Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 August 1917 — WHERE CORN IS INDEED KING [ARTICLE]

WHERE CORN IS INDEED KING

Ikewewrat. Editor and Family Enjoy :<54)-Mile Auto Trip. The editor of The, Democrat, with bis wife and two sons, returned Sunday evening from an automobile trip of nearly 400 miles Leaving Rensselaer Saturday morning at about &:30 o’clock we drove to Rantoul, Illinois, precisely 100 miles distant and where the big 17. S. army aviation camp has recently been located, reaching there, after short stops in Gilman and Paxton, at 12:30 p. m. We went via Kentland, Sheldon, Watseka. Crescent City, Gilman, Onarga, Del Rey, Buckley, Loda, Paxton and Ludlow" Thrashing was in progress all along the route but more machines were at work between Rensselaer and Sheldon than over the state line, and while the acreage of oats on this side of tho line was perhaps nearly as great as that of corn, over in Illinois and especially on south from Gilman, the corn acreage was much larger. Practically every acre of ground in that section Is under cultivation, there being very few ditches and scarcely no timber to take up any poHion of the land, and it was corn, corn, corn everywhere. We never saw so much corn in our life, and it was all good, too. The oats were apparently extra good also and we will venture to say that 30 to 35 per cent of that whole section of country is either in corn or oats. Very few cattle are seen and only an occasional small meadow or pasture. Tho com fields come right up almost to the front door-step and to the barns and outbuildings. Corn is certainly king throughout that section of the state —and it looked as though we saw enough corn growing Saturday to feed the entire country. Reads were all hard, stone to near Watseka, with about five miles of concrete on each side of the latter place.

From Gilman on south, hovvever, one doesn’t find the roads so smooth, except in places. The; black gumbo-like soil there makes the roads almost as hard as 11.nt. when dry. and there are about as rough as a washboard, with every particle of dust blown off them. At the aviation grounds the government lias already spent an immense amount of money . in buildings’ which have a permanent appearance and th< re arc some twenty-two airships there at present, They do no Hying on Saturday s-—a pparently resting and tuning up. for entertaining the big crowds of visitors each Sunday This camp is located on a splendid level field immediately south of Rantoul and comes right up to the village. Rantoul is a town of perhaps 1,000 people, but the locating of this camp there'has put it on the map and it has become quite an important place. The roads all about there are of dirt and as bumpy as a cat's back', but thousands of visitors come there every Sunday and throughout the week in automobiles and by rail, ’arid the' town bids fair to double in population in a short time. From Rantoul we drove on south and west to Champaign and Urbana, thence to Danville, stopping for a short time in each place. Out of Danville we found several miles of brick pavement —a part of the extensive system of brick and concrete roads being built in Vermillion county*—-and it was surely some road, almost as smooth as concrete and' having a more permanent appearance than the latter. From Danville we drove to Covington, Indiana, the county seat of Fountain county, and stayed there over night. All the way from Rantoul to Champaign, Danville and to near Covington the corn "and oats were; generally extra good. About Covington the. country becomes more broken, the land is not so good and there is of course more waste land. - At 8:30 Sunday morning we pulled out for Veedersburg and thence to Turkey Run, the; new state park of which we have heard so much. The roads were all good in Indiana and in that section were mostly gravel. 1 They wind in and out among the hills with many abrupt and quite dangerous turns if the brakes of one’s car are not iri first-class condition, as it is up one hill arikl down another, with turns and ’twists so that only a few hundred feet of straight road is found almost* any -place in the vicinity oi Turkey Run.

The scenery at Turkey Run is very fine and' timber of all kinds almost abound there, especially sycamores. The rock formation or clifts are quite imposing. From Turkey Run, which is near Rockville, in Parke county, we drove to “The Shades.” which is almost as popular a place as Turkey Run and has some deep ravines with" towering rocks on either side. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people were at each place Sunday. They come by automobile from a considerable distance and we noted many cars bearing Illinois license, numbers at the latter place. ‘ The Shades” is in Montgomery county, about a dozen miles from Crawfordsville. This is owned by private individuals and 10 cents admission per person is charged to the grounds, but no charge is made for cars. Refreshment stands and bathing places are within the grounds, also a restaurant and a large hotel. At the latter place a .good chicken dinner is served at .75 cents per. Judging from the cro-wd on the grounds last Sunday this resort is a very profitable one to its owners, although there was seemingly no holding one up to very excessive prices on anything. Here, as at Turkey Run, most of the take their dinner with them. Coffee and iced tea is sold at the restaurant at 2 0 cents per quart, while a whole fried chicken could be had at from $1.25 to $1.50 each, with good fresh sandwiches at six for a quarter. Both Turnkey Run and “The Shades” are interesting places but we would not care, to drive any great distance to visit them again after having seen them Once. From “The Shades” we drove to Crawfordsville and thence home via Lafayette, stopping at the latter place for about two hours. It was a very plehsant trip and a comparatively inexpensive one. We saw some as fine agricultural 'country as , lies out of doors and some that looked almost: as poor, but except in about the broken and hilly country the crops were generally good and everything appeared prosperous. However, there is some just as good oats and just as good corn right here in Jasper

county as we saw any place on the entire trip.