ence of Dr. o. H Cooper, Wel
.....
Welsh holds out alluring advan
--t and opulence of opportunity 4
tio ese in almost every walk of
lesaless, indeed, exception be made
= to disciples of the noble Aescula
PMaartt
It is universally recognized that
te members of the medical profes
are usually Christian, cultured
ptlemen unselfishly devoted to a
~-ane profession but this section
bto0 poor in the ills that flesh is
~i to, to afford a plethora of med
"Welsh and the Welsh country,"
WIlDr. Cooper, a Nestor of the pro
lon in Jefferson Davis parish
ho as practiced at Welsh for o'er
j1purter of a century, "are distress
iily healthy. There are but four of
uhere, we cover the country ten
aeit and nearly a dozen or more
a north and south clear to the
but if it wasn't for the love
large families, that here prevails,
manes, in other words.
bank acounts would be meagre.
is an exceedingly healthy sec
shockingly so."
~fithstanding the foregoing
bat jocular plaint Dr. Cooper
kawn to have a practice that runs
, d1 huge five figure numerals, is
star of a drug store that does a
and lucrative business, is
of the Planters Telephone
Co., president of the Parish Poli.:e
Jurors of Jefferson Davis parish, Is
interested in various ventures and
enterprises and is altogether an ex
ceedingly busy man.. Dr. Cooper
located in Welsh in 1885 when there
were scarcely more than half a dozen
houses in the settlement, when the
whoo! whoo! of the long horn was
heard in the land and vast herds
roamed on the prairie untrameled by
fences and when wolves, deer and
other game made their habitat here
'inmolested. He preceived the rii1l
ness of the country, the strategetic
advantages of the town, settled at
Welsh and has witnessed its growth
Irom a little hamlet to a flourshing
metropolis of 2000 souls, vindicating
the perspicacity of his judgment.
Dr. Cooper is a native of Alabama
and a graduate of the Medical Col
lege of Alabama, now the medical
department of the State University.
After graduating in 1886 he practiced
for a shoot time at Citronelle, Ala.,
when he removed to Welsh where he
has since resided.
He has been one of the strong
personalities and forceful factors
making for the upbuilding of Welsh
and believes the town is but in the
incipiency of its development. Al
s though always an active and busy
s man he has found time to serve
i Welsh one year as treasurer, seven
s years as councilman and .ix years a1
a mayor.
·-" - "` "~~
!':~ ~~~~~~~. ;:-:: es iln.Sos-H .Vnes rpitr
':pioneer industrial plant of
II it one well nigh indispen
the great rice industry of
A= is the Welsh Machine
Itallghed by their present
r, M. B. Van Ness, In
ý;Wilt these shops manu
d..repair pracIcally every
hinery or mechanism
tbe, rafts and industries of
COWit countries, they are
**t to the output of deep
.and the original slotted
.cireen strainer used in
of rice. Both the pump
and the last named device are the in=
ventions of Mr. Van Ness, are duly
protected by letters patent and have
been found to be peerless for their"
respective uses and purposes.
M. B. Van Ness is a native of Illi
nois, in his 41st year and took up his
residence at Welsh eighteen years
ago, immediately establishing the
plant, an engraving of which is shown
in this paper.
He has been a potential factor in
developing the resources of this rich
region and a public spirited and pro
gressive citizen in all regards.
-J d t
t~T' T
ri
of Welsh's popalar
,ale stable is native
blue grass, blooded
and bonny women,
thinks the Gulf
oputs one over even
Ucky in salubrity of
buty and abundant
been coming to the
ht years past, add
from the Bowline
lege in his nat1ie
ago took np .his
permaneot residene here. :
Like all ientutklalns he intuitively
kows all the good potls of a hortse
ea: dearly loves the eqaine. Be has
beena a handler and dealer in horses
and nuiles for .oaetime and it April
ltast leased the sightly stable on
eatb street wherae one can aways
d speedY rig- and careful drivers
who know the ro± , at reasonable
rateS.
SU11te°is a great believer in
'. . ,fo aelsh and the Welsh
THE FARMERS' ASSOCIATION
The strongest farmers' co-operative associa
tion in the South, and one of the strongest and
most successful in the entire country, is the
Southern Rice Growers' Associaion, a farmers'
rougu rice marketing organization composed
OL rice farmers of Louisiana, Texas and Arilran
has. T'Is associatiuo maintains a local agency
at %) elsh under the direction of Philip H. Cov
er.ale, local agent. The 1 clsh district is re
garued as one of tue strongest in the associa
Lion, both in numbers and in percentage of to
tal acreage unuer contract.
