LAFAYETTE, Ind., city and county-seat of Tippecanoe County, on the Wabash River, and the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and Saint Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis and Louis ville (Monon), the Lake Erie and Western and the Wabash railroads, 64 miles north west of Indianapolis and 120 miles south east of Chicago. The Terre Haute, Indian.. apolis and Northwestern, the Fort Wayne Northern Indiana and the Battle Ground traction lines also connect the city with outside points. LaFayette derives its chief business from agriculture, being the farming and manu facturing centre for the surrounding country. Other industries are carpet mills, soap factories, flour mills, wire and iron works, foundries and machine shops, electric accessories, automobile factories, agricultural implements, lumber and carriage works. There are five national, two State banks and one savings bank and two loan and trust companies having a combined capital ization of $965,000 and deposits of about $13, 000,000. There are also two building and loan associations. There are 31 church edifices. La
Fayette is the seat of Purdue University, em bracing the State Agricultural College, contains a high school, supplemented by an excellent public school system, a public library contain ing over 20,000 volumes and the Indiana State Soldiers' Home. Here also is the Wabash Val ley Sanitarium. The city stands six miles above the site of the old French fort, built in 1720, and called Post Oniatanon. In 1760 the fort was surrendered to the British, but later in the same year was captured by the Indians. La Fayette was first chartered as a city in 1853. It is governed under the General Indiana Char ter which went into effect in April 1905, by a board of public works composed of three mem bers and a city council composed of 10 mem bers elected for four years. The city owns and operates the waterworks, has electric lights, electric street railway and a well-equipped fire department. The foreign element in the popu lation is small. Pop. 20,081; including West LaFayette about 30,000.