The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1906-06-21
An INTERESTING TRIP
The Editor and Family on Their De-
Iightful Vacation With National
Editorial Association.

ial Association. This year the meeting
was held at indianapolis, June 1916,
and following the convention the party
makes trip through Indiana, then to
Chicago where a steamer is taken for
lake trip to Detroit and then the party
makes tour through eastern Can
ada and steamer trip down the far
famed st. Lawrence river to the old
town of Chicoutimi on the Saguenay
river.
We left Leon on Monday afternoon,
June 18th, going to Des Moines where
the Great Western was taken to Chi
cago. AS we took last look at good
old Decatur county we could not help
admiring the growing crops and as we
took special pains to watch the condi-
tion of the crops through Iowa and Illi-
nois, we can assure the farmers of De-
catur county that nowhere did we see
as fine prospects for bountiful crop
this year. AS we rode north through
Iowa and east through Illinois we found
the corn little later as we proceeded,
the Illinois crop being two to three
weeks behind Iowa. At Chicago we
boarded Monon train and were whirl-
ed down to Indianapolis, arriving the
morning of the 18th.
Ne a.
at the beautiful Claypool hotel, the
meetings being held in the large assem-
bly, room on the eighth floor. 1t had
had been in Indianapolis and time had
made wonderful changes, so that we
scarcely recognized the city, which had
grown to population of 100000. The
city boasts of 1900 manufacturing
establishments in which $4,000 people
are employed, who receive S15,000,000 in
wages annually. Noted as the largest
inland city in the country, it is within
So miles of the center of population of
the United States, and during the de-
cade from 1890 to 1900 it had larger
percentage of growth than any other
city in America of it's class. 1t has
eighteen railroads reaching all the i'm
portant cities of the central west, and
fourteen interurban electric lines and
connections extending from twenty-five
to seventy-five miles in every direction.
200 passenger trains arrive and depart
from the Union depot and more than
three times that number of electric cars
enter the Traction Termial station each
day. 1t is the greatest interurban
center ON the globe, all the lines ter
minating at the. magnificent terminal
station, which is the only exclusive in
terurban station in the world. 1t also
has 155 miles of electric street railroad,
under one system, at four cent fare. 1t
has long been noted for it's excellent
public schools, embracing 60 graded
schools and two high schools, as we'll as
numerous colleges and other educate
al institutions. The city has 46 Meth
odist, y Baptist, 19 Presbyterian, 16
Christian, u Catholic, s Lutheran, s
Congregational, Episcopalian, and
numerous smaller churches.
During our stay in the city we enjoy
ed carriage and street car rides cover
ing the principal part of the city, and
it is rightly called the "Home City, the
streets being wide and bordered with
beautiful shade trees, hard maple and
elm predominating.
The meetings of the association were
of special interest to us and we enjoyed
meeting old friends from nearly levery
state in the union, including Alaska, but
we will not burden our readers with a
detailed account of it, suffice to say
the papers and discussions were by the
posted newspapermen in the country.
On Wednesday evening after the busi-
ness session social dance was given
the delegates in the ball room of the
Claypool hotel.
One of the interesting places visited
was the Indiana State soldiers and sail
ors' monument universally admitted to
be the grandest achievement of archi-
tectural art in the world, designed to
perpetuate the heroic epoch of the re-
public and to commemorate the valor
and fortitude of Indiana's soldiers and
sailors in the war of the rebellion and
other wars. 1t was designed by Bruno
Schmitz, the sculptor being Rudolph
Schwartz. 1t is situated in circle
square, the diameter Of the plaza being
342 feet inches, diameter Of the terrace
ITO feet, height of terrace 16 feet in
ches, monument foundation 53X69 feet,
height of monument 2S4 feet inches
and the height of victory statue is 3S
feet. The balcony is 22Sa feet above
the ground, and is reached by an cleo
trio elevator or by stairway consisting
of 324 steps. On reaching the balcony
visitors look over beautiful panorama
of indianapolis and vicinity-a delight
full view not surpassed anywhere. Be-
low the balcony is bronze astragal
bearing the dates 1861, 1865, on the four
sides of the shaft, illuminated by cleo
tricity. Midway the monument is a
second bronze astragal, emblematic Of
the navy, and further down a third
bronze astragal representing the army.
On the east and west side of the monu-
ment are the two largest groups that
have ever been carved out of stone
the one on the east representing war,
the other peace. On the south front
are two heroic statues each cut out of
a huge block of stone; one represents
infantry, the other an ideal cavalry
scout. On the north front are the
artillery and navy representatives, same
as on the south. On the east and west
of the terrace are magnificent cascades,
over each of which flow 1000 gallons of
water per minute. With eight immense
candelabra, carrying 4S arc and $50 in
candescent lamps, together with the SOC
incandescent lamps, Monument Place is
the most brilliantly and beautifully
lighted spot in this country. On subor-
dinate pedestals occupying positions in
the four segments, are bronze statues OF
Gov. Morton, Gov. Whitcomb, Gen. Will
liam Henry Harrison and Gen. George