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year to discuss their responsibilities in 

 connection with bus transportation and 

 the necessity of conforming to the reg- 

 ulations, and to provide accident drills 

 in methods of escape, use of fire ex- 

 tinguisher and other emergency proce- 

 dures. 



Good school bus service depends on 

 good roads, good equipment and good 

 operating personnel, School boards 

 are responsible for seeing to it that those 

 essentials are provided. The latter two 

 essentials are almost impossible of at- 

 tainment at the present, but will be 

 available after the war. It is the re- 

 sponsibility of the school principal 

 to discuss with the bus drivers the 

 standard of conduct which the commu- 

 nity and the school expects to be main- 

 tained on the bus. It is the responsi- 

 bility of the principal to impress the 

 drivers with the importance of check- 

 ing the bus for loose lug bolts, low 

 tires, weak brakes, etc., twice a day 

 before hauling pupils. It is the duty 

 of bus drivers to report needed bus re- 

 pairs promptly. 



Without doubt Illinois standards for 

 pupil bus transportation are very high, 

 and rightly so. One result of those high 

 standards is that there has been only 

 one fatality in Illinois from 1940 to 

 1944 in school bus transportation while 

 transporting pupils to and from school. 

 We have no figures on the number of 

 casualties among children walking 

 along country roads nor among the 

 numbers of those students who ride 

 in private cars to school. In order to 

 continue this safety record in school 

 bus transportation, parents and board 

 members should insist that all measures 

 which have been outlined for safe bus 

 transportation be enforced. " 



However, it seems to be increasingly 

 apparent that many rural people will 

 prefer parent transportation to bus 

 transportation for the newly or- 

 ganized grade school districts. Parent 

 transportation may be used entirely in 

 any district or be used as feeders to 

 school buses. By meeting requirements 

 set up by the Office of State Superin- 

 tendent of Public Instructions, the par- 

 ent can secure payment through the 

 school board of state funds for pupil 

 transfKDrtation. These requirements are 

 not as rigid as they were several years 

 ago and seem very reasonable. Your 

 county superintendent of schools 

 should be well informed on the re- 

 quirements for parent transportation. 

 If you wish, you might write to M. M. 

 Cruft, Director of Pupil Transporta- 

 tion, Office of the Superintendent of 

 Public Instruction, Centennial Build- 

 ing, Springfield. 



Petar HonsMt, right, ia one oi the U neigh- 

 bors lohn Stiehr, left signed in the Lake 

 County Fann Bureau recent campaign. 

 Said Hansen: ". . J believe it is time that 

 every former should belong to the Fans 

 Bureau. It is doing much for us that we 

 cannot do by ourselves alone." 



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AS FARMERS 

 FORWARD GO 



ORGANIZATION NOTES 

 By O. 0. Brissenden 



It 



TOTAL Farm Bureau membership in Il- 

 linois stands at approximately 105,040, 

 as of the close of the fiscal year, Sept. 30, 

 1944, according to the preliminary ac- 

 cumulative membership report from the 

 membership record department of the 

 I A A, and the records kept in the organ- 

 ization department office. This repre- 

 sents an increase of almost 11,000 over 

 that of September 30, 1943. The amount 

 of dues paid during the year would in- 

 dicate that the membership is practically 

 free from dues delinquency, and paid 

 membership stands at an all time high. 



It appears now that all but one county 

 in the state exceeded their new member 

 quota. 



Membership drives are now being 

 staged in many counties and most all 

 others have definite plans for a drive 

 prior to March 1, 1945. 



Enthusiastic reports are coming in from 

 all parts of the state on kick-off meetings, 

 report sessions and membership campai/;ns 

 already held. 



McLean county had a report meeduif; in 

 which 102 contracts were turned in and 

 volunteer workers are now shooting for a 

 goal of 3000 members. 



Livingston county's report meeting turned 

 up 78 contracts and Lee Vilven, a volunteer 

 worker, signed 8 out of 9 contacts. 



At a xcport awcdnx ia McDoaoujit coun- 



ty Oct. 6, there were 52 workers present and 

 this group reported 51 members signed. 



From Whiteside county comes word that 



100 new members have been signed in tlie 

 current campaign which will continue until 

 the lAA annual meeting. The final count is 

 expected to be 150 new members. Estab- 

 lishment of a soil testing laboratnry by tlie 

 Whiteside County Farm Bureau is believed 

 to be responsible in acquiring some of tlie 

 new members. 



Williamson county reports signing about 



30 in a few days of work. 



Report meetings scheduled in Henry and 

 Carroll counties are expected to show good 

 results. 



Lee county terms a recent 3 day drive a 



decided success with 95 members signed. 



Hamilton county farmers have made up 

 tlieir minds to have a Farm Bureau all their 

 own. They expect to start out with at least 

 400 members. 



Schuyler county is aiming at a membership 



of 800 by the lAA annual meeting. Thirty- 

 seven new members were reported signed 

 early in October. 



Piatt county alio is continuing its drive 

 until the lAA annual meeting. Pike coun- 

 ty held a report meeting with all but six 

 townships represented and indicated 49 mem- 

 bers signed. 



Kankakee county's recem drive brought 



in 87 new members, and indications are that 

 rhe work is still going strong. 



Menard county has set a membership goal 



of 834 by the end of 1944. Present mem- 

 bership is 775. 



NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING 



ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL MUTUAL 



INSURANCE COMPANY 



Notice is hereby given that the an- 

 nual meeting of the members of 

 Illinois Agricultural Mutual Insur- 

 ance Company will be held in the 

 Sherman Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, on 

 Wednesday, the 29th day of Novem- 

 ber, 1944, at 1.00 o'clock P.M. to re- 

 ceive and if approved, confirm the 

 report of the Board of Directors of 

 the company for the fiscal year end- 

 ing September 30, 1944; to consider 

 and if apfMoved, ratify and confirm 

 all the acts cmd proceedings of the 

 Board of Directors done and taken 

 since the lost annual meeting of 

 the members of the company; to 

 elect directors for the coming year 

 and for the transaction of such 

 further and other business as may 

 properly come before the meeting. 



Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 31st 

 day of October, 1944. 



Chas. B. Shuman, Secretary 



WFA is asking farmers to store, before 

 Jan. 1, six bags of fertilizer for every five 

 bags they stored in the same months last 

 year. By accepting early delivery, farmers 

 can help pave the way for maximum use of 

 the fertilizer materials that become available 

 in time for use in 1945. Purchases at this 

 time will relieve storage facilities and make 

 them available for fertilizers as they are pro- 

 duced. 



NOVEMBER, 1944 



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