600 FARM HOMES CAN HAVE THEM 

 Display of modern, electrical labor 



savers for sale by the cooperative Menard 



Appliance Company. 



y^NTO nearly WK) central Illinois 

 iJI farm homes during the first 

 V__^ weeks in August, electric jxjwer 

 zipped silently, flooded houses with light, 

 started refrigerators, cooked meals and 

 pumped water. Two farmer owned, co- 

 operative electric companies responsible 

 were the Menard Electric Co-operative 

 and the Rural Convenience Co-operative 

 Company, both organized with the aid of 



POWER ZIPPED SILENTLY — 

 into 600 homes as Chief Engineer Sibley, 

 city of Springfield, closed the switch. 

 Co-op presidents Kiplinger, center, and 

 Becker, right, look on. 



ED DORGAN 

 "Now I won't stub my toe. 



EASTERN ILLINOIS WILL HAVE POWER, 

 TOO 

 Pretty Thelma Hoffmann points to tenta- 

 tive map of 1200 miles of line. 



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600 Farm Homes 



Get Co-op Electricity 



By LARRY POTTER 



the Menard and Sangamon County Farm 

 Bureaus and the Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation. 



Both companies, financed by the Rural 

 Electrification Administration, buy power 

 from the Springfield Municipal Power 

 Plant, have lines in Sangamon and seven 

 surrounding coimties. 



When 1 20 miles of Rural Convenience 

 C!o-operative line was energized, August 

 3, nearly 300 families began using power. 

 Three days later. August 6, eighty of the 

 125 miles of Menard co-op lines were 

 energized. Other lines of both com- 

 panies were brought into service during 

 the following week. 



Commcntcii A. P.. Huric. secretary of 

 the Menard cooperative. "A year ago all 

 this was a dream. It has required lots 

 of work. If the members hadn't all 

 pulled together we wouKln't have power 

 now," 



What do the members think of their 

 electric power,-' Let Edwin Dorgan tell 

 you : 



"We decided to take full ailvantage of 

 the 'juice' so we put in 60 and 100 watt 

 bulbs. When the power came on Mrs. 

 Dorgan says Ed, we'll have to get dim- 

 mer litrhts. These bulbs are so bright 

 that I'll never be able to get the house 

 clean enough that dust won't show.' 



"Well, we may not be accustomcil to 

 using our power yet," Ed continued, "but 

 we'll soon learn. That is, when we get 

 over being coltish' about the bright 

 lights,' 



The first night Dorgan used the lights 

 he attached a long string to the lit'lit cord 

 in the center of the room anil tied it to 

 the head of his bed within easy reach. 



Said he. "Now III be able to turn 

 the light o(T after I'm in bed and I won't 

 be stubbin" my toe every night." 



Beside his bed Ed has an electric fan 

 to provide a breeze anytime he wants it. 



The Dorgans couldn't be more comfort- 

 able on a hot summer night if they lived 

 in the most expensive city hotel. 



In addition to the lights and fan, Mrs, 

 Dorgan has an electric iron. Later she 

 hopes to have a refrigerator, a washer 

 and an electric stove, 



John Deverman, who has hail power 

 from the Central Illinois Public Service 

 Company for several years and knows 

 more about using power than his neigh- 

 bors, offers them this advice: 



'Get a good floor lamp and put be- 

 side your favorite chair. If you don't, 

 your women folks'll get some pretty 

 colored bulbs some place and when they 

 put in that kind you won't have a light 

 you can read by. And when you re 

 wiring, be sure to put lights in the barn, 

 I'd rather have lights in my barn than 

 in my home if I couldn't have both. 

 You'll find that chores go a lot faster 

 when you have lights," 



One of the happiest members of the 

 Menard Co-op is Mrs. Mary Council, 

 For fifty years she has lived in the same 

 house. During all that time she has 

 stoked her kitchen range, lugged water 

 and filled and trimmed kerosene lamps. 

 When the power was turned on she laid 

 aside her coal scuttle and oil can. 



No electric light could be more heart 

 warming than the proud gleam in her 

 eyes as she displayed her new, glisten- 

 ing white electric stove and refrigerator. 

 Having new- tools with which to work is 

 an adventure for Mary Council and she's 

 enjoying every minute of it. Like others 

 on the power line, she is now free to go 

 and come as she pleases. This happy, 

 lively great-grandmother has more time 

 to drive her shiny new car. more time 

 for her family and friends. 



Also in Menard county. Ralph Ains- 

 worth's portable electric motor is pump- 

 ing water for his corn and small fruit 



