Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-02-08
DEsERET EVENING NEWS THURSDAY FEBRUARY 8, 1905.

theirsi Tho man who intends tn make
| this city his permanent homeY The
one who has Invested his means ~
| property. who Is helping to beautify
the city by improving hts property
| To this man the bin boards work an IN
Jury ten times as great as any Dement'S
which may come 10 tho man who re.
fuses to improve his holdings. And
again, In many cases. II the property
holder could not get this little revenue
by having an unsightly bill boar
erected on his land. would he not BE-
more apt TO Improve II?
wish TO point oui one actual case
In which property has been much in
jnred and deprecated IN value by rea
son OF the bill board, and this is only
one case OF a number that ] could
point out, and PERHAPS OF hundreds
which actually exist.
There was certain piece OF vacant
property located within few blocks
OF the city and county building. The
property was purchased by Mr.. smith
and Mr., Jones Mr.. Smith Improved
the piece that he purchased by erect
Ing home, planting trees and shrub
berry and flowers, and generally I'M
proving It, Mr.. Jones decided 70 hold
his until prices went up
To pay the taxes. | suppose, he per.
mitted large unsightly bill board
TO be erected OH his vacant land much
TO the detriment Of Mr. smiths prop
erty, Smith Is the father OF FAINT
ly OF boys ana girls. ana because he
II not only much annoyed by the bill
board himself, but because OF the near
ness Of this nuisance to his home,
he finds the location bad place In
which to bring UP his family, and so he
tries 10 sell the place and go to more
desirable location, but he finds when he
,ries to sell that the bill board has
detracred hundreds Of dollars from the
value OF his property. No decent, self
respecting person seems to want TO live
next to the bill board. DO YOU?
Now why II the bill board so OBJ
noxious to Mr.. Smith? Why to the
great majority OF the people?
Smith gets up IN the morning and
looks out the window and the first
sight he heholds is the back OF the
bIll board. He goes 10 work and has
10 pass the bill board. He comes
home late at night, and as a matter OF
self-protection he Is forced, perchance,
to walk IN the middle Of the street to
get away from the thug who may
be lurking behind the bill hoard To hold
him up.
While no has been away, during the
day and the evening, and some times
when he Is home even late In the night
a crowd Of boys--the hoodlums OF the
communicative been building fires,
and playing cards, and perhaps drink
ing liquors behind the bill board. They
form such convenient places for the
hoodlums 20 meet. The actions OF these
young hoodlums are disgusting, ana
their conversation Is often OF the most
revolving character and much as Smith
desires 20 have this kind OF conduct
and conversation removed from his
home, he cannot do anything as long
ms the bill board Is built up against hls
home
In the morning as his children go to
school they have to pass the bill boards,
aud the impressions conveyed TO the
young minds are anything but helpful
ON sunday, Smith goes 10 church. and
he not only passes the bin board by
hie own home. hut just before he en-
ters III, house Of worship he passes
anotherand Is reminded that he should
drink q certain kind of liquor, or that
such and such a company OF "gaiety"
girls, who by the way are wildly por-
trayed in pink or yellow or green
tights, on the pictures, Will play at
such show house. Eeyating i'm
press ions these.to be forced on man s
mind Just as he enters the place OF
worship,
Now | urge these ss some of the
reasons why the bin board should &c
from the residence portion OF the city
First, they are lnslghtly; they detract
from the beauty Of the SURROUNDING
homes and depreclate their value very
materially. They afford the best kind
Of meeting places for the young hood
lums OF the community and they also
afford a choioe spot for he hodur
and thug to conceal themselves, and
spring upon the unsuspecting victim
The advertisements they carry are
often very obnoxious, and the impress
slons which these advertisements make
upon the minds OF the old and es-
pecially of the young, our boys and
our girls. whose young minds are sus-
ceptlble 10 almost any kind Of I'M
nresslons. are harmful In the extreme.
On the other hand, they do not IN
any sense benefit the majority OF oui
people-auy benefits that may come
fiom them are confined 10 a very few
Now for the remedy Public senti'
ment must be 20 aroused In this maize,
that the citizens OF our city win de-
mand OF the council law TO regulate
the bill boards, 4 law IN this direction
was passed by the city council two OF
three years ago. 1t was very liberal "
It's requirements. II only asked thai
the bill boards be set 10 feet from tn,
sidewalk and he raised three feet from
the ground but The bill board people a.
that time seemed so deaf To public
opinion and seatiment, that even this
simple ordinance was taken to tn
courts aud tested. and found wantint
IN certain respects. SO that today We
have practically no law or ordinance
whatever. IN the matter
Now what we need Is a public awak
ening-an awakening on the part OF al
the people OF our city In this matter
| These matters can best be carried OF
| by the people Arousing themselves, ant
using thir influence WIKI the city coun
| Gil 50 that a proper ordinance VIII b'
! enacted. Such an ordinance shoul'
| confine the bill boards to the business
| portion Of the town, and should pre-
| scribe how large and how high the!
may be.
such measure II passed, could no
| but result to :he benefit OF the entir'
| city, as IL would take all the bill board
| from the residence district. and thu
make this mart Of the city more beau,i
full, and remove the other evils which
| have named.
At the same time II would, II seem
! TO me. result to the benefit of the bill
board company as we'll. II would enabl
| them to select a better class OF adver
! tisers. and obtain better prices iron
their spaces As already pointed out
| there Is an immense profit TO the com
pany from their spaces In the heart o
| the city. I am also reliably Informed
| that the little space occupied on tn
| south side OF the Smith Drug company
store for the moving pictures and ad
vertisements, produces a revenue o
| $4,000 year.
| Let the company put up more bill
boards In the heart OF the clty-th