'lihe bouthern Rice Growers' Association was
organized in ±November, 1910, and began busi
ness in January, 1911. At the time of the or- At
ganization the rice market w.as in a demoral- 15O4
ized condition, rough rice being quoted at $2.3Y for t
per barrel and very little rice moving. The as- This
sociation declared that it would not sell the rice is t
of its members for iess man .io for No. 1. statc
F'or several weeks very little rice was sold, and pany
it soon became apparent that a heavy carry ganO
over into the ne wcrop was imminent. The as- culti
sociation then organized what was known as mean
"the export deal," by which a quarter of a mil- cons
lion sacks of rice were exported, the association ,ive
paying the farmers $2.7i for their rice and its
standing the loss involved. This loss amounted cele
to about $65,000. ndu
The export deal was just what was needed to cone
convince the trade that the association had bees
strength and financial backing. The result ing
was that the trade took hold of rice at the farm-. ing
ers' figures and pushed it into consumption. and
The prospective carryover was cleaned up and had
the season of 1911-12 began with a bare mar. -
ket. sto
In the fall of 1911 the association put its thei
prices up to $3.25 and rapidly advanced them
to $3.35 and $3.50, and the season closed with
rice selling around $3.75. Conservative millers
said that the association had saved the farmers
tifty to seventy-five cents a sack on the crop.
The season of 1912-13 opened favorably and
the association started the minimums at $3.60
a barrel, afterwards advancing the minimum
for Honduras to $3.70 and $3.80. It was
thought that the price had been put too high,
but the trade responded to the farmers' ad
vance and the crop was sold by January 1 at
high prices, the last of the rice selling as high
as $4.50 a barrel.
While it is claimed that the association ran
the price of rice up to a dangerously high fig
ure, the season settled one point effectively,
and that was that the association could fix
prices high and maintain them. When the w
minimums were fixed at $3.60 in September it
was freely predicted that the price could.not r
be maintained and that the association would
have to recede from its position. Association so
members sold their rice on a basis of $3.60 and
ly over, while many non-association farmers took 31
a great deal less. a
r It is safe to say that the Southern Rice Grow
ers' Association maintained the price of rough
rice seventy-five cents above what it would
have been if the association had not been in
Sexistence.
The present outlook is that the farmers of
S Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas will need the
h services of this cooperative selling organiza- t
tion this season more than ever before. The
indications are now that there will be a consid- L
erable carryover into the new crop, which will
be added to the visible supply to be marketed.
There is unquestionably a very large acreage
planted, and with average weather conditions
until the end of harvest a very large crop may
reasonably be expected.
The marketing of the coming crop on a basis r
profitable to producers will call for the wisest
efforts of every interest in the industry.
It will be necessary to take advantage af
every available market outlet.
Above all, CO-OPERATION will be neces- a
sary.
Co-operation has been successful for three
years, and it can be made successful this year.
Co-operation in handling the raw material is
the basis of all successful co-operation in the
rce industry. If the rice farmers will all get
together and handle their crop on a wise plan,
as has been done heretofore, the coming crop
can be marketed on a fair basis, and the way
can be paved for the handling of any crop it is
possible to raise in this country.
If the farmers stand together, every interest
in the rice industry will help.
Eo very rice farmer in Calcasieu and Jefferson
Davis parishes should join the Southern Rice
Growers' Association this year, for every addi
tional sack aof rice controlled by the farmers'
Sorganization adds to the strength of the co
Ih operative movement for fair prices.
a State Rice Milling Company's Mill, Welsh, La.
Louisiana State Rice Milling Company's Mill, Welsh, La.
AtWelsh is located a Rice Mill of
1500. barrels daily capacity ample
for the new acreage now cultivated.
This mill was purchased along with
29 others, two years ago and now
is the plroperty of the Louisiana
State Rice Milling Company, a com
pany with $9,500,000.00 capital or
ganized to foster and promote the
cultivation of rice and rice milling
and corallory therewith to devise
means and methods to increase the
consumption of this splendidly nutri
,ive food cereal in the nation. Since
its establishment it has taken ex
cellent and effective steps to secure
better distributing methods for the
industry, in correcting sales
conditions which hitherto had
been obviously unfair, and in giv
ing stability to the rice market, gain
ing the confidence of the wholesaler
and more directly belping the farmer
than any movement the rice business
had before known.
