Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, January 18, 1912, Page 1

R BEMIDJI ILY PIONEE VOLUME 9. NUMBER 222. TELLS HOW BEMIDJI HAS WON VICTORIES American Lumberman, in Unexpect- ed Article, Bares City’s Fight for Two Railways. RED LAKE AND S00 FORCED IN In Each Instance Land Had to Be Given. Right of Way for Both Being Inducement. | | MARKET DAY ALSO PRAISED: | Writer Declares Stores Here Carry, Stocks Not to Be Evpected in Town of This Size. i Under the caption, “How a Com-| mercial club Got Two Railvoads for | Its Town.” the current issue of the! Ameriean Lumberman, a publication of mational ecirculation and high| standing. has the following, which ' comes as a complete surprise to the! cial club whick or- not know that the! contemplated a write-! zation did ani Lumberman up: } i | Captured is Correct. i me of the things towns, even| the smaller ones, can accomplish by etic and well directed effert are! cuer forcefully illustrated in the case of| semidji, Minn. | “This town of 6,000 population, | by its industry and persistence as manifested through the medium of u commereial club, captured for it-| sell two Important railroads. “Captured is the correct term to use, for it was a case of winning by | fighting, by persisting till two big corporations were won over to do| things they at first were positive they did not want to do, nor would do. “The cases can be best taken in the order of their arising. Roads Would Bring Good Trade. “A line known as the Minnesota, ted Lake & Manitoba railroad ran through Nebish, distant eight or ten miles from Bemidj: The road tap-| ped the Red River reservation sec- tion, which had a very rich trade. “Bemidji wanted this trade, or at least a goodly share ol it. It was evident the two, the trade and the railroad, went together, so the town resolved on an effort to get the road. ‘since its officials had not of their own initiative seen fit to consider building into Bemidji, it was appar- ent that this was not a case when the saying ‘Ask and it shall be given you' applied. Town Gives Terminals. “With (his fact before them the| movers in the plan set themselves to the task of shaping up inducements the railroad company. To to oft summarize the efforts in this direc- tion, it resulted in Bemidji propos- of cost to tl\e,‘ ing to furnish free road @ right of way in from Nel and land for terminals in Bemidji. © “Rarly in the negotiations the men had convinced the company of their sh | earnestness and this definite, gener: ous proposition convinced it of their the road sincerity. Bemidji won, : 12 to build in. he town performed its obliga- tions under the compact to the let- ter. Some of the right of way was given by the public spirited owners of the land but much had to be bought. A total of $12,000 was raised and expended for the purpose. agreei $2 for Everyone Here. “That was equivalent to more than $2 for every man, woman and child in the town. “Yet Bemidji never hesitated in the bargain, nor has it ever for an hour rued it. “The other case was that of the Soo line. These people were going to build up through the territory but the surveys-of the engineers had tak- en the proposed line ten miles from Bemidji. “As soon as this became known the commercial club became active. It sent a delegation to the headquar- ters of the company in St. Paul. The officials received it . courteously enough but lost no time in making plain the fact that they would not consider building into Bemidji. “‘But,” urged the delegation, ‘we have an important town which it will pay you to include in your sys- tem. Additional towns are additional assets to a railroad.” ““True,’” replied the gemeral man- ager, ‘but we don’t have to take your particular town. Where one road Tuns near you we can start a town of our own wherein we will not have to compete with other roads.’ Fight Waxes Warm. “The general manager's statement increased the determination of Be- midji in its fight for the road. The wossibility of another town springing up so near to compete with it for the trade of the surrounding coun- try was alarming. - “The commercial club set to work, harder than ever, planning other. ways to further its fight for the road. Day after day the situation was can- vassed for every possible opportunity it afforded. Among other things the club hit on the idea of obtaining facts and figures showing the extent | of the freight business at Bemidji. When this work was finisheq the town felt elated angw. The figures showed the annual business to be very considerable. Business Statistics Presented. “To St. Paul went a committee