Fayette County, Indiana - Chapter 20, 1917 (part 2 of 2)

The original capital was $55,000, which was subsequently increased to $75,000. The rapid growth of the company's business demanded additional space and capital, and in 1911 the latter was increased to $200,000 and a building of solid brick, eighty-six by two hundred fifteen feet, erected. The company employ two hundred twenty-five men. The company's products are shipped to all important centers in America. The officers of the company are : E. \'. Hawkins, president ; M. L. Hawkins, vice-president ; E. P. Hawkins, secretary, and F. J. Snider, treasurer. E. V. Hawkins is the only one of the original incorporators now with the company.

Manufacture Of Carriages And Automobiles

Until about 1850 but little was done in the way of carriage building. In the year mentioned the firm of Drew & McCracken began the manufacture of buggies and carriages on Central avenue, near Sixth street, but their operations were of short duration. In 185 1 William P. and Andrew Applegate began the same branch of business on Central avenue, near Fifth street. The first kept running until 1870, when the first-named partner died, and the plant was sold to Henry & Swikley, and they in turn after a short time sold to J. B. McFarlan. While the Applegate plant was running about fifteen hands were employed during the year.

In 1851 the firm of Ware & Veatch opened a carriage factory on Sixth street, and continued in business for several years. Later, Charles Veatch laecame the proprietor and he operated the business until 1857. In the latter year J. B. McFarlan established a carriage and bugg}' factory under the name of the McFarlan Carriage Company. The old Veatch place fell into his hands and was the place of the beginning of his extensive operations, the buildings being on Sixth street and Central avenue. The company, comprising J. B., C. E.. J., W. W,. and J. E. McFarlan, was formed in i88.v and at that time employed about seventy-five men throughout the year. The cdmpany continued the manufacture of vehicles until the automobile industry forced them into that field.

The McFarlan Motor Company is an outgrowth of the carriage industry and was the pioneer in the automobile industry in Connersville. In 1909 it placed on the market the first medium-priced six-cylinder automobile in the United States. The company manufactures only high-priced pleasure cars and special closed bodies: they also make some fire trucks, hose and ladder wagons, patrol wagons, funeral cars, hospital ambulances, limousines and other cars for special purposes.

Connersville Buggy Company

The Connersville Buggy Company, organized in December. 1883, was first located on the corner of Eastern avenue and Charles street, the premises being formerly occupied as a planing-mill. The first officers of the company were J. N. Huston, president; J. D. Larned, treasurer; L. T. Bower, secretary ; John W. Pohlman, superintendent of manufacture. Within a short time Bower became superintendent and so continued until May, 1892, when he became president, continuing in this capacity until his death in 191 2. In 1892, when Bower became president, Scott Michener was elected secretarytreasurer, a position he filled until the death of Bower in 1912. Mr. Michener then became president, his brother, E. M. Michener, becoming secretary-treasurer at the same time. This plant, like all vehicle factories in the country, was practically forced out of business by the automobile industry. In 1914 the company entered into a contract with the Van Auken Electric Car Company, of Detroit, for the manufacture of electric trucks. They manufactured a number of the trucks in that year, Harry K. Tarkington being superintendent of construction. During 191 5 and 1916 the company manufactured automobile bodies. In January, 191 7, the company was absorbed by the Dan Patch Novelty Company, the latter company occupying the extensive plant of the old buggy company.

Triple Sign Company

Manufacturing- companies come and go in Connersville and one that was a flourishing industry for several years, but has come and gone, bore the unique title of the Triple Sign Company. This company was not exactly a company, but rather a voluntary association of two business men of Connersville, Theodore Heinemann and Francis T. Roots. In the latter part of the eighties Heinemann secured a patent on an advertising' sign of an unusual character, now known all over the ci\'ilized world, and in 1888 associated Francis T. Roots with himself in the manufacture of the sign. They continued in business until the death of Roots in 1908, the other member of the firm disposing of the business at the same time because of his health.

During the twenty years that the sign was being, manufactured in Connersville it did a business in excess of a million dollars. Roots secured the orders and Heinemann had charge of the manufacturing end. At one time the firm employed fifty men in order to take care of the large amount of business which was secured through the efforts of Roots. One order alone - to Lever Brothers, Limited, of England, soap manufacturers - amounted to fifty thousand dollars. .A.nother heavy user of the sign was a well-known soap manufacturer in this country. The signs of this local concern found

With the dissolution of the firni in 1908 the business was soki to the Dan Patch Novelty Company of Connersville, hut the new firm did nut meet with the success which attended the efforts of the old firm. .\t the present time very few of the signs are being manufactured. But the history of the industrial life of Conners\'ille would not be complete without an account of a business which once was the best advertisement that the cit\' enjoyed.

The Ansted Industries

The next stage in the industrial history of Connersville opens in the early nineties, when E. W. Ansted established a spring factory in the city. When he started his factory here in 1891 only vehicle springs were made and it was not until four years later that the manufacture of axles was added. The Ansted Spring and Axle Company, the first of the many industrial plants established in Connersville by E. W. Ansted, has grown to be one of the largest plants of its kind in the United States. Starting with this one plant Mr. Ansted has established a series of industrial concerns in the city, all of which at the present time are correlated with the Lexington-Howard Company.

