when Attorney O’Shaughnessy said that they could not undertake the expense of extending the mains on account of lack of money.

This city has already paid extensively for its factory ambitions. It has put up SIO,OOO in actual cash and deeded away all of its factory plat except the few acres where the buildings stand. To offset this the factory people have violated practically every part of their contract and it now looks like, a Scheme to procure the balance of the tract and to give the city a setback by placing it to a large expense. The probable cost of extending a main to the factory would be $2,500. If the match people are able to sell stock into the many thousands of dollars they should be able to take care of the proposition of having the water brought to the factory. We believe the council is right in proceeding very slowly in this matter. b. While the people of this city very mneh want the factory, they have cause to be very suspicious about the men who have handled the business and consequently to view with some uncertainty any proposals they make ethat might lead us further Into the mire. \ j It hag been an expensive experience and- hap exhausted onr resources but we shoqld not add to the cost by any latter day folly.