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Show : IWOKKING WORKINC WORKING WORKINGACTIVITIES : PEOPLE ' DOMINATE . ! ACTIVITIES OF ELDON , IOWA IOWAdr IOWAt4 dr . . : organized t4 t4organized rganized Labor Usually Bests Business Group inElections in Elections ; Citizens Are Proud of School System . V f fBy By BARROW LYONS LYONSi LYONSt t i ( ( EDITOR EDITQR CDITQRS S l\OI l OI ROTE-Thus ROTE Thus \ AOir E-Tlus E Tlus - r/iis r iis / is u one ofa of a series of ofarticles articles writtenyor written writtenTor Tor : or this tills tins paper papcr by Barrow Lyons staffcorrespondent staff correspondent of Westerny Western WesternVeuspa . Veuspaper Veuspa euspaper per Union Unron He has just completedan completed an- an antended an - extended tended trip tTip throuph through throuphhe throughElie through"he throughhe , Elie " , he nation and andIn in these reports gites gues gives , Jus Ills his first handImpressions hand impressions ofyliat of ofchat -yliat yliat - ) chat Ahat rural America is thinking tlll1lhlng tltlnking tlll1lhlngas tltlnkingas as u KC ue e enter the third year ofwar of war warind ind rnd nd the first iweA-s iweA s wee1.s wee1s weeks . - ofa of a presldelltlalelection presidentialelection presidential presldelltlal election year Any opinions exCDressed extorcssed ex exttilressed ttilressed CDressed ttilressedare CDressedare are the writer wI-Iter wI Iter - sand sand1I0t andnot s and not 1I0t necessarily those of o f this tlus newspaper ) ) ELDON , IOWATwo IOWA -Two Two - Two w . worlds v.orlds vorlds orlds meet in m this Iowa town- town town'he townthe town - 'he he ' lhe the world of organized orgamzed labor and the business busmess world But'labOl Butlaboi But Butlabdi 'labOl labOl laboi ' labdi runs this town of 1 700 people on the banks of the Des Des4Momes DesMoines DesiiMoines 4Momes Moines river nver where the Sac and Fox Indians once lived hved hvedEldon livedEldon livedEldon Eldon is a railroad town-a town a town - a division point pomt on the Chicago ChicagoRock , Rock Island and Pacific railway where the main mam line lme inter mter- mter inter- mtersects intersects intersects - sects the : yes Qes des Momes Moines and Keokuk branch The rallv raillsay railway"came railwaycame . ay " came ame there to get coal A majority maJonty of Eldon people work for forthe forthe forthe the Rock Island They are somewhat clannish clanmsh very mde inde mdenendent and understand the importance of organization orgamzatIon As a aresult a result they dominate dommate the eleclions elec lions hons The mayor is a raIlroader raIlroaderSo railroaderSo So are four of the five members of ofUte ofThe oftte Ute The city council three of the five fivemembers fivemembers fivemembers members of the school board and andleveral andIeveral andteveral leveral Ieveral of the city off o0 ofTcials clals cials 4 * . \ - And although : Eldon Ildon people are aretraditIOnally aretraditionally aretraditionally traditIOnally Republicans Republcans ! the rail railroaders railroaders railreaders roaders are now almost 100 per cent centNew centNew centKew New DealersMerchants DealersMerchants Dealers DealersMerchants Merchants and other business busmess men menof menof menof of Eldon form the political OppOSI oppose opposeLion OppOSItion opposition tion Lion They are known locally as the theCounty theCounty theCounty County Fair gioup gloup group The fair has hasbeen hasbeen hasbeen been d scontinued scontmued tor for the duration durationbut durationbut durationbut but In peace times it is the thIrd thud thudlargest thIrdlargest thirdlargest largest fair in ill m the state being bemg sur surpassed surpassed surpassed passed only by the Iowa state fair fairand fairand fairand and the Clay county fair at Spencer Spencersaid Spencersaid Spencersaid said to be the largest county fa r rin rin rin in the world This great fair seems seemsto seemsto seemsto to be a compensation for the busl buss buslness bussBess business ness Bess man s pol heal tical eclipse eclpse ! in El Eldon Eldon Eldon EldonAn don donAn An exammat on of this New Deal Dealtown Dealtown Dealtown town in ill which the working workmg people peopledommate peopledominate peopledominate dommate dominate reveals advantages and anddIsadvantages anddisadvantages anddisadvantages dIsadvantages There is no hotel hotelbut hotelbut hotelbut but a number of the railroad men mentake mentake mentake take lodgers where one can get a aroom aroom aroom room The fast d ous traveler would wouldnot wouldnot wouldnot not like llke the accommodations but butthe butthe butthe the beds are clean and one can geta geta get a warm bath in ill the hall hail bathroom bathroomAnd bathroomAnd bathroomAnd And the railroader s w