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guE XIII" WELSH, CALCASIEU PARISH, LOUiSIANA. SEPTEIBER 13, 1912 NIMBE SEAT SHOULd BE TED IN A LIVE TOWN, ALie Wire-Has Spent More for Improvements And s In Past Five Years Any Other Town In Parish. ie fact thlt Welsh is located rapbtcal center of the oar ituportant facter to be con is the question of locating the it, it is by no means the only on that she has to offer as a aon for that important Our esteemed, contemoorarv jigs Record says, "The par ihould be an advertisiment of rih. :, ve this is true . . ,. ask votL, MDr. _,bat ui:'-' t ;r ,,)lmnendation Yo0u gtce , :rish, than to ,:, , the most live S gressive town tied to the fact is t in th, parisb, and in easy disa: : .. tically every pol-f 14,r , i ccrur:d " , " that while the she i:;stern Jorder, has been a period of tinancial decad the past several years, as a ibe decrease in the oil busi Acadia Parish, that Welsh has idlag and growing, and has almost completing changed town of frame building to a Brick? We take a pardonable is enumeratint a few of the improvemreuts that have been is Welsh during the past five aiks; good sidewalks are tprac. an essential to any well regu iown. In this respect it is with we nsoe that within the past live Welsh has installed more than Thousand Dollars worth of first at walks ranging from four feet in width, and they are for in good hard CASH and SBONDS that are drawing in ldwill continue to be a burden poeration yet to come. Nor has g down of forty thousand worth of walks in our city re a single law-suit, which is can be said of a certain .a in the parish. i; No comminuity can hope to Iay considerable degree of ji without devoting consider teoir revenues to the creation inance of a public school In this respect Welsh can ".ithout fear of contradiction has one of the best high is the state, and that the work the public schools of our city to the best, as was demon !when the exhibit of the Welsh .took the sweepstakes at the fafrlastfall, carrying off more .00 worth of orizes. The (cools are housed in a strict. Sbuilding, with all modern Simprovements, and a cornm aer and sewerage isystem that Mined at a very limited ex Ialso has a fine library and resthoroughlv equipped with for all departments of high and this is all paid for CASH and not in BONDS tiwing Interest, and will be *upon the people of the city to0ome. UDa:--A place for public A!peakitgs, and for putting -id other forms of amuse of the recogoized require Terv public spirited commu trepect Welsh is proud of ttorium erected about three Which is recognized as one arranged and most con lgs of its kind in South Sslana, and is equipped ern conveniences, such lights, water supply, blec. And the Auditorium in GOOD CASEH and not that will be a burden upon for a generation yet to thin; While Welsh has no Water svstem at the present a private water system tank situated 100 feet E:tud, which is supplying tV considerable portion and residential sections a't Ioderate rate. And lt on of a short time un will be greatly ejtended Sto that effect has si. toted upon by the olty .a its only time to be itn Plants. In the Gulf it, of this city, orilin equipped by individual capital, Welsh boasts one of the big. gest and best equipped country mills in the state, a concern that does hund reds of thousands of dollars worth of ,business annually and furnishes em ployment to a very considerable num ber of workmen. The Welsh Machine Shops, is a manufacturing establish ment that manufactures annually a large number of deep well pumps, and strainer for both water and oil wells, and in addition does a general ma chine shop business. The Armstrong Machine & Well Works Co. has one of the best equipped machine shops in Southwestern Louisiana, and t h e farmer who cannot get: his work done at this shop, would find it useless to take it to any other in this section of the state. The Welsh Pop & Bottling works is an establishment that is doing a very consideratebusiness and is con stantly ,videning it sphereof influence. Welsh also has a well equipped auto garage which.makes, or mends almost anything in the line of machinery, Welsh also has a Cement Block & Brick Plant that furish cement brick and building blocks to this and sur rounning commnunities, for all kinds of building purposes. Brick Buildings, within the past three years business men of Welsh have erected first class brick buildings that are today housing from eighteen to twenty of the leading departments of business in the city, and in ths connection we may say that more than two-thirds of the business in Welsh is now conducted in BIItCK building, while new ones are even now in pro cess of building. We believe we can safely assert that welsh has built more brick buildings within the past three years than all the other towns in Jefferson Davis parish combined. Railroad Facilities; in Welsh are equal to those of any town in the par ish being situated on the main line of the Southern Pacific and regular stopping point for all trains. We have four