Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1921-06-09

y
uepoStors to become richer? If nOn-depOsitora
see us doing this they have the best argument
III ui'e world Tor bringing their accounts to us"
Inc farmers of the community were hard work
ers and intelligent. But they had no leader
"Hhout single "by your leave" the bank as.
suiiieu the leadership. 1t organized Farmers
foruih. On the banks recommendation the farm.
efS employed field demonstrator," thoroughly
grounded in the theory and practice of scientific
larlnlnS. The federal government paid half the
expenses of this "sOil doctor" He spent his time
laNelihg from farm to farm making soil tests
anu advising the farmers regarding the products
pest adapted to their acres The bank purchased
carload of purebred CATTLE selected by gov.
eminent dairy expert. These were sold to the
farmers at cost.
1hat was three years ago. Today, that COM
muhlty IS one of the most prosperous agricultural
districts in the country. There is only one bank
Inc business of the competing bank has been
taken over by the live bank
Inc young man is president of the enlarged
DahK. lie has been offered a vice presidency in
large city bank, with salary double that which
ne now receives. He prefers to remain in the
pushes He' too, would rather be first in
little lberian village than second in Rome"
On a trip last year through one of the richest
agricultural sections of the Middle West, | was
continually hearing the name of one man. | call
nm jim ingalls, because that is not his name
Five years ago he was an overwOrked reporter on
Dig city daily. His work did not seem to be
getting him anywhere. There were half dozen
men ahead of him in the line for promotion AMI
the best that he could hope for was an assistant
ediorShip in about ten years.
When his two-weeks' vacation period rolled
around, he made trip through the rural districts
of his state. He did not return to the city For
In little town he found the subject of many day
dreams-a rundown country newspaper for sale
And into it he put every cent that he had managed
to scrape together his city job
Not very promising baby" you say But
jim ingalls, had a vision of possibilities The
town was in the heart of prosperous farming
region that well populated. Most of the
farmers had big city daily delivered at their
gates. There was a growing community spirit
among the county dWellerS. Jim saw the need
for real community newspaper
The first thing that he did was to improve the
appearance of the paper. Then he toured the
county, and created IA chain of correspondents
Railroad agents, school teachers, doctors, lodge
secretaries, justices Of the peace-everyone in
position to gather news was supplied with sta
tionery and given free subscriptions. There were
few who did not consider it d privilege to send
in news items.
He gave up foreign news entirely leaving this
to the city dailies. His news policy has always
been of intensive reporting of the affairs of
town and county. His correspondents pour in to
him every week steady stream of the gossip and
Chtchat of every hamlet and crossroads village
If Farmer POrter's wife holds pie social she
knows where she will find full account of it,
and her guests know where they can find their
names in all the glory of print Farmer Lawler
and his neighbors are interested in the hay, grain
and forage reports from up state. They look in
Jim's paper for them. He keeps close tabs on the
developments at the county experimental farm
and nothing gets by him at the meetings of the
county agricultural societies.
The papers circulation is now nearly four times
what it was when he took it over, and 1t is recog
nized as a valuable advertising medium. Jim no
longer has to worry over his income But he has
made more of his paper than mere chatterbox
of the cOuntys gossip. He realizes that in his
little newspaper, he has a powerful tool And
he uses it to encourage the jewellers of the county
to carry out the improvements which will add to
the comfort of all, and make every town a better
place in which to live and bring up children.
There are openings for a great many more "Jim
Ingalls," In the United States there are about
ten thousand centers Of population where news
papers are published There are about twenty
five hundred daily newspapers, and nearly six
times as many country weekes
Our smaller communities are beginning to
awaken There is increased political activity with
in their boundaries. And they need fearless, in
dependent local papers.
Which brings us to the question of the small
town boy and politics.
The Young man who plans to follow political
career can do no better than to begin at the bot
tom in his own village, township or county. BY
mixing in local affairs he will learn how to handle
human nature. And he will learn to be pract-
cal. ,.............
Let not the young man think that participation
in small.town affairs will stunt his growth. If he
Is destined for larger things, few years will find
him, as matter of course, functioning on a larger
scale And record Of things done-that new
school for Beaver Hollow, the park at Four
Corners the new municipal lighting plant or the
new railroad brancb--all will serve as recommen-
datons when he goes before the voters.