South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-04-08
SOUTH BEND woRLD-FANIED.' .

It is a sad comment that Sec'y II.
G. Spaulding Of the Chamber OF Com
merce brings back with him from the
Dixie Highway convention-commen
ing on our Chamber Of Commerce
slogan. Evidently we are not as
world famed" as we thought we
were. That we are not known outside
the realm Of business, with particular
reference to the business in which we
are engaged. is the tenor of his OBJ
servaIions. The masses Of people he
makes it TO appear. know Of South
Bend. If at all, as a little town OF a
few thousand population on the cut
skirts OF the Windy City. We are tod
that a considerable contribution to
this condition comes from our multi
plicity of snobs. who. when travelling
about the country, seek TO exaggerate
their Importance by claiming their
home, and registering at the hotels, as
from Chicago.
There may be some people who
travel out from South Bend whom we
should be thankful for the reputation.
OF the town. that they should register
as If from Chicago. and perhaps this
might be said OF anyone who does it.
but il doesn't serve much toward
spreading the name and fame of this
city. It is a safe wager that it is not
for the sake of the town that they are
doing it. We think we struck the
keynote Of il in the next above para
graph. 1t is rather an attempt to ex-
aggerate their self-impoftance by ap-
pearing to hail from the big city. Per
haps they might as well be dismissed
from further consideration. 1t is up
10 the rest of US who are not ashamed
Of south Bend, and who feel that
South Bend has no reason to be par
ticularly ashamed Of us, TO make up
for their dereliction by doing all that
we can TO make our place of domicile
the real place,-that much more
prominent
We can quite understand the disad
vantage that the promoters Of South
Bend as a Dixie Highway terminal
was put TO at the convention by the
lack of a general acquaintance with
our importance. What could serve as
a severer blow in the solar plexus OF
a booster of a city of 65,OO0-virtually
$4,000, with Mishawaka counted, and
properly for the purposes of the road.
than to be asked repeatedly where
South Bend is. and why it is. and if
the sexton still rings the curfew?
Nothing in the world, it would seem,
could come nearer to getting the bOOs-
ter's goat" And, if we should lose
the Dixie Highway, indications are
that that we would owe it TO some ex-
tent TO this lack of popular knowledge
OF our existence. We have lived here,
drawn back into our shell like a tor
toise, approaching our own import
ance and imagining that therefore the
rest of the world must appreciate us
also. until we may have lost our OPP
portunity.
We have no reason to feel disgrun-
tied at any other section of the state
wanting this rOad-or ce any other
city wanting it. They have as much
right 10 it IS we have, if they can get
Il. If they can demonstrate a suffi-
cient number of advantages that we
have not, it must be expected that
they should get it. South Bend needs
10 crawl out OF it's shell and do some
thing more TO make itself world
famed" than TO sit by and admire a
placard declaring 1t on the walls of the
Chamber of Commerce. 1t is a prize
not to be overlooked; this one that is
now trembling in the balance. Action
vii! probably be taken to capture it,
but the main purpose OF this comment
is 10 point out how much easier the
task might be, had more activity, and
less prided conservatism" been exer-
cised in the past
Kidding EOR WAR CONTRACTS.