The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-02-10
IT'S ALL OVER.
City Council DispOses OF Street
Naming Proposition.
Follows the Original Plan Pro-
posed Long Ago.
END OF RECORD FIGHT
Nothing Has Ever Given Alder
men More Trouble.
EIakeIy and Hughes Led the
FOrlOrn Hope.
END OFRECORD FIGHT

After having four special meetings OF
the city council, after spending &c hours
of the regular council meetings, after
referring the matter to five different
committees, after surviving IL meetings
| of the streets and walks committee.
after making six different trips of the
council out to the districts, after lis
| tening to Is yards of petitions read and
Explained. after allowing 33 people to
talk on the council floor. after a siege
of % columns of newspaper space and
after over two months the city council
! of Topeka-this city council regained
all lost nerve and doubt and with but
three nay votes passed the bill sent to
the council many moons ago for the re-
naming of some of the tangled streets
of this city. The street naming propo-
sition has been introduced, fought over
and passed and the future condition OF
the streets of this city will make 1t
possible for a person to find a location
without the aid of a force of street car
conductors and a batch of cops.
1t has undoubtedly been the great
est battle in the history of the city
council of Topeka and it has made more
enemies, caused more hard feeling,
raised more neighborhood rows, called
forth more brain power and used up
more typewriter ribbon than any 9TH
er proposition ever submitted to a city
council of this city. When the street
naming business first came up the peo-
pie of the city approved of the action
of the council because it was conceded
that the streets in some parts of To-
peka were in very bad condition-they
ran into each other, Tapped over, one
on the other, and in some cases ran a
race from one corner to the other. Ev-
erything ran smoothly, until, for the
axe of the good of the community, the
councilmen decided that two or three
streets in the southwest part of the
city should be changed from their SEN
timental names to appropriate and sys
tematic names. The people rose in re-
bellion at action and they went from
house to house with petitions of re-
the grandfather to the prattling baby
sign. AS a result they stirred up the
fighting spirits of the people and the
battle was on. The fever spread and
soon through the influence of the in
stigators people all over the city who
We're concerned in the change gathered
forces and swooped down on the poor
labOring cOuncilmen who were working
with might and main in the heated
council chamber. For awhile it was
thought to have been buried forever
and the council meetings ran along
without any serious obstruction but
heart and who We're working for what
they thought was right, kept the fire
smouldering until the fatal moment
last night and then with blaze the
while matter took the city council by
storm and after a mixture of amend
ments, resolutions, motions, speeches
and sarcastic remarks the blaze spread
to every part of the house cutting off
the escapes and eating up the last sup
porters-and the game was won.
1t was a noble fight just the same
and the last man TO climb down the
blanket sheet pillow, rope was Coun-
Gilman Blakely who died hard and
whose last word was a condemnation
of the labors of his fellow aldermen.
When the matter had dWindled down
to the original ordinance after it had
would-be amendments and disqualified
lions. the final vote showed that those
in favor of the change were Aldermen
Jordan, Fraser, Lannan, Miller, Stan
ley, VanNess and Tandy. Those who
went down with the ship were Aldermen
Hughes and Howard. Mr..
Kutz was undecided whether the peO-
pie We're for or against the PROPOSE
ton and he did not vote. He asked the
council if he could be excused from
voting. They realized that the poor
man was running for office and rather
than allow him to run the risk of los
ing a few votes by one vote of his own
they gave him the privilege of sitting
on the fence and watching the fun. Mr..
Kutz was with the hayes through the
fight, however, and at the beginning of
the hostilities he gave 13 minute
speech which was a gem of art and a |
of literature.
The usual lobby crowd was con-
spicuous for it's absence. One woman
who resides on West street and who |
was radically in favor of the West |
lawn boulevard proposition, gave a |
little speech in which she spotted Mr. |
Blakely and Scorched him for looking |
d whole lot smarter than he really was. |
She also took last long shot at her |
neighbors who dared stand up against |
the matter which she and her women |
sympathizers had been advocating. She |
said as a final shot that the women |
should decide the matter anyway as a /
woman is the person who lives on the |
streets and not the men. The men |
come home to eat and sleep but the |
women are there always. Judging |
from the frequent visits of the women |
to the council meetings the theory is |
rather overdrawn and should be re-
versed. /
Some of the aldermen thought the |
matter was being ''railroaded" through |
the council last night. This is impos- |
siple-especially since the two hours !
it took to settle the matter All of the /
petitions for and against have been |
filed and the council has heard every |
thing that could possibly have been |
brought forth-and then some. Last |
night was an excellent time for such |
matters-when the chamber was not |