Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-07-11
MARION HAS MOVED
AHEAD AS HARDING
MADE BIG STRIDES
Industries Have Made Many
Inhabitants Rich and
City Shows Progress.
by G. GOULD LINCOLN.

up tosether. Today Marion is on,
or the most prosperous of the smalle,
nominee of the republican party TO,
President.
| When Senator Harding's famil,
moved to Marion from Morrow county
young Harding was about eighteen
years old at the time-Marion had {
population of somewhere arount
5000. Today within it's corporate
limits the population of Marion i.
1891, according to the 1920 censu:
enumeration, and considerabl,
number of the people who do bust.
ness IN the city live just outside the
up to more than 10000.
Becomes Publisher.
| 1t was In 1884 that Senator HARDING
became the publisher and owner Of
| the Marion Star. a small daily news.
paper whose only assets were its
debts. The original publisher was a
peanut vender. and it had passed
| through various hands until young
Harding took charge.
The story of the long hard road he
had to travel before real success as
publisher was reached has beer
tod many times But on the way
Mr. Harding never failed to boost
Tor Marion while he was betterinp
ms paper. And ever since he attain.
| boost
| Ior Marion. This is one Of the traits
tnat nave so endeared Marion's fore
most citizen to the people.
Is n National Figure.
Harding is a national figure. He
mas been in the public eye for man,
years. But his home town is not SC
Wen known outside of Ohio. It will
! probably come as a surprise to man,
americans to hear that Marionite
| lay claim to having built the .Panam.
cana!-at least to having made the
possibility. They base the claim a
the Iact that the steam shovels which
oit thousands upon thousands of tons
OF art out of the canal bed were
made In Marion. Marion is the moth
er Vi the steam shovel, and the Mar
ION Steam Shovel Company is the
world III 'iie
The development of the steam
shovei which plays such an important
part In the construction of great
pants and engineering work now is
romance in itself Barnhardt. a tele-
erapn operator in Marion with an in
ventive mind, dreamed the shovel. He
lost his job because he spent so much
tlme dreaming about his invention.
Like other. inventors, he had difficulty
making others see the value of his
invention.
Among those to whom he appealed
was the late Amos H. Killing, father
lh-laW or Senator Harding, one of the
wealthfest men of Marion. Mr.. king
could not see the future of the in
vention. But Edward Huber a neigh
Dor. did see it's possibilities and he
put money. into it.
Made Stockholders Rich. 4''
since then the steam shovel has
made all those connected with it q
mint of money. For instance, Fred
haperman who was engaged in the
hardware business took $500 worth of
stock in the company in payment of
debt. The earnings on his stock
made him independent for life. The
Marion Steam Shovel Company has
been running for years and today is
the largest employer of labor in the
clty-Some 1000 to 1,500 being en-
ployed there. 1t took contract from
the government to turn out a dozen
or more of the great twelve inch guns
for coast defense, mounted on rail-
road cars. and there is one of them
in the yards today.
Two other steam shovel companies
have been organized here also. the Os-
good Company and the Fairbanks
Steam Shovel Company, and they, too,
ship many shovels to far quarters of
theglobe.
SILK manufacturing.
The only silk mandatory west of
the Alleghenies is located in Marion,
a branch of the Susquehanna silk
mills. 1t employs between 400 and
500 persons and makes silk of all
kinds.
Other products manufactured here
include threshers and tractors, oil en-
gines, lime. tiles and tubes, steel, steel
castings, monographs, racing sulkies
cut glass products, canvas gloves
and mittens, children's clothing, rain
coats. food products, indicated salts
dredges, ditching machines, and tool
dies. Quite sizable list
over Marion, despite these manu-
featuring interests. There's plenty
of room, and the city lis not huddled
together. Except for the business
blocks in the center of the town, all
the structures are detached. The
miles. Its streets are broad, and lined
with trees Most of them are paved
with concrete or brick.
Typical Small City.
With all it's improvements Marion
is yet typical middle western small
| city in many ways. There is, no such
thing as the poverty found in big
centers of the east. There are no
! slums. The humber homes are COM
Portable looking structures, with lit
tie plots of ground around them. The
people of Marion are a homecoming
! lot. 1t is estimated that between "a
and so per. cent of them do own their
centage for any city. That. by the
way, is one of the things that SEN
ator Harding, as the leading publisher
of the city, has pounded into the
| minds of the people, and he has had
1.-The backing of the manufacturing
&c IN, q of fnr
1 The labor situation in Marion to-
day is good. There is plenty Of work
and apparently no shortage of labor
The place is known as an open town
1t is not unionized as are some of its
larger sisters. But labor and en-
Iployers are getting, along well to-
gether.
| Is County Seat.
| Marion is the county seat of Marion
county, located in the central part OF
Ohio It's about 100 years old. II
lis set down in one of the best farm.
ling and dairy sections of Ohio. Il
is 100 miles west of Cleveland. 1S(
miles east of Indianapolis, As miles
north of Columbus and 40 miles NORTH
iGov. Cox, the democratic nominee fol
President. is located about seventy.
| Ave miles away from Marion.
The city government is in the hand:
lof a mayor and seven councilmen
This plan of government, somewha
along the line of the commission form
Iof government which has worked 81
lweil in the National Capital and othe
cities, is working we'll here.
Marion lies about $50 feet above Sc:
level. 1t is in a stretch of level coun
TRY, and a hill-a real hills not t,
be found near 1t. A few feet unde
the soil is stratum of limestone
which crops out in the northern par
of city, and there are the quarries ant
1.-THE lime plants. which are a very con
/ siderable industry.
| The assessed valuation of propert.