Morris tribune., 1883-03-07
NORRIS.


of our fire apparatus, we desire to otter
few suggestions iii this connection.
At present our village has need of a
town hall; the council, marshal and
justices of the peace should have
offices, and we badly need II Jail. In
erecting town hall, for the use of the
fire department, a comparatively small
additional outlay would provide cells
| for the safe keeping of offenders
against the village ordinances. The
second story of the building could
have hall for the use of the council,
the village justices, the tiremen, and
on certain occasions the public, or 1t
might be divided into rooms for the
uses first above mentioned, viz: offices
for the village officials. Perhaps one
. of the first and gssatEst Ree1s Is
lookup, the ramshackle affair az p4es-
ent used for that purpose, may ans
wer after a wretched fashion for sum-
mer use. but it is an outrage to contine
prisoners in such place during cold
weather, as even with a.. eEtravagant
use of fuel, it is impossible even tiaen
to heat the corridor, let alone the pens
or cells. As q measure of economy it
would seem advisable 10 have jail in
the new building. twill be necessary
l to have IA warm room for the fire appa-
ratus and the same heating arrange
ments thai warm the engine room
could also be utilized In heating the
! Jail, and in fact the whole building.
| Any of our citizens who feel an inter-
est in the matter of a suitable Jail,
have only to look over the present
quarters used for lookup purposes, to
be fully convinced that they are Who'll
ly unfit for their present uses, and not
only that, but discredit and disgrace
| to the community.
AS far as we have been enabled to
learn, the people of this village are as
a whole, in favor of having the eX-
pensive fire apparatus provided with
suitable and proper place for its pro-
| lection and care, and the tiremen, if
an organization is to be preserved,
need place in which to hold meet
ings, and also drill and take proper
care Of the property to be given to
their keeping. The efficiency Of a fire
company depends largely upon disci-
pline. Familiarity and experience
with the various appliances and appa-
ratus provided for fire purposes, can
! only be had, outside of actual services,
by drilling and exercising, and as the
efficiency Of our volunteer company,
and its very organization, depends
upon the practice which gives a
thorough familiarity with their duties,
the necessity of prompt action by the
therefore, being necessity, and in
accord with the wishes of property
owners, we submit the suggestions
contained in the first portion of this
article, viz: as to the ACCESSIBILITY of
anticipating other wants at the time
of building an engine house. The en-
CINE house is a necessity; are not
lookup and town hall also needed?
Regular work is done in composition
writing by members of the High
School. To awaken an increased in
terest in "home," we proposed "Mor-
ris" for the subject of the compositions
to be written foE last weeks work, and
offered prize for the best production,
The Board of education awarded the
prize for the following, written by
Miss Grace Knott. The names of the
competitors were unknown to the
awarding committee, the decision be-
ing made by numbers:
NORRIS.
Morris is situated in the western
part of Minnesota, about the central
part of Stevens county. 1t Ia -four
ishing village of about twelve hundred
inhabitants, and the county seat Of
Stevens county. The town site has
not very desirable situation, but the
Railroad Company located their depot
at this point, SO, naturally, the yiifagS
sprung up around it. The surround
ing country is a rolling prairie. inter-
spersed by many beautiful lakes; |
most of them have sandy shores and
are skirted by small groves of timber.
About one and half miles from town
is a small river called the Pomme de |
Terre. There are two -four mills on
this river, which are a great advant-
age to Morris and the vicinity. One |
of them is about one and one half
miles from the village, the other about
seven miles.
Commerce is carried on quite ex-
tensiyely in Morris. Flour, grain, and
various kinds of farm produce are ex-
ported, while wood, coal and many
other necessary articles ase imported.
All branches of industry usually per-
sued IN small places are here Engaged
in. The mercantile department is the
most extensive, and though there is
great competition among the mer-
chants, all seem to be prospecting.
The hotel business is also very good,
there being five hotels besides numer-
Gus boarding houses in the place, all
being crowded to their utmost capaci-
ty in the summer season.
The banking business is well repre-
sented by two substantial banks,
The Bank of Morris and ,Fhe
Stevens County Bank. The former
was organized in 1879, and
has since carried On successful bust
ness. The frame building which it
now occupies is being replaced by
brick edifice. When completed, I'M