The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1906-10-25

Editorial Association at Center.
Willie.

willie.
The Southern Iowa Editorial Associa-
tion met at Centerville last Thursday
and Friday and spent most enjoyable
two days in that enterprising city,
which is rapidly forging to the front
both in enterprise and population. In
the last few years Centerville has been
talked about considerable as pushing
city, but it must be visited to fully ap-
preciate the great work which has been
done in the way of improvements in the
past three years. The city now has the
population of 1000, and in the past two
years has constructed nearly seven
miles of paved streets, at cost of
100000. Fifteen miles of sewers have
been laid at the cost of $4,000, includ-
ing two septic tanks where sewerage is
disposed of by the most scientific and
approved process. Twenty-Five miles
Of cement sidewalks have been
laid in the past three years, their old
mule street car line replaced with a
modern electric line, new court house
was erected in 1904 at cost of 100000.
The editors were present from all
over the southern part of the state and
they were royalty entertained by
Centerville Commercial Club and the
local press. The meetings of the as
sociation were held in the assembly
room of the new Drake free library
donated to the city by the late Gov.
r. M. Drake at a cost of $4,000. On
Thursday evening banquet was tend
cred the visitors at the new M. E.
church dedicated in June, which costs
$4,000, the ladies of the church serving
thn hnp rrvLS II oe
the association has ever enjoyed. Fri
day morning the visitors enjoyed a
drive over thec city and the various in
dustries and public buildings we're
inspected. Only few months ago a
skirt factory was located at Centerville
which is now working over time to fill
their orders and giving steady employ
ment to sixty people.
At the conclusion OF the drive over
the city the editors were taken to No.
Nine mine, one of the numerous mines
owned by the Centerville Block Coal Co.,
swhere they were equipped with miners
caps and lamps and taken down in the
mines to see the miners at work. The
mine is ninety feet deep, but the de-
scent was so quick that it was like 60
ing from one floor to another in the
elevator of any large building in city.
At the bottom of the mine we were
loaded into cars and taken three-quart-
ers Of a mile back in the mine and here
we saw the miners digging and blasting
coal, and also the use of the machines
which are operated by compressed air
which dig the coal out pretty lively
While at the mines we learned some facts
concerning the coal industry and found
} that the coal production of Appanoose
county for the year ending June 3O,1906
was 1,056,000 tons, being surpassed only
by Monroe and Polk counties. Wages
paid in the county during the year
were $1,600,O00 for mine labor alone
OF the 5000 miners in Appanoose county
500 live in Centerville and many OF
} them own comfortable homes, as they
make good money The miners receive
SLIGO per ton for mining. The mule
drivers receive $2.44 per day of eight
hours, but after our experience in the
mine we believe they earn every cent
of it. When the party returned to the
bottom of the shaft they were served
with a substantial lunch, the novelty OF
eating down in a coal mine made it all
the more enjoyable. Centerville has a
Commercial Club organized in 1904
which has done mach to promote the
. rapid growth Of the city. They have
nicely furnished club rooms which are
supported by the enterprising business
men, and they did everything in thei.
power to make the visit of the editors
a pleasant one. Centerville is booming
and they will continae to prosper as
long as they eontinae along present
lines, as they have struck the proper
gait.
!, The editors are under lasting obliga-
tions to editors ]. K Huston, of the
Centerville Daily Citizen, Beck &
Needham, of the Iowegian, who worked
J earnestly to make the meeting success
and they were rendered vote of thanks
by the association. The next meeting Of
the association will be held at Daven.
port next June, and one of the features
of meeting will be steamboat excursion
on the Mississippi river.
A Dozen Times Night.
Mrs. Owen Dunn, of Benton Ferry
W. Va, writes: II have had kidney and
bladder trouble for years, and it be.
came so bad that l was obliged to get
up at least dozen times at night.