Charlevoix county herald., 1912-04-13
Gibson's 5 Report
Illustrated Lecture Tour in In.
diana and Illinois a Success.

The lecture entitled. Western
Michigan, The Land OF Fruit aud
Forlune," illustrated by l20 colored
-ldes was given at twenty-fou places,
twenty OF these points being in
Indiana, and four In Illinois.
Twenty nine DAYS were occupied In
making the tour and the total dis
tan e covered was approximately 1920
miles.
The aggregate attendance at the
twenty-four lectures was 279S. About
$50 additional persons were seen and
talked To ON the trains, in the streets
and in their several places Of business,
SO That the total number of those 10
wnom the golden opportunities which
exist in Western Michigan were pre-
sented, by wOrd OF mouth, was 3,l4S.
Copies Of the 1912 Western Michi-
gan booklet were given TO all those
who attended the meetings. In addi-
ton TO this, we gave away over $500
copies Of our magazine I'd people Oh
the trains and interurban cars, at
their places OF business aud on the
streets, making about 5000 copies all
told, which we put into circulation In
Indiana and Illinois. We received a
great many compliments about the
booklet, both as to the printing aud
contents. We were tods many times,
that IL was refreshing To read publ
cation that was not gotten out u
further some special interests, and
that was free from the usual bonn bast
aud exaggeration.
| Ten hundred and forty two OF those
who attended the lecture gave Us their
names and addresses, saying that the
lecture had created an interest In
Western Michigan and asking US To
put their names on our mailing list,
So that they might become thorough.
ly posted and kept IN touch with the
latest developments in our section.
Fully half OF those who gave Us
their names stated that they would
come 10 Western Michigan some time
during 1919. We feel sure that the
number Of home.seekers visiting OuI
territory this year, will break all pre-
viOus records.
We took several ways Of telling the
people about our coming in order tC
secure All attendance at the meetings
aud TO start an interest.
One thod was TO run reading no
tices and display advertisements ol
our meetings in the local newspapers
Another was To advertise by means Oi
window cards, llxl4 inches. These
cards were put In the store windows
and tackled outside in the town,
where we couG get permission TO dc
SO. We also had the cards tackled on
the bulletin boards, which nearly al
the farmers in Indiana and Illinois
have in front OF their homes.
The secretary acted as his own al.
vance agent, spending two weeks IL
selecting The right places and In max
ing preliminary arrangements To-
halls, advertising, etc, and what was
most important, the appointing Of 10
Ca agents TO see To il that our adver
tising appeared, TO answer questions
and To work up local Interest. These
local agents contributed in 90 smal
degree u the success OF our lecture
campaign.
Al almost every meeting, and il
talking with individuals, the same
stock objections TO Western Michigan
were advanced. the one referred tC
most often being that OF rigorous eli
mate. In nearly every case our show
ing OF the slide giving the isutherma
lines aud the explanation of this pic
ture given on page 10 OF the magazine
set this objection at rest. IL was diff
ficult though, for some 10 understand
why the climate should not becOm,
colder and more severe on all CROWNS
things, the further north one goes.
Another erroneous notion that W,
found prevailing quite generally. wa,
that by far the largest portion Of the
8 ate Of Michigan consisted of very
light, almost useless sand land. Thi'
is not To be wondered al when no
only our. own citizens, but our stat,
officiais, have fostered this error. W.
heard some very absurd stories on thi,
subject: which has been carried b,
the resOrters, maOy OF whom never get
awav from the places they visit every
summer on the shores OF Lake Mich
gan and OF course, see great deal u
sand and OF sand land.
Then again, some would ask why II
was IL the laud In Western Michigan
was good for anything, there remained
such large area still uDimproveC
aud held at such absurdly low prices
We succeeded in most cases, il
answering these questions satisfac
tprily.
The slides showing the diversiiec
sesracssI ~ the farr,tpg irdue,ry in