The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-03-15

to take whack at all three before he
got the person who was calling HIM. lie
said he couldn't help swearing little
every time, it was so trying on his nerves
told him that the swearing was under
the circumstances, entirely eXcusable,
and I'd warrant him that the Recording
Angel dropped a tear and blotted out
every charge against him for cussing the
three telephone systems. The man who
can carry out plan for consolidating
the telephone systems and give Raleigh
one good system and put the price within
the reach of all, will be public bene-
factor.
81 am very much interested, too" con-
tinued the Old Codger, 'in Raleigh's own
ing the water system. When it was put in
long time ago, we We're told that Ra-
leigh had the option to buy, and that
after awhile we would issue bonds and
buy it. ! find out upon looking into the
matter a little that, while this is so,
the company when putting in the water
system issued bonds for more than the
whole concern cost and much more than
it would require to put in new water
system, and then that they gave away
or sold for song the stock in the COM
pany to Raleigh people, and now we find
ourselves IN this situation: Folks up
north have bought the bonds issued for
more than the cost of the water system,
and folks in Raleigh own the stock, some
of them having paid for it thirty or forty
cents on the dollar, and when there is
any talk about Raleigh buying the sys-
TEN, they say that it will be dishonest
for Raleigh to buy it without paying the
par value of the bonds and nearly that
Tor the stock, and so when we buy the
water we got to buy stock and bonds full
or water, too. ] dunno how it can he
worked out but it ought to be done, aud
this city ought to own the water system
The same thing is true of the lights, and
all other public utilities.
And them went on the Old Codger.
there is the street car system. My
1 cousin, who lives up in Asheville, came
down to the Legislature to lobby about
a little bill about extending the corpor-
ate limits of that city, and spent a week
| or TWO at my house. He had to hire a
carriage Tor 70 cents to get to my home
when II the street cars ran to the depot
as they ought to do he could have come
up for five cents. He said that in Ashe-
vile and all other frst-class towns the
street cars ran right jamb up to the
depot, and it saved the travellers a heap
OF money and heap of cussing. The
system ought to go to the depot in Rail
eigh, and then on out Martin and Har-
gett streets to the old Soldiers Home
and the line that adjourns sine die on
Polk street ought to extend to the ceme-
terry People who go out now on the car
have to take a very long walk and that
car might as well go on to the cemetery
as not"
BY this time the Old Codger had smoked
out his pipe of tobacco. and 1 thought he
was through and ready 10 go But he
pulled out his plug and commenced cut
ting up his tobacco and refllng the pipe.
| knew by this that he had not fully I'M
loaded his mind. and that another in
stallment would follow After he had
struck match and drawn several whiffs
to see that the tobacco was burning good
he resumed.
Il kept up pretty well with all this
talk about temperance legislation When
| was a younger man than I am now :
used to live in tho country. One mile
south Of my farm there was a distillery.
and two miles north a saloon. and be-
tween the two they made such a hell of
the neighborhood that l sold out and quit
and moved to town l wasn't willing to
bring UP my boys bounded on the north
by a bar-room and bounded on the south
by a distillery They did more harm
than the church on the east and the
school house on the west could counter
act Since then public sentiment has