The story of E. W. Ansted's connection with the industrial life of Connersville is the story of a man of unusual business ability. During the twentysix years he has been connected with the city he has undoubtedly done more for its industrial life than any one other man. For several years after coming to the city he devoted all his time to the manufacture of axles and springs for vehicles. It was not until 1898 that he began to extend his operations. In that year he organized the Central Manufacturing Company for the manufacture of vehicle wood work. In 1903 this plant l)egan the manufacture of automobile bodies for the Cadillac Motor Car Company. In 1907 the company began to manufacture metal bodies for automobiles and is still engaged in that line of manufacture. They have added building after building in order to meet the demands of their increasing business and are now making metal automobile and buggy bodies, and selling only to manufacturers. The plant absorbed the Connersville Wheel Company in 191 5. They make all the lx)dies for the Lexington-Howard Company and for a number of other automobile factories. It might be mentioned that the Connersville Wheel Company had a contract with the Empire Automobile Company of Indianapolis to construct

The third industry started by Mr. Ansted was the Indiana Lamp Company which was incorporated in 1904 for the manufacture of automobile and vehicle lamps of all kinds. The lamps are sold through jobbers and automobile supply houses throughout the United States. In 1913 Mr. Ansted established the Lexington-Howard Company, which succeeded to the manufacture of Lexington cars, commenced by an earlier and less successful company in 1908. During the four years which this company has been in operation it has built up a business which has made the name of the Lexington car known all over the Ignited States. This company, as has been stated, is the center of the group of Ansted industries in Connersville. The Lexington-Howard Company assembles the car, the parts of which are manufactured by the subsidiary plants composing the group. All the iron castings for the Lexington are made by the Hoosier Casting Company; the springs and axles come from the Spring and Axle Company; the tops from the Rex Manufacturing Company, while the lamps are the product of the Indiana Lamp Company and the hoods and fenders from the Metal Auto Parts Company, of Indianapolis, another Ansted company. Thus, many of the parts which go into the Lexington car are manufactured by the Ansted factories in Connersville. It is said there is no automobile that is so wholly under the supervision of one man as is the Lexington car.

The increased demand for the Lexington car during the past year made it necessary for all of the Ansted factories to increase their output. It was not so long ago that the Lexington-Howard Company was turning out only one car a day and two years ago the company was only producing an average of six cars daily. During 1916 the plant was enlarged so that it is now possible to produce twenty-five cars daily and the company plans to produce at least seven thousand cars during 191 7. Since the Lexington-Howard Company was organized in 1908, E. W. Ansted has been endeavoring to build up such a system of auxiliary plants in Connersville as would enable him to produce a high-grade automobile at the lowest possible cost of production. It was in accordance with this plan that he organized the Hoosier Casting Company in May, 191 5, with a capital stock of $35,000, since increased to $100,000. This company is headed by W. H. DeVaney, who was formerly mechanical and production engineer with the Interstate Foundry of Cleveland, Ohio. The company makes automobile, stationary and marine-engine castings and a general line of Hght and medium weight gray iron castings for all purposes. The company bought the plant and building, sixty by one hundred and thirty feet, of tlie old Connersville Safe and Lock Conipan\-. All the old machinery was cleared out, and a new equipment consisting of a cupola, core of ovens, pattern shop and all molding accessories. At the end of seven months they built a brick-and-frame addition, sixty-six by seventy-five feet, and at the end of fourteen months from date of organization, the present building was started, which covers the entire square from Seventh to Eighteenth street, on the east side of Columliia avenue. The company now employ over two hundred men in the factory, exclusive of the office force and management. The products of the company are shipped to many important points in the United States, including North Tonawanda, New York ; Detroit, Poughkeepsie, New York, and Chicago.

Some Other Local Industries

Another flourishing industry of Connersville is the manufacture of leather specialties. This industry is in charge of the George R. Carter Company and has been in operation in the city since 1903. It had previously been located at Williamsburg, Ohio, where it was established in 1897. The company manufactures gimps, welts, automobile top straps, cut leathers of all kinds to patterns for the carriage and automobile trades and furnishing special leather designs of every description. They do not cure or tan the leather, but confine their attention to the manufacture of products from the finished leather.

In 191 1 the H. Cain Company began the manufacture of steel tank and troughs in Connersville, although the company had been in business since 1895, '" general tinning and sheet metal work. In 191 1 they installed machinery for the manufacture of steel tanks and troughs of all sizes and shapes and are now turning out several thousand each year. They make watering, storage, tower, dipping and wagon tanks, and poultry and stock watering troughs. They also install furnaces, do all kinds of galvanized-iron work and take contracts for metal roofing and eaves-troughing.

There are two large flour mills in the city, the McCann Milling Company and the Uhl-Snider Milling Company. Milling is one of the oldest industries of the city and has existed practically from the beginning of the county.

