| Show F janners have ON CA U evra V J f y T town awn IL club e A s bh house ause R lh LTD by VES TERN boj i oj it is a place of comfort arid and conven 1 i bence bence for country people who do j I 1 their trading at seymour indiana I s r y r y r rj S similar enterprise tegould benefit any an commini community ty in the nation OW its a city clubhouse for farm banners ersi I 1 when they come coma to town to trade A they may go to a well appointed building to meet their arlen friends ds wash up have lunch write letters enjoy telephone service and lounge around it if they wish and their wives may 4 besides having these privileges leave the children in the care of a competent nurse while shopping or calling upon friends quite a sensible long needed modern convenience dont you think seymour a southern indiana city of about population has a farmers club with a membership of more than 1000 it has been in operation since 0 cnober Octol cr 1914 and la Is a thorough s success it access during 1918 1916 the average dally daily number of visitors to the club was about the existence of the club Is due the plain truth must be told to the public spirit tand and generosity of two business men of seymour and not to any s special p L caal enterprise on the part of either the farmers e r s or the citizens of the town the blish brothers own a large flour mill and grain elevators they are grandchildren of capt meedy IV shields founder of seymour himself a farmer of energy and vision whose fortune it seems was the nest egg of the blish estate for many years the blish interests have dealt constantly and profitably with the farmers of jackson county why reasoned the flour millers it be a line fine thing to establish a club here in town for the far farmers they thought it would be decidedly so and out of their estate came funds which made the idea a fact in pleasing arcet jecture and real convente convenience n ce na not only that the maintenance of the club Is assured by a p paid ald up income insurance policy so the farmers should worry I 1 much of seymours prosperity depends on the farmers living within a radius of 12 or 15 miles of the city which Is the metropolis of a county that Is one of the most fertile in southern indiana forbe for near ly quarters itri of a century the tolling plowmen plow meK ipen 0 and nd alc heir wives have b bwy g hf grain fruit v tables ables buffer butter eggs and poultry to the town that captain shields started and have taken home tapin in the aggregate a mighty pile of supplies during threescore years such a mighty pile you might say that the legitimate profits on it have helped to make a vigorous and pretty little oty city but until the time that seymours leading business men decided to recognize the value of farmer trade by putting up a n clubhouse for the mar beters the country people certainly enjoy the hospitality that good steady customers in most lings lines of commerce may expect nowadays in fine weather they brought their lunch with them and ate it in their wagons parked in side streets ani and in bad weather they bought crackers and cheese and bologna and munched it as they stood around the stoves or hot bot air registers in the back of the stores where they sold butter and eggs that ant so bad for the but it was mighty inconvenient for the farm women especially it if they aey brought the children along to town and they did so Is it any wonder then th ahat since the farmers ab of jackson county has ai been receiving guests the merchants of surrounding towns within a reach of 12 and 15 miles in every direction are fir 0 complaining that seymour Is getting the best of the country trade especially since the most prosperous farmers and therefore the most profitable customers own motorcars and can go fairly long distances over the tha well biked roads the farmers club Is good to look at it if Is lust just as handsome in the face as the public library and the government building and better looking lookin ithan than the city hall and the newest railway tation station at seymour you step into a paneled ves from the street when you enter the club the vestibule gives into a large lounging room flanking the lounging loun gink are two nurseries rooms a lunchroom and kitchenette if you are a farmer who enjoys sliding down 0 o the small of his back in a huge leather leacher chair ahli an ind toasting his shins before a great fireplace who aho likes breathing space and dark oak paneling ind and a pile of magazines and books and some potted blotted plants who thinks it makes life more worth living if he can meet people of his awn own kind for a a chat now and then you would ride many miles to seymour for tor half hait or three quarters of an hour of loafing in that lounging room and if you are a farmers wife who knows the drudgery of dragging small children around for cor hours from store to store who knows what t is to seek in vain for a place of decent privacy where fretful toddlers can be cared for weary feet rested and an aching back relieved with a belef rest reston on a lounge who a place where a letter may rewritten be written in quiet where a telephone