Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-02-08
Looker-On In Iona

Toledo, Feb SIN Spencer there is a
mutual fire and lightning insurance
company that seems to stand the test
of time. That is if a twenty year test
proves anything The policy holders
have for this length of time insured
themselves at about half the cost that
we outsiders pay.
At Rockwell there is a farmers
grain dealers association that also
stands the test, so far, of years. This
company not only sells the members
farm products but buys and sells to
its members much that is needed for
family supply.
There are a few mutual creameries
in Iowa that pay good dividend to the
stakeholder. But the state of Iowa is
covered with wrecks of mutual COM
panies, fire insurance, life insurance,
building and loan associations, farmers
elevator companies, and mutual cream
cry companies galore, the empty and
unused buildings now standing as mon
uments of failure.
All this is suggested by what hap
pened in an Iowa town-no, here-not
so long ago. One of these eievtor COM
panies had several years of success. At
Tie emu VI tdCH SeGi tliSiS " a. q ,iiieh1i
profit and visible dividend for the
stockholders. Then came a meeting an
annual meeting in which the tight
wads' were in the majority One hun
dred dollars a month was too much to
pay the manager. Mr.. so-and-s would
do the work for s65 a month and why
not save $500 year and have so much
more in dividends? The job was Of
4 of nor rTsar
which he declined. So-andso became
manager and in two years this aSSocl-
alton went broke"
There's a great big complete cream
cry building now standing idle in one
of the best farming counties in Iowa.
Cream is being shipped away and the
farmers are being paid just what the
big butter combine sees fit to pay. Not
two weeks ago, the price Of cream was
lowered without any other reason than
| that the Elgin crowd had dropped but
/ ter cents a pound. This idle and I'M
used creamery and the conditions of
affairs in that vicinity at present, was
caused by an economical co meeting
of the directors of this once prosper
Gus mutual creamery company. and
discharging butter maker getting 800
a
month. This saved" SIS month real
" broke up the company. And within
a year the writer has called on man
ager for another company, that can not
read. write or figure sufficiently well
to keep the books and one Of the
stockholders of the company acts as
secretary and treasurer at s25 per
month. while the manager gets the
! month il
anv wonder so many Of these mutual
concerns go to pieces? The successful
ones get good men. pay good wages
and continue in business.
While in Clay county few weeks
ago the writer heard of a sale Of hay
Al s25 per ton. In that county today
are thousands of tons of corn stalks
covered with snow that might have
been cut UP last fall and prevented this
scarcity of iced. In Clay county as
well as many other counties in Iowa
TODAY are thousands of bushels of corn
covered with snow that only the best
kind of weather will make it possible
to gather and use it for feed. for grain
dealers will not buy or touch this
buried corn only at a price that hardly
will nav for the trouble of handling
This buried corn and these corn stalks
is now almost a total loss. If the own
ers had cut up their corn last fall
would now be worth, not to exagger-
ate not a particle millions OF dollars
The corn would have been saved anc
husked out of the shock any time this
winter even if the snow was two fee
deep on the level. II the corn stalks
had been cut up at the right time suct
corn stalks would sell today for $40
ton. where hay is worth $25 ton.
Those that have been bored by the
person that persists in reading aloud
the daily paper, this always at thf
time and place when others are tryinf