bearing to the Soo officials there thesefigures from which it hoped so much. i “Nor was the committee disap- pointed. Where general statements and arguments had failed this defi- nite (angible information received serious consideration. The railroad receded from its former unreasoning position to the extent of agreeing ‘to look the town over. i “When the road finally agreed to| build into the town.it was with the | understanding that Bemidji would furnish free to it a right of way within the city limits. “This had been Bemidji’s proposi- | tio Again the town went to work raising money to buy the needed land. The sum of $16,000 was raised but because of selfish owners having boosteq the prices of their land this amount fell far short of paying for all the right of way needed. “Finding itself unable to raise more, the commercial club made a frank statement of the situation to the railroad people. The result was the Soo went on and paid for the re- mainder of the needed-land itself. The sum thus expended the rail- road was about equal to that the town had paid out, yet the circum- stance engendered no ill feeling or dissatisfaction on the part of the company. The manifest sincerity of the town’s efforts had so favorably impressed the officials that they stood ready to forgive the failure to raise the entire amount. “These are the two chief instances showing how Bemidji has profited through the united co-operative ef- forts of its business men. Other Work of the Club, “There are others. “For exdmple, the commercial club played an active part.in putting through to success a project to es- tablish a creamery in the town. It has exceeded all expectations, how- ever rosy-hueq they were. Only the other day the board of directors of the concern met and voted to keep it running all winter through in vio- lation of the custom in vogue at many points of closing during the winter months. “The creamery can not supply its trade, though it buys all the cream offered it, and produces a great quan- tity of butter. Co-operating with County in Road Work. “The commercial club has for a matter of five years or more follow- ed a plan of co-operating with the county in the road work. Cash con- tributions are made to the fund. That the club has continued in this prac- tice year after year shows the mer- chants are fully alive to the import- ance of good roads. “Let one talk with them about the matter and they readily declare they believe they have profited handsome- ly in added trade for the momey they have spent on the roads. Market Days Established. “Bemidji is one of the towns that has made use of a ‘market day’ in drawing the farmer trade in. “Several market days have been held, the last being October 12, They will be resumed in the spring on an even more pretentious scale. “The event was advertised in a most thorough way. The newspa- pers carried special advertising and the merchants using ' automobiles {went out through the country dis- tributing bills and posters and talk- ing with the farmers and the farm- ers’ wives in person. | prices for the occasion and a system of prize giving was conducted. “The farmers were guaranteed a | commercial club furnishing auction- eers. s “That no man’s goods might go un- sold, the club was prepared to buy the stuff itself if necessary. How- — R e (Continued on last page) | “All the merchants made special | market for all they might bring in. | The stuff was sold at auction, the| BEMIDJI, MINNESOTA, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 18 1912. FIRE LOSSES BEING QUICKLY ADJUSTED Minneapolis Representative Makes Three Satisfactory Settlements in Less Than 24 Hours. . $4,237 IN CASH FOR COMINSKY Schneider Brothers, Who Owned Three of Burned Buildings, Allow- ed Loss of $6,200. ‘PLATE GLASS DAMAGE $395| Work of Clearing Away Debris of Flames to Begin When Cool Enough to Handle. Losses as a result of the Satur- day night’s fire, when five two-story frame buildings were consumed on { Minnesota avenue and Third street, i are being rapidly adjusted. Yesterday at 3:30 p. m., J. E. Staf- ford of Minneapolis, state agent and adjuster for the London and Lan- cashire Insurance company, arrived in Bemidji from Duluth. Work Compfeted Before Noon. Before noon today he not only had adjusted the claims of Charles Com- insky, whose clothing store was de- stroyed and who carried insurance of which Miss L. L. Berman is agent and for which agency Mr. Stafford primarily came to Bemidji, but had, at the request of other companies, adjusted the Schneider brothers loss- es and the plate glass window loss of the Charles Nangle Department store, Cominsky Gets His Money. 