Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1909 — SHEWED EDITORS GOOD TIME. [ARTICLE]

SHEWED EDITORS GOOD TIME.

Monticello Industrial Association Entetains Neighboring Pencil Pushers.

The Democrat man had the pleasure Friday afternoon of attending an automobile- ride and banquet given by the Monticello Industrial Association to the editors of Monticello and surrounding towns. Seventeen autos conveyed the editors and a number of the members of the Industrial Association first to the thread factory, which is much more of a manufacturing institution than is generally supposed, employing from 40 to 60 girls and a few men all the time. The output is known as “Kloster £ilk,” which we see so largely advertised in the magazines.' It is a cotton, made to imitate silk, and is made up in various forms, such as real spool sewing thread and crochet thread in balls, skeins, etc. From here the party were taken to the Tippecanoe Power Co; plant, where four large turbine water wheels—only two of which are now needed—furnish some 500 horsepower and give a continous electric service for both lights and power. This plant was put in last year, and the dam and power house are located a few rods north of the Panhandle railroad bridge. From here we were taken to Norway, a small settlement a few miles up the river, which used to be the industrial center for this section of the state, having a sawmill or two, one or two gristmills, a pork packing establishment and other industries. A big dam furnished the the necessary water power. Then Monticello was but a dream. The Panhandle railroad, however, ,was the making of Monticello and the undoing of Norway, and now only a few houses remain there, although it is a natural beauty spot, and the old dam Is gone. A big new dam 23 feet in height will be built there next year, it was asserted, and when completed it is expected to furnish the electric energy for the electric railroads which the Monticelloians expect to soon connect that town with Rensselaer and towns south and west. The possibilities of a dam of that height across the Tippecanoe can be imagined, and it is in the tremendous power of “Old Tip” that the denizens of White county s capital base their hopes for industrial developement. Back to town, from Norway, around by the handsome new poor asylum and to the sites of the Pratt printing plant and the .auto truck factory, two industries lately secured through the efforts of the Industrial Association and which will employ a large number of men—perhaps 75 to 100 to start on for

each. The foundations for the printing plant are practically complete, and work has begun on the auto truck foundations. Both are large structures located at the north side of town and just west of the Monon tracks. The material is now on the ground for a belt railway which takes in both these plants. The Industrial Association owns some 70 acres of land here, and will soon sell off a large number of lot 3 to raise the necessary bonuses paid for these two industries, which have been guaranteed by the which is some 80 strong and numbers in its membership practically every business man of prominence in the town.

From here the party were taken through several of the beautiful streets of the town—and we want to say right here that Monticello has fewer old, tumble down dwellings than any town we ever saw, In fact it has none, and is distinctly a city of homes, handsome and well kept, with beautiful lawns —across Tioga bridge and around on the east side of the river to Horseshoe Bend, a beautiful spot on the river Immediately east of Monticello but which the casual visitor to the town never sees, where all disembarked and a bevy of pretty girls served lemonade, ice cream and cake. Then back into the autos and to town, crossing the river south of the Panhandle bridge, and up the hill into town and to the Hotel Forbis, where the banquet was held. The trip was a delightful one, and while the writer has visited Monticello scores of times in the past quarter of a century, he learned more of the town and its beautiful surroundings on this occasion than he ever knew before. Mr. White, the promotor who has located the manufacturing enterprises that have thus far been secured and who is now a bonafide resident of the town himself, originated the outing and banquet, and it is the intention to make it a annual event, the object being to promote friendliness and good-fellow-ship between Monticello and her neighboring towns. The Industrial Association has secured a suite of rooms for a term of years which will be in charge of a custodian and open to visitors at all times. It is working in perfect harmony and is going after industries in a way that means much for the future of our neighboring town. But back of all this united energy the association is banking most for its faith in securing industries on the natural resources of the town—the great and practically undeveloped water power lying at its door. Except for Rensselaer, Monticello Is the prettiest town in the state of Indiana and her people are the next best on earth. -

Special bargains in elbow length gloves to close out, at the Chicago Bargain Store.