Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1903-03-20
THE MEDBRER.
"H the coat ITS put IL on"

The rapid settling of the roads due
to the absence of frost In the groun9
brings up the question or DUST anu
street sprinkling for early considers,
ton this spring. In Brattleboro, as IN
many other places, this question Is
vexatious one. The present method OF
providing for the abatement OF the aust
nuisance in our streets Is most unJust
and unbusinesslike. Our people nave
been kicking about it for years, but
nobody has made any move for a
change. Why not take up the mat.
ter at the village meeting, May o.!
Some way might be found out OF the
present haphazard condition of things
to fair system of management for this
most important work. In nearby Mas.
sachusetts cities, when majority OF
the residents on a street want IL
sprinkled tax is levied for the pur'
pose by the authorities upon the abut-
tiers of that street, the percentage cor
responding to that of their regular
taxes.
* n "
Proper sprinkling of the streets is de-
sirable in the interests of comfort,
cleanliness and public health. But 1t
is not right that few should pay for
service which benefits all. Individual
subscription in cause like this Is
most unfair. Property holders with
street frontage should in no wise be eX-
cused from paying their share of this
most necessary expense. The idea, TOO,
of "passing round the hat, as it were,
for the sprinkler man, is absurd. He
NAV be overpaid or he may be under
paid-it's case of hit or miss. Inc
Meddler thinks the sprinkling OF the
streets is properly village matter and
that it should be duly arranged for, as
economically as possible and as Justly
as possible. And the labor involved
should receive the usual compensation
for such labor-no more or less. The
regular force of men and teams en-
gagged in other town labor might per-
haps be used to advantage in this work.
Appearances are deceitful. We have
heard this saying before somewhere,
but it has not lost its old time force in
application. This fact is proven in
the case of Ebert Hubbard, alias Fra
Elbertus, the man with the "Roycroft
Ideals" who lectured in town last
week. EITHER quack Indian herb
doctor or a magnetic healer" would
say ninety-nine out of hundred who
sized up this strange looking being
from his personal appearance. Many
besides the Meddler must have been
dumbfounded, when they heard the
man on the lecture platform. This
pale, sad-eyed, and apparently puny
and weak little man, with the long
hair, is one of the clearest thinkers
and most pleasing speakers of the
present day.
A specimen case of what is often lost
by the neglect to advertise is given
right here at home in the disposal of
the old hand fire engine, known as
Phoenix No g. The local bailitfs have
tried for some time to sell the old en-
CINE for decent figure, but evidently
did not know how to go about it. 1t
did not occur to them that newspaper
advertisement would successfully ac-
complish their purpose. After having
old No. 6 on their hands for long
while without getting bidder, the
bailiffs finally succeeded in disposing
of it to a junk dealer. The notice of
the sale chronicled in the Reformer
caught the attention of the London
derry village authorities, who, as their
village had been in need of fire en-
CINE for long time, at once purchased
the old Phoenix. 1t was not until af-
ter this local notice had appeared,
that they knew that a fire engine could
be secured so near at hand. AS the re-
suit of the transaction, the junk dealer
made handsome profit on the sale of
the historic relic, that would have gone
to the village treasury, only for the
lack of newspaper advertisement. A
word to the wise ought to be sufficient.