The Owosso times., 1898-12-09
OwOSSO. FRIDAY. DEC. o, 1898.

From time to time it has been point
ed out by the city papers that large
sums of money have been lost to the
business men of Owosso by the long
delay in getting the Main street bridge
into position and the barricaded condi-
ton of business streets where paving
was done, and doubtless every word
was true. Incidentally, too. the con-
tractors, committee men, council, ETC.,
have come in for repeated proddings
and reminders of the great loss that the
delay and inconvenience were causing
the city in business way and it must
be admitted that there have been de-
lays which seemed unnecessary and
some movements which seemed badly
planned. So far, all very well. Of
ficials and contractors are both human
and are open to criticism. But there
are other ways of injuring the trade of
the city which seemingly do not have
as good an excuse as do the above in
the present instance.
And if there is any more successful
way of driving away trade from the
city-and of keeping parents in a scon-
stantly alarm--than by continually and
persistently attempting to prove that
there is an epidemic of some sort in the
city THE TIMES for one does not know
what it is. Suppose an item were
printed saying that an epidemic of
small pox prevailed in the city How
many hundreds of dollars day would
the city lose in trade as long as the
falsehood remained unchallenged? But
precisely the same thing occurs, though
on a smaller scale, when assertions are
made that there is an epidemic of diph-
liberia in the city. And now it is very
respectfully submitted to those papers
which are ever ready to rebuke officials
or contractors but which seem to take
a childish delight in spreading stories
of epidemics of various kinds, that their
anxiety to make an epidemic out of a
few scattered cases diphtheria seems
to be the favorite disease-has probably
driven away as many hundred dollars
worth of business from Owosso mer-
chants as has delay in placing the Main
street bridge or the torn up condition Of
the city streets during the paving, and
all this, in spite of the fact that this
city is as healthful as any in the state
and in spite of the fact that at no time
have there been any more cases ofdiph-
iberia in the city than any other city of
its size has the most of the time with
out working itself into a fright about
it. Yet.it occasionally seems that certain
papers actually go out of their way to
attempt to spread abroad report that
there is an epidemic in this city, with
every such attempt driving away from
the business men the dollars they seem
so worried about in other cases.
There may be good reasons for the
condition of both bridge and streets.
There might be some excuse too, for
printing such items if there was even
any SOOu IcdoOu w lcdI JudJ du cpl
demic was so much as threatening the
city. But under the circumstances. to
solicit business mems advertising in one
department., and then to turn around
and deliberately or stupidity scare away
trade by such rank nonsense in another
department is an imposition upon the
whole city, and is the rankest kind of
robbery, since for the sake of petty
news item they cheat the merchant out
of the very thing they are taking pay
from him to help secure for him.
No epidemic exists or has existed in
this city this fall If the time ever
comes--and there is no reason to expect
that it will-when an epidemic of diph-
liberia or any other virulent or malig-
nant disease actually exists here the
public should be warned Until then it
may be suggested that such silly, trade
killing items as the one in Wednesdays
Argus and numerous others with which
the public has become too familiar, be
left imprinted.