1t took but a short time for Mr. Stafford to complete his investigation of the Cominsky loss and as a re- sult Mr. Cominsky was handed a draft for $4,237.33. Schneider brothers were awarded $6,200, an adjustment as satisfac- tory to them as was the adjustment of Mr. Cominsky’s loss to him. Plate Glass Damage $395. As a result of the breaking of the Nangle windows, directly across the street from the Saturday night fire, the insurance company has allowed damages to the extent of $395. The Commercial club windows on the east side all were broken and the amount paid Mr. Nangle include this loss. Other insurance companies busy adjusting their losses. are Debris Soon to Be Cleared. As soon as the weather will per- mit the work of clearing away the ruins of the burned buildings will begin. Up to the present, however, it has been impossible to work in the debris as melted metal and smolder- ing coal have kept the ruins too hot to permit workmen from entering them. BELTRAMI - GETS $1,200 LOAN Gets School Cash from State ; Other Counties Participate. Loans aggregating . $81,003, to school districts, towns and counties, have been approved by the state in- vestment board. Pennington county to cover the floating indebtedness created when it organized a little more than a year ago was given $35,- 903. Redwood Falls in Redwood county was loaned $19,000 for a wa- terworks system. Thevillage of Mountain Lake in Cottonwood county was given $8,- 000 with which to repair its water- works system and construct a new wall. 4 Other loans were as follows: School District County No. 205, Stearns . No. 63, Beltrami No. 92, Martin . Amount $1,600 1,200 A single square yard of leaf sur- tace, counting both the upper and the ‘under sides of the leaves, can, under favorable circumstances; de- acid in a day. . Ry with the Bemidji Insurance agency | 600 No. 90, Swift .. 1,300 No. 72, Swift ....... 400 No. 68, Kandiyohi 2,600 No. 54, Aitkin . 1,200 No. 1, Lincoln 4,000 No. 2, Aitkin ....... 1,000 No. 106, Crow Wing . 1,800 No. 29, Stevens 800 No. 101, Aitkin 2,200 | compose at least a.gallon of carbonic{ (Copyright, 1912.) BANKERS ATTEND BANQUET { Crookston By Stephens; $6,500,- 000 -Capital Represented. CRY OF POLITICS IS RAISED A. P. White and W. L. Brooks of this eity were guests at a banquet glven in Crookston Tuesday evening, described by 'the “Fimes of :that clty as“tollows: e : “A. D. Stephens of the Merchants National Bank, was host to 39 prom- inent bankers of Northern Minneso- ta, and the officers and directors of the Merchants National Bank, in ad- Bemidji Men Attend Feast Given in| . dition at an elaborate banquet served at the Hotel Crookston. “The financial importance of the Buests may be estimated from the fact that the capital and surplus of the bankg represented $820,330, and total deposits of $5,744,102.64, and a combined capital, surplus and de- posits of $6,664,432.64. “There ‘were rumors of politics rife, and Mr. Step™ens was called up by some of the St Yaul and Minne- apolis papers to éarn the signifi- cance of the gathering, but he re- fused to talk politics, claiming that the gathering was a social one pure and simple, with no politics or bus- iness attachments. “Mr. Stephens insisted this was true today, and laughed when sug- gestions were made regarding Kais- er for state treasurer, or A. D. Steph- ens for governor if Gorden, Lee, et al, should trip up Eberhart. He said he just wanted to entertain his bank- er friends from surrounding towns and would have liked to include his Crookston friends, but could not, as they could not all be accommodated at once, and there was no way of di- viding them up. “The out of town guests were: Lewis Lohn, First National Bank, Fosston; L. W. Larson, First State Bank, Fosston; J. Lade, First State, Fosston; A. P. Hanson, and Ed. Mos- sefin, Citizens State, Fertile; H. L. Melgaard, Farmers & Merchants, Ar- gyle; K. T. Wang, Scandinavian Am- er. State, Badger; H. L. Wood, First National, Warren; C. Wittenstein, Swedish-Amer. State, Warren; S. 8. Standsvold, First National, Fosston; T. Lundevall, State Bank, Green- bush; A. P. White, and W. L. Brooks, Northern National Bfnk, Bemidji; T. E. Rider, First State, Sheylin; Os- car Sponheim, People’s State, Thief River Falls; T. L. Melgaard and C. L. Hanson, Citizens’ State, Thief Riv- er Falls; A. Stark, First State, Gul- ly; Chas. Johnson, Citizens State, Hallock; J. A. Duffy, Merchants State, Red Lake Falls; A. Kaliser, and Sam Bugge, First National, Bag- ley; L. Jenson, State Bank, Clear- brook; C. M. Berg, and Geo. A. Bieto, First National, McIntosh; Jos. Tag- ley, First State, . Mentor; Norman Rosholt, State Bank, Climax; L. S. Kolden, State Bank, Nielsville; B. L. Backe, Holt State Bank, Holt?’ i The Bemidji ‘Council No, 46 of Modern Samaritans will hold instal- lation of officers this evening in the L 0. 