The Syracuse Journal, Volume 1, Number 19, Syracuse, Kosciusko County, 3 September 1908 — Page 1

The best crutch for a lame business is systematic ad* vertising' in The Journal.

VOL. I

NEWS OF KOSCIUSKO 8 ELKHART COUNTIES Items of General Interest Con» cerning Our Near Neighbors CULLED FROM OUR EXCHANGES James Romaine, living near Mentone, has one of the finest fruit farms in northern Indiana, lie has 2J acres on which he has 3,240 young trees consisting of pears, plums, peaches and cherries. Fire of unknown origin destroyed the livery barn of Daniel Snell at Sidney, Saturday night. Five horse.s were burned. Mr. Snell’s loss is about $2,000 with S9OO insurance. This is the fifth fire of mysterious origin to occur in Kosoiusko county during the month of August. Teachers of the county in session at Warsaw adopted resolutions to do away with tardiness at school. U. S. Lidgaid, contractor on the Peru extension of the Winona line, is pushing the work rapidly and it is hoped to have Warsaw and Mentone connected before winter. The town of Leesburg with a population of 450 has bOO lodge members. Farmers in that vicinity swell the total. A picked base ball team composed of players from Winona, Warsaw, Leesburg and Milford lost to Plymouth at that place Friday by the score of 8 to 0. The Warsaw Red Men will entertain visiting Red Men and their families on Monday, Sept. 7. The annual reunion of the Twelfth Indiana will be held at Wfarsaw September 29 and 30. There has been up to date over $3,000 received by the county as a result of the work-of the tax ferrets going over the books of the county treasurer. A mysterious fire destroyed the barn and contents on the farm of Mrs. Ella Haney west of Milford Thursday. Loss was covered by in-

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The Syracuse Journal.

suranoe. This is the third fiie of unknown origin in this part of the county wiihin the past few weeks. The new Public Service Telephone company of Leesburg, has taken over the Royal’s exchange at that place. The new company now has exchanges at Leesburg, Wilmot, Cromwell and North Webster, with 600 subscribers and about 70 miles of toll line. Brother Groves of the Milford Mail gives Syracuse a compliment on our new school building. In spite of the dissensions occasioned when the proposition was first begun, we believe our citizens are well pleased with the location and appearance of-the structure. David Miller, 74 years of age, a groceryman at Gravelton, a little town west of Milford, dropped dead in his store last Fnday i evening. There was no one present when be fell, but some one came in before he died. He formerly lived at Benton. He has no children. An administrator will be appointed to adjust matters for the widow. Oscar Huff of Bremen had an occurenoe at his farm that equals the almanic stories of strange things. He had two valuable steers blown up from eating dynamite. Huff threw a stone to drive them away from the explosive, but they were on the out side of it, and the stone set off the charge. Soldiers’ Notice. Both organizations of the 15th Indiana Volunteer Infantry will hold a reunion in Warsaw on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 29 and 30. A big campfire will be at the opera house on Tuesday evening,, to which all old soldiers and the public in general will be invited. For the two dajs an elaborate program is being prepared and it is expected that a large number of the members of the 12th will attend. The regiment has not held a reunion for several years and as the addresses of many are not known it is requested that The newspapers of northern Indiana make the date of the meeting known to all. Harry Bennett is president of the reunion association and Thomas R. Boulton is secretary.

SYRACUSE, INDIANA, THURSDAY MORNING, SEPT. 3, 1908.

SOMETHING OF THE PHILLIPINES 4 Letter by a Wadsworth, Ohio, Boy Gives Story of the Islands. DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIVES We havebaen asked to publish the following' letter from the Phtlipines, taken from the Bander-Press of Wadsworth, Ohio, because of its interest to all, showing, as it does, the advancement of the natives toward civilization and also some of their habits: This is a hot, sultry day—so hot that even the natives are not very anxious to get into the sunshine. Where I am sitting at present I can plainly see the Barrio (towo) of Soupoung with its odd looking shacks scattered around in every imaginable direction. The shacks are built of Neipa and Bamboo. The framework consists of bamboo poles lashed together with strong green strips of Neipa bark. Nails are very seldom used in the erection of shacks. The roofs are of Neipa with a cover of grass and branches They are very strongly fbuilt and keep out the rain in fine style. They are built about five feet from the ground on uprights—in other words Soupoung is a town upj>n stilts. The reason for this is on account of the many insects, and rep tiles, lizards and snakes especially. A ladder made of bamboo is used to enter the houses. There are openings called windows but in fact that is all they can be called. Window glass is unheard of and could not be used on account of the heavy rains in the rainy season. A yocden shutter is needed to keep out the rain. The rainy season started a couple of weeks ago and will last for six months. My how it rains; it simply pours. The sun will ba shining brightly And the sky be clear and in a very few minutes the rain will be pouring down in vast quantities. I The natives are becoming more and more civilized. They* are beginning to use umbrellas quite a grbat deal. Some of the women are beginning to pick up American'ideas of clothing themselves. For instance about two out of every dozen have started to wear hosiery and shoes. The rest go barefooted. Cocoanut and pineapple groves, banana and bread fruit trees ai*e in great abundance. There are three different kinds of bananas oh this island. A bright yellow variety similar in color to the ones in the United States but very much smaller; then what they call the laokatans which are very large and of a green color when ripe and another variety which is of a very red color and is only good for eating when fried. I heard loud shouting which reminds me that the natives are at their favorite pastime and amusement, chicken fighting. A pit is built inside of a shack with railings all around and tiers of bamboo seats for the spectators. The chickens are tied in a place enclosed for that purpose and are open lo any one’s inspection. When a native has a rooster he wants to fight he picks out one he thinks is about the same weight as bis own, finds the owner and then if they can agree, they be gin to get ready for the battle by tying spurs on the fowls'feet. These spurs are sharp, curved pieces of fine steel, and are very deadly to the chicken getting the first serious wound. Before they b’egin to fight the chickens are taken around through the crowd tor inspection so that any one desiring to do so can bet on their favorite bird. The women enjoy the fights and bet on

