The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-17
NEARLY 100000 EXPENDED
ON a NEW HOTEL AND OTHER M
PROVEMENTS SINCE APRIL L.
Ample AccOmm for Commits
and in the City of Warsaw.


for things to come are the order of the day
at the beautiful assembly grounds on the
banks of Eagle lake near Warsaw. On
next Thursday the Presbyterian General
Assembly is to begin it's session. That this
august body has been induced to hold its
deliberations at Winona is feather in the
cap of the popular resort and likewise in
the headgear of those through whose en-
ergy and zeal the assembly has been Sc
cured Now that the Presbyterian clergy
have fixed on Winona for their meeting
place this year it is of the utmost impor-
tance both for the proper entertainment
of the visitors and for an argument in
favor of holding future General Assemblies
here, that everything shall be in readiness
by Thursday at the latest and that there
shall be no hitch anywhere in the pro-
gramme or the arrangements
Circumstances, among which bad weather
is the chief offender, have conspired to re-
tard the various Improvements going on
here and a race against time is now in
progress. An army of workmen has in
vaded the grounds and everywhere the
hum of labor is in evidence Landscape gar
deners are busy with the lawns tiower-beds
and paths; supplies for the hotels old and
new, are being hauled in capacious vans
over the grounds and delivered at their
various destinations; new roads are being
cut; excavations for new cottages
being made, and the sound of hammer and
saw is abroad in the park General Mana
ger S. c. Dickey is the presiding genius of
the scene and is probably the busiest man
who ever exhausted nerves and energy
within the confines of Winona Park. The
responsibility of everything rests on this
jealous man and he is called into consulta-
tion with regard to each project consid-
cred, from the acoustic properties of the
rehabllated auditorium to the purchase OF
soap and toothpicks for the hostelries. He
is everywhere at once and nothing nor no
one is exempt from his careful espionage.
AT his approach the laborers on the lawn
push their mowers with renewed zeal, ham
mers and saws fly with a visible increase
of strokes per minute, and even the slow
and sinuous colored men, carrying bedding
and Crockery up the stairs of the new ho-
tel, lay aside for the nonce their chronic
lassltude ana give evidence OF what the
small boy calls an extraordinary hump"
Yet with all the calls on his time and at
tention DR.. Dickey has the grace to keep
his temper and the accommodating spirit to
tear himself from his tasks ana go over
the grounds with various newspaper men,
seeking for news to fill their hungry maws.
Although DR.. Dickey is at the helm, he
has several able assistants in the sailing of
his craft. John NJ Studebaker, of South
Bend, president of the Winona Assembly
and Summer School, has been here with
his wife for a week and is lending his best
endeaVors to the work of preparation. j.
F. Boyer, superintendent of grounds and
one Of the largest stockholders, is also a
valuable lieutenant, and Mrs. d. b. Wells,
of Fort Wayne, principal of the Western
Seminary, is a host in herself and her
untagging energy is a source of ceaseless
wonder to those who watch her. In addi-
ton to these aids-de-camp Dr. Dickey
has a capable office staff who carry on the
routine OF correspondence and question an
sWering.
ACCOMMODATIONS FOR VISITORS.
There are but few people besides the
workmen on the grounds as yet, though
few struggling visitors hang about the
hotel corridors and several lone cottagers
have been struggling with combination
of cold weather and lack of stoves. The
people will begin to arrive Monday, but
the bulk of them will not get here until
Thursday, when the General Assembly
opens. Manager Dickey expects to enter
tain four thousand guests and feels him
self fully equal to the task of furnishing
them accommodations. With the increased
hotel facilities at the assembly grounds this
year about two thousand visitors can be
accommodated and nearly that many al
ready have quarters reserved for the en-
tire session Of the General Assembly. Be
tween six hundred and seven hundred of
these are commissioners and the others
are for the most part PresbyterianS who
are interested in the work of the General
Assembly.
There are two hotels at Winona Park
this summer. The Winona has been cleaned
MinneWaWan Inn, or WomanS Building.
with it's 230 rooms, more than doubles the
hotel capacity. In addition there are two
first-class boarding houses, one old, the
other new, and the cafe has been doubled
in size. Most of these quarters have al
ready been assigned, but there stlll re-
main some rooms on the grounds. Those
wishing to secure them viii be wise to
write at once and not wait until arrival,
for they will be taken in a hurry. For the
accommodations of the other two thousand
visitors expected, quarters have been en-
gagged at the Hayes House and other places
in Warsaw and applicants will be assigned
by mail if desired. Quarters in Warsaw
are almost as desirable as those on the
grounds for, beginning Monday, the Pitts
burg Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad will
run a train to and from the assembly
grounds every twenty minutes for which
TTound-trip fare of 10 cents viii be charged
This will be kept up during the entire ses-
sion of the General Assembly, with the
exception that on Sundays there will be
nothing but the regular train service.
The Winona Hotel is, of course. the fa-
vorite stopping place, and nearly every
advance. Rooms have been engaged for
General Harrison and his wife, who are ex-
pected on Thursday with little Elizabeth
and her nurse. John Wanamaker, of Phil
adelphia, has also engaged a room at the
Winona and will be here on Thursday.
The majority of the visitors, both COM
missioners and onlookers, are expected
Thursday morning. AT that time special
trains will arrive from Cincinnati, Indian
apolis, Louisville, st. Louis, New York and
Chicago, each bearing it's load of Presby-
terians to be disembarked at Eagle Lake
Station. Some few will come Monday and
Tuesday to attend the annual conference of
the Board of Foreign Missions. which opens
Tuesday afternoon. In the face of all this
it can be seen how necessary it is that ev-
erything shall be ready in time, and what
a strain DIR. Dickey and his force are un-
dergong by reason of the delay. And yet
there is time to laugh on occasion as when
the other day, a reverend member of the
Presbyterian clergy, who is most particular
in his tastes, wrote for a room, describing
in detail all the accessories desired and stip-
ulating that there be sunshine ''at least
part of the day" His requests were COM
piled with exactly, except in regard to the
sunshine. For that part of the contract
he was told TO apply TO higher authority
$4,000 SPENT SINCE APRIL l.
In the matter of improvements Winona
will be a surprise TO those who have not
been here since last year. Notwithstanding
the unfinished appearance presented by
some parts of the grounds and buildings
and which can hardly be wholly obliterated
by Thursday. one cannot help but be inn
pressed with the changes. Since the 1st of
April $50 900 has been poured into Winona
Park for improvements and a way opened
for the expenditure of much larger sum