Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 August 1917 — RENDER A VALUABLE SERVICE [ARTICLE]

RENDER A VALUABLE SERVICE

Telephone Managers Furnished Help to Many Farmers. The Benton Independent Telephone association, of which W. L. Bott of this city is president, has certainly rendered an invaluable aid to the farmers in their territory during the present. season. Through the efforts of Mr. Bott earlier in the season the association undertook to furnish help to all farmers -who made their wants known, and they have been successful beyond their fondest hopes. This association is comprised /Of the independent telephone exchanges in about ten northwest Indiana counties, and by co-operation they have supplied the farmers of their territory with nearly 300 men. All demands for help were met until the past week when the harvest work required so much extra labor. At the office of the local exchange in this city about twentyfive farmers have been supplied with help. When there was a request for help and no men available Mr. Bott would communicate with the other exchanges in the association until he found one that had a surplus of laborers registered. These laborers would then be sent here and furnished to the farmers wanting whelp. Upon one or two occasions there was a sufplus of men registered here and they were immediately dispatched to some point in the territory where help was needed.

At one time there was a scarcity of men at Fowler and through the efforts of the association co-operat-ing with the International Harvester company about twenty laborers were imported, all of whom found immediate employment at some point or other in the territory. ' The work of the association along this line was recently brought to the attention of Governor Goodrich and he wrote to Mr. Bott commending their efforts. He also referred the matter to Will H. Hays, chairman of the State Defense Council, who wrote, to Mr. Bott for details of their plan of operation with a view to putting the same in operation in other parts of the state. Prof. G. T. Christie of Purdue university also took the matter up with the same view, stating that so far as he knew this was the first move of its kind ever made in Indiana. Prof. Christie was very much pleased with the results obtained and has recommended it to other districts.