VOL. _LXXXV. HALL. PA. 1912, GRANGE QOOPERATION Av WORK. How Conditions Were Improved In an Is- olated Town as Seen by a Writer for the Country Gentleman, [BY JAMES ALVIN, ] [ A few months ago the Reporter made men - tion of the fact that Lynn R. Meekins, Esq, a writer for the Country Gentleman, one of the Curtis Company publications, had been in Centre Hall gathering material for an article on cooper- ation. In the Country Gentleman of May 4th, Mr, Meeking, under the name of James Alvin, writes a two-page description of * Grange Co operation at Work." There are four {llustra. tions, allof which are well executed. The ar ticle, which is well written, is published below. —-EDITOR, ] PART II. There are houses approved by the grange which give discounts to grange customers and from these houses the grangers of Centre Hall purchase a thousand dollar's worth of goods an- nually. Each member has a trade card which is inclosed with his order and which entitles him to the trade ad- vantages. Cooperative action at Centre Hall secured the wholesale freight rate of $2.10 when the members formeriy paid the retail rate of $4.40 The single member may have the bene- fit of the wholesale rate if his package weighs 100 pounds Thus many of them get their groceries by the sack and barrel and their syrups by the barrel. As a rule they buy flour from the local mills The grange committee by its cooperative bulk-buying saves to the members $1000 a year, and besides this the members have their individual savings from their purchases from ap- proved houses, and the whole sale freight rate. The purchasing committee also saves 20 per cent, on farm machio- ery by buying through the executive committee of the state grange. No plan for cooperative selling has been tried, but there is a grange agent in Philadel- phia who pays special attention to con- signments from members. He charges a commission of 5 per cent. But the hall and the cooperative buying are only two of the good influ- ences that make life in Centre Hall and its contributing territory worth while. One factor is the Centre County Mutual / Fire Insurance Company, Patrons of Husbandry. It has been in existance more than a third of a century having been organized in 1874, and the average annual cost of insurance per $100 for a period of thirty-seven years, including survey, premium and policy, has been 21 cents. Its office is at the home of the secretary, two miles from town. The only salary paid is $3200 a year to the secretary, and each director gets the munificent sum of one dollar for or over. every meeting he attends. The « representative. rganization of this company is Each subordinate grange elects one director and these di- rectors elect officers. The county Pomona grange elects three auditors who audit the accounts of the buard of directors. Noone is eligible to any po- sition unless he has property insured in the company, which insures property of members of the grange only. If a man loses his grange membership his policy is revoked. This insurance plan does much to strengthen the grange member. ship. The saving on insurance rates pays the grange dues many times over, There are unique features. For in- stance, if you have a building worth a risk of $1500 you get $1000 insurance on it, the idea being that you shall carry a third of the risk. . You give the company a premium note of $50, which covers five years and is the maximum of your assessments. On .hat note there is assessed at once a premium of 5 per cent.,, or $2.50 After that assess- ments are made only in cases of loss. After five years you get back your note, You have paid on it only what has been necessary to meet the losses, The com- pany will take no. risk of more than $2000 on one building. If the grange members insure in other companies they must notify the grange company. The director who takes the insurance receives $1 for the survey -that is, for estimating the value of the property ; and for writing the policy he collects 26 cents, which the secretary gets. In some years there have been no assess- ments, but in one year three big barns were burned from the same fire. On December 31, 1910, the risks in force amounted to $3.041,453 ; and during 1911 $330,657 of new insurance was written, making a total of $3,372,- 110. Two adjoining counties, however, Huntingdon and Elk, which had been in the Center County Company, with. drew and organized companies of their own, thus reducing the Centre County Company's risks more than half, The total income of the company last year was $5 918.88 and the following list of