The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-02-12
OFFICIAL COUNTY PAPER
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY u. 1904.

@SE%
a pELlBeRATE ISLANDER.
Woonsocket Herald: The recent
Ares in the Iroquois theater and in
enc Masonic Temple In Chicago.
sad In the Iowa capitol building,
al so called lire proof buildings,
1ead to the conclusion. that nor
Aepends on u good system for ex-
Anpuishing fires. than upon the con-
a~truction OF the buildings The fur
Ailure, doors, windows and ordinary
goods and personal property in u
building is enough to destroy or
greatly injule it Mitchell has an In
adequate water supply, probably the
I DOOrest Ut any city .n the state, and
ehe building they prOOOse to offer
Tor y temporary capitol building Is
fe 3 fire proof than any OF the build
1gns above referred to. The building
Sin an exposed location and the bum
Ing Of the solid built block in which
stt Is located would insure the destrIc-
. tl0n Of the building and all Of its
contents. even with a good supply Of
1atef. of which the city 10 practi-
c1liy destitute. The state records
y would be much safer in the detached
sbuildinK at Pierre where there is an
abundant supply of water, than in
che fire trap offered at Mitchell. The
capitol building ut Pierre. as poor as
Il is, Is away from the business part
ct the city and widely separated from
all NftnA OF Rnpnk a p slnN kn nnf nv
DOsed to fires frOip dozens Of other
buildings as is the Mitchell building.
The state house at Pierre is a larger
Building and better adapted to the
ase OF the state, and the state prop
orty will be .much safer where 1T now
d than In the proposed building at
Mitchell. Those who have examined
the location of the Mitchell build
ing. with scores of drugst0res. sa-
looms, furniture stores and other
buildings OF q cOn-bustible nature
within 20 to 800 feet OF it, arc at q
l0as to understand how the people Of
that town could expect the state to
put Its valuable property In such a
dangerous locality.
It would be ditacalt to condense in
the same space more untruths, ma
liciousness-if not downright: clssed-
ness-than contained &, the forego-
Ing. Mr.. Reed must indeed be sore
about somethine-and probably for
che same reason that he has his ham,
mer out to knock any and all towns,
which, in his littleness, be may
think interferes with his private bus
iness. 1t is told that the senior Reed
has some town lots located some
where within i've or six miles Of the
present state capitol building which
he has been trying to unload for the
past thirteen years. Perhaps this is
where the shoe pinches.
It would be something out Of the
ordinary were there not many differ
emit opinions rs to the proper location
Of the capital Of the state; and, gen.
sraily speaking, there is a wholesome
respect for an honest opinion, how.
ever much 1t may be detrimental to
Nitchell's expectation Of securing
the seat Of state government. But
there Is mighty small respect and
less consideration for any man or
newspaper who will deliberately
alander a town in the manner exhib.
tied by the WoonsOcket Herald.
1t has remand for Mr.. Reed to dis
cover that Mitchell has "%inadequate
water supply, probably the poorest
In the state" for fire projections
Mitchell has not only an inexhaust-
ible chain Of artesian wells and a
large storage reservoir, but a per-
fectly equipped power house and
pumps OF sufficient capacity to force
= stream v 9 any building in the
own. Can Mr.. Reed recall a FIRE in
Mitchell where there was a lack of
wates to handle it?
The new city hall-especially de-
signed for a temporary capitol build
ing, with fre.proof vaults for all rec
ords and supreme court library-is to
be a thoroughly modern building Of
Sioux Falls granite Of the most sub
stantial kind-as near tire-proof so
far as it's exterior goes at least as
money can make it. 1T stands on
n corner of a half block, separated
by an alley and IS feet from the
s'solid built block Mr.. Reed tells
about. This particular block of
brick and granite buildings is that
dangerous, by the way, that the in
surance companies are carrying risks
in it as low as as cents on the hun
dred dollars, four-tepths Of one per
cent. III many towns in the state