George M. Fries is engaged in the manufacture of drain tile and has one of the best equipped plants in the state. His plant was totally destroyed in the flood of 1913, but he immediately rebuilt and is now operating on a larger scale than before the flood. He was the originator of the State Association of Drain Tile Manufacturers. G. P. Ariens & Son have an extensive brick plant adjoining the city.

S60 Fayette County, Indiana

There are four lumber companies in the city : The Connersville Lumber Company, Fayette Lumber Company, Thomas H. Stoops Lumber Company and W. H. Sherry & Son.

Minor Industries

Ice cream and artificial ice are produced by the Bell Ice Cream Company. The Carnation Support Company manufactures and sells wire supports for flowers and also is engaged in jobbing in all kinds of floral supplies. The Connersville Ice Company manufactures distilled artificial ice and ice cream. J. L. Heinemann has been engaged in the manufacture of mirrors for nearly a quarter of a century and has one of the busiest plants in the city. He finds a ready market for his output in the furniture factories of Connersville and through the Lexington-Howard Company.

Connersville Business Directory

There have been enumerated more than a score of the larger industrial concerns of the city, but in addition to these are a number of other concerns engaged in manufacturing on a smaller scale. The city has its full share of bakers, confectioners, jewelers, milliners, monument makers, plumbers, photographers, tailors, tinners and wagon makers. There are the usijal number of department stores, grocery stores, dry-goods stores, hardware stores, drug stores, and the like, all of which are enumerated in the appended directory, which includes the various business and professional interests of Connersville in 191 7.

Clarence Roots

Walmer Company, notions. Waybright, Julia, second-hand goods. White Water Creamery Company. Whiteis, J. N., mechano-therapist. Williams, H. O., restaurant. WilHs, N. G., dentist.

The Connersville Of Today

What shall be said about Connersville as it appears today ? The city has made wonderful strides during the past decade, but in no one year has it shown a greater growth than in 19 16. The centennial year was epochal in many respects. Never before has the city seen such an era of constructive effort. In the industrial field the Connersville Manufacturing Company absorbed and occupied the plant of the Connersville Wheel Company, which had been in business fifteen years, adding altogether about one hundred per cent, to the Central Manufacturing Company's capacity for production. The Connersville Blower Works increased its capital stock from $400,000 to $750,000, and built a large brick addition to its machinery room, thereby adding fully one-third to its former capacity. The Lexington-Howard Company built a larg^e addition and reorganized its plant in such a way as to treble its output and at the same time greatly increase the efficiency of the departments already in operation. W. W. Wainwright & Son built a large two-story addition to their machine shops which increased their space by at least one-third. The Hoosier Casting Company, one of Connersville's newest industries, doubled its floor space with the building of a substantial annex, and installed a new system of operation which makes it a much more efficient plant.

The P. H. & F. M. Roots Company, the oldest manufacturing institution in the city as well as one of the largest, built an addition to one of its buildings. The installation of new machinery made a substantial increase possible in its output. This company, it might be stated, dates from 1859 and is the pioneer blower factory of the world. The Connersville Furniture Company erected an addition to its west building, increasing its plant by about one-sixth. The buildings of this plant alone cover about four acres.

The Dan Patch Novelty Company, organized in 1912 to manufacture novelty vehicles for children and toys of all kinds, was reorganized in 1916 and at the same time increased its capital stock to $100,000. It then acquired and occupied the Connersville Buggy Works, which had been established in 1883. It may be said that the European war was the direct cause of the re-organization of the compan\-. The National Moorish Tile Flooring Company, the newest concern in the city, was organized in 1916 by E. P. Hawkins and acquired the building formerly occupied by the carpet factory in East Connersville. The building was remodeled and enlarged in order to make it available for the needs of the new company.

While the industrial plants just enumerated have all expanded, many of the other factories of the city have added more men to their force in order to increase their output. All the factories of the city have been running on full time, some of them being in operation twenty-four hours a day. There have been no strikes and no lock-outs, but on the other hand there has existed the most friendly feeling between employers and employees.

Evidences Of Public Enterprise

This glance at the industrial life of Connersville during the year 1916 sets forth merely tlie outstanding, salient expansive movements. It can truly be said that there was a tremendous, almost dramatic quickening of the whole industrial system of the city during the year.

But the city did something else in 1916 which it never did before and which it will not do again for another hundred years. It conceived and held, with great success, a three-day centennial celebration which was one of the best of many held in the state during the year. Of course, the city did not do all of this itself; the citizens of the county had an active part in the celebration and contributed their full share toward its success. In the midst of all this industrial activity and stimulated by the centennial spirit, the city and county undertook the raising of fifty thousand dollars for the county hospital, and the fact that the amount was raised is a tribute to the thriftiness and generosity of a good people. It should be mentioned in this connection that the county during the year completed a magnificent county infirmary, at a cost of twenty-five thousand dollars.

Another evidence of the general prosperity enjoyed by the people of the city is shown by their desire to add street paving to the city. Since 1912, when the present program of concrete street paving was inaugurated, the city has paved many miles of its business and residence streets. The value of good roads is recognized by the rural dwellers as well as by his brother in the city, a fact which is shown by the paving of the road between the city and East Connersville, and Grand avenue from the city limits to Roberts park. The pedestal lighting system was extended in the business district and a new lighting contract entered into with the Hydro-Electric Light and Power Company. The water mains and sewer system were extended and sidewalk, curb and gutter improvements were made in all parts of the city.

