Bryan daily eagle and pilot. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1909-1918, 1912-08-13
MY VISIT HOME
By L. NJ. HEWITT.

A long journey Is interesting IL
many ways. The acquaintances mad,
in the Pullman are sources of pleas
ure and study. Boarding a Pullman
at Hearne, we were day and two
nights In the company OF twenty PEG
pie Of as many different .vocationi
and going as many different ways
from st. Louis-to st. Paul, to La
Crosse, to Montreal, to Daluth, Il
Chicago, to Buffalo, to Indianapolis
and to other points. For a time VIC
were as a small village on wheels.
Arriving In st. Louis, we found an en-
tirely different climate. Cool weather
prevailed during our entire stay in
the North. The Hewitt family reunion
was of considerable interest in our
home town. My fathers seventy-third
birthday was the occasion. He now
has exactly sixty direct descendants,
dfty-two Of whom we're at the home.
coming. His ten children were all
present. The members OF the family
are SO widely separated that 1t took
an aggregate of over 10000 miles
travel going and returning to their
homes. There were a few close
friends of the family as invited
guests, among them Miss Una Drum.
mond of this place. making sixty-five
to sit at the table.
When the present governor of Ne
braska and / were boys In school to-
gether In Ohio, Conneaut was a vii.
lage OF about 800 people. 1t is on
Lake Erie. and a small point runs
out into the lake, making a port pos.
sible. Chef Aldridge, as the governor
used to be called, and | have fished
on that point many times. When
home had to notice the great change
In that town. While there Conneaut
gained the worlds record In time for
unloading cargo Of ore, being a
cargo of 1925 tons unloaded In two
hours and ten minutes, and all put
INTO cars for transport to the Besse.
ner mills. Each car carried fifty tons,
'r two hundred and twenty cars, or
Tx train loads. This port holds the
record for the first six months |
" 1912 for the amount of ore un.
oaded and forwarded by rail, being
over five million tons. The
ity OF Conneaut today has a popula.
ion of about 10000, and one of its in
ustries, the Conneaut cannery, for.
Yards 1900 carloads of canned prod.
ct each year.
How has this change been brought
bout? About twenty-five years ago
small cannery was started. Farm
RS were induced to cultivate toma.
oes. beans and sweet corn. This in.
ustry has steadily grown until today
is a million-dollar concern. Some
welve years ago the business mems
rganization got after the Bessemer
eople to extend their small railroad
Conneaut. At that time the Penn
ylvania railroad handled all the lake
re from Cleveland, Ashtabula and
RE. The Conneaut people were per-
stent in their endeavors to interest
lie steel trust people, and finally got
hearing. A proposition was finally
ade which was staggering to any but
sturdy, courageous bunch of work
s. 1t demanded improvements of
lat little port which was to bond the
tile city of at that time 5000 people
It'll an interest which was out of the
iestion at the assessed values, but
,thing daunted, those business men
IT together and double assessed
llues several times and voted bonds
the limit to improve the to-be-har-
'r. An appeal was then made to I
ashington and the local fund was D
inforced by Uncle Sam and he did q
e work. The railroad was built into o
e harbor. Immense loading and un- Z
aiding derricks were constructed. p
md values for miles around jumped. o
EDITION after addition was plotted a
proved and sold, all because men o
10 saw a possibility improved the p
portunity. A thing had to be done, a
d had to be done now, and they did
t hesitate because the task looked =
:. To them the bigger the task, the
sger the results looked, and they
,kled it with relish. AS my
other (who is one of the railroad :.
icials) was going over the process g
this great change with me. said :.
him, Every great result requires ),
great EFFORT and determined that Il