The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1905-04-28
DUTIES OF Secretary
THE WORK WHICH MUST BE DONE
FOR COMMERCIAL NORFOLK.
WILL NOT BE AN EASY TASK
Not Small Fraction, But a Large
Portion Of the Time Of the Secretary
Must be Given over to the Advanc-
ing Of the Clubs interests.

Norfolk, Neb, April 81. 49, Editor
News: There is an Impression in
the minds of some of our citizens in
regard to the work ahead of the Sec
| want to discuss briefly. For in
stance, from what several gentlemen
have said to me about this they evi.
IDENTIFY think that a little personal at
tention to miscellaneous things that
come along, a few letters perhaps
daily to correspondents, and few
more fired in the air toward some fel.
low who is supposed to be ready to
be dislodged, with two or three trips
during the year to neighboring cities
that will carry an incidental cigar
with at least bottle of White Rock
on the side, will constitute the chief
duties of our secretary; that his work
for our club would not much interfere
with any other business he might have
nor with his daily round of pleasure" I"
Now my idea is, Mr.. News, that our
secretary should employ practically
his whole time in the business of the
club; If he is the right kind of a man
and I want to say right here that
the stockholders absolutely won't have
any one else-he will Immediately
find as he gets into his field of work
that there are no fences in sight; for
instance he will have not less than
200 partners to interview about pay
In a1 nf hn
and to interview him as to its dis
bursement, his Office work will be to
put in shape, he must look up news
papers and their rates in order to
know whether to use them, he must
get in touch with all matters CONNER
cial, educational, social and political
that are happening and are on the
tapis in northeast Nebraska, attend.
ing every convention in this territory
of sufficient importance to be moved
to Norfolk. If there are twelve con.
ventions during the year that Nor,
folk wants, and this number is proba.
bly, conservative, and each takes say
on the average of two and one-half
days, he will use a month for this
branch of his work. OF course he
must be in Norfolk when a convention
is held here to entertain his guests
and know that any little frctions that
may arise do not become congested;
then there is the road situation our
merchants will insist that every road
leading into the city be placed and
kept in good condition, not only as it
nears the town but clear out past the
natural edge of our territory because
it is the outer end of this road that
pulls the most business to Norfolk
and there is no place where the good
results of his work can be seen so
plainly or so quickly as here; it will
be necessary for him to personally in
terview these road bosses and some
others possibly, going out once in
awhile to get the work started and
even furnish a team to help it along
My judgment is that TO initiate this
work this summer will require at
least one month and possibly two of
the secretary's time. Then there is
the street railway bonus to be raised
and by the time he gets the $4,000
that is said to be in sight for this pur-
pose he will at least be out of wind;
then our sugar factory plant is to he
occupied by some live, going enter
prise, employing say 100 of our people,
and whether this shall be another
sugar factory or packing house or a
canning factory, a glucose factory or
a brewery or what not, will give him
some worriment and use some of his
time; then, too, the aesthetic side of
the city must be borne in mind, our
public places improved if ever so
slightly, and more of them gotten un-
der way; the city library commission
must be re-invigorated; in due time
the legislature must be looked after
again, the needs of the asylum pro-
vided for and possibly a normal school
picked out of the whirlpools of legis-
lation; in fact if the reader will care
fully read over the objects which this
club is aiming at he will be convinced
that any secretary who will conscien-
tiously try to follow these suggestions
will surely have no sinecure. These
items Ol WOIh IutHllOHtu are Vi
course only part of it, and are really
only preliminary to his really import
ant duty which is to get a railroad
rate here that will of itself establish
wholesale and jobbing houses and
manufactures, creating traffic that
among other things will compel the
erection of new depots or possibly
grand union that will be great plea
sure and convenience to us all. A
railroad rate that would give Norfolk
merchants at least as good a chance
to do business in the territory as
those of Omaha or Sioux City, would
directly be worth much to them, there
fore to us all, besides paving the way
for bigger things that will eventually
come along and bring city.
A. ]. Durland
MONnnX MENTInN