With all of these industrial activities there was a greater demand than ever for men to work in the factories. The city reached a point during 1916 where it became imperative to increase housing facilities. During the year every house in the city was occupied, all the boarding houses and hotels were filled to overflowing, and workmen were often compelled to find quarters in nearby towns. But the business men of Connersville prepared to meet the situation by employing what was known as an interagent to serve without cost to the homeseeker, in assisting him to find a place to live. This group of business men, headed by E. W. Ansted, bought ground and let a contract for the construction of thirty-two rental houses to be built in the northwestern part of the city.

Church And School Expansion

But not only has the industrial life of the city been c]uickened; the churches and schools have taken on new life, and increased their efficiency as factors in the general movement for a better and bigger Connersville. The school board was compelled to build a large addition to the Maplewood school, an addition made necessary by the heavy increase of population in that part of the city. The manual training department of the high school was enlarged and many other improvements made in the schools in order to meet the growing requirements of the city's increased population. In the beginning of 1917 the city faced the probability of having to build another school house and there seems to be no doubt that the next year or two will see the erection of the fifth school building in. the city.

The fourteen churches of the city are doing their full share toward making a bigger and better Connersville. The many charitable and benevolent organizations are active in their respective fields. As the city faces the second century of its existence it seems to have all the factors necessary for a bright future. It is but one of thousands of cities of the same size in the country, but the people who call it home would like to have it said that it is the best. It takes people of the right sort to make a good city and Connersville has them in abundance. May the next century show as much progress as the last centurv.

The Postoffice

The first postoffice in Fayette county was established at Connersville on January 28, 1818, which was nearly a year before the county itself was established, the village being in Franklin county at the time that the postoffice started. It remained the only postoffice in the county for seven years, Waterloo, the second one established, dating from May 4, 1825. In fact, there were only three other postoffices in the county during the first ten \'ears <>f its history, the other three being at Bentonville, Everton and Harrislnirg. During the entire history of the coimty, covering a period of nearly one hundred years, there have been seventeen different postoffices established, but with the introduction of the rural free delivery of mail there are only five remaining: Connersville. Everton, Alpine, Falmouth and Bentonville. The discontinued offices are Alquina, Columbia, Ashland (later Nulltown), Orange, Bently, Waterloo, Springersville, Fairview, Harrisburg, Groves (later ]\lelrose), Lyons Station and Philpotts Mills (later Longwood). At the present time there are ten rural routes connected with the Connersville postoffice, two with Everton, and one each with Alpine, Bentonville and Falmouth. There are also routes from adjoining counties which furnish service in Fayette county, while some of those in Fayette county extend to adjoining counties.

All the mail which reached Fayette county before 1845 ^'^'^'^ brought in by the old stage coach or on horseback. During the life of the canal part of the mail was brought in by boat, but it was not until 1862 that the first mail reached the county by the railroad. As might be expected, there was no daily mail service to Connersville for several years after the postoffice was estaljlished. and even as late as 1833, the town received mail only three times a week. With the arrival of the daily packet on the canal Connersville was given daily mail service.

The first postoffice in the town was located in the store of Joshua Harlan, the storekeeper being the first incumbent of the office and serving as such from 1818 to 1822. In the early history of the town there was not much trouble in selecting a postmaster and it was not until the salary reached such proportions that the postmaster was able to devote all of his attention to the office that any difficulty was experienced in the selection of the i)ostmaster. For many years after the postoffice was established in 1818 the postmaster was compelled to engage in some other business in order to make enough for a living. The first postmaster to devote all of his time to the office was James H. Fearis, and since that time the office has been sufficiently remunerative to enable the incumbent to make a comfortable living without having to engage in any other business. Until the office was raised to the second class in 1889 the salary was dependent upon the amount of business transacted by the office, but since that year it has been on a definite salary basis, the present salary of the postmaster being two thousand seven hundred dollars. For many years the postmaster performed all the duties of the office, but as the business increased it became necessary to provide assistants, the first assistant appearing in 1861. At the present time there are twenty-six employees in the office and seven city carriers. The city carrier service was inaugurated on December i, 1889, the same year the office was raised from the third to the second class. On December i, 1904, the first rural routes were established in connection with the local office and others have been added from time to time until in 191 7 there were ten rural carriers radiating from the county seat.

The postoffice has been located at several different places during the last ninety-nine years and has been at its present site since 191 1. In that vear it was moved from 408 Central avenue to the newly completed stone structure which stands at the corner of Eighth street and Central avenue. This handsome building with the site cost sixty-five thousand dollars. In the same year, August 21, 1911, the postal-savings department was estabhshed in the local office.

