Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-05-14
TOMEN'S GOOD WORK
RESULT or ORGANIZED EFFORT IN a
NEW JERSEY TOWN.

AeoompIi.h-d In . single Ys.r-sanI
t.ry and Artistic Observation-Disclosures In
ter..ted Plan Of Procedure.
A twslyemonths test of the ability Of
women 70 plan and bring to pass public
improvements has recently been com
pleted in the town Of Crawford. n. J.
Before the Village Improvement as
sociation was formed, says the New YORK
evening Post. Crawford was comparative
~ clean and orllerly-as much so, per.
haps, as any other suburb of New York.
There was nevertheless an Opportunity
Of making better what was already
good, and so ladies. realizing the fact,
determined TO organize for that purpose.
The Village Improvement association
came into existence in January, 1916,
and was dul, incorporated on Feb. oil
that year. It's object, Us set forth in the
constitution, is to aid in every way all
efforts to improve and beautify tie town
in its moral. sanitary and artistic as
poets.
The work 10 be done was apportioneo
to the following standing committees
Finance, streets, sanitation, public
school, prevention of cruelty to animals,
prevention Of cruelty TO children, rail.
roads, station, etc. beneficence, chill.
dren's auxiliary, public grounds anG
outlook. Having decided upon and for
INFLATED its plans, the society proceeded
to put them into execution. The ques
ton Of garbage disposal was taken NJ
early in the season.
Formerly residents had got rid OF
their ashes and kitchen refuse by en-.
ploying men to take this material away
on wheelbarrows Questions were sci.
dom asked as to where the barrows were
unloaded, but the curious might have
found that in many instances they wert
dumped in the nearest vacant lot. Con
seQuently, while the lawns in front Of
Crawford houses were q delight TO the
eye, the vacant plots were frequently
unsightly and at times offensive.
To remedy this the Village Improve
ment association employed a man witt
. team to make daily calls for garbage
and ashes at residences, and the material
IL now hauled out Of town at a cost Il
each household of rs cents week.
Commodious boxes for the collection Of
papers and other litter that would elst
have been thrown into the cutters wer,
placed by the society in all the principal
streets Neat baskets for newspaper
wrappers, circulars, ETC., were fastene>
to the walls Of the postoffice. The prac.
tice of injuring and disfiguring trees by
lacking posters upon the trunks wa,
vigorously opposed by the society-st
vigorously that it has been almost en-
tirely abandoned.
Every member Of the Village I'm
provement association is pledged 70 pre-
vent so far as she is able, inhumanity
toward animals Storekeepers OH several
occasions were notified of acts of cruelty
committed by the drivers Of delivery
wagons Kindness toward horses is now
regarded in Crawford as sound business
policy as we'll as moral obligation.
The sanitary committee. as its nam,
implies, is the avowed enemy Of every
sort of nuisance. and il has done excel
lent service in freeing the town Of i'll
smelling drains, outbuildings and Other
menaces to health. An important branch
of the associations work is that done by
the committee on railroads. station, etc,
For many years Crawford has had one
Of the ugliest and most uncomfortable
stations on the railroad line The Vii
lage Improvement association tried last
year to induce the company to build s
new station in Crawford, but the effort
failed. Undismayed, it did the mex!
best thing-namely, brought pressur,
to bear that resulted in displacing will
electric lights the dim, smoky anc
malodorous kerosene lamps and in rid
ing the waiting room of loungers wht
had long enjoyed the privilege Of smok
ing and splitting there. Crawford station
today is quiet and clean If nothing else
The triangular plot between the opers
house block and the railway is the mos
conspicuous bit of unoccupied land il
Crawford Until the association took i
in charge it was blot ON the beauty o.
the town. One-half of its small area
belonging to nonresident, was over
grown with bushes. in one corner wal
an ugly real estate signboard and in an
other corner a drinking fountain which
owing to the stoppage of its drain pipe
kept the surrounding soil constant,
muddy.
This condition of affairs was radical
ly changed. Permission from the own
ers being received, q man i'll the associ
atoms employ grubbed out the bushe
and regarded the plot. The center wa
laid out as flower bed, and ON the res
grass seed was sowed. At the society
request the township committee repair
ed and painted the fountain. Thus wa
brought about the change into an orna
ment Of what had been blemish to tn
town.
Perhaps the most useful and promis
ing Of the society's undertakings ha
been the formation Of children aux
Hilary. The Crescent branch, as it i
called, has a membership at present o
81 boys and girls, who are taught sys
tematically to appreciate the value o
tidiness and kindness.
So much for the kind and scope o
the work done in one year by the Vii
lage Improvement association. AS t
methods, much reliance was placed up
on influence, and needed work of a char
acter unsuited for ladies to do was &C
complished by means of appeals to tn
township committee, the board Q
health and the Society For Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals. The associa
tons disposition has always been t
aid and cooperate with the town gov
eminent, never to NEEDLE with or an