Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1904-01-04
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THE PROBLEMS OF 1904.

The city Authorities are confronted
with .so$re peplexih& 5pr'q4h4lepPss 5 u
| must be met and solved during The com
/ ing yeat.3 Problems, the proper so'utior
Nol. Which MILL be. OF incalcUlahle seIyics
sBefaeen, ana questions whoso-un'
wise determine Joy will. resn|t Injurious
ly to thefciryi as well as prove EXPENSIVE
to the taxpayers. . e-
r The .hfee leading .ubj3tts With which
the new council will have to grapple are.
the water supply, system of sewers
audthe building Of permanent streets
the importance OF which are in about
the order named. Those problems would
not be so difficult OF solution was the
financial wherewith on hand. but, like
all new cities Of rapid growth, our neces-
stiles outrun our income, so that the
management OF the city during 1904 Will
den and considerable time and attention
fromthe city fathers; and will call lor
the very best business Judgment they
possess. I'd. -n, a.G i..g e7o
To improve the water supply, it APP.
pears, that new boilers and pumps are
necessary at~thes pumping station, and
steps taken to provide reservoir to con-
serve the water that now runs to waste.
The line to South Aberdeen is con.
fessed failure, and has already cost as
much as would have built waterworks
on that side of the river, and should be
abandoned. If the city is unable to
build South Aberdeen system, fran
chise should be granted private parties
to do so, the city reserving the right to
purchase when able. This would settle
the water problem for some years to
come. ES.sJ$ ~ ad5 III
A system of sewers should b. planned
by competent engineer for the entire
city, and all sewers built to the plan as
required. The cost to the general fund
should not be great, after the plans were
secured. 1t only belongs to the city to
build the main sewers. For the Others
sewer districts can he formed, and the
cost be assessed to the property drained.
To continue the present haphazard
method OF sewers would be a simple
waste OF money.
The advent of the electric railway will
simplify the problem of filling streets
and the fact has been demonstrated that
plank streets will not stand the traffic in
the hspiasss distric+. With d railway
on The streets, the filling W II be cheap
ened to reasonable cost. But, the fill.
ing with earth and gravel is but the
preparation for pavement, so that the
proper improvement of-those streets will
probably be too expensive for the plan
for such Improvements now in use. The
whole cost, in one payment, would bear
too heavy on the property owners, and
it may be found necessary to extend
those payments over three or five years,
by the Issuance of special improvement
district bonds, and there is small doubt
that such bonds would find ready buyers
in the city. sAFs4&ss 3 ~ +
Perhaps one Of the greatest immediate
needs Of fhecity isa bus inesslike system
OF accounts. ABERDEEN has out crown
the style of bookkeeping adopted at its
founding, but practically no change has
been made. 1t is almost impossible to.
day to trace out matter that occurred
three or four years ago, or to discover
just what any department of the city is
cbsting. The system Of filing billslfor
: each emrloye OF the city is filing up the
vault with vouchers for which there is
no necessity. This head Of each depart
ment should file a monthly statement,
which should be~sworn to, showing the
amounts due each employc of his depart
ment, and the custom Of salaried officers
filing bills each month is q useless bit of
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