Many of the different officers and
stockholders of this Company are
themselves large growers of rice
with interests identical with any
other rice farmer.
The Company is a large buyer of
rough rice and is always ready to
take on the farmers rice on a fair
and equitable basis, maintaining
buyers at every point in the rice
belt to this end.
It employs 50 men at Welsh dur
ing the rice season, paying as high
wages as conditions will permit, and
it is distinctively a valuable asset
contributing to the town's and com
munity's material welfare.
The officers of the Louisiana State
Rice Milling Co., are: President, F.
A. Godchaux; Vice-Presidents, Jos.
Birg, A. Kaplan, J. Frankel, Sol
Wexler; Secy. W. B. Conover, and
Treas. J. A. Foster.
All are names that are synonymous
of success and integrity in Louisi
ana's commercial. dustrial' and
financial world.
The manager for the Louisiana
State Rice Milling Co., at Welsh is
H. L. Bloch.
I
Mati s
n B . S
MatnBos.Soe Wlh i
The pioneer mercantile house of
Welsh, of the firms now engaged in
active business, Is that of Martin
tiros. whose place of business is in
:heir own sightly store building on
the commanding business corner at
South and Main streets.
This firm has been engaged in
ausiness for a score of years or more
and it in no wise disparages the
,nany other excellent mercantile em
poriums of winsome Welsh to state
that it is universally recognized as
the house ahead for everything au
;ait in dry goods, clothing, and
shoes in which lines it has always
specialized and in which lines its
stock is always kept down to date in
the latest models, patterns, styles,
at and finish. It has pleased patrons
in every confine of the Welsh coun
try and its repute for fair and hon
est dealing, coupled with the in
herent courtesy that belongs to the
native Creole, extends all over Jeffer
son Davis parish.
The members of the firm are
Charles P. Martin and Edwarj
brothers and J. Alfred Martin, their
nephew, all of whom are to the
manor born and first saw the light in
Lafayette parish and were there
raised and educated. Every year
that rolls around to be recorded on
the scroll of time shows a gratifying
increase in the business of this popu
lar house, the present being no ex
ception as its volume of trade up to
the present writing Is much larger
that was the preceding year at a
similar date.
All the Messrs Martin are great
believers in Welsh and its prospects
for a prosperous future. As one
member of the firm put it they all
regard Welsh as "the best town ever
placed on the map."
J. T. PECK.
The commercial circles of Welsh
were strengthened bY a strong and tl
forceful personality the first of the '
present year when J. T. Peck quit t
rice farming to enter the mercantile r
field. At that time he purchased the
extensive feed business of Messrs c
Jones Bros, and he has more than I
sustained the high repute and kept I
up the standard of the enterprising 1
and progressive business methods I
maintained by his worthy predeces
sors.
Mr. Peck is a wholesale and retail
dealer in whole grain ýnd mixed
feeds, is a large purchaser of these
products in car load lots.
Wholesalers in carload lots to var
ious places, and is a large retailer to
patrons in every portion of the Welsh
country. He is the only exclusive
dealer in feed stuffs in Welsh.
J. T. Peck is in the prime of physi
cal and mental vigor and an active
and energetic business man. He is a
native of Florida but came to Welsh
five years ago from Arkansas, where
he was raised, as heretofore stated,
was a successful rice farmer until the
first of the year.
HIe is a firm believer in the future
growth and prosperity of Welsh and
a booster of all movements making
for the town's development and up
building.
ED F. DOAN.
It is an exceedingly rare occurence
that a legitimate business started in
Welsh does not thrive and this sta
tistical fact well proves the plutonic
prosperity of the town.
The latest business bark launched
on the mercantile or industrial sea is
Ed. Doan's Auto Livery venture and
it is sailing on a favoring, full sailed
breeze of success. Doubtless the
fact that Mr. Doan has lived in the
Welsh country over a quarter of a
century, knows everybody and has
everybody for a friend couple with
the speed and beauty of his Ford
machine is the secret of his services
being in constant demand. He makes
all the neighboring cities and towns
any hour of the day or night and his
rate of charge is reasonable.
Mr. Doan makes his down town
headquarters at the Busy Bee restua
S-rant.
l Th' New Iinlom of Con
(Continued From Page Two)
e crop-corn, the crop in which she
' can lead the world in yield, quality
e and cheapness of production and in
delightful living conditions for the
e corn grower. It is probable that in
d five years, Louisiana will be one of
ig the chief corn exporting states, sup
D" plying European markets with her
surplus.