the results as much as the men. Alin- st every afternoon the natives begin to flick toward the cock-pit. About every other oue has a rooster under his arm, and the noise reminds one of the country fairs in the good old U S. A. An Item From 79. We take the following from the Pierceton Record which is publisha column of 1879 items:“We are in'receipt of a prospectus of the Reflector, a new papqr to be published simultainously, each week at Milford and Syracuse, Ind., by Miles & Kitson. We wish them success.” Building Solid Roads. In the policy Os solid road building that has been inaugurated in several states it is the first cost of laying a firm roadbed that causes the rural tax-payers to gasp at the size of the figures, says the Indiana Farmer. They have become so accustomed to spending money in annual driblets for repairs that a big, round lump sum to be used at once is a change in method a little too violent to be accepted without grave doubts and fears. It is difficult to get away from the belief that the annual repairs must go on, anyway. Such a reality as a road that once built will stay built, and with but infinitesimal rspair, for a score of years or so, is so out of the common road experience in the country sections that lack of faith concerning the new policy has been the rule in all the states where a good road Ir&v has beeO put into effect. Experience shows, however, that the solidly-built road, Vrith a rook foundation, is the cheapest in the long run, and the only solution of the good roads question. Mission of the Country Newspaper. The following whicfnis going the roupds of our exchanges unidenti-fied-is so true and so well written that we wish to give it our ment:The real mission of the country newspaper is to give the news Without news there is no newspaper. Facts and figures, not rumors or 1 hearsay, constitute news. In the garnering of the news harvest the local field be looked upon with the most favor. In a country newspaper nothing can take the place of the country; news. The story of the wide world is told under glaring headlines and catchy captions in the.pages of the city papers—told so fully and so fast that competition in this well-filled field is folly. The local field is for the country newspaper, which alone gives to its reader the story of “you afi’s house,” sympathizing with those who sorrow and rejoicing with those in merry mood. More strictly speaking then, the mission of the country newspaper is to give the local news. The legitimate local field is further limited by careful selection. No newspaper should publish all the news—no more than should a father sitting at his own fireside, repeat all that he may have heard during the day. A country newspaper must be clean, have character and conscience and be able to command confidence. The best country newspaper is brave enough to tell the truth when it “Should be told and big enough to leave untold a secret story of shame and sin when a “scoop” would only i add to the sorrow. Finally, then, let it be said that i the real mission of the country newsi paper is to give the Efcal news ac- ; ourately and fearlesdy, but in kind- . ness, giving no unnecessary pabhci- > ty to wrong doing, yet sparing not i frauds and shams, recognizing good > wherever found, striving to build up i rather than tear down'.

GOOD ROADS PROPOSITION Experiments in Lake County Have Proven Very Beneficial. WOULD RE WORTH FRYING HERE A correspondent from Lake county writes to the Plymouth Democrat as follows relative to the good roads proposition: “I spent three months last year in Hobart Township, Lake County, Ind., and was so much impressed with the benefits derived from good roads that I am sending yon an article concerning same: “Lake County, Ind,, was for many years considered the county of sand and swamps. Land outside of towns had no value at all. The father of the largest land owner secured possession of many hundreds of acres of land through a tax title deed, which cost him practically Nothing. This lacd now includes the town of East Gary, much lies within the limit of Elobart and hundreds of acres are scattered throughout the northern part of the county. “Os course the wonderful increase in property values cannot all be attributed to the good roads whioh have been constructed, but they certainly have had everything to do with the increase in the valu s of lands devoted strictly to farming. Pasture land in the vicinity of Hobart brings from $l2O to $175 per acre. To residents of such fertile counties as Elkhart, Kosciusko and Marshall this seems a'most impossible, nevertheless it is true. Farmers keep many cows and are able to have their milk stations along the Pittsburg and Fort Wayne, the Wabash, the B. & O. and other railroads operating milk trains, over macadamized roads as smooth as city pavement. Hundreds of cans milk are shipped daily from Hobart Township alone. Where the roads are not improved they are almost impassable in wet weather, the soil being either all clay or all sand and the clay roads are equally as bad in dry weather as the soil is baked into deep hard ruts rendering a buggy ride one long agony. - Many townships yearly expend considerable sums patching up and repairing old highways, the sam work to be repeated a second year, whereas the amount thus expended could be applied towards the cost o f a good macadamized road which would mean a permanent improvement requiring no further outlay for a number of years. “A diversity of opinions exists as to which is the better to use in building a good road, crushed stone or gravel, but it is quite safe to say that a good quality of gravel properly mixed with the earth in which it is deposited in the gravel pit, and which makes a material bonding, i? better than .crushed stone, the gravel being much harder and will resist wear much better than the stone. “In surveying a new road the engineer in charge should first see that it is built above low water level so there will'be no danger from washouts, and also see that the embarkment or berm is wide enough to ho d the road proper in its plans. Under no circumstances should sandy- soil be used in building the as the first seyere rain storm will wash it away. Sod growing by the road-ide 1 makes the best kind of a berm. ■ While the gravel part of the road need not be more than 12 to 14 feet ■ in width, if built through a swamp ■ the berm should be at least 4 fest ' wide on each side. 1 It requires from to two , years for a gravel road to become sufficiently worn to make driving a