passenger trains each way daily that permit those who do not wishing to drive to the parish seat to come on the train at anytime in the, day or night from either way. Good Roads: Welsh has a splendid system of roads radiating from her in all direction, being situated on the transparish graded road which gives on east and west outlet, and also hav ing a number of well graded roads ex tending, north and southeast and west in addition to the parish road, it is possible to drive either ateam or a car to Welsh, from almost any section of the ±parish, in almost any kind of weather. Welsh is essentially atown of homes and home owners, fully eighty percent of the residents of the city owning their homes, and giving to them that care and attention that either renters or owners of rental property do not care to give And while Welsh lays claims to no boom, still within the past five years a large number of new homes have been built here, ,et in the face of the continued steady building there are few vacant houses in town, there being at the present time proba bly -less than a half a dozen dwelling houses vacant and but two empty business hoases and one of these be. longs to a Jennings firm. Electric Lights; Welsh has a private electric lighting company that s at the present time furnishing electrlo lirghts to practicalll half the business cone erns of the town, and expects to exz tend its lights further In the near future. In fact Welsh offers you every qualification that a live, up to date town situated in the exact center of the parish can offer to any community for the location of the parish seat. When you cast your vote on the 24th cast it for Welsh, and you will never have occasion to be ashamed of your choice. LACASINE IRRIGATION CO, PURCHASED MAYVILLE CANAL 5,270 Acres And Improvements Change Hands. Consideration Reported To Have Been $115,000.00 One of the largest transfers of im proved property that has been made in Southwest Louisiana for some time was recently consumated, whereby the Lacasine Irrigation Co., purchased the entire holdings of the Mayville Canal Company, consisting of 5,270 acres of rice land with canals, pumping plants, warehouses, and other improvements. The consideration in this .deal is re. ported to have been 4115,000,00. These holdings lay some ten to twelve miles south of Welsh, and are composed of some of the best rice lands in the state The purchase of the Mayville hold i::zs added to the previous holdings of the Lacasino Company bring their acreage ap to approximately I1,400 acres, and in all probability makes this company one of the largest owners of improved Louisiana real estate in this section of the state. MONTHLY REPORT OF WELSH CIVIC LEAGUE, Good Work Done By All Departments Member of League Appointed on State Board of Health. The regular monthly meeting of the Welsh Civic League was held last Saturday afternoon at the Auditorium. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved and the re ports of the different committees were Landed in and accepted. The cemetery has been kept mowed, also the Auditorium grounds, the school yard and other lawns that have been turned over to the League for that purpose. Mrs. Godfrey of the sanitary and clean-up committees reports that from a sanitary point the town is inh good condition. As chairman of the clean up committee she reports as follows: Twenty.four vacant lots have been cleaned, four at the expense of the Civic League and the rest at the ex pense of the property owners. Three other lots are let out for pasture to be Cleaned for the "use of them. All trash has been removed from the bayou at the different bridges We wish to say that the League ap preciates the manner and promptness with which the people have responded to the requests of the League to clean up, not only by the people residing here but also by the non-residents. Most of the people written to have re plied in a very courteous and ap preciative manner, and there were only one or two who did not have the grace to reply at all. We are pleased to inforin the public that the chairman of the sanitary committee, Mrs. Godfrey, has re ceived notice that she has been ap pointed a member of the State Board of Health. While we congratulate Mrs. Godfrey for the honor bestowed upon her, we are also congratulating ourselves that we have a membpr of the Welsh Civic League who has at tained such prominence. -Press Committee. GRAND MB ARBEUE AND RALYI - AT - WELSH THE LOGICAL PLACE xx for the COURT HOUSE 3I Saturday, 211 I September - - - 5 Everything FREE ## Plenty to Eat, Plenty of Ice e ,.Cold Lemonade, Good flusic, Base Ball, Speaking and Other Amusements. A Good Time For All. COI YO ý,BL!COMBI PARISH SEAT AT WELSH WILL BENEFIT WORKINGMEN New Residences Would Have to be Built in Welsh. In Jennings SEnough Vacant Houses to Last for Ten Years. A view of the parish seat question that is being taken by the carpenters and builders of the parish of Jefferson Davis, and one withal, which is of very vital interest to them, is that they will all be