expenditures, as reported to the depart- ment at Harrisburg, is interesting as showing the operations of a farmer's insurance enterprise : FINANCIAL STATEMENT, Anditor's pay. we § Postage, stationery ‘and printing... Adjusting losses... wo Director's pay and ‘mileage... Executive committee, h JT and 4 mileage. Hecretary's salary... . Office rent... ue LO Ea Sa Writing 164 policion...., NP a Unused PORIRUA, ¢ ov nmr rersemir rvervmsnn rien th La ant 10 60 18 40 i Applications rejected Discount paid Stock killed by lightning Joseph Wolf, damage to house by light BRAM a nis ananan nan ssnsis SEERA ESA Bmall losses by lightning ' ‘ Small losses by Are... John W McAllevy, house and conte nts, Alexander Kelley, house and contents, Frank E. Wykoff, barn Mestona A. Wykoff, house and contents M. 0. Woodring, house and contents John Kelley, trustee of the United Brethren parsonage at Port Ma- 133 00 168 © 906 0 653 40 720 00 176 40 1100 00 10256 00 898 00 476 0 1825 00 W. J. Hunter, contents of house.......... . Frank Ginther, house and contents, Traveling expenses of the president to Blair county . Refunding order for assessment. ........... 217% 448 What do you think of a telephone service as good as any in the world for ten dollars a year ? It does not seem possible. And yet that is precisely what the farmers of Centre County have secured throug cooperative effort. Bix years ago two big telephone com- panies competed in the county. The members of the grange wanted cheap service and went about to get it.” They did not have the money, but they used what is even better than money-—an idea. On February 12, 1906, they or- ganized the Patrons’ Rural Telephone Company and two months later iucor- porated with a capital of $10,000. This service was for farmers one mile or more from the limits, The company then encouraged the organiza- tion of branch companies and soon had enough support to make a definite con- tract with the Blank Telephone Com- pany, which then had less business in the county than its rival. The contract was made under these terms : The farmers put up their own poles and wires and made their connec- tions with Blank exchanges. Each man was to pay $5 a year if he installed his own telephone or $8 if he got the instrument from the Blank Company. Nearly all have the Blank instruments, They pay $2 to the branch company for operating and the branch dues to the central company are 50 cents a year for each telephone, Formerly the Blank Company had to sead a man through the county to do its collecting. Now all the collecting is done by the Patrons Rural Company sod for this it receives from the Blank Company $. for each telephone. This goes to the stockholders in the company. The cen- tral company pays all taxes, furnishes an attorney free. of charge and makes reports to the state and national govern- ments. It is worthy of note that there are no salaries, elects director to the company. The .county graage scribes for stock in every Lranch pany and elects five members of the directorate. The local grange sub- scribes to its branch company. So you see the plan of cooperation and repre sentation through tue whole scheme. TEN-DOLLAR TELEPHONES, borough Each branch company one central sub- com~ ruas The success of this plan is remarkable. For ten dollars the farmer has a county- wide telephone service and has all the long-distance connections. Of course he pays extra for the long-distance calls. The grange formulated this plan and has controlled it from the beginning [he first arrangement was made with the Blank company for three years Two years ago the contract was renewed for three years. prosperous. New branches are being added. The way this is done is as follows : Bix farmers or more organize and build- a pole line to the nearest telephone ex- change. Then they own that line and the Blank Company has no control over it. They make their contracts with the Blank Company through the Patrons’ Rural Telephone Compsay. They can put on more telephones as they choose, paying the established rates. They charge non-stockholders more for main- tenance than they do the stockholders. A result of this rural telephone sys- tem is that the service is probably the most dependable in existance. Each farmer keeps the line that runs through his property. In case of a storm or in- terruption from any other cause the ex- change quickly locates the point cf the trouble and the line is promptly restor- ed. So the three hundred rural tele- phones mean actually that there are three hundred men available at all times to keep the service