The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-12-27
TIMELY TOPICS.

The ordinance of comon council
known as the whitfield ordinance"
calling for general laying of side
walks throughout the city. is Il measure
that commends itself to every council
| man aud merits his heartiest support.
| 1t is a measure that is q step in the
march of municipal progress that
should be encouraged. 1t aims ut
bringing the city from the boulevard
place in which it is travelling along this
line and If enacted into legislation will
accomplish much good. a city that is
backward in improvements has no
claim To being II city. Good streets.
we'll paved, well Kept and well lighted
mean more for its welfare than can be
estimated in dollars and cents. a city
without these improvements is no city,
it is n hamlet or Il village and Carbon-
dale has not a superbundance of any
OF these: the truth is she is deplorably
lacking in them, us compared with
other cities of the third-ClaSs. Munich
pal pride. leaving out the crying
necessity for sidewalks. should alone
compel councilmen to pass this ordin-
ance IT was laid on the table at Mon
day nights meeting for the apparent
REASON lltl Il IulIlDef vi
were not familiar enough with its pro-
vision to take intelligent action on it,.
The wisdom of postponing action for
This reason. if it was the only one.
cannot be disputed. but this should
not operate to the loss of the measure.
This postponement may mean the
Strengthening OF any weak points i'll the
ordinance. If any are apparent and for
this reason the delay may be of bene-
fit. But the measure should not be al
lowed 10 die. 1T should BE- taken up at
an early meeting. the earliest that may
be opDortune ana urged to u speedy
adoption. There is Il strong sentiment
in it's favor this The Tribune has dis
covered: but even if there should be
some objection. no more than Specious
reasons can be raised against il. 1t
means Il forward step for the city, the
same as the big improvements which
We're carried out Il few years ago,
namely. the paving of Belmont. South
Main and River streets. Then there
was Il loud protest. but today the citi-
Zens who We're among the opposition
are the most grateful that the city
pavementS were laid.
Did you observe how rapidly the
trolley ears run through the city
streets:" said Il merchant to The Tri-
bune man yesterday. "They run so
fast he said facetiously. that no one
can get aboard Them
Leaving the joke out. the ears do run
rapidly They run at a rate of speed
that is dangerous. This is not said to
harass the Scranton Railway company
in its embarrassment in the way of
patronage. but is referred To because
of the safety of pedestrians demand
that the attention OF the company'S Of
iicials be directed to the reckless con-
duct OF motormen on this division. On a
day like yesterday. when the rails We're
slippery it would be exceedingly difficult
to bring car to Il suden stop. should
such Il necessity arise. AS matter Of
safety and protection to the community
and to the railway company, as we'll
the motormen should be counselled to be
more careful and not speed over the
busy streets aS if it was Il matter Of
life and death. This is the purpose of
his paragraph and there is little
doubt that due notice will be given it
when ii comes before the proper Of
ficials.
The usual lull that follows Il holiday
such as Christmas, marked the busi-
ness activities of yesterday. The eX-
pressive saying nothing doing" had
IL general application during the day
The merchants and clerks who We're
fatigued after the extra hours of the
pre-Christmas shopping We're given an
opportunity to renew their tagging eX-
ercises The shoppers were few and
those who did come out had few wants
to be satisfied. The hotels had few
guests and do not expect to have much
10 do until after New Years. The
school children We're the only ones
much in evidence about the town. They
We're about the town enjoying their
froics and making the most of the
season which means. besides a visit
from popular Santa Claus an accepta-
Bile rest from their school tasks.