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Show 101 NAMED TAR Only Threo Residents in This Indiana Burg. final Tower Thnt 13 On the Map and Has Politicians As Neighbors Neigh-bors Telegraph Operators Totsl Population. Indianapolis, Ind. Prsident Taft on his recent trip to this city passed through or rather by Talt, lnd., for the first time. He, however, probably prob-ably did not know it unless he was reminded cf it. There was only one inhabitant of Taft. out of bed the night President Taft whizzed by I lie original station of Tan. That one inhabitant was C. A. Newiin, a telegraph operator, who had out a gren light, which meant . a clear track for the President. The President, i,j all his Vi'avefs, had never before been through Taft, Ind. While conducting his presidential presi-dential campaign he visited Anderson one Octoter evening, going in from the east., and was hi.ic routed by way of Rus-hville to Indianapolis. 1 lis recent re-cent trip was the first time the President Presi-dent has ever traveled over the Big Four railroad between Anderson and Indianapolis, and hat Is why he always al-ways missed Taft. li d. This Taft, ind., is not a joke or a creation since William H. Taft became be-came President. The place or station was named while Mr Taft was a resident resi-dent of Cincinnati and preparing to go to the Pl.ili ppinos as governor of the islands. Some one in the general offices of the Big Four soon after the Spanish-American war, when it became necessary to give names to new towers for interlocking signals and other devices for safety along the Big Four railroad between Anderson and Indianapolis, chose names of persons per-sons and ships then in the public eye. First one tower was named Taft. Then one between Pendelton and In-galls In-galls was named after one of Dewey's good ships of war, Raleigh. Dickey Wainwright, who had not then be- come a rear admiral, but was making h.story while fighting the Spanish, was honored .with the name of i tower tow-er at the southwest corner of Anderson. Ander-son. Wainwright and Taft are next The "Town" of Tcft. door neighbors as towers. At the east end of the Big Four yards in Anderson another tower wis named Gridley. It is well known that the first town west of Pendleton is Ingalls, named after M. E. Iugalls, but that was before be-fore Taft was named. J. Q. Van Win-I Win-I kle, formerly of Anderson, was general gen-eral superintendent of the Big Four road at that time and it has always been surmised that Mr. VauWinkle named the towns Taft. Oridloy ami ' Ra.eign. Taft, Ind., is on the official railroad rail-road map as issued by the Indiana railroad commission. Taft is important import-ant to the Big Four road. It is a guard, a sentry against any danger of collision of trains or lor.s of time in switching and passing. Taft Is a twenty-four-hour place, that is, it is never depopulated. Three telegraph operators work eight-hour shifts. S. D. Solomon has the first "trick" from 12 m. to 4 a. nt. .1. VV. Stepheuj takes tne second "trick," aa they call it, from 8 a. m. to 4 p. m., and C. A. Newlin from 4 p. m. to 12 ra. M. W. Hummol, repair man for tue tower interlocking switches and semaphore signals in the vicinity of Anderson, la an occasiona' visitor to Taft, lnd. Mr. Stephens and Mr. Hummjl were at Taft when a correspondent corre-spondent visited Taft, Ind., for a picture pic-ture of trie place. Jerome Brown, former county commissioner, com-missioner, and Dory Biddle, who quit newspaper editing to turn farmer, are among the neatest residents of Taft. Brown . a Republican and Kiddle is a Democrat. Sid Conger visited Taft frequently while he owned a farm that adjoins Taft. Hi; recently sold the farm to Carl vt n Hake, of the Marion county b.iard of commissioners. commission-ers. Former Governor W T Durbln owned the farm before Conger bought it, so there has been more or less of an atmosphere of politics about Taft ever since it was established. |