Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-03-13
Local Comment
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..

The weather prophet who predicted
that spring had come with the robin
has another guess coming The hus
band of Jennie Wren has been COM
PEELED to y, away back
The heaviest snow of the season.
of spring, has 1T advantages, even tho
it was disagreeable The cold weather
would have proved disastrous to the
winter wheat without the snow, and
pastures could not have a better fer
tilizer than their present covering Of
white. The snow has also proved a
temporary boon to the country thor
oughfares, and sleighing has been the
best of the entire season.
A $50 900 Masonic temple is the lat
est addition to the ospective build
ing of the coming summer. The plans
have progressed far enough to make
the building an assured fact, and all
that now remains is the arrangement,
of the details With g. new Elks' home,
to cost $4,000, and a handsome new
four STORY Masonic temple, the build
ing season would not be<wasted in the
shape of semi-public structures were
this the extent of the plans Forum
ately, however, many other fine and
modern buildings and homes are to be
built and all that is now awaited is
the advent of real spring. that the
work may be begun.
Other Improvement announcements
of the past week are two new factor
les. promoted by the Marshall Vinegar
Company. One will manufacture fabric
mittens and gloves, and the other
brooms. Both are industries in which
the limits for expansion are encourag-
both should become paying invest
factories, even tho small, started each
year, will mean a large volume of
business in time
The fall of a we'll known Marshall
town man in California, S, 'sulting in
penitentiary sentence ~, forgery
committed, as he claims, -e under
the influence of a drug is~only an
other lesson that is placed before the
public daily by the newspapers. In
nearly every community. regardless of
size, there is some type of the dope
fiend," and the forming of the drug
habit appears gradually to be growing
more popular. The organized forces
for good will have to awaken to this
evil, as it has to others, if the vice
is to be curbed, and the sooner the
work is begun the better. There is
some cause for the dope fiend" exist
ing, and the sale of the drug to habit
ual users appears to pass by unno-
ticed by the public The drug is even
q worse curse than the liquor habit, |
but is formed by fewer people. AL |
lowed to progress, however, and there
will be no comparison between the two
so far as results are concerned. In
the larger cities the drug habit is be-
ing recognized as one of the big prob
lens with which society has to cope,
and the sooner that the rural commu
nifty realizes it's responsibility in pre-
venting the sale of morphine, cocaine
and opium. excepting on a PHYSICIANS
the sooner this grave |
problem will he solved.
Where ar. the houses for the home
less? Six travelling men who want to
make MarshalltoWn their home, and |
have come here for that purpose, have
made the complaint that they are UNI
able to find suitable humes-in fact no |
homes at all. Marshalltown appears |
% be filling up more rapidly than the
houses can be built, but that kind of
situation will not do. The houses must I
De built faster There are good invest
nents open to the local capitalist, at
,orded by the present growth of the
city, and the thing to do is to get busy.