Schuyler Colfax at one time vice-president of the U.S. and for years an intimate and trusted friend of Lincoln's, lived here in his youth, as did the late James Whitcomb Riley. The soldier who, during the Great War, fired the first gun of the American army in France against the Germans was Alex Arch, a native of this city. Though born in N.Y., Schuyler Colfax (1823-1885) passed his early years first in New Carlisle, Ind., then in South Bend, where his step-father was county auditor. After doing some journalistic work, he began his public career by making campaign speeches for Henry Clay in 1844. In 1852 he joined the newly formed Republican party, and served in Congress from 1854 to 1869. His name was widely mentioned for the office of postmaster-general in Lincoln's cabinet, but the president selected another man on the ground that Colfax "was a young man, running a brilliant career, and sure of a bright future in any event." In 1863 Colfax was elected Speaker of the House, and in 1868 vice-president. Four years later Colfax was implicated in a corruption charge, which though found groundless by the Senate Judiciary Committee, cast a shadow over the latter part of his life. James Whitcomb Riley was born in 1853 in Greenfield, Ind. He spent several years as a strolling sign-painter, actor, and musician, during which time he revised plays and composed songs, and grew closely in touch with the life of the Indiana farmer. About 1873 he first contributed verses, especially in the Hoosier dialect, to the papers, and before long had attained a recognized position as poet-laureate of the Western country folk. His materials are the incidents and aspects of village life, especially of the Indiana villages. These he interprets in a manner as acceptable to the na[:i]ve as to the sophisticated, which is saying a good deal for this type of verse. Some of his best known books are _The Rubaiyat of Doc Sifers_, _Home Folks_, _A Defective Santa Claus_, _The Old Swimmin' Hole_, _An Old Sweetheart of Mine_, and _Out to Old Aunt Mary's_. Among the important manufactories of South Bend are plows, sewing-machines, underwear, and motor-cars. The annual value of the combined output is around $60,000,000. 942 M. LA PORTE, Pop. 15,158. (Train 3 passes 6:06a; No. 41, 11:22a; No. 25, 8:17a; No. 19, 2:22p. Eastbound: No. 6 passes 11:46a; No. 26, 1:53p; No. 16, 2:57p; No. 22, 7:07p.)