The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-12-11
CANTOWN MAYOR SPEAKS
HE Is MATERIALLY OPPOSED TO A
PESTHOUSE.
sWiIsOu Bill" Sends a COmmuni catiOn
to q Public Meeting and Wins
the Fight.

The eighth precinct of the Fourth ward
does not want the pesthouse located within
its boundaries. Neither does Cantown,
which is the sobriquet of the immediate
site for the institution. The ray OF hope
that seemed to indicate the establishment
of the institution on its former site at
Cantown was darkened by a meeting OF
property owners az Boatman's Hall, Six
teenth street and Montcalm avenue, last
night, which unanimously adopted resolu-
lions against the suggested location. 1t
was also announced that consideration of
this site would be dropped.
Cantown, the spot where 1t was proposed
to locate the pesthouse, is so called be-
cause OF the shanties that abound. 1t is
a segregation; a community of itself. will
son BILL" as he is called, is its recognized
head, and is called it's mayor" Wilson
is colored man who has built number
of small houses that defy the law of grav-
itation and the theories of architecture.
His ideas Of finance are modern, however.
as he requires his tenants to settle" every
Saturday night or git" Wilson was not
there. except through a communication.
signed by himself and eight others, which
declared that the ''bodum'' ("bottom," as
Cantown is irreverently called by some)
was "again" the FASHIONS" The COM
munication was clear to the fifty men pres
ent at the meeting. This number included
Diamond Dick" the man who lives in a
street car in Cantown, and has it surround
ed by palisade as high as a mans head.
| He sat behind the stove and by his silence
| gave assent.
B. +. Everroad was made chairman of
| the meeting and Henry Roberts secretary.
Louis Frazeur, the first speaker. said the
| people must declare their hostility to the
| location of the pesthouse near where they
had settled and built up a neighborhood
| that represented all they had. Charles
Williamson declared that the promise of a
park about the pesthouse was absurd. He
! said the pesthouse was once an evil that
| injured the territory now comprised in
| the eighth precinct of the Fourth ward, but
1t had been forced away. Now he said the
| scheme was to return it with park He
was against the pesthouse because it would
be an injury to the neighborhood and
a mere refuge for colored loafers. 1--WE are
to get two evils instead of one,' he said.
THE COUNCILMAN's REASON
Councilman Fred Expert said he had at
tended the meeting merely to be advised
of the wishes of the people. He had OPP
posed the location of the pesthouse in the
Fourth ward and would oppose it if the
people wanted him to. but If you want a
| pesthouse to ornament your neighborhood
vote for it tonight and 1 will do all can
to get it for you," he said. This brought
laughter. Expert said If the citizens were
opposed to 1T he would represent their oppo-
sition with vigor
| Commissioner f. d. Logsdon, of the
| Board of Public Works, was present He
said illness prevented Mayor Bookwalter
| from attending. He said he found the peo-
| pie or the vicinity to a man against the
| proposed establishment of the pesthouse
on the old site in Cantown. He said the
administration had not intended to put the
| institution there and that there had been
much misunderstanding about its plans
| 1t had been represented that the institution
| was desired If accompanied by a park. He
said the institution would not be built on
| the old site.
| Those present at the meeting then signed
| the resolution, which follows:
We, the undersigned, property owners
| OF the eighth precinct of the Fourth ward
| city of Indianapolis, hereby affirm and al
test that we are unalterably opposed to the
| location of the pesthouse in our precinct -
This signed protest, with the remon-
| STRANGE from Wilson Bill" the mayor of
Cantown, will be presented to the Board OF
| Pubic Works by a delegation headed by
Councilman Expert.