Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-01-19

| is more of a servant than a master OF
the railroad corporations. This has no
reference personally to the present
members of the board. AS the law
stands, they were like their predeces-
sors. and their successors will be the
same, a board of commissioners with
as little power and authority to con-
troll railway corporations as justice
Of the peace.
The same kind OF talk was heard
in an Iowa Central combination car
running between Grinnell and Monte-
yuma. one cold night two weeks ago.
Men and women passengers were
obliged to keep on their overcoats and
wraps and gloves. EverNbody's feet
were cold. The railroad men kept the
stove literally red hot, but the breath
of all the passengers was Hike tho
steam from the engine, This Is no
fairy tale, but real experience of the
writer and other passengers. 1t has
happened before and will again Last
winter the citizens Of Montezuma APP
pealed to the railway commission of
Iowa. The result was the same as IL
they had petitioned the railway COM
missioners OF Russia. The fault is not
with the conductor or brakeman. The
real cause of such outrageous passen-
ger accommodation is with the people
of Iowa, that they do not locate power
somewhere IN some set of men to COM
pei the railroad corporation to furnish
cars fit for the use of human beings.
And then, If such set Of men, to be
"a raj uynyr m q Sfnnnra nIlh}iP
utilities commission or any other title,
do not perform their duty, give the
governor OF Iowa power to remove
them and appoint other men that will
act.
Here's another case of personal eS-
perience of this writer. In a railway
depot 1t was so cold passengers had
to- walk around to keep warm. The
agent explained he could not heat up
the room because the furnace CRATES
were burnt out, and altho he had made
a requisition for new CRATES last July.
and in September had written again
about those CRATES" no attention had
been paid to his requests. Everybodys
business and nobody's business.
Here's some of the common talk.
But if we are to have a public utili-
ties commission, why confine their
work. power and control to railroads,
express companies, telegraph and tele-
phone companies, to heating, lighting
and water plants? Give the power over
all corporations that serve the public.
We have pure food law and efforts
are being made to enforce It,, but
there's still too much illegal and un-
lawful practice in evidence everywhere.
To illustrate. In nearly every town
now are cream buyers, men buying
from the farmers and shipping to Car
away creameries. And in many II
these places conditions are bad. very
bad. In some poultry dressing goes on
in the same room. and tie odor from
the dead, bleeding and guano COW
cred chickens is fearful and is OF
course more or less communicating to
the cans of cream, many Of them I'M
covered. Again the testing instruments
in some of these places are not washed
for week at a time. In one place on
shelf not two feet from the testing
tubes, was the place where the chick
ems We're packed. Dried blood and
feathers were thick on this shelf And
columns could be filed with hundreds
Of like unsanitary conditions in every
town in Iowa. At the present time such
things exist because it's nobody's bust