South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-03-31
RUM VILLAGE
IS SOUGHT BY
REALTY MEN
City Must Act Prompt
Iy if Tract is to Be
Saved for Park Site.

That Rum Village, histo &c land
mark. once the property of lief Rum,
a Pottawatomie Indian, no longing
to the Mrs. Peter f. StuC Uaker es-
tate. is in danger of LOSING its wood
land splendor and being cropped up
into city lots for residence building
by the pale Faces. thus IN be for
ever lost TO South Bend for park pur-
poses. has leaked out Fuesday. the
leak probably resulting fToLl the story
that appeared in The NeWs-Ilmes
Sunday morning.
A company Of real estate men are
said TO be figuring on the purchase of
the 100-acre plat, remove the major
portion of the trees, and convert IL INTO
a new city addition.
That the board of park commission
ers. or in case of their failure to act,
then the mayor, should take some
steps to get hold of this property Tor
park purposes, and prevent its further
commercialization must be the 1udg-
ment of every citizen who Is park
advocate Rum Village is otherwise
commonly known as the StudeoaKer
woods, is located to the south of South
Bend, beyond w. Ewing av.. and is the
only remaining woodland fit for nat
ural park in the vicinity of the city.
It's possession and equipment would
place South Bend quite on a par with
Grand Rapids, with its John Ball park;
jackson. Mich. 18th its Loomis farm
and with number of Indiana cities,
that have exercised a similar fore
sight and civic pride.
Members OF Board.
Member of the park board are Irv-
ing Jackson, Richard Elbel, Or. r.. j.
Lent and Horace l.. Greene. and peo-
pie who believe in the desirability of
the park purchase, should guess from
this where to go TO exercise their in
fiuence. That they have taken no
action may be due to "a number of
things, or it may be that they have not
known that the property 1s slipping
away. 1t would at least do them no
harm to make some effort to find out
what the tract can be purchased Tor,
and try to forestall a sale until muni-
cipal action can be taken should it
prove desirable. If the weight Of pub
lie opinion needs fall upon their spine
to make them act, the quicker IL falls,
apparently the better.
Real Historic Spot.
Studebaker woods, or Rum Village,
is particularly valuable for a city park,
on account of the Indiana legends that
surround it. Whether il was once
owned by Chief Rum. or by some other
PottowatOmie chief. and was traded
away for a jug of rum-both of which
legends are current--it is a fact that
an Indiana village once occupied the
grounds. and that it is the site of one
of the most extensive Indian burying
grounds in northern Indiana From
the Indians il passed TO the ownership
of George and G.. w. Ewing, Indian
traders at Fort Wayne, and was in
herited from them by Mrs. y. r. Stu
debaker, who was their cousin. She
has held il unimproved all these years,
fvar~ 70 hnr. of hnr
death.
South Bend needs just some such
lpark. The future Of the city is at
stake in this particular When the
city reaches a population of 100, 600 or
1850. 0.000-becomes a congeSteG district
double what it is today, the need of a
recreation spot will be almost indis-
pensable. and yet. unless this oppor-
tunity is grasped. there will be no
chance. It is the only remaining op
pOrtunity in sight. Besides IL has the
| Endorsement and recommendation of
the landscape architect George kess-
| ler of st. Louis. whom the city
| brought here a year or so ago to look
into such matters. He proposes its
retention, close To nature as possible,
which would be something Of a limi-
| tatiOn upon the expense of mainte-
| nance.
John Ball park in Grand Rapids. is
a woods grown on a cluster of hills
| through which there are driveways
and walks, with a deer park and some
animal and bird cages; that is all. To
| the front OF the park in Grand River
valley is a baseball park tennis court
etc, for recreation and games of an
| other sort.
I City Reaches Park.
! LOomis farm, at Jackson. is a big
woods part of II approaching the
heart Of the city with some fields off
/ TO one side that are given TO play
! grounds. Rum Village could be equip
ped similarly TO these. and the cost
/ would not need to be enormous.
Neither John Ball park nor LOomis
] farm has the romantic history that
surrounds Rum Village. ~ ~