wife e eho vho \\ho ho who \ , runs runsthe runsthe runsthe the estabi establ shment makes up mfriendliness ill m illfrlendlness mfriendliness frlendlness friendliness frlendlnesshat ! \ what \\hat hat her hostelry lachs lacks lachsin lacksin lacksIn in modern decorations and conven eonven conveniences eonvenfences conveniences conveniencesThere iences fences iencesThere fencesThere There are no modemly modernly fitted out outrestaurants outrestaurants outrestaurants restaurants But there are eatmg eating eatmgplaces eatingplaces eatmgplaces places . where v.here vhere one can buy well pre prepared prepared prepared pared food and plenty of it at mod modcrate moderate moderate crate erate pricesMany pricesMany prices pricesMany Many of the people who h\e h e use \ in inEldon inEldon InEldon Eldon o 0 c vn their homes-and homes and homes - and assess assessments assessments assessments ments are lo 10 to v There is no real realesta realestate realestate esta estate te tax except the school tax taxfor taxfor taxfor for most of the expenses e'lpenses elpenses ' of govern government governmerit governcnent ment merit are met from the profit the theCIty thecity thecity CIty derives denves from distnbut dlstnbut ng elec electrlC electrio electrie trlC trio current From these charges allh all allf P 96 96pd pd . : ' A . f/ f fs fa fN / / . , . h ' " 9 I ' ' wi + > ' , 'f f ( , " Jh . s t : > ) . < - h'i hi h'it ' ' ) ; " { -t t - ' ( y { < 1t , d f fVi , $ { - \ -Vi- Vi - , - ' } , A : ViA a -f- f - : f"u " ! . N " "u u ! liE1 $ a as aa azs ; s * a : { / % zs Q " ue , " d i r r't " " , P . 't t ' " > 151 F ; ' t ' $ < t1 fJ { . flW flW.p /.p .p . .p1f ; / : 1f I ' fl .t t . , ; ' " 1kt 1ktfl " - 1 : s . H Ht1 -t1 t1 - 11-.M 11.M 11 .M M $ - . fo . " * / ; ' f < if . i iJ J , J ' , . , ( Jj Jj j j ' f . " 'i/ 'i i 'if ' ; / f ' ? .t t . / : ' ' " -I I > < t Iilt ilt Y p . ; ? # ; > ' " " w 1 i ink > ' - & ) rttka ( " 'iYl iYl ' lJ lJf < f .ftvl/ .ftvl , . " ' g : ; . : # { ; : " , " / nk .ftvlw v " , . / . . ! vd w- w - w1 . d , . ' " . . .w w . .wI " 1 I 1 One of o ( Eldon s railroad workers workersMrs workersMrs 'tlrs tlrs Mrs ! ' Freda Penrod round house houseemployee houseemployee houseemployee employee * - 1 , 1city city indebtedness illdebtedness has been paid offand oft off oftnd : and nd the city owns O\vns O vns \ $10 10 ? $ 10 000 in U S Streasury Streasury Streasury treasury bondsj bondsOver bondsOver bonds bondsOver j Over 200 in Service ServicetFrom ServiceFrom lFrom tFrom [ This Town'f TownY Town 1 'f f Y ' Out of the small population of this thistown thistown thistown town more than 200 men and womenhave women womenhave womenhave have joined jomed the armed services El Eldon Eldon Eldon don people are very proud of tms this tmsrecord thisrecord thisrecord record recordLet \ Let J G Saurenman general generalroundhouse generalroundhouse generalroundhouse roundhouse foreman tell the advan advantages advantages advantages tages of : Eldon Ildon toorkmg to working \\orkmg orkmg \ men IDei Inci IDeidentally Incidentally Incidentally dentally he Is extremely proud ofg ofthe ofgthe of of.the g gthe .the the . the tact fact that one of his sons is atmaJor af a ajand f tmaJor malor m in the army engmeer engineer corpsand corps corpsand jand and the other an ensign in m the navyIt navyIts navy } Its It a s a good town to hve lIve in m he hesaId hesaid hi neighborly'considerate neighborlyconsiderate ; saId aid The people are neighborly neighborlyconsIderate neighborlyconsiderate ' consIderate and very democratic I Iwas Iwas .was was . was sent here 13 months ago by the therailroad therailroad th thrailroad < railroad to take charge of the round roundhouse roundhouse roundhouse house Right off the bat I was ac acceptcd accepted acceptcd ceptcd cepted as a member of the com corn commurnty cornmumty cornmunity murnty mumty arid and asfd extended all the credit credi ' WIS WIS10WA ; M1NN MINN . S.D.I SD.I SDI S.D.IMINN . . 10WADES IOWA 10WA V . _ \ DESMOINES DESNEB DES DESNEBy NEB NEBMOIt'UELDON NEBoELDON MOINESNEB NEBy MOIt'UELDON MOItUELDON MOINES ' ' : ELDON oELDON oELDONOMAHA : ELDONOMAHA | OMAHA OMAHA- OMAHA . _ . . . _ _ - - . _ OMAHAKAS - = KAS l lMO . t tMO - , MO . I wanted Now that s someth ng ngEldon ngEldon ngEldon Eldon JS s a fine place to bring brmg up my mytwo mytwo mytwo two 1 ttle boss boys bOj s \ where here there is such sucha a good school I m paying paymg $16 16 $ a amonth amonth amonth month rent tor for a modern five room roomhouse roomhouse roomhouse house In Kansas City the same samehouse samehouse samehouse house would cost me $35 35 $ to $40 40 $ a amonth amonth amonth amonthNeighbors month monthNeighbors Neighbors Are Ready ReadyTo ReadyTo