The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-01-27

| Railways or means OF egreSS ana OH
| doors opening thereto shall be not less
| than three feet in width, and shall
/ open or swing out of and not into salo
| public house, Iyceum, opera house or
| other place of amusement"
| Fire Chief Wilmarth concludes Win
the following comment:
| Il have quoted above the substance
| of the fire law relating to this city You
/ will, therefore, take notice, and are
| hereby ordered to forthwith comply
with each and all of the provisions OF
| the statutes herein before referred 10
and YOU are further notified that the
chains and ropes referred to in section
1926 shall be not less than one lncn IN
diameter"
IT can be readily seen that this bomb
exploded among the property owners
would cause an influx of visitors at the
office of the fire marshal Each man
tells of the permanency and the firm
ness of his building and the thickness
of the walls together with the "abSo-
Int fire prodigy of the structure
Listening to these men one would think
that Topeka was one mass or mani
moth solid structures constructed 70
withstand the shakieSt of earthquakes
and the hottest of fires But the fire
marshal has thrown aside all ex-
perienced ideas along the line OF nre eS
cape protection and he will simply fol-
low the law as 1t is written and the
proprietors must obey
City Clerk c. b Burge has sent to
the printer a statement of the bond
ed Indebtedness OF the city Of To-
peka up to February I, 1909, and
when two or three hundred copies
have been printed he will send them
to that number of heavy property
ond time in the history of the city
that such a statement was issued. It
was done last year by Mr. Burge and
the property owners expressed such a
TIT nn hot
the efficient city clerk has repeated
the performance this year. The state
ment explains the complete bonds is
sued by the city and gives their name,
their maturity. the amount, the rate
of interest and the amount Of inter-
est It is an interesting fact to note
that every year Topeka is paying out
a small fortune for the interest on
bonds of all kinds-this interest
amounting to S54.174.e7. The bonds
mentioned in the statement which
will be issued by Mr.. Burge include
the following: Six refunding bonds,
a. T. & s. F. shop bond. Melan bridge
extension bond. building bridges
bond, city hall bond. Potwin sewer
bond. floating Indebtedness, the water
and the electric light extension bonds.
These bond statements are invaluable
TO the property owners and the orig
a necessity among them.
The Emporia hotel owner who at
tempted 10 tear to pieces the theory
Mayor William Green in Saturdays
State Journal. forgot to quote the
law in his efforts to show that the fire
escapes were a good thing. The law
says that the ropes shall hang from
a chain attached to the windows and
does not say a word about the many
appliances mentioned by the Emporia
gentlemen A rope fitted up with all
the latest climbing appliances would
be a good fire escape, but very few
hotel owners are going to the expense
of installing such devices If the law
simply says: "a half inch rope" May
or Green's interview quoted the law
and not the possibilities.
Since the primary petitions have
been fled with the city clerk there
has been some discussion as to wheth-
er an appointed board should go over
matter should be left with the ci'
clerk City Clerk Burge has been
enjoying this discussion and when the
matter came to a regular contest be-
tween the candidates, Mr.. Burge sent
a communication to Attorney General
Jackson asking his advice The at
torney general returned the verdict
that the whole authority was in the
hands of the city clerk and he should
act as the supervisor, clerk. steno-
judge Of the petitions as filed by the
candidates for city offices. Mr. Burge
has been working day and night
checking up all the names on the pc
titions and declaring their worth and
when the question came up as to the
appointment of a board he took the
matter up with glee. But the cues
ton is settled now and the work goes
on.
The commission form of govern
ment is looking brighter every dav to
Mayor Green and his faithful follow
ers who have been fighting so long for
the cause of commissioners. Last
evening the mayor and city attorney
met at the state house with repre-
sentatives from all of the first class
cities in Kansas and they took up all
the proposed laws which have been
presented to the legislature upon this
suo1ect-and there are a number of
them at this time The four most i'm
portant suggestions that the mayor and
city attorney made with the co-opera-
tion OF the representa- tives were:
l. The right of the people to go back
TO the mayor and council form of gov
eminent If they were not satisfied with
the commission form" This has been
question that has always stood as a
barrier to the adoption of this new
FORM OF municipal government-the
people thought that they had to stand
by the new forms not knowing lust
how they would end and not knowing
their satisfactory points. 2. 1.-The
civil service system" This has been
suggested but never really applied.
J. This third suggestion is a very i'm
portant one to the people and one that