benefitted by the lo cation of the court house at Welsh, rather than at Jennings. In this connection they say that as there are not a half a dozen vacant houses in Welsh, and will not be any in the course of a couple of months. If the parish seat should be located at Welsh a number of new residegnces would have to be built to accomodate the parish ollicials and a number of other families that would naturally move to the seat of governmeint. This would furnish work for carpen.ters, brick layers, plasterers, painterq, paperhangers, and In fact inearly every kind of labor for a number of years to come. On the other hand, as these men who must have work in order to support their families, and lay by a little for a rainy day, are aware, should the parish seat be located at Jennings, with its score upon score of empty houses there would be practically no demand for new buildings for a number of years to come, as Jennings alreadv has a sufficient number of dwellings to house all probable comners for the the next live years. There is not the slightest doubt about the correctness of the above view of the case. The location of the parish seat in a town that is already build ing and growing, will furnish much more work for the mechanics of the parish, than its location in a town, that was built up in the days of an oil boom, and has been undergoing a period of decadence for se\eral yea's past, and is thickly studded with vacant properties that can be bought or rented omuch cheaper than new ones could be built. . ... --.am e -- ... For Sale. 520 acres Prairie Land 6 miles from Welsh. Price $12.50 per acre, ''erms $1500 Cash, balance can be paid in 5 equal payments. If von want this bar gains call on C. E. Carr, at Welsh, Louisiana. OR, PENNINSTON OF ELTON ARDENT WELSH SUPPORTER Advances Sound and Telling Argu ments for Locating the Parish Seat in the Center of the Parish. D. It. l1ead, Editor Rice Blelt Journal. Dear Sir: Some few days ago while reading an article in an old periodical I caine across the sentence "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country," and when it was read my mind and thought was instantly diverted from the con tents of the article and was soon en tirely absorbed in the question of locati'ng' the parish of Jefferson Davis parish, that is now being so euthusi astically agitated. After serious and careful consideration I came to the conclusion that if I were eligible to membership in the company of "good men" and was permitted to join harnds with llmy fellow men and to as st in locating our Court House that I could best serve my country and work no hardships upon anyone, nor tread up on their rights, and could best treat every individual throughout the en tire parish as I would have tiiem treat me by getting off the fence and declare myself in favor of \Velsh. No man has given this question more serious thought than myself. And I wish to say just here, that 1 amn free of malice and cherish no ill will nor animosity against either of the contesting points, and when I cast my vote and cast it for Welsh. 1 shall cast it for no motive other than to do the most good to the greatest number of people. Every advantage and disadvantage that has been ad vanced by each of the competing points has been carefully considered and I will say, and say it free of prejudice, that Welsh is the only point that has advanced any logical reason why she should have the parish seat. It should be every man's greatest desire and the height of his ambition it matters not who he is, nor what his circumstances may be, to make the varish of Jeff Davis the very best of the three carved from old mother Calcasieu, and if possible the best in the state. Now to do this, and do it mn the near future, we well know that we will have to develope every un developed portion of our parish, it matters not how remote it may be. The eastern portion is well developed and needs no inducements, but the western and central portion, which is now being used largely for grazing purposes, is very fertile but unde veloped, and to place the court house at Welsh would act as the best media by which these portions of our parish would soon reach the highest state of cultivation, a thing that we want and a thing that we could not hope for, at least in the near future, if the court house should be located either at Jennings or Lake Arthur Along educational lines it is a is con ceded fact that no one thing has ac complished more good in recent years than forming districts, oonsolidatingo, and locating schools in the center o these districts where they can be easily reached by every individual. It occurs to me as it occurs to you and ought to occur to others, that if locating schools in the center of districts has proven effective and has and Is advancing the cause of edu cation in our state, we then ought to by all means concentrate our efforts on the one thought, LOCATE THE PARISt SEAT AT WELSH, THE CENTER O'F THE PARISH, for here It would work no hardships nor any inconvenience to any one, and as the criminal