0. F. hall, : his f : Frohn Widow Gets $30 in Cash as : In order to get a fair partner : as a companion at lunch and at : : the same time add to a fund be- : : children to support, the German : : and Scandinavian residents of : : the town of Frohn purchased : : neckties at astonishing prices. ¢ As a result, Mrs, Frank Olson, : : the widow, received a purse con- : : taining $30.05. 2 2 The gathering was held at the : : home of Ole Vosen. H 2 The young women, and ot- : + hers, brought necktles, and : : these more or ~less usetul ad- : juncts to man’s wardrobe were : : auctioned, the men receiving the : tie being joined at lunch by the : person. who brought the neck- ¢ tie. About 75 persons were pres- : ent. K oeerinann WRITES OF TRIALS IN TEXAS A. M. Prudden, Former Resident of Bemidji, Tells of Loss From Frost. In a private communication to Dr. E. H. Smith, of this city, A. M. Prud- den, a former resident of Bemidji, but now located at Winnie, Texas, says: “We had a very unusual freeze on November 12, which froze our sweet potatoes and cabbage and it caught me for ten acres of potatoes and six acres of cabbage. I do not expect to gather a dollar’s worth of stuff off this land. It makes it bad as these were our main crops. We have had a very wet season; so wet that we have been unable to get into the fields and what crops were not frozen are rotting. We like the climate very much but the land is poor. We have worked hard for three years and are worse off than when we started.” PLAYING CROOKSTON = TODAY Bemidji Hockey Team, in Good Con- dition, Goes Into Match Contest. The Bemidji Hockey Team left last night for Crookston where they are to meet the Crookston Hockey team this afternoon. The Bemidji boys are in good shape for playing though they have been unable to practice for some time owing to the cold weather.” Those who went are as follows: Tom Neuton, captain, who will play right wing, Chas. En- gelbert, who. plays center, M. La- Bounty, who plays left wing, C. Bod- in, rover, E. DeRushia, ¢. point, Rube Ripple, point, and T. Scarrot, goal, Douglas Donald, sub. Chas. Engelbert and Douglas Donald left this afternoon. The team will re- turn tomorrow on the noon train. Walter RBigenach returned last week from a trip to White Pine where the McGrath logging opera- tions are under way. They are cut ting 12. million feet of pine and 2 million feet of hardwood this season and employ 550 men and 270 horses. The longest haul is 12 miles and they are using six and eight horse teams with double and triple loads. ' Mr. McGrath has leased the mill but is delivering all logs to it under con: tract. It is estimated that it wil ‘A man {8 generally at hig heaviest|fe Result of Unique Necktie Party : | : ing raised for a widow with five : ; Bonynge Discusses Tonight Present Panic Producing Influences and How Get Rid of Them. BURKE URGES BIG ATTENDANCE Will this country ever again go through a panfc? “Not if the proper monetary re- forms are effected,” answers Robert ‘W.Bonynge, -the - finaneial expert who is in Bemidji- to give & free talk at the City Hall tonight. Mr. Bonynge, who arrived in Min- nessota Monday for a series of six talks only, spoke last night in Brain- erd where he was enthusiastically re- ceived. In a cleverly clear and concise manner Mr. Bonynge talks of the present financial system and after diagnosing.them with daring dexter- ity, launches into the proposed rem- edy. “It is a thing we all ought to study,” today said Thomas J. Burke, president of the Bemidji Commercial club under whose auspices Mr. Bony- nge comes, “because the welfare of every individual is affected. If a plan has been devised, or can be de- vised, which will prevent the com- mercial stagnation which has halted the business of the country at per- jods in the past, leaving a trail of wrecked business and empty: dinner pails, we should do our part in bring- ing such reform about. It seems to me that the coming of Mr. Bonynge is an auspicious occasion and I sin- cerely hope that our people will rea- lize the good fortune which brings so competent and illustrious a speak- er here.” The speaking will begin at the City Hall at 8 o’clock. The Commer- cial- club wishes to emphasize the fact that there is no politics in con- nection with the address and that