open. Personally I could not help drawing a comparison between this ten-doliar county-wide rate and the telephone bills that are paid by the people of my own home. The usual rate is $48 a year for a restricted area and the extpas run it up to over $70. It is the same monopo- ly which the Center County farmers brought to their own terms. But where I live we do not have coopera tion. Mr. 8. W. Smith, the secretary of the company, Is the editor of the only newspaper in Centre Hall. We know that the country editor is supposed to do everthing free, from births to obitu- ary notices ; but heres is a work that would usually require the service of a thousand-dollar bookkeeper. I went over Mr, Smith's books and saw the de- The central company is tall. And yet be recelves no salary. This is another illustration of the ele- ment of personal service that enters in- to the cooperative work of a commun ity that is uplifting and modernizing itself, As we satin Mr. Smith's office going over the data of the system his tele- phone bell rang. The call was from a f+rmer who lives five miles away who ‘phoned that his paper had not ar- rived. In my section that message would have cost the farmer at least ten cents extra even over a forty-eight- dollar line. Over his ten-dollar line it was free ; and it would have been free had it come from any other part of Centre County. The county grange of Centre County is known as Pomona No. 13. It was organized in 1875 and it has a thousand members. Adjoining Centre Hall it owns a 28-acre camp ground that cost $5000. On this it conducts annual fairs. Last fall there were 3000 entries. It allows no horse-racing, no fakes or dubious shows. Itis a clean, compre- hensive exhibition that portrays aod exalts the farm and its products. But that is not all. Every year it has an encampment. A thousand farmers and families of farmers live in tents and this big white city becomes a center of enjoyment and instruction. There an auditorium serious lectures are given every day and at night there are either lectures entertainments. Crowds attend in the evening. is where or SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL BENEFITS, This life brings the farmers and their wives and their sons and daughters and friends happy social contact and gives new inspiration for the work of the year, camp return profit. So we get to the fact that in this cooperation fall and Centre management. Let us find an the finances of hu into The fair aud the “ all Centre is safe in county there endeavor this county grange. not let its surplus lie nts. For instance, it bought ten shares in a buildisg and loan association that yielded $320 on an in- vestment of $730. It reinvested another local building association and its $730 is now worth $1500 and is in- creasing value. It bought bank st $100 that is now $150. It could re sand de eight h lating a fun illustration of in It does idle but finds wise invests in local wok at worth salize five or six thou- sllars on its investment in forty yurs and it is gradually acc d that will umu- enabie IV WW CoO bigger things ln the futare. All this has taking care of he small ultimately 0 grain eievalors. been due 10 The to establish ti Here good farmers using loc opportunit wor lens aad to aly of their sums. members want Weir Ow are al ies Lo kK out local prob- interest not but of the social welfare advance the own vocation material, intellectual and of their communities, When I asked Mr. Creasy, the of the state where in Pennsyl- place that combined the benefits of cooperative ef- fort he told visit Center Hall The advice may be passed on to others. They will find nothing sensational, but they will the that these people of Cent. ¢ Hall are getting f life and that seeking the general good each is heip- ing himself even more than he is help- ing others. Ia short, cooperation seeins to be good morality and good education as well as good business, master grange, vania I might find the best ¥ $ ine WwW reach conviction something real out « in Writes of Conditions in Ubloago. Mrs, J. W. Grenoble, of Chicago, Iilinols, has a word to say about poli tics and present conditions In the Windy City. Mre. Grenoble's husband is engaged in the hardware business. Ihe letter follows : Enclosed find one dollar for the Repotter another year. We are al- ways glad to get it as it brings us lots of news from our old home. We haven't had much nice weather #0 far this spring. Every thing is high in price with us, aud one strike follows another. At present the printers are striking ; no papers at all. We are anxiously