The early pioneers in the village of Connersville were aware of the advantages of a library and as early as 182D a circulating library was in operation in the little hamlet. This little library was only to act as the forerunner of greater possibilities and to prepare the way for future activities in the ultimate establishment of a permanent library. In 1825 the f ayette county library, containing one hundred and fifty-one volumes, was opened to the public and was under the management of a board of trustees who were very generous in providing that the library should be open every Saturday afternoon from one to six o'clock. The secretary gave notice in the weekly paper, the Observer, that there were volumes in the library to suit the taste and inquiries of all. The librarian further said that she hoped that the citizens would avail themselves of the advantages of the library and that all citizens over sixteen years of age might draw books In- gi\ing bond and security and the payment of fifty cents a \ear. The library was located in the court house.

A free reading room was maintained by the manufacturers and other business men during the later part of the year 1890, and continued as a reading room until the latter part of October, 1893. ^^^^ R- Williams was the custodian and after his death the vacancy was filled by Alexander James.

On October 2, 1893, '-- petition from Creighton \Vright and others for the establishment of a jiublic library was presented to the city council, the members of which were \V. J. Cain, D. V. Phillips, \\'. T. Cortleyou, William Merrill, Thomas Clark and Peter Lonmel. William F. Downs was the mayor. The petition was referred to the committee on education, composed of William Merrill, D. G. Phillips and Thomas Clark. On October 16 the committee reported the adoption of the petition and I. B. Young was appointed to appraise the contents of the reading room.

By a unanimous vote the council decided to make a special tax assessment of one-half of one mill for the maintenance of the new librarw \\'. F. L. Sanders, L. L. Broaddus and Creighton Wright were appointeil directors until the regular meeting in June, 1894, At this meeting, held on June 4, 1894, Mazzie Maffett, librarian, and the trustees reported that the lihrarv contained six hundred and thirty-five volumes, one hundred and tiiirty-nine membership cards and a treasury deficit of twenty-five dollars and sixtveight cents. On June 3, 1895, the amount for the maintenance of the library was raised to five hundred and thirty-eight dollars and sixty-.seven cents a year.

At the council meeting of April 26, 1907, resolutions were drafted on the death of Creighton Wright and Charles Mount, and the removal from the city of J. N, Huston, Herman Munk and Austin Ready, who had been directors of the library. The following persons were appointed to fill the vacancies: Mrs. Lillian Wilson Beck. Katharine Heron, Mrs. Kate Beeson, J. H. Fearis and Andrew Rieman.

Incorporation Of The Library

The present library was incorporated under the laws of Indiana on April 29, 1907, and the old library dissolved. The charter was surrendered and the transfer of the library to the city of Connersville was made with the understanding that the city should accept said property and assume the management of the same. Thereupon the board of directors resigned. On April 30 Mayor F. I. Barrows accepted the property on behalf of the city.

At that time a law was in force by which the school trustees, the circuit judge and the city council could appoint library trustees. Accordingly, on May 7, 1907, Judge Gray appointed Mrs. Lillian Beck and Katharine Heron; the school trustees appointed W. F. L. Sandeis, Alfred H. McFarlan and Mrs. Clara E. Carlos; the city council, L. L. Broaddus and R. G. Wait. Mr. Wait shortly resigned and Mrs. Elizabeth Claypool Earl was appointed to fill the vacancy.

When the decision of the court became known that the Con well sc|uare had been divided into lots and was for sale at various prices, Mrs. John Wilkin and Mrs. Flora R. Beeson, the latter a director in the old library, conceived the idea of buying a site for a library. Up to this time the libraries had been housed in rented property. At the invitation of Mrs. Florea Beeson, six ladies representing the same number of literary clubs of the city, met at the home of Mrs. Wilkin and formed the Library Site Association. Katharine Heron was appointed to consult with P. L. Heeb, trustee of the Conwell estate, in regard to the purchase of a site. As a result an option was taken on the property now occupied by the library at a total cost of six thousand two hundred and ten dollars. Much opposition was encountered and many discouraging things arose to hinder the work in securing the needed funds. After a thorough campaign of the city had been made the sum of two thousand eight hundred and sixty-six dollars and sixty-four cents was collected and the sum of four thousand dollars subscribed. While in dire distress Lafayette Conwell and wife came to the rescue and donated the sum of four hundred and fifty dollars, and the library board loaned the site association the balance. As a result the site association acquired the deed to lot No. 10, of the Conwell Homestead block on November 16, 1907.

ground for tlie library. The remainder of the necessar\- sum was l)orrowed from four of the Connersville banks. After all debts liad i)een cancelled negotiations were opened with Andrew Carnegie for the purpose of getting a donation with which to build a library building. Twent\- thousand dollars was asked for but only seventeen thousand fi\e hundred dollars was received at this time.

The plans of Dunlap & Glossup. of Indianapolis, were accepted and tiie conducted with Masonic ceremonies. Chalmers Hadley, secretary of the Indiana library commission, delivered the principal address. To Katharine Heron, secretary of the board of trustees, was given the honor of laying the tirst lirick of the building.

On the afternoon of March 25, 1909, the library Iniilding was formallydedicated, the exercises consisting of a musical program, and addresses by Professor Sanders and Jacob P. Dunn, of Indianapolis.

