70 Years Ago
March 1949
Business is good at a new Iola factory good enough that the proprietors dont have, right at the moment, even a sample of their product to display. The product is power lawnmowers. The proprietors are Harry A. Potts and William E. Kester. Sections of what will eventually be bright red aluminum mowers, built for mounting gasoline engines and intended primarily for use on farms, are being turned out at a good pace in a building near the east entrance to Riverside Park formerly occupied by Hanks Garage. The company is called the Durite Company and its lawnmowers have sold faster than they can be made. The mowers they make dont have engines. They are designed to provide a mount for whatever type engine the owner decides to purchase.
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The new bill providing for a more equitable distribution of state welfare funds should reduce Allen Countys tax burden substantially, Mrs. Pauline Flynn, welfare director, said this morning. If the measure had been in effect this year, Allen County would have saved about $80,620, which is roughly the equivalent of a 3 mill levy. Basically, the new bill provides that the countys maximum levy for welfare purposes can only be 4 mills. The state will pay the balance needed to finance the countys welfare budget.
