Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-02-04
LOOKER.ON IN IOWA



Redmond. Feb Ain this part of the
state at the present time 1T Is no UNI
usual sight to notice farmers unload
ing from the cars at the dcpotS, shelled
and ear corn. which has been shipped
In from Missouri or some place south
in Iowa where the corn crop was y
good one. The price which they pay to
the dealers Is sixty to sixty-one cents
per bushel. and it can be easily I'M
derstood these farmers do not buy a
bushel more than necessary. one FARM
er at Alexander said to the writer, i
have just sold my hogs at four cents
and have ben feeding them sixty cent
corn If the cholera had cleaned me
out of hogs two months ago, | would
be better off today" This may be an
unusual and somewhat exaggerated
case. but even a newspaper man knows
enough of Iowa farming. to realize 60
cent corn fed to four cent hogs is not
profitable. Fortunately the open dry
winter to this date, has enabled many
farmers to keep their stock in good
condition without feeding a bushel Of
grain.
The recent cold snap insures good
Ice crop In Iowa. and everywhere one
sees cars being loaded, teams and men
busy cutting and hauling fourteen to
sixteen inch ice, remarkably free
from dirt and solid all thru In some OF
these towns, the Wells are going dry
and loads OF ice are sold to families
for water supply. Some farmers de-
pendent on shallow wells are also short
OF water. There has virtually been no
rain in this part of the state for three
months. and with the thousands Of
miles of drain tile, It would seem many
OF even these fiat farms can this year
stand heavy spring rains and still not
interfere with putting in early small
grain.
Noticing the quite general DISPOSE
ton Of the railroads in Iowa to discon
tinue the sale of Intoxicating liquors
in their dining cars. many of the trav-
cling public are hoping it Will cease
for all time. No worse nuisance exists
than drunken man in a passenger
car. Anywhere else we can get away
from the fool but here we have to
stay listening to his "yawp," and see
ing and hearing his general dam
phoolishAeSs" The writer is told that
in the new prohibition south, it's q
mtsdemeanor. not only to give away
but to drink Intoxicating liquor on pas
senger trains. And also that in some
states trainmen are authorized by law
to refuse an intoxicated man to get on
the trains. Here's two good laws
Iowa can we'll put on the statute
books, and support. for such laws will
not come entirely from prohibitionists
or teetotlers.
Speaking of laws on the statute
books. one man suggests. in view of
the enforcement wave now sweeping
over Iowa. that before the wave re-
cedes legislative committee be
named to select from our law books
and prepare list Of all dead letter
laws and have them repealed at the
meeting of the next legislature. His
idea is that now while we are in the
enforcement mood, that II dead letter
laws are not resurrected and en-
forced they never will be. hence the
sooner they are off the law books the
better for our reputation as law
abiding and observing people. Only
twp years ago the state of Connecti-
cut had a house cleaning of this kind.
and some Of the laws on their books
$50 years old were eye-openers to the
present generation.
A bit Of personal explanation will be
pardoned, 1t Is hoped, by the writer Of
this column. Two well known facts
need hardly be mentioned, but it is a
fact that newspaper men, i. e., office
men, are very poor readers of good
The other is that great
men and great writer's uniformly write
a poor hand. With these facts before
the readers Of this column, they will
in some previous letters,
between the compositor and the proof
reader, this scribe was made to refer
to brahmin instead of a brakeman.
This BROKE the writer all up, and be-
fore he was in a normal condition, he
something young" re-
publican of Iowa Falls told him, but
in type this young republican became
a "puny'' republican. Here's hoping
he will remain ''puny" till after the
writer's next visit to Iowa Falls. All
this is bad, but worse is ahead Of him
on returning to the T.-R. office. Only
last week in this column this scribe In
cruel type, speaking of an editorial in
the T.-R., was made to say the poor
editor said, etc. The quoted individual
in Nextown said "Your" editor. All Of
which would not be necessary, unless
one brides himself on a handwriting
copy.
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