pleasure. All depends upon the amount of travel thereon, aird until such time as it is worn down, farmers should keep their horses well shod.” 1 [ Drawing it Fine,' Postmasters are in receipt of a circular from the fifth division of the United States railway mail service by authority of an order from Washington, that every obscene, lewd or lascivious book, pamphlet, picture, paper, letter, writing, print, or other publication of an indecent character and every article of thing des’gned to be intended for harmless use, and every written or printed card, letter, circular, book, pamphlet, advertisement, or notice ot any kind giving information where or how or of whom or by what means any such wrongful article may be obtained, are declared to be unmailabfe matter and the poatoffice is ordered to refuse admission to the mails of such articles. The circular provides a fine for anyone attempting to mail such matter. The meaning placed on the word indecent by the postal department is anything of a character tending to incite arson, minder, assassination. Newspapers of any publication carrying advertisements of the things as set forth above are also denied admission to the-mail?, and it includes secret remedies, preventives, etc. h L Moorman’s Narrow Escape. . ■' '— J _ J ■ While riding from Petersburg where he had been attending a political meeting, John L. Moorman, of Knox, and several others had a narrow escape from death. The party in a big touring car driven by Edwin S. Shepard had almost reached the summit of a long bill in -the White River bottdms When the engine refused to work. Before the car could be controlled it rushed down the hill. When little more than half way down the hill, the occupants, realizing that the oar would leave the road, jumped. The machine a few seconds later went, over an embankment and turned turtle. Outside a few bruises, the party escaped injury. Winona’s Drawing Power. .p . Few people in this section realize the wonderful popularity of .Winona Lake. During the past season thirtyeight states were represented on the register while visitors jvers also present froth Can ida, Porto Rico, Cuba, Korea, Ireland/rCngland and Siam.

* ■! • ' I Are You Hot? I HIT THE FOUNT! I f Bring your Prescrip- . I tion here. We will || compound it properly. || — .. - ■ • • — Eff h --'I GREENE’S DRUG STORE I g SYRACUSE 3 ’ r* _

The Journal is the oiily 7-' column SI.OO paper in the county — and you get News.

NO. 19

OU3 LIBRARY PBDS- - ARE BRIGHT Committee Appointed to So.* licit Funds Meets With Fine Success. ABOUT SIXTY NAMES SECURED It seems very probable that we will have a public library. When the meetings were held to discuss the matter of bow to proceed, the ’ attendance would give the impression that it would be a struggle to | obtain tiie desired end, but the enthusiasm had been great enough to overbalance the first interest taken. Two weeks ago a committee was appointed to secure the names of not less tl.au fifty tax payers subscribing $4.96 for an assessment of two years, payable in eight installment s. On the following Thursday the committee met and reported thirty-live names, Monday evening fifty-nine names were reported. , Jt is the desire of the committee to obtain as large a subscription above the required fifty as possible, to make it possible to furnish the Library room comfortably, add to the stock of bobks, and pro vide for the paying of .a competent librarian. The State library commission yvill furbish a large list of books which are ip general use in libraries, covering all classes of tradesmen, special biographical studies, etc. We cannot see anything but great raoril and Social benefits from the establishment of the public library. From Different Angles. This is. the time of the year when the editor of a partisan paper lays awake nights studying upsometbing to shoot at his opponent “next” ■ issue. The incons'steqq/of the partis°an press is well illustrated in Elkhart County. According to the Elkhart Truth and Goshen Democrat the county officials qre a bunch of crocks and grafters and should be . “doing time” instead of continuing, to do the country. ; On the other hand the Elkhart Review and Goshen News-Times are pointing with apparent pride to the ; hoqest and economical work of the republican county officials. Years ago this policy was all' right and filled the bill but voters are intelligent enough to know that it means dollars and cents to them when the wrong men are elected to responsible offices and the slush-dished out by partisian papers oount’for little.