Is at hand where a crib waits to welcome baby for a nap who longs for an opportunity to talk with other country women you would bring pressure to i bear on the husband to do 30 his marketing at seym seymour our for the nurseries offer affer these comforts of women women reclining chairs cribs j meals are not served at the club guests are expected to bring their own owa food which they undoubtedly prefer to do in most instances but the pantry contains shelves sli elves where lunch packages may be checked in the kitchenette Is a multiple electric heater where food and drink may bc b warmed and hot and cold water faucets in the lunchroom are dinner tables and chairs with noth of course for the little ones and the comfort station facilities offered at the club well surely nobody Is in a position really to appreciate preci pre clato ate this convenience more than the farm people there Is a matron in constant attendance the club has been incorporated under the laws of the state and the organization Is self perpetual ing the trustees trustee charged with the management of the club are the presidents of the three leading banks of seymour whoever happens to be president of either of these banks becomes one of the trustees the treasurer of the club Is chosen from froin among the three cashiers of these same banks preference being given to the cashier of the hank bank having the largest surplus fund and undivided profits at the last preceding report for the year there are no fees or costs attached to club membership any legel alegri voter in the county who Is efi engaged la in farming or who derives his support wholly or partly from the farm Is eligible to membership anyone thus qualified may apply for or membership privileges at either of the trustee banks all one need do Is to take enough interest to ask for privileges then he and his family may participate in the club because it was an untried experiment something that been done before and all that the business men of seymour probably have babe puts put up the money for establishing the club and maintaining it perpetually if the matter had been proposed bothem to them now lathey if they were asked to reimburse the donors fully and make provisions for maintenance jointly jump at the proposition simply as a apiece piece of first class civic investment what you might call a trade magnet they know that itis it Is drawing new trade steadily and reaching out farther and farther toward rival markets as aa I 1 roads fire are improved and the price of those handy little buzz wagons comes down the secretary of the seymour commercial club will tell you for promoters have to put iut a squirt of the poetic and a i liberal pinch of sentiment into business talk thac the he farmers club is stalk icily progress lile because it Is a concrete expression of the ideal relationship which should exist between every towns town and the farming community adjacent and furthermore hell tell you it ft was certainly a happy conception a fitting recognition of the appreciation which the business men of seymour have for their farmer fairier friends that led the bish brothers to do tills this thing for the farmers farieri of jackson county and at that ame mme time build a memorial in honor of we the founder of the city captain shields who was n farmer and whose dealings wi biti alti abe farmers around seymour created the basis of ilia hii fortune one of the indiana colleges which has haa an important agriculture department has haa shown much interest in the seymour enterprise this school sends out special trains and agents and emissaries and whatnot all over indiana in line with its policy of making a paradise of scientific farming and these agents dont often overlook the opportunity of telling about seymours mours Is farmers club and what it Is doing to make the city and its rural customers real business associates the word Is going farther too than the farthest reaches of indiana grange gra organizations commercial clubs and agricultural colleges here and there all over the country are making inquiries of seymour about the club so besides making it easy for the rural neighbor to enjoy himself ehtle trading there seymour Is gather ing to itself a stack of advertising valuable be yond computation what has been done in seymour can be done in any other agricultural community in the united states it necessary that the club should be bd a memorial to anybody nor that it should be a monument to the generosity and public spirit of one br two men nor that it should be housed in a specimen of classic architecture pour four or six rooms would serve the purpose nicely if converted properly to club uses these rooms might be found in a detached residence or on the second or third floor of a business block the expenses might be prorated among the business men and the farmers themselves might pay a modest initiation fee and nominal dues where theres a will theres a way as the fellow bellow said anyhow it sounds pretty peppy and up to date it to overhear one farmer say to his neighbor on a saturday morning in town well ed lets run over to the club and have a talk |
