Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1905-01-26
SOME FURTHER OBSERVATIONS.

There are not enough houses IN
to supply those who
desire to have comfortable dwellings,
and if there were dozen good houses
for rent they would quickly be taken
up. The question naturally arises,
why are additional houses not built
if there is a demand for them. The
answer is simple one: 1t doesn
pay to rent out property of this sort
Rents are low, and have been for
years, in Shepherdstown, and by the
time an owner of property pays in
surance, taxes and repairs there is
not much left. And yet, on the other
hand, most persons are paying just
about as high rents as they can al
ford or as much as the business they
conduct will Justify. Nevertheless,
we wish there were a few more de-
sirable houses for rent in Shepherds
town.
The average colored person is very
fond of using big words and high
sounding phrases. In the colored
Methodist church tne other night one
of the members, when called upon to
pray, delivered an eloquent petition,
and among other requests fervently
beseeched divine protection upon his
"dear old mother, now far away In
distant lands" The distant lands
to which he 80 feelingly referred are
about three miles from town-not
quite as far as Scrabble.
The old idea that subscriber con
fers a great favor on publisher by
subscribing for his paper at dollar
a year is sort of playing out, though
we still have to conte nd with it once
in while. Every newspaper man
appreciates the patronagethat is given
him, but at the same time he knows
that he usually gives full value for
the dollar he gets on subscription.
Not long since a subscriber of the
REGISTER got mad and stopped his
paper because the editor declined to
throw in a dollars worth of advertis-
ing free at the end of the year. There's
not much profit in furnishing a good
weekly paper at a dollar year
surely the obligation cannot be very
great at two cents a week to give
still more for the money.
Apropos to this subject: At the
low price of a dollar year it doesn t
pay to waste much money on postage
in sending out bills. The REGISTERS
system of addressing its papers shows
Just when the time expires, and every
subscriber ought to pay In advance,
as long as the paper is so cheap. We
bave been sending out bills since the
first of the year, and shall keep it up
until we have gone over our entire
list. Those in arrears must pay up
if they wish their paper continued.
So far this month we have found it
necessary to drop only about a half
dozen names, as nearly every body
has responded to our requests to pay
up. 1t Is our intention to eventually
carry on our let the name Of no sub
scriber who gets more than one year
in arrears. In the meantime we are
trying to have everybody to pay up,
and if your name is dropped you will
know the reason.
Everybody hopes that the Legisla-
ture will provide the money to erect
a monument to the memory Of James
Rumsey, inventor Of the steamboat.
Justice ought to be done to the genius
Of our fellow-townsman, even if it Is
a hundred years or more too late.
The Observer would like to see a
pretty little park, the central feature
Of which would be handsome statue
of the inventor. There are several
available sites that would be ideal for
such purpose.
The sexton of the Lutheran church
has grievance against the sexton of
the Reformed church, just opposite.
The sexton of the Reformed church
is an expert weather prOgnOsticatOr,
and every time there's snow he calls
up a high wind that blows all the
snow from his pavements to the Luth-
eran side. This saves him a lot Of
work, but it makes a great deal of ex-