Instead of the usual title, "Carnegie Public Library," we have over the main entrance "Public Library" and on the bronze tablets on each side of the doorway one reads as follows :

On Friday, March 26. 1909, the first books of our present public hbrary were placed in circulation. For the month of January. 19 17, two thousand nine hundred and two books passed over the desk of the librarian, most of the books being read by children. What a contrast between the vears 1917 and 1825 when no one under sixteen years of age could "draw a book."

The trustees of the present Hbrary board consist of the following: L. L. Broaddus, president; Mrs. E. C. Earl, vice-president; W. F. L. Sanders, secretary; Katharine Heron. Mrs. John Carlos, Alfred H. McFarlan and Mrs. Huston D. Fearis. Isabell Ball is the present librarian, she having held the position for many years.

Commercial Club

The organization of the present Connersville Commercial Club dates from June 13, 1906, but it is not the first organization of the citizens of Connersville along similar lines. Nearly forty years ago there was an organization known as the Board of Trade which was organized for the same general purpose as prompted the organization of the present Commercial Club. As early as 1880 the business men of the city felt the need of some kind of an organization, and the Board of Trade came into e"xistence as the result of this feeling.

While the records of the old Board of Trade have disappeared, along with practically all of the members who were associated with it in its earlier history, yet it is known that it labored valiantly for the best interests of Connersville during the decade of its career. Such men as William Newkirk, James N. Huston, William Beck, William Wherrett, F. M. Roots, J. B. McFarlan, B. F. Claypool and A. B. Claypool were the prime movers in this first organization. Within a year or two after it came into existence E. V. Hawkins, then the superintendent of the old Indiana Furniture Company, first became identified with the organization, and it was due to the encouragement of some of the members that he was enabled to organize the Connersville Furniture Company in 1882. Mr. Hawkins is one of the very few members of the first organization left in the city.

The Board of Trade evidently passed out of existence sometime before 1888; at least, a notice in the local papers of January, 1888, states that it had just been reorganized. The meetings of the organization had been held in the room in the Palace Hotel now occupied by the barber shop, but just where the meetings were held after 1888 is not known. The Board of Trade was followed sometime in the early nineties by an organization formed along somewhat the same lines, the Manufacturers' Club. This club, as the name indicates, was devoted primarily to the interests of those engaged in manufacturing, and did not include the retail dealers of the city. Just when the Manufacturers' Club ceased its active career is not known, but it was prior to 1906 and very likely sometime previous to that year. Since no official records are available to show what the club did, it is impossible to determine when it lost its usefulness.

Good Work Of Francis

The present Commercial Club owes its origin largely to the inspiration of Francis T. Roots. He had been endeavoring to effect an organization of all the business men of the city for some time prior to the actual beginning of the duh in 1906. To this end he planned a trip for fifty business men of the city to Muncie, Indiana, where such an organization as he hoped to establish in Connersville was ill successful operation. He chartered a special train and the party spent two days and one night on - a junketing trip, each member of the party contributing ten dollars to bear the expense of the trip. They were welcomed by the Commercial Club of Muncie and shown over the city. The result of the trip was the organization of the present Commercial Club on June 13, 1906.

The first ofticers of the club were as follows : iM-ancis T. Roots, president; W. L. Cortelyou, vice-president; R. N. Elliott, secretary; J. E. Huston, treasurer. A permanent house committee composed of E. P. Hawkins, A. E. Leiter and W. L. Cortelyou was appointed to equip the club rooms. The first quarters were in the auditorium building, wliere the club continued to live until the present quarters were occupied in November, 19 16. The new club rooms, six in number, are in the Stewart building on East Fifth street. They contain a billiard room, reception room, reading room, business room and a large banquet hall, as well as rooms for other purposes.

It would take several pages to tell what the Commercial Club has done for the city of Connersville, and only a brief survey of its lalx)rs can be enumerated in this connection. Practically every business man of the city is a member, while there are a large number of farmers from all parts of the county who have atfiliated with the organization, tiie club now having. a membership of about five hundred. The membership is open to every honest, upright male citizen of the county who is interested in the vital welfare of his city and county. The club rooms are open at all times to every organization in Connersville, whether composed of men or women. The rooms are also open to every member, days and evenings, Sunday excepted, and a porter is always present to attend to the various wants of all who mav visit the rooms.

Social Aims Of The Club

Entertainments of exceptional merit are often given and elaborate banquets held, at which orators of national reputation discourse on subjects of general interest. No less a personage than the late Elbert Hubbard was once a speaker at one of these banquets and paid a glowing tribute to the work of the organization. A part of the "Little Journey to Connersville," which appeared as a result of Hubbard's visit to the city is given as the concluding part of this article. George Randolph Chester was also a speaker on one occasion, and the particular feature of the evening of his appearance was the fact that one of the local members. Earl Williams, a member of the Nezi.'s staff, recited an original poem which is remembered as the best thing of its kind ever produced in the county. Even the inimitable Chester rose to his feet and announced that he had no chance to display his talents against such a speaker. Nor is Williams the only member of the club who is able to meet all foreign speakers in their own field. The first president, Mr. Roots, was a recognized orator of high rank. E. V. Hawkins, another of tiie club's presidents, is a very able speaker, and his son, E. P. Hawkins, is a worthy follower of his father. E. W. Tatman is another local member who can face an audience with something to say. And there are others who are able to entertain in a most acceptable manner.

