Manufacturers pay employees in gold; Hemingray among those who paid gold

MANY PAID IN GOLD.

Manufacturers Distribute Gold

For Last Week's Work.

Ball Bros. Have a Big Pay Saturday

and Monday — Factories

Resuming and Building

Improvements Are On.

During this week Muncie merchants will handle a large amount of Republican money the best in the world, as a result of the large amount of gold coin distributed to wage-earners Saturday and Monday.

Ball Bros. made their regular semi-monthly pay Saturday and Monday to their 1,200 hands, and Cashier Hageman surprised the boys by giving them envelopes filled with gold. Last evening when the labor of all had been settled for the company had distributed nearly $15,000 in gold coins, and it was a proud lot of employes that left the factory last evening.

Ball Bros. were not the only firm that distributed gold to their employes for last week's work as fifty employes of The News, also those at the Muncie Iron and Steel works, J. H. Smith & Co. Bent Wood works, Muncie Foundry and Machine company, Whiteley Malleable Casting Castings works, O. L Bartlett Cooperage works, J. C. Wood & Co., Hemingray Glass works and others.

Yesterday a News reporter called on the different bankers in the city and inquired the cause for the distribution of so much gold, and they explained that it was necessary to pay it out when it came so fast as it has been for a few days past.

The largest quantities of the yellow metal reach the banks from merchants, but a great amount of it came out of rusty old purses owned by people scared of Bryanism, and who had it hid away.

The large quantity of the metal that is being distributed seemingly has lost it the high rate of value gold had a few weeks ago, and now it is not wanted; that is why it is being shifted about so.

RESUMED WORK.

The Indiana Iron company put a big force to work yesterday morning in all departments, and there was great joy in Congerville last night.

The Handy Washing Machine works, which hare been idle some time, resum­ed work yesterday morning also.

Mr. S. C. Goshorn and son have a force of carpenters at work on their new factory building to replace the Butter Dish factory destroyed by fire nearly a month ago. The building will be similar to tha one destroyed except that it will be covered with iron, making it nearly fireproof.

OTHER BUILDINGS.

Work has been commenced on new business blocks at the corner of Howard and Second streets on South Walnut street.

At the corner of Second street Cy Heath is having a one-story building erected. It will contain three business rooms each 20x80 feet in dimensions.

The work of erecting buildings south of the post office on the McKinley prop­erty has been commenced.

Adjoining the shoe store the McKinley sisters own 40x83 feet of ground and a two-story brick building will be erected thereby them.

Adjoining this on the corner of How­ard street, Edward Tuhey owns a 20-foot frontage, and he will at once cover it with a three-story brick building.

WILL ENLARGE THE STORE.

While the factories are increasing and the building boom has started, Muncie merchants are keeping in line and pre­paring for increased trade. The Messrs. Vatet, owners of the Fair dry goods store, will soon occupy two floors in the Boyce block. The second floor over their store in the block will be rebuilt, so that it will occupy the space now used by James Boyce’s office and the room just west of it.

These are only a few of the improvements that will come a little later.