Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-01-15
mo Phone? Excuse Mew May
Be Sample Conversation to
Be Heard Soon
NO FREE PHONES, SAYS slEe
Introduces Resolution Authorizing
Clerk to Collect SO From Each Mem
Der for Phone Rent-Herman Jumps
All Over sies'. Frame as Result =
Final Action Deferred.

With the occasional shrek of some
fair Egyptian trying to reach high
tx" in the east court room, which
sounded as tho some hysterical hospi-
tai patient were going under the in
fiuence Of an anesthetic, and which
made the doctor member twist about In
his seat and wonder If his services
should not be volunteered in the emer-
gency, the city council settled down to
the work of Its first meeting of the
new year Monday night. The rehearsal
above was a fitting stage setting to the
melodrama of the basement, when the
curtain rose on the first act Of THE
Telephone Girl"
In the role of leading man, Council
man Sieg spoke the first lines of the
piece, and resolved that so long as the
expert from the state auditors office
had declared it illegal for the city to
furnish telephones to councilmen free,
the city clerk be authorized to collect
from each councilman the sum Of So
for the use Of the phones during the
present year.
the heavy man, Herman not the ma
gician but with mustache, arose. 1t
rested with Herman to Stay the leading
man, and the lines of the piece didn't
mince matters one bit. This man Sieg
is SO small" Herman began, that he
demands a little 50 paid out each year
for councilman's phone. A man like
that is willing and is liable to create
most any kind of sensation and dis
turbance He is trying to load gun
for next spring and make hero out
of himself.
who is this man S'eg? I'll tell you
As councilman of this city he brought
suit against this city on the 18th of
August, 1905, and that suit has cost
the city thousands Of dollars to protect
the mill dam. This very money we
have had to pay the courts and lawy-
ers, spent thru foolishness and sell
fishness, would buy telephones for the
city for many years to come.
IF Sieg is trying to be economical
all at once why should he sue the city
because of the dam when he should
have been interested in protecting tina
city. He is the great promoter of the
whole deal. If a man is sworn as
councilman to do his duty toward
city he commits a crime when he sues
the city. believe he ought to be i'm
peached, and If he were a gentleman
he would step down and out and re-
sign
Mr.. Sieg came on for his lines in
answer to the heavy man, affecting the
air OF the injured innocent. He said
he simply wanted to abide by the
law, and he didn't consider Herman
any more honorable than any Of the
rest. He was not trying to waste the
city's money, and he had right to
protect or defend himself in a law
suit. Since the telephone practice
was learned to be illegal he considered
1t only right to live up to sworn duty.
I've had all the honor want and am
not seeking any office" added Sieg,
as he took q seat at his end of the
stage. Mr. sSieg was suffering from
a severe cold, and was not in good
voice. which somewhat marred the
artistic sense of the production. Super
in the persons of other
members Of the council took a small
part in the melodrama as the curtain
rang down on the last act. Many
believed that telephones were a saw
ing to the city in the transaction of
city business, and while technically
the free use to councilmen might be
wrong, the practice was one that would
not be likely to be considered any SER
ious crime on the part of the public.
Clark and Young said they had no
use for the phones aside from city
business. and Young, while against
refunding anything to the city, was
willing to pay for the instrument here
after. This was also concurred in by
others. Devine considered it a ques-
ton purely Of law, and the only thing
he could see to do was to quit using
the phones unless the members paid.
He had never had a city phone, and
didn't want one. The legality was to
be considered first, and if the coun-
Gil became careless in little things,
they might also become careless in
matters OF more Importance.
Mayor Ingledue, in closing the
drama, explained his position. He said
that while technically free telephones
might be wrong, theoretically he con-
sidered them right, and the state be-
hind the times. He said that it was
urgent many times to use the tele-
phones to get members of committees
together, or the council members for
special meetings. Notification other
wise was many times impossible. He
wouldn't attempt to run his business
without phones, and he didn't think
the city should either The council
did many things that were not strictly
legal, for instance the voting of 500
to the band each year, and the voting
of $500 to the California sufferers. The
people did not object to either, SO far
as he was able to learn. II would
hate to try and run the city govern
ment without the telephone" said the
mayor, and do not consider taking
them out a good business proposition,
even tho there might be question re-.
garding the legality"
A motion was made to lay the Sieg
resolution on the table, and it carried,
with the votes of Devine. Iseman, Sieg
and Young dissenting. The matter will
be brought up again at a
future meeting.