It is the aim of the Commercial Club to work in harmonioiis conjunction with the city and county ofiticials, thus looking to the betterment of the civic, industrial and commercial interests of Connersville and Fayette county. It is also their earnest endeavor to be of assistance to the retail merchants of the city in the improvement of local merchandizing conditions. There is a close personal relationship between the city and farming interests, a feeling which is largely the result of the mingling of the urban and rural members in the regular meetings of the club.

There is probably no better expression which may be used to describe the club than the one which has been so often applied to it - "live wire." This apt expression is fully descriptive of the club and its members, each one of whom is vitally interested in the present and future progress and prosperity of Connersville and of the county of which that city is the county seat. Its ofticers, directors, committees and members have worked to build up an organization strong and forceful enough to make it a potent factor in the welfare of the citv and countv. It has no selfish ends to serve and no pet schemes to foster. It is free from any alliances save and except the development of all the resources of the city and county, and expects to continue as in the past an active agency for the welfare, growth and happiness of the communit}'.

Present Ofi'Icers Of The Club

For the past two years the president of the club has been E. P. Hawkins, one of the younger business men of the city, a son of one of the oldest manufacturers in the city, and himself active in the life of the club since it started. Mr. Hawkins is one of those men who radiate enthusiasm all the time, a man from whose boundless energy others derive inspiration. Under his administration the centennial celebration was held and he is conceded to have been the guiding genius behind the whole affair. He has been untiring in his work in behalf of the interests of the Commercial Club, and he deserves a credit for the fine showing it has made during the two years of his presidency, though the same may be said of every president since the club was founded. Mr. Hawkins was succeeded early in 191 7 by Arthur Dixon, another young man of boundless energy, and as well a patient detail worker.

The officers of the club in January, 1917, are as follows : Arthur Dixon, president; M. L. Hull, vice-president; E. P. Hawkins, treasurer; J. A. Remington, executive secretary. These officers with the addition of Judge Raymond S. Springer, B. G. Powell, A. J. Roth, G. L. Brown. B. M. Barrows and J. C. Mount, constitute the board of directors. The directors are supplemented by thirteen committees who ha\e their various duties prescribed by the by-laws of the club.

Commercial Club Boys' Band

One of the achievements of the Commercial Club is the organization of a boys band, a musical organization which, although but one year old, has already made a name for itself. On January i, 1916, the club entered into a contract with J. W. Young, of Bethel, Ohio, to come to the city and organize a boys" band. Mr. Young and his wife are both accomplished musicians, and the success which lias attended their efforts in the city is astonishing. Within a year a band of thirty-six members has been organized and the boys have been trained to the point where they can play all kinds of classical and popular music. ^Ir. Young has arranged the orchestration (37) of a large number of the selections the boys play. Three times each week since January, 191 6, he has met with the band, and on very few occasions has there been a single member absent from practice. He goes to the homes of the members and gives them individual instruction, and in this way has been able to build up a band in a remarkably short time. His wife also assists in giving individual instruction and herself plays in the band. Most of the members are under fifteen years of age, the youngest member, Edward K. Hawkins, being only eight years of age. The band gave a concert last year which was a pronounced success, and intends to give one again in the early part of 1917. The members have been fitted out with handsome uniforms by the Lexington-Howard Company, while the caps were given by the Commercial Club.

The membership of the band is as follow: J. W. Young, director; cornets, Carl Stoll, Harry Reeder, Lindley Clark, Burdette Walker, Howard Schneider, Donald Schneider, Paul Davis, Bertwin Keller, James Nash, William Snyder; trombones, Earl Reeder, Rupert Hubbard, Frank Hendrickson, William Cloud; baritone, Schubert Tate; basses, Basil Hubbard, Russel Campbell, Theodore Rockwell; tenor, Talcot Keller; piccolo, Glen Johnson; saxaphone, Ralph Riggs; altoes, Arthur Neal, Mrs. J. W. Young, Luke Beeson, John McDonough, Dale Flint and Edward K. Hawkins; clarinets, Thomas Clark, Keith Veatch, Marion Smith, James Fettig, Arthur Deaton, Cecil Altenbach, Walter Bradford, Almon Hall, Joseph Obrecht, John Weilman; drums, Roland DeVor, Edward Stone, Caswell McNaughton. All the members of the band are now in the public schools of the city with the exception of Mrs. Young, the wife of the leader. Earl Reeder, Rupert and Basil Hubbard, Walter Bradford, Roland DeVor, Paul Davis and Theodore Rockwell.