looking forward when the adminstration will change, and we will have better times, I hope you eastern people will do your part to oring this change about. [Cimes are dull in Chiesgo aud we don't expect much this summer, ——— A] A A ATTN AAAIANN A local county newspaper should promote good sanitary conditions, clean back yards, small factories, public libraries, fewer courch build. ings, and larger congregations; good toads and decant sidewalks ; and in- variably should indoree the moral side of every question. Looal progress, with the moral phase divoreed, is not worthy the name Progress, to be of lasting benefit must have moral sup- port. No enterprise, no business oan survive whose fabric is not interwoven with standards, Success or failure, In the promotion of progressive ideas, and enterprises, are largely depend. able upon the righteonsness of the proposition. nsm——— a —— A APTA Again, remember the Maine and Malone. Not Discouraged, Mrs. Rebecca Floray, of Centre Hall, sent to the Reporter office a clipping taken from a Reporter of the date of May 10, 1888 The item printed below is referred to, and it was written by the late Christian Dale, of Lemont. En. REPORTER: —I would just say to the farmers, do not be discouraged about the lateness of the spring. We have a promise that there will be seed- time and harvest while time shall last, Well do I remember that In 1834, the latter part of March we had very fine weather, and also flue In April. I began planting corn on 22 of April, and then May set in cold and on 13th I was planting potatoes wheo it was 80 cold that I quit, The ground froze, and on May 190 there were snow storms and the ground was covered with snow. My corn had sprou'ed and was under the crust ready to come up. After the 19th it got warm, and in a few days my corn came up, and I never had a finer fleld of corn. Phere was no fruit thst year—apples all frozen. The great trouble this sea. eon is this, farmers are plowing too wel ; ground ie pot in order ; it will be very injurious to the land. Fruit is all right yet, even the early cherries, rR es {+f C. DALE J VV /, s————— — A I ———— No Special Council Meeting No special session of the Centre Hall borough council was held on Baturday evening, and for good reasons. It bad been planned to finally set on an ordinance granting a free and perpet. ual, apd in action, sn exclusive fran- chise to 8 corporation to furnish elec. tric light and power, Only a few of the council men are in favor of the proposition, and half-dczen c¢'tizens support opinions. The advice oblained an sttorney, #0 it is stated by secretary, was to the effect that guard the interest of the would be necessary to Incorporate io the ordinance such conditions that would not be secepted by the corpor- ation seeking the franchise. Whether or not a few of the councilmen have given up the ides of granting the cor. poration snythiog It ssks remains to be seen, not a their from the to citizens it LOCALY There is not quite so much gum- shoeing being done in Centre Hall this week as asl, Mr. and Mrs, M. P. Musser, of Zion, cere in Centre Hall last week. They formerly lived near Centre Hall Mary Helen is th. name given the little daughter bora to Mr, sod Mre Edward L. Bartholomew, ia Altoona. Like all “first babies’ it is the great. eat baby on earth. Weought not to want for bay next year, and if the wealher extremes follow, ae they usually do, there will ve ample sunasbioe to cure the luxuri- ant grass and make i into hay. The commencement exercises of the Claremont College, at Hickory, North Carolina, were held begioniog of this week. This ie the lostitution with which Rev. John H. Keller is connected, and ie advanciog rapidly each year. Dr.and Mrs, P. H. Dale and little son, of State College, were in Centre Hall on Buanday, haviog been called here on account of the liloess of his mother and J. D. Murray. They were traveling in a 45-horse power Over. land roadster. The Boow Shoe Times, published at Moshannon, by Clarence Lucas, is in ite third volume, and has been added to the Reporter's exchange list, The times is newsy and well edited, and is deserving of the support of the business men io ite eld. Seven hundred and fifty acres of land, timbered heavily with oak, and located near Martha, this county, was sold by Bud Thompson toe D. O. Downing, of Martha, who with a crew of fifteen men, will next week begin cutting the timber from the tract. Henry Rupp returned from the Bellefonte hospital on Baturday very much improved and is now at the nome of George E. Heckman, where he has made his home for