Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1886-02-10


-The$following petition relates to =
matter Of grave Importance to the city Of
Austin:
AUSTIN, MIMI, Jan. 20, 1886.
To the Honorable, the City Council Of
Austin, Mimi:
We the undersigned Committee ap-
pointed by the Norden Literary Society
of this city, have been requested to lay
before your honorable body the following
subject, also to furnish copy Of the
same to each of the city papers for publ
cation. At q recent meeting held by the
aforesaid Society, the following subject
was discussed and unanimously decided
in the affirmative:
Resolued. That it would be to the vel
fare and benefit of the City of Austin to
have the Cedar River above Engle's Mill
deepened and wldened. tor the following
reasons:
list. 1t would improve the sanitary
measures of the city. Although we approve
the zeal of the present City Council for
what they have done towards improving
the health of the City, but after all moth
but the mote has been touched, while the
great beam lies still untouched, as every
body is aware of, the Cedar River inside
the city limits is great depository for
filth Of every description. The contents
of stables dead animals of every descrip-
ton. find there their last resting place.
which, together with hundreds of cords
Of decayed stumps and timber, dead wa
ter inlets and bayous, with their stagnant
water, during the entire summer I'LL the
air with stencil and malaria, and with
tons of decayed river grass, is enough at
any time, to fill the entire. city with sick
ness and pestllence.
End. 1t would help to ornament and
beautify the City, which would cause men
with capital ind culture to seek this city
for their future home. Our riverbanks
are of such nature that with some i'm
provements an artificial lake could east
~ be formed with an island in the ceR-
ter that could be used for q summer re-
sort.
3rd. It would vastly improve our
water power, which would more than re-
pay all expenses, as with modern ma
chinery and improvements the work
could be done without costing such a
great amount as people would be liable
to think at first sight
We, the humble committee, on behalf
of our Society ask your honorable body
to take such initiatory steps that would
be practicable and legal and see what
could be done in regard to it. We
would ask the privilege to suggest
to your honorable body that the
first steps to take would be to engage q
competent engineer that would have ex-
perience in work of that kind and let
him make a survey and find out to what
extent the river could be improved for
sanitary measures, also to what extent
the water power could be improved and
what the expenses would be. So much
could be done without any great outlay
or expense to the city. The work could
then b done intelligently and systemat-
ically and be by degrees if necessary.
If nothing more could be done the first
year than to remove the unsightly
stumps which Is an eyesore to every pas
ser by, . great step would have been tax
en-.
Our views on this subject are proba-
bly, the same - most any other Of OUT
citizens and we would like to zee them
carried out.
JoHAy VOID, r..
CHRISTIAN JOHNSON, 81
PETER JOHNSON,
C. A. DAIAGER,
~.-.:-. Committee.
- s