The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-05-06
Little Village, South Of Rich
mond, Asked to Send Dele
gate to the Great Bath,
England, Pageants.
BOTH LORD MAYORS
AND DUKES SIGNERS
When the Postmaster Of the
Franklin Township Village
Received the 1'Bid' He Was
Astounded.

The hamlet of Bath. twenty-five
miles south OF Richmond. along the
line Of the c. G. & L. railway. Is just
now In the throes OF excitement. be-
cause Of the fact It has been officially
and very formally invited to send q
representative to ENGLAND in July. to
be present at and participate in the
festivities to be held in the ancient
and honorable city a Bath from July
10 to "a inclusive.
Time was. and not SO long ago. that
Bath, Franklin county, the metropolis
OF Bath township. was scarcely known
without the precincts of its own bord-
ers, but when the c. C. & L. railway
was built, the map makers In follow
ing the snake-like trail Of the newest
road, sat up and took notice OF Bath.
and from that day to this, the town
has been taking on new frills.
Postmaster Stunned.
The other day. however. when a
the bottom OF the pouch thrown from
the G. C. & L. mail train, the postmas-
ter fished 1t out and almost fell in a
faint when he read the inscription,
ITO the Right Honorable Mayor Of
Bath. Franklin County. Indiana" Now
Bath may have been putting on
frills as an indication Of its growing
Importance, but municipal frills 1t has
never assumed, and IN its category Of
public servants the title Of mayor is
not to be found. The village post
master took q second look at the be-
ribboned and fed@ealed envelope and
found the posfmark "Bath, England" !"
and printed return card announcing
that the missiv4 Be returned in cer-
tain time to the committee in charge
Of the Bath Historical Pageants." !"
There was much to disturb the mind
or the postmaster. The big, bulky
envelope would either have to be de-
1ivered to some person entitled to
receive 1t. or 1t would be labeled "un-
known" and fired to the seaboard to
be carried back to England.
hurried Consultation.
There was 4 hurried consultation
" those who run affairs in Bath, and
Il was decided that the address on the
envelope was simply designed to get
the message into the hands of the
highest officer In the town. be he
mayor or town constable. To make a
long story short, the envelope was
opened and the contents caused heart
throbs Of the most violent sort. His
torical Bath, England, q city that was
n existence when the Roman empire
was at its height: where King Edward
was crowned on Whit.Sunday, A. D.
073. inviting an almost obscure name
sake In the Hoosier state, to send a
representative to its great historical
celebration!
The good people Of the village
thought the whole thing Joke. until
the official summons had been care
fully gone over. time and time again.
There could be no mistake.
impressive Signatures.
There was the signature OF the
highest dignitaries Of the city. J. w.
Knight. ESQ. ]. p, the Right Worship
ful, the Lord Mayor OF Bath, had at
tached his signature with a flourish
characteristic OF the English munich
pal officer. The Most Honorable, the
Marques Of Bath, and His Royal
Highness tho Duke Of Connaught, also
subscribed to the authenticity Of the
invitation. Little wonder that Bath,
Franklin County. IL excited these
days. Somebody from the little VII
laSe will be picked to make the trip
scross the Atlantic. to witness the five
days Of historical pageants, which
promise to rival anything that old
England has ever sprung on the
world. And the best Of It 10 that who
ever the representative from the VII
laSe may be, all expenses are to be
paid BY the city Of Bath. England.
Every city and town in the United
States that has taken its name from
tho Mother country's famous and his
tprical spot. has also received invi-
tations to b represented and when
the vast assemblage Of Britains and
visiting foreigners Is on hand to wit
ness the opening OF festivities on the
afternoon Of July 10 next, none in
that throng viii be more proud Of his
distinction than the citizen Of Bath.
Eranklin county. Indiana.
BEGIN OPERATIONS.
The contractors, English Brothers
q Champaign. Ill. who are to con
struct the new high school building,