In the fall of 1914 the late Elbert Hubbard, one of America's gi-eatest globetrotters and a man whose descriptions of places and things are known wherever the English language is spoken, paid a visit to the city of Connersville. He had written of "journeys" to famous cities all over the world,, and it is said that no city as small as Connersville was ever included in the long list of cities which he has chosen as fit subjects for his celebrated "Little Journeys." Be that as it may, he came to Connersville in 1914, and as a result of his brief sojourn here he gave to the world one of his inimitable classics - "A Little Journey to Connersville." It seems particularly appropriate to insert that part of his brochure which relates to the city proper. It follows:

Recently I attended a banquet of the Commercial Club at Connersville, Indiana. In all, I attended about a hundred banquets, luncheons and "get-together" talkfests during the year. A few of these I remember.

This Connersville bunch was a little different from any company that I have ever met with. The men present looked like ball-players. They were a sober, slim, earnest lot, who had cut out the booze and bromide, the foibles and the frills, and were there to get ideas, if by chance any were dropped from the oratorical Zeppelin. Here was a town of ten thousand people - the county seat of Fayette county.

A hundred of the members were farmers. When you get three hundred intelligent men in a town of ten thousand people to get together at a luncheon, you are doing something very unusual. And I s;iw I was in the presence of an unusual crowd - happy, healthy, bronzed, good-natured, out-of-door men.

Oratory is a collaboration between the speaker and the listener. In fact, the listeners key the caloric, and any audience that does not get much, probably receives what it deserves.

At this banquet the waiters were members of the club. All members under twentyfive years of age are liable to be conscripted. Any man in the Connersville Commercial Club who is requested to do a thing is never asked twice. The rule is imperative. And yet it is not a written rule, but the idea is abroad that any man who is requested to do a certain thing for the Commercial Club, the town, the county or the state is complimented, and shall obey without back-talk, criticism or questioning.

And in all my attendance at banquets I have never yet known of an instance where the members acted as waiters and did the so-called "menial work". And yet John Kuskiu said that menial work was the only work that was necessary - the rest was superfluity.

This banquet was in charge of one of the members, and he had drafted into his service anybody whose services he needed. The hall was beautifully festooned with autumn foliage and wild flowers - goldenrod, wild asters of a dozen varieties, climbing clematis, sumac, and rustling oak-leaves. The tables had pyramids of apples and grapes. The whole thing was bounteous as a harvest festival. Many of the good things were home-grown, and were provided by the farmers present, free of cost.

The big auditorium where the banquet was held is owned by a stock company, all of whom are enthusiastic members of the Commercial Club. Thi.s company also owns the theatre underneath, aud in the building enough offices are rented to cover the "overhead". Do not feel sorry for Connersville.

Connersville has the look of prosperity. It is the proud boast of the town that it has more miles of good pavement per capita than any other town in America. I would rather accept the proposition than dispute it, and it looks to me as if the statement were well within the limit. This thriving little city is situated amidst a wealth of foliage. Beeches, sycamores and maples give it a freshness and a beauty that are delightful.

On taking a little run out into the country I discovered that the multiplicity of peaches, pears, melons and sweet potatoes with which the tables were burdened the night before, were so cheap and plentiful that they could be had almost for the asking.

Connersville is beautifully lighted with cluster lamps and a multiplicity of electric signs. The show windows along the streets reveal a degree of art which one does not look for in a country county seat. Prosperity without affluence was evident on every hand. In Connersville you will look in vain for slums. Here is neither poverty nor riches. And there is work for everybody who wants to work. You can always tell a house that is owned by the man who lives in it. Renters are a careless lot.

Backyards reveal character. And my guide, I noticed, was rather proud of sending his automobile up alleys, which were paved with brick. And these rides through the alleys revealed to me the backyards, which were free from lumber, g.-irbage, trash - many of them devoted to flowers, others to vegetables, some with delightful stretches of soft, smooth lawn.

In a bird's-eye view of the town in a run of an hour we counted twenty-two distinct factories. Most of these factories were one-story - some of them with sawtooth roof - built of concrete or brick. Some of the factories were situated in little parks, with a forest of catalpa trees, foliage plants, and well-kept hedges surrounding them.

And usually there were concrete roadways. The railroad folks, even, had caught it, for the station, I noticed, was built of art brick, with warm, red-tile roof.

The Connersville Business Men's Exchange was organized by A-. Bogue of Rushville in February, 19 16. The purposes of the exchange, as defined in the prospectus, are to assist members in the collection of accounts; to assist debtors in paying them; to protect members against spurious advertising schemes, and to strengthen the community by unity of action.

The offices are located in the Jemison building, Central avenue. A. E. Leiter is president; John G. Powell, vice-president; Ellen Tressler, treasurer, and A. Bogue, secretary. The board of directors includes the foregoing officers and Frank Hassler, F. B. Holter, H. L. Rouse, William Luking, Fred Heeb and Vernon Henry. In February, 191 7, the membership was seventy.

Some Historic Landmarks

In the history of every city there are certain landmarks marking the progress of its growth and Connersville is no exception to this rule. The appended list of dates and events sums up very briefly some important landmarks in the history of the city. The list might be extended indefinitely, but the facts enumerated will give at a glance most of the important events of the city.

1869 - Connersville became a city as a result of the election held on June 16, 1869, when three hundred votes out of three hundred sixty-five voted in favor of making the change.