almost nine years, Mr. Hupp went to the hospi- tal on acsount of a bealing on his band, which required special treatment He feels certain that after suflering for eight weeks he will soon be able to go to work again, now that the sore is healing. Aunouncement has been made of the engagement of Miss Rath A, Bottorf, of Lemont, and Rev. Robert Rush Reed, of DuBois. Miss Bottorf, who is a graduate of Bucknell Univer. sity, and later instructor of music at the same fiostilution, has been in charge of music at State College for the past year. Mr. Reed ls a graduate DEATHS, Mrs. Catherine Corl, widow of the late Benjamin Corl, died at her home at White Hall on Tuesday morning of last week after a long illoess with heart trouble. Her maiden name was Miss Catherine Roush and she was born at Hartleton on Jsnuary 10th, 1853, hence was past 60 years of sage. Her parents c:me to Centre county when she was a young girl and in 188] she was united in marriage to David Young, of Boalkburg. They had one son, George, who survives. After the death of her first husband she mar- ried Bevjamin Corl in 1885, who died quite suddenly in 1865 while on a hunting trip in the Allegheny moun laine, One daughter, Miss Mary Corl, sur. vives as the result of her second mar- ringe. Bhe also leaves three step- children, Henry Corl, at home; Mra Philip Grenoble, of Pine Hall, and Mrs. Zeigler, of DuBois. Bhe also leaves one brother and three sisters, namely : William H. Roush, of Pine Grove Mills ; Mrs. Hannah Martin and Mrs. Avoline Yoders, of Grand City, Ho. ane Mra, Isabelle Roder, of | Elmira, . Rev. B. C. Btover, pas- | tor of Ty uy church, Boals- burg, had charge of the funeral which was held Friday morning burial ino the Pine Hall cemetery. \ Ire. Anna Funk, wife of Oliver Funk, died on Wednesday morning of last week at her home at Bpring Mills of paralysis, with which she had been afflicted for some time, Bhe was a daughter of Mr. and Mra. Robert D Muamsser of Bpring Mille, sud was born in Penns Valley, belug thirty-five years and twenty-two days old. HBhe is survived by her husband and two young children, Nevio snd May Rath, he aleo leaves her parents snd a number of brothers and sisters Rev. Jones conducted the funers] services Saturday forenoon, burial in Georges Valley cametery. ha ‘NO. 20. TOWN AND COUNTY NEWS. HAPPENINGS OF LOCAL INTEREST FROM ALL PARTS. When we get electric light ! The borough schools closed an eight months term on Wednesday. Mitterling, the drover, shipped a car load of mileh cows to the esstern market, the latter part of last week. Dr. C. M. Parish purchased the dwelling house owned by Mrs. J. CO. Meyer, on Curtin street, Bellefonte, and formerly occupied by her. The Centre Hall cemetery is being cleaned up for Memorial day. John Geary ls now sexton, and he is push- ing the moving machine daily, A. J. Hazel and Byron Hazel, both merchants at Madisonburg, have con- tracted for Bell telephones, the ssme to be installed in their places of busi- leks , Mre, Ezra F. Bmith, Illinois, 5=! of Freeport, ho came east a few weeks #go to be with her brother, M. I. Rishel, during the latter days of his life, has again returned to her home in Ilinois, The Bellefonte steam laundry will soon collect and deliver its work by the use of 8 motor truck. Of course, when he feels like doing so, the Hon. John Noll will use track for pleasure. the Mersrse. W. Frank Bradford, Will ism H. Meyer and Lyman L Smith, all members of Centre Hall borough council, went to Bellefonte on Ratur- day to consult sn attorney concerning the electric light snd power ordinance now before that body. Bellefonte is about to discard the are lights because they are antiquated, yet the Centre Hall borough council came within an sce of presenting a corporation a perpetual franchise, snd & contract for arc lamps at $60, for five bundred candle power, (George H. Emerick is having his Mrs. Harriet M, Stover died home st Versailles, Missouri, aged | eighty-one years. She and her hus band, the late Msjor George H. Btov-| er, went west from lower Penns Val- | ley in 1566 at her! ddim Deaths of Ventre Coantisng John Houtlz, in Benoer township, | aged eighly-two years. Mrs. Nors Reynolds, wife of John | Reynolds in Bouth Philipsburg. aged seventy-one years. He was a vel. eran in the civil war, lsrael Condo, of Marion township, ai the home of his son, Ira Condo, at =ootia. Burial at Jacksonville Dallis Chronister, in upper Bald Eagle Valley, aged fifty-seven years. A wife and eight children survive. He was & brother of former Bheriff Chronister, Mre, Rose Kreps, wife of