The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-04-01

would go to work and keep working;
however, the teams quit after they
| had done about $1,000 worth of>work,
what become of the balance of the
| money won't say, but 1 think the di-
rectors should know"
Here is a good one on the Missouri
Pacific: 1t is customary before the
city accepts brick for paving to have
| these brick go through ''rattler"
process in which a batch of the said
brick are placed in a big rotary and
jungled together for certain length
of time-if none of them are broken
after this test they are considered
good brick. This year most of the
brick for paving comes from Fort
Scott. City Engineer Rogers said this
morning that on account of the ship
ment of the brick over the Missouri
Pacifis right of way it would be I'M
necessary for the RATHER test this
year.
Committee meetings are scheduled
from now until the end of the fiscal
year. Tomorrow afternoon the streets
and walks committee take a ride over
the city in the police patrol. Tomor-
row night the claims and accounts
committee meet at the city hall at
1880 to go over the city bills, salaries,
etc. At the same time the same
streets and walks committee meet in
session for the purpose of settling a
lot of sidewalk petitions and the Rick
enbacher park proposition. Saturday
afternoon the committee on health
and sanitation meet at .. m. in the
committee room of the city hall. The
rest of the committee meetings have
not been announced.
1t looks as though there were hum
dreds of men in the city out of work.
Mayor William Green said this morn
ing that every day men came to the
city hail looking for something to do
in the way of labor-and all of them
were taxpayers in this city. The street
commissioner reports an average of
ten men day in his office hunting for
something to do in order that they
might support their families. 1t is
hoped that spring business will pick
up.
The license committee composed of
William Van Ness, w. G.. Tandy and
j. j. Lannan met last night in the
council chamber for the entertainment
of the many insurance men in the
city who are fighting each other over
this 500 per company agent tax
proposition. When the committee had
listened to the different arguments set
forth by the insurance men and had
drawn out the conclusion that the in
Surance people were fighting among
themselves and the city had no reason
to enter the contest, it was voted to
kill the ordinance providing for the
tax and it died on its own battle
ground.
AS Mayor Green stated-it is not
the business of the city of Topeka to
enter into a fight between private
firms and this insurance tax matter
was simply a matter to be decided by
the insurance men themselves. 1t was
plainly an advantage to the "big fell
lows" in the insurance agencies,
thought Mayor Green, :snd the ordi-
nance should never have been intro
duced.
1t was brought out at the meeting
last night that the insurance men had
plan to increase the efficiency of the
fire Department. on hand as was the
contents of a report not long ago to
the effect that a new fire marshall was
in view.
1t has been customary in past years
Tor the streets and walks committee
of the city council to take up the side
walk petitions as they come in from
the people, gather them together in
once bunch and send them all "home"
by a single resolution. This is con-
trary to a city ordinance providing for
a separate resolution to be offered for
every petition. Chairman c. f. Jor-
dan of the cimmittee found this mat
ter today and he is going to see that a
resolution is made for each petition
hereafter.
The auditors who have been going
over the books of City Treasurer Hale
for the last two weeks state that they
are in the finest condition possible
Their correctness. their modern and
applicable methods and their neatness
is especially commendable. NJ. NJ.
Hale has been city treasurer for the
last ten years and during that time his
books have been kept chiefly by his
daughter. The task of keeping the
treasurer's books for a city the size of
Topeka, especially during the last ten
years when so many Improvements