there will be no cost, admittance to the hall being entirely free. KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS INSTALL Pinehurst Temple Also Seats New Of- ficers; Social Session Held. The Knights of Pythias and the members of the Pinehurst Temple, the K. P, auxiliary No. 34, held a joint meeting Tuesday night in the Elk’s Club Rooms. After the instal- lation of officers a social session was held. The officers installed in the Pinehurst Temple lodge were past chief, Ida H. Bailey; M. E. C., Anna Harris; senior, Mrs. A. A. Carter; junior, Mrs. Sherman Bailey; man- ager, Mrs. Chas. Dailey; M. of R. and C., Mrs. Andy Larson; M. of finance, Mrs. J. J. Opsahl; protector, Mrs. O. E. Balely; guard, Mrs. Geo. Rhea; delegate to Grapd Temple, Ida H. Bailey; alternate, -Mrs. 0. E. Bailey. The officers installed in the Knights of Pythias-lodge were, Chancellor commander, A. B. Palmer; vice C., W. N. Bowser; prelate, J. Peterson, Jr. M. -of W., G. A, Walker; M. of A, P. J. Milbach; M. of F., C. S. Dai~ ley; M. of E., Phil Gill; represent: tive to grand lodge, T. C, Balley. ‘Pla,thmm is found associated principall e TEN CENTS PER WEEK. LOUIS HILL SAYS NORTH IS WINNING Traffic on His Road Proves This and Writes “Work Has Only Just Begun.” PLEDGES OWN AND ROAD'S AID Declares This Part of State Profited Most By Exhibition Car Viewed by 100,000 Persons. VINCENT SENDS GREETINGS Requests Secretary Rutledge to Tell Editors He Remembers Park Rap- ids Gathering. Letters from George E. Vincent, president of the University of Min- nesota, who sends a hearty greeting and from Louis W. Hill, president of the Great Northern Railway com- pany, who indicates his belief that Northern Minnesota is now to see & great influx of settlers, have been received in Bemidji by A. G. Rut- TO TELL OF MONEY ILLS |iteorrst in, Bemiait by 4 G. Rat- nesota Editorial association. Both communications will be read at the Long Prairie gathering of the Northern Minnesota Editorial asso- ciation to be held on Friday and Sat- urday of this week. Greetings from Vincent. The- letter from President Vincent follows: Minneapolis, Jan. 12.—A. G. Rutledge, secretary Northern Minnesota Editorial association, Bemidji—My Dear Mr. Rut- ledge: © Will you convey to the members of the Northern Min- nesota Editorial association my hearty greetings? I remember with much satisfaction the meet- ing at Park Rapids. My early experience in newspaper work gives me a feeling of comrade- ship with the members of the ‘fourth estate.’ With best wishes for a suc- cessful meeting, I am, sincerely yours, George E. Vincent. Hill Has Work at Heart. President Hill writes: “St. Paul, Jan. 12.—A. -G. Rut- ledge, secretary-treasurer Northern Minnesota Editorial association, Be- midji, Minn.—Dear Mr. Rutledge: At the meeting of the Northern Min- nesota Editorial association, Long Prairie, January 19, I wish to extend to you, personally, and to the mem- bers of your association, my best wishes for the success of your meet- ing angd for the work which you have undertaken. “I regret that I will not be pres- ent with you on that date. I assure you that I have the object of your work very much at heart; that is, the development of the available re- sources of the northern part of our state. North Need Have No Fear. “Minnesota, and especially the northern part, need not fear com- parison with any of her sister states, and in. this development work I am sure you can count upon the assist- ance of myself, personally, and of the Great Northern railway in doing all Wwé possibly’ can to further such de- velopment. “The Minnesota exhibition car which recently accompanied the ‘Governor’s Special’ throughout the East was the means of attracting a great deal of attention to Minneso- ta, and especially the northern part of it. The car in question was vis- ited by nearly 100,000 people on its tour with the ‘Governors’ Special.’ “The railroad movement of get- tlers’ effect via our line, destined to Minnesota points during the past 12 months, fully demonstrated the fact that people in other less favored sec- tions are realizing the possibilities of the resources of Minnesota, and I believe that the work has only just begun. “With best wishes to you and your assoclation, I-am “Very truly yours, Louis W. Hill.” A “hair’s.breadth” is 17-10,000 of an inch. For the purpose of such fine. and delicate measurement tool makers use what is called a micro- ‘meter caliper, says ' Harper’s. The hair's breadth is something that has to be taken into consideration in the manufacture of a' thousand and one ESSERIRES CUR T i i | i i : 3 1