The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1909-02-06
No INTEREST
IN HAMMOND
Outside of Certain Percent
age Hammond Hasn't Put
Up Much of a Scrap.

A. r. Knots of Hammond, president
of the Lake County Bar association
returned from indianapolis where he
and John Gavit have been leading |
Hammond's fight for additional court |
facilities and presented an entirely
new phase of the situation.
When the Hammond delegation ar
rived in Indianapolis it found a most
remarkable condition of affairs. The
Gary crowd had been on the scene for
several weeks. Every senator and
representative had been interviewed
by a Gary man and, if he would do
so. had promised that he would sup
port the Gary measure.
ARE GREAT BOOSTERS.
So enterprising were the Gary
boosters, according to Mr.. Knots. that
scores of senators and representatives
believed that Gary was by far the
largest city in Lake county, and that
Hammond, Indiana Harbor. East Chi
cago and Whiting were only Gary sub
urbs.
They did not confne their efforts to
convincing the solons that such would
be the case in ten or twenty years,
3ut they actually stated such was the
case at tire present time, said Mr.
Knots, "and it took practically the
first two weeks to do away with this
false impression"
PEOPLE ARE AMAZED.
The people at indianapolis were
amazed when the Hammond lawyers
informed them that Hammond was
over twice as large as Gary, that Ham
mond has added 5000 people to its
ting 10000. that East Chicago is
great deal larger than Gary and that
Whiting is nearly as large as the new
steel city
Mr.. Knots then told about the diff
ference in the support which was CIV
en- to the Hammond and the Gary
lawyers by the business men in their
respective cities.
ALL WORK TOGETHER.
In Gary every civic organization, and
there are a great many of them. called
meetings and declared for a Gary
court. They donated money from their
treasures to pay the expense of lobby
ing for the Gary bill. Lists of the
senators and representatives were
printed in the Gary papers and, as
Gary residents from nearly every
county in the state. each of the sena-
tors and representatives in the legis-
lature received a letter from some
Gary man who was formerly a resident
of his county, asking him to support
the Gary measure. This was exceed
ingly effective.
The Gary delegation was provided
with unlimited funds. This is an ad-
vantage. as the senators and repre-
sentatives are so busy that the only
time they can be talked to is at the
dinner table or at the theater in the
evening
HAD LOTS OF COIN.
In fact, the Gary crowd had so much
money that they made most favora-
BILE impression on many of the legisla-
tors. One estimate places the sum
that the Gary crowd had at $4,000
No one knows the exact amount, but
there was enough of it in evidence to
make it apparen that there was big
reserve fund somewhere.
In addition to that every Gary man
is a booster If he could not afford
to go to Indianapolis he wrote to all
of the people he knew in the legisla-
ture. The letters came from Gary in
such numbers that the Gary lawyers
GOulO easily get away Will their CtdiH
that Gary is the biggest city in the
county and the other places are mere
ly little cross-road towns.
ALL ARE INTERESTED.
Added to the intense activity of tht
Gary delegation is the fact that every
Hoosier is interested in Gary. So per
sistent has Gary been boosted tha
the people in Indianapolis have th'
idea that it is the seventh wonder O
the world. The mere mentioning O
the word Gary is sufficient to cause
couple of Legislators to stop ant
listen to the marvellous tales of tn,
growth of the new worlds steel cen
ter. Mention the cities of Nortl
township, Indiana Harbor for instance
where the progress has been wonder
full, and the average Indianian il
bored
Mr.. Knots says the people of Ham
mond on the contrary have not beer
taking much interest in this fight