St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-03-16
CURRENT COMMENT.

Mrs. Martha Ripley is one of the Prohibi-
ton candidates for member of the school
board. Dr. Mrs. Ripley is quite prominent
in temperance circles, and is also identified
with the woman suffrage movement in the
Northwest, consequently her selection by her
partv-or one of 'em-must be highly graft
flying TO her. She will poll every feminine
vote cast in the Flour city, beyond a doubt.
IN
81 am greatly amused" said one of the
Prohipitiouists at Harrison hall, during the
meeting of the Reform club yesterday,
sat quietly watching the agony Of
certain morning paper on the temperance
question. In one column it thinks a certain
alderman may easily be defeated on account
of his low license proclivities and in the
other end OF the column pitches into us Tor
our folly, as it calls it, in furthering the ten-
perance cause BY putting ticket in the
field. The poor old straddler seems to take
it for granted that we want to help the Re-
publican cause and are taking the wrong
course to that end. 1t seems to forget that
we have absolutely cut loose from that and
every other party. Why don't it attack the
Democrats for their annual folly also!'
~
The census of Minneapolis will be taken
this spring, and the result is awaited with no
small degree of interest. Wagers have been
laid on the number of persons beyond one
hundred thousand the city contains, and
several fgurers have placed the total as high
as 1890 The postoffice census taken
some days ago would give, in round num-
bers, about 127, 900, but it is thought an
actual enumeration will increase the figure.
~
An uptown policeman found leisure yes
terday to remark that Minneapolis was nearly
as quiet on Sunday as a good old Connect
cut town under blue laws. He said this with
an air OF such evident regret that the writer
was moved to inquire if that fact grieved
him.
Yes" he replied, ''it does. 1t makes me
feel as if uniform was for show alone, and
wasn't earning my pay"
*x*
If you have any grievance or complaint
don't write it, but 60 to the police headquar-
tiers and talk business. There is no lion IS
mouth there for anonymous charges and no
Council of Three to try them. In his report
Chief West says:
No one little thing is the source OF greater
annoyance than the constant receipt of anon
ymous mplaints-frequentiv in vague and
mysterious anguage-concerning alleged
evils. 1t might be well to haveit understood
that very seldom does it occur that these mis-
sivcs receive any attention whatever. Ii
citizens know of evils which should be rem
edied they have two proper methods to act
upon-they can go to the municipal court
and enter formal complaints or call at police
headquarters and state their grievances,
when proper action will be taken and due
secrecy observed. 1t generally happens,
however, that the anonymous writers seek TO
revenge private wrongs in public manner,
at the same time screening themselves
hence, when no attention is paid to their
communications, they are loud in their con-
demnation of the inactivity of the police.
~
Chief of Police West has tumbled to the
fact, at last, that there was some foundation
in the claim the GLOBE has made in relation
Minneapolis, and his report has this to say:
Considerable complaint has been made of
the failure of the companies having contracts
for lighting the streets to keep their lamps
in order. In some instances lamps have
been in darkness many nights at time
when the schedule provided for many
':candle power" 1t has been made the
duty of patrolmen to report each day the
location of all lamps on their respective
beats not lit on the preceding night, or
which, if lit, were not lit on time or extin-
tinguished too soon, and a summary of such
reports has been made monthly for the
council committee on gas, to the end that
the city might not be compelled to pay for
unlighted lamps. Recently the making of
daily reports has been reduced to system,
and the force instructed therein, and the
gas companies will find it to their interest to
render better service than heretofore.