Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-09-28
+ LOOKER.ON In IOWA

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Eldora, Sept. 2S.-Councilman KEN
erer of Grinnell, had some ideas on
road making before he was elected. AS
a result of being made chairman of
streets and alleys committee, he Is
putting those ideas into practice. with
the added result that Grinnell now has
as good dirt roads as any town in
Iowa. Inside the city corporation are
forty-seven miles of roads. Mr.. KEN
merer has got it down so fine. that
at an expense Of 50 he has a King road
drag go over the whole forty-seven
miles just when they need 1T, and that
need occurs soon after each rain heavy
enough to make it possible for these
roads to be cut up by the daily traffic.
That's the whole secret of Kemmerer's
success in keeping the Grinnell streets
in good condition. He's externally at
it."
Supervisor Manly of PoWeshiek
county, has served his county Well for
several terms. And his ideas on coun-
try road making are worth considering
He mentions the weakness of u pres
ent system. It's the frequent changing
of rural supervisors. No man with the
tax money Of one year can accomplish
very much. He starts in to fix up a
bad piece of road as he thinks II
should be done, and by the time he
fairly gets started on a permanent job,
he is changed for another man with
other ideas of what should be done.
The result is patchwork road making
= k-,r,~1i~ Nv Norlv thinks
if a man can be found that is a good
road man, he should be kept in office,
and real economy consist in hiring
such a man year after year, paying
him good wages, this regardless OF
other men with inexperence offering to
do the work at less figures, being
hired.
Slowly but surely, the automobile
is replacing or ~displacing the livery
team in Iowa. Just now the auto
owner charges a little more than the
livery man for the same trip. this re-
fering to the single passenger, but
when a party of three or four want to
go out somewhere at the same time,
prices are less in the auto, than in a
two seated rig" Prices too
are lower comparatively by the
auto on the long trip, than the
livery. Travelling men that want ito
get there and nearly all do, are be-
| coming regular patrons of the garage
in many places. A party of four on a
recent Sunday hired an automobile for
a Homie trip, going and coming.
They hired the automobile for $40.
Car fare at 2 cents per mile was 1920
| for each person. For $3.50 each pass
enger had a 110-mile ride, besides the
auto chauffeur agreed to give them an
| hours ride around the town they Wis
tied, sightseeing, which, at 5 cents a
trip on the trolley line, would have
made the trip cost more than $3.50 fol
each passenger, s%upposing the trip hac
been made on the steam cars. Ter
dollars for the trip made the auto
owner good wages for the day. IT.
useless to add no livery man with
horses could have done the work, ant
even the steam a line could not give
any better service for any less money
There's no doubt, Steamboat Rock
in Hardin county. has a big snake "ir
our midst" The Eldora papers have
written it up" naming reliable wit.
nesses. Last week the writer talked
with a Steamboat Rock nan that saw
it two years ago. He said little abou
it at the time, knowing the disposition
of his neighbors, to ask where he go
his whisky, and only by a solemn
promise of this scribe not to give hin
away, did he 'unloose." Two year
ago he saw this snake, apparently al
overgrown, veteran aged bull snake. A
that time this snake was certainly tel
to twelve feet long, and four to fiv
inches in diameter. When this ma
met the snake in the road he was driv
ing over, each respected the other
rights, and no trouble occurred. Las
year his neigllbor saw the same snak'
on the same road, and the neighbo
added two feet to the length of tn
snake. This year w or three men o
good repute and ~veracity say they have
seer such a snake and stick to "a fiji
teen-fot snake. as big around as
mans leg" Meanwhile no organized
hunting party has been suggested. bu
if that snake is le%ngthening out twt
feet each year., something ought to b.
done.
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