To Help DistressedAnyone Distressed DistressedAnyone Anyone in distress usually Is Islooked islooked Islooked looked after by the ne ghbors-we ghbors we ghborswedon ghborswedon ghbors - wedon don t need charity chanty For thoseho those \\ho ho who whohave \ whohave hohave have gr ef of there is al va/s va s vafs vajs / sympa sympathy sympathy sympathy thy I ve ye seldom seen drunkenness drunkennessaround drunkennessaround drunkennessaround around here Th s is a good town townfor townfor townfor for working workmg men You hear that thatwherever thatwherever thatwherever wherever you goWIll goWill go goWill Will am H Sapp member of the theS theS theS S vitchmen vltchmen s Union Umon of North Amen Ameni Amenca Amenica Amenca ca was asked why Eldon remamed remained remamedNe remainedNe remainedNe Ne v DealWell DealWell Deal DealWell Well we remember that the theNew theNew theNew New Deal helped us get out ' ? of the thedepress thedepress thedepress depress on and get work he ex explamed explamed explained plamed Th s wage deal that s scommg scoming scoming commg coming up no v 'l l ' is not agamst against the thegovernment thegovernment thegovernment government The men areorh are \\orh orh work working \ working orhmg mg ing twice as hard as they d d be before before before fore the war and gett ng the same samemoney samemoney samemoney money and the companies compames are mah mak mahmg making making mg ing twice as much muchI I m reg stered stead as a Republ can canbut canbut canbut but I m for the New Deal I don t tthmk tthink tthink thmk think there s a railroad man who whohkes wholilies wholikes hkes lilies John L Lewis as a man butthey but butthey butthey they admire his stand because they theyknow theymow theyknow know ] mow that if the miners mmers are licked lickedwe lickedwe lickedwe we re all sunk There are quite a afew afew afew few miners mmers ! living lvmg around here and andthey andthey andthey they re about the poorest paid work workers workers workers ers there are-and are and arc - - and they \ work ork hard hardtoo hardtoo hardtoo too You take a mining mmmg to vn vii and andIt andit andit It has the poorest teachers there thereare thereare thereare thereareIt are areIt It is easy to understand why most mostof mostof mostof of the business busmess men of Eldon are arenot arenot arenot not very vocal in opposition to the theNew theNew theNew New Deal . . Frank Davis dIrector directorof of the First Nat onal bank however howeverwas howeverwas howeverwas was willing wlllng ! to vo ce cntlcismOne criticismOne criticism cntlcism criticismOne One thing thmg that we re blessed blessedWith blessedwith blessedwith With brother he exclaimed IS ISthat isthat isthat that . we v.e ve re living livmg m in a land where wherethere wherethere wherethere there s tree free speech There is a great greatdeal greatdeal greatdeal deal of unrest among the people peopleTrey peopleTl peopleThey Trey Tl ey wonder what s going gomg on 'lms lms this 'lmsenormous thisenormous ' Ihisenormous enormous spendmg-enormous spendmg enormous spending-enormous spending spending - enormous taxa taxahon taxation taxation hon tion There s a great deal of talk on onhow onhow onhow how much labor is go ng to control controlthe controlthe controlthe the powers that beWhen beWhen be beWhen When I try to look forward I Ikind Ikind Ikind kind of look at a high wall I read reada a great deal and try to hepp keep ke p posted postedbut postedbut postedbut but I can t see where we re headed headedAll headedAll headedAll All power to Mr Roosevelt for forthe forthe forthe the good th ngs he s done Wee We Weeseen \e e to toseen \eseen eseen \ eseen seen them m in this town But there s ssuch ssuch ssuch such becomingdrunk a thing as a man becommg becoming becommgdrunk becomingdrunk drunk with poerIldon powerEldon power po\\er po er powerEldon \ : Eldon Ildon remembers the curse of un unemployment unemployment unemployment employment more bitterly than most mostsmall mostsmall mostsmall small towns Many of its yo.mg yomg young yo.mgmen youngmen yoiingmen . men were gathered into mto the local localNational localNational : NatIOnal Youth administration admmlstratlon pro pros prosact proiect ) ect act , , , and it was the grief grle ! of the Eldon Eldonpeople Eldonpeople Eldonpeople people that these boys were con contented contented contented tented to make the NYA the r way wayof wayof wayof of l life-to life to life e-to e to - to hope tor for nothing nothmg betterBut betterBut better betterBut But it is their pride pnde to have seen seenthese seenthese seenthese these boys make splendid ftghters fighters m in mthe inthe inthe the alreadyhave armed forces Several already have given their lives |