Harry V, Kreps, in Altoona, aged thirty yeare, Surviving her are her husband and one dsughter, Florence ; also two sis- ters and one brother, namely : Nor- man and Kythia McClellan, of Le- mont, and Allan McClellan, of Belle foute, A PS Pomona Grange, The second quarterly meeting of the Centre County Pomous Grange will be held at Port Matilda, Thureday, 28rd inst. There will be two sessions —forenoon and afternoon. The at- tendance is anticipated to be quite large, Those from the south side of the county will go by rail from Bellefonte, arrangements having been made to obtain a fare of eighty cents for the round trip, provided there are fifteen or more, The Reporter feels it is doing ite duty in exposing the weak points in the proposed borough ordinance giving a free perpetual franchise to a foreign corporation, yet it does appreciate the many words of encouragement given him by citizens who have at heart the welfare of the present and future gen- erations. It has always been and will continue to be the policy of this paper to criticise any and ali movements that ean not be clearly shown to be of bene. tit to the people as a whole, no matter whether friends or foes favor such measures, ——— I A APT There never was a time when people apprecisted-the real merits of Cham- berlain’s Cough Remedy more than pow, This is shown by the increase in sales and voluntary testimonials from persons who have been cured by it. If you or your children gve troubled with a cough or cold give it a trial and become soqusinted with ite good qualities, For sale by all deal. is at present chaplain at State College, The wedding will take place some tine duricg the summer, after which their home will be made at Btate Cole loge. Progress Grange will hold a fest val nn the evening of Memorial day, st hao been their custom for many years. ’ house repainted, the color being white, Mr. Durst snd since | bes remodeled Lhe house, and greatly { improved it both on the exterior and | interior, | 8. L Condo, the Bpring Mills car- | riage builder, last week delivered two i rubber tire bali-bearing top buggies, | one to John Rishel, at Axe Mano, and i the other to Boyd Corl, near the same | piace. The vehicles were exception- {ally fine ones, and indicate the class of work Mr. Condo deals in. | Emerick purchased the Peter May, like April, has been excessive- ly wet. Farmers were able to work but two days—Friday and Saturday-— last week. Bunday was parily fair, but by six o'clock rain began falling, and continued through the greater part of the night, the precipitation being eighty-one hundredths of sn inch. Surveyor William M. Grove, of Spring Mills, surveyed and staked off about thirty building lots on Allison street, immediately east of the resi- deuce of W. Frank Bradford, near Centre Hall station, for C. D. Barthol- omew, Mr. Grove has had large ex- perience iu surveying, and during the past few years did much work for the stale, Seventeen head of fat cattle and a bunch of hoge were picked up through Potter and adjoiniag townships by John E. Rishel and turned over to A. M. Regal, a Salona dealer. The cattle were driven through Centre Hall on Monday morning. The price for cattle ranged from five to six and one-half cents, and for hoge, six and one-half cents was paid. The main building of the Centre Brick and Clay company’s plant st Orviston, a mile above the Hayes Run Fire Brick company’s plant, comprie- ing the engine room, the drying room and the grinding department, was de- stroyed by fire Friday night, and the remaining portion of the plant, com- prising the office, boller room, and storage sheds were saved from de- struction by the hardest kind of work on the part of a bucket brigade con- sisting of probably two hundred men, many of whom hurried to the scene from the Hayes Run plant, Ia its social column the Mifflinburg Telegraph printed this item: A very pleasing social event among tha younger set was the party given by Miss Catherine Ocker and her brother, John, at the home of their parents, Mr. and Mrs, Forrest Ocker, on Romig Avenue. After the little friends had all assembled the fun of the evening commenced, which in cluded games, songs and music. The little hostess, Miss Catherine, being a talented musician, presided at the pi- ano, in fact she is a wonder, consider. ing her age, of thirteen years. Bhe handles the most difficult music with ease and grace, and in a manner that predicts a bright fature for her in the musical world, Her renditions were greatly appreciated by ber guests.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers