The diamond drill., 1919-02-22

Intensive Effort Necessary 10 Reach
Goal Desired In Any Line.
Reprinted from cloverland.)


thing, and want IL hard enough so
that they get together and really CO
operate in their drive after the thing
that's wanted, they generally get 1t.
But remember, said cooperate. and
that doesn't mean rambling along
together without definite plans and
leadership. II means knowing what
you're after, laying the campaign and
finding the leader TO direct II, and
then pushing the thing ahead until
the Jobs done. Not that this Is al
ways consciously done in so many
steps, but these are the elements that
are always found in the successful
cooperative enterprise.
Previous to 1917, there was no
-four and feed mill in Iron county,
Michigan. Three attempts had been
made to establish one at Iron River.
but they had all failed mainly thru
the lack of leadership and co-opera-
tion. Considerable money was sub
scribed, but in each case the mill
failed to materialize. One of the
mills was to have been run with wa
ter power, and the story is told that
after the attempt had fallen through,
some humorist, perhaps one who had
subscribed TO the scheme, put this
sign on the road to the site selected,
This Is the road to the mill site; but
no mill by dam site"
However, as times passed, the feel
ing that mill was necessity for
the more rapid development of the
county and the dairy industry grew
stronger, until some of the farmers
themselves began to lead in the agi-
tation. Two prominent farmers OF
the Iron River district, Victor Ben
son and Thomas Brznowski, person
ally solicited subscriptions and arous-
ed interest until this time the mill
became a reality. A site at Iron Riv-
er was purchased, together with a
two-story building upon il which has
been used for the mill This was i'm
the latter part of December, 1916, di-
rectly after the organization of the
company.
An instance which shows the de-
termination of the workers TO have a
mill, and their confidence in the
proposition, is the fact that the con
tract for the mill was signed when
just 500 had been subscribed for the
payment of it.
Some OF the directors felt that
12-barrel mill would be large enough
TO begin with, while some felt that
5O-barrel mill would not be too large
But it was decided that, considering
the finances OF the company, together
with the prospects of grinding, a %
barrel outfit would be best, and this
was the size put in. Now, after a
year and a half Of work, II is seen
that the present capacity is altogeth
er too small, and the plans are now
for an additional 100-barrel mill, max
ing the total capacity 125 barrels
This viii allow for considerable in
crease in the business.
The first car Of wheat vas ground
in May, 1917 The farmers Of the
county kept the mill running fou
months in 1917, and then tae mil
was shut down for short time.
During the spring and summer of
1918, three cars OF wheat were
ground into Alpha" flour, the brand
OF the mill. AS soon as the threshinr
season started the past fall. the mill
began custom work. Grain was
brought I'm SO fast that the mill has
been run night and day to make more
In the sacks OF grain that
cover the mill floor The writer was
told that with the present capacity,
the orders for grinding could not be
taken care OF before the next har-
vest would be ready to grind. Hence
the decision TO increase the capacity
Of the mill to such an extent. Thig !
Is a fair index to the increase in the !
grain production OF the county the
past season. The increase In wheat
was over 300 per cent. and other
grains almost as much Much or this
was due TO the fact that the farmer
could take his wheat to the mill and !
have II ground into feed for his live
stock So the benefit works both |
ways The mill increases the grain |
production. and this in turn gives
more business to the mill. This Is
true with all enterprises that serve
The people The fact that such /