expense, which, as you well know, has to be defrayed by the par. ish and which perhaps at times will be no small sum will be far less with the court house in the center than at eitber of the other competing points If located there we can all go and at tend to our offilcial business and re turn the same daT, but if located at either Jennings or Lake Arthur it would be oractically Impossible for many to maxe the round trip in one day. As Jennions is one of our strong est competitive towns from a mercan tile standpoint I shall vote for Welsh for if located at the former place it will not only hurt the town of Elton but will also hurt and cripple the mercantile business of Lake Arthur, while if located at Welsh it would hurt neither of these places. So every person engaged in business, it matters not how losignificant it may be, in either of the small towns of the parish where she has to compete with Jennings, ourht by all means, and I sincerely believe will, when the time for action is reached, use all their efforts to defeat Jennings, our great est enemy from a mercantile stand point. On this point I deem It use less to present any argument to show why, if Jenuings should be successful in getting the court house it would hurt the neighboring towns, for any man "tho he be a wayfaring stranger" if le possesses a thimble-full of fifteen-cent knowledge can see, with out the aid of a microscope, how in jurious it would be to those towns. If Welsh is worthy of the trust sad is elected, and doubtless she wfll be, we have the sweet consolation of knowing that we will ever be free of all court house cliques, rings and combines, while if Jennings is sue. cessful we now well know that we will ever have to contend with and submit to her "progressive" Iron-clad, dominating wishes. All future ad ministrations would be absolutely under her control and we eing .at her mercies would have to "swaller the dose" regardless of the taste. (Continued on last page column four) BORDER TOWN'S CENTER OF POPVULATION CLAIMS ABSURD Welsh Geographical Center, Approxi mately Center of Wealth, and Only Town That Can Hope to be Center of Population. Should be Parish Seat. Upon the absurd claim that she is the center of population, Jennings claims to be entitled to the parish seat T'his claim of being the center of pop ulation uf the parish in itself is too absurd to really merit contradicting and even if it were true it would not necessarity follow that she would be entitled to have the parish seat on that ground unless it was reasonably prob able that she would continue to ne the approximiate center of polipulation. Now th:. facts of the case are that Jennings IS N()'T and NEVER CA` 1Il1 the ('E:NT'Erl: of IOPl'LA TI)SN of .J1l( t'son i)avis Parish. Jetnings is located within two miles ti the ea:stern border of the parish. Now all th:L. p,)pulation of thTe entire ,parisi inc:lutling Lake Arthur, iJa, mond and Elton. (see i!il on this page) lays \'EST of .Jennings, except such as is contained in a narrow strip of less than four miles in width along the '.b miles of the eastern border of the parish and for even Jennings to at tempt to delude the sensible reading public into believing that the popula tion of this little strip of country, even though including the 3.925 in habitants of Jennings is equal to the population of all the rest of the parish is, as we said before too absurd to merit an answer. Blut ii even Jennings was the center of population at this time, located as she i.; it would not justify the location of the parish seat there. Jefferson D)avis parish is composed of 630 square miles of territory practically all of which is fertile arable land capable of sustaining ia large populution and when the time comes as we all believe it will, that our parish is as thickly populated as other sections no more fertile than this, could Jennings possi bly hope to retain even her present re lation to the center of the population of the parish? Every reasoning man will realize that as the country be comes settled the center of poopulation is bound to approach the geograubi cal center of the parish, apd in course of time, Jennings with her two mile strip on the east will be no nearer the center of population outside of her own population than any other border town. If we were locating a monument in a grave yard where there was no hope of future growth and development then it might do to put it off to one side if it would suit any particular faction to do so, but since we are lo cating the parish seat of a live grow iug, developing parish, and since it is not for the dead nor alone for the living of today but for generations vet uuljorn that we are building, place the Court House in the town that is located in the geographical center of the parish, that is nearer the center of Wealth of the parish, than any other competitor, and that is the only competing town that can reasonable holpe ever to be the CENTER of POPULATION, WELSH the CENTEIR of Jefferson Davis Parish. Choice Alfalfa Hay for sale at Jones Bros