The Topeka state journal., 1909-01-09

er Proposition is SI1u pending IN the
courts. Bridges are being drawn and
a number of improvements will be car
ried on right through the winter
months City Engineer Rogers laughed
this morning when the State journal re-
porter limited to him that he would find
| 1t necessary to scrape up work for his
men. He said: I'VE are liable to find
it necessary to scrape up men for our
work instead of work for the men, A
city like Topeka that is continually inn
proving and constructing it is not a
question of work for the men-it is a
question of men for the work.
There has been some talk of carrying
on an extreme fumigating business in
Topeka for a month or two during the
spring when the house moving and
house cleaning stunts are being per-
formed by the busy housewives over the
city. In some cities in the country ev-
cry tenant who moves into a house is
required to have the house we'll fumi-
gated before he moves his family onto
the premises. 1t is said that there are
numerous cases of tuberculosis in
houses in Topeka that were vacated af-
ter the death of the tenant and that the
newcomers did not know that the pre-
misses had been inhabited by people who
had the dreaded tuberculosis. There is
| one case out on College Hill where a
big bunch of college students moved
into a house where a little girl had died
of this disease few months before and
| the city knew nothing about it-neither
the city requires a thorough fumigation
after a disease but in some cases the
family moves from the house and leaves
it full of the deadly germs. In talking
of the matter this morning Sanitary
Sergeant J. D. Pattison said that it
would be impossible for Topeka to do
such a thing at the present time on
account of the big expense in fuIniga-
tfon. 1t costs the city lot of money
| to simply fill a. house with the formal
dehyde fumes after contagious dis
ease without attempting to fumigate
after every moving act in the city. "A
| law to require the tenants to funigate
their places after or before moving
would be the only remedy for the pre-
yention of the spread of disease from
this source and several of the Topeka
lcouncilmen have taken the matter in
their own hands. 1t would be a good
addition to the tuberculosis fight that is
being conducted at the present time.
The city has taken up the matter OF
| heating the police station and a new
| furnace will probably be installed as
| soon as a streak of warm weather is
| here long enough to warrant the good
| health of the prisoners while the work
| is progressing. At the present time
| the station is heated with gas stoves
| which have been a big cost to the city.
| The prison ers are in the habit of turn
| ing the stoves on full blast and if it
| gets hot in the cell room they open
| the windows. The gas meter at the
| station has been singing a mournfuI
/
| awhile before, and the city has been
| watching the maddening whirl trying
| to solve the problem. The stoves are
! out of commission, also. on account OF
the carelessness of the employees In
| throwing paper, etc, in the fire, thus
| cIogging up the holes and making an
| asbestos formation over the Jets street
| Commissioner Snyder Will install
! new series of burners in the stoves,
of his own invention, until the furnace
proposition can be settled.
| Mayor William Green is still receiv-
| ing letters from cities over the United
states thanking him for the wishes
! sent from the mayor and council of
the city of Topeka not long ago. Mayor
| James S. Brown of Nashville Tenn,
said in part:
| "I fell more than a personal interest
| in your beautiful city. because OF the
fact that my roommate for four years
at the United tSates Naval academy
was a Topeka boy"
| The mayor and council of the city
of Winfield. KaSs. sent their greetings
and thanks.
City Engineer Rogers has a piece
| of wood on his desk that is as hard
| as rock, can not be cut with knlfe, |
can be shined like silver, and would
require a metal saw to make an i'm |
pression-and it isn't petrifed. 1t is |
| portion of soft pine plank that held
up a part of the ceiling of a coal mine
has been under such a strain and has
been compressed until it resembles |
| timber in the petr1fted stage. Th1s |
kind of material is being collected in |
| this coal mine and is being sold for |
| hard coal in Nevada. 1t serves the
| purpose and makes excellent fuel. 1t
| is the wish of the city engineer that
some of the planking on the Topeka
| iron bridges would reach such hard
stage and then the trouble of renew
| ing the pIanks would be taken off the
hands of the city.
| The aspirants to city offices have
| only about two weeks to get their
| nomination papers filed with the city
clerk The primaries occur on the |
second day of March and it is neces- |
sary according to law that the nomina- |
ton papers be filed 40 days before |
| this period. There are many of the
! office seekers who have their papers |
filled and completed and they are
waiting for something else to turn up |
before they make their file and there |
are others who do not have their |
papers filled and the prospects for |
them are pretty slim unless they make
improved progress upon their nominal |
tions. On the evening of January 20 !
the file will be closed and it will be inn |
possible for a candidate to make his
primary fight unless he gets in his |
application before that time. Accord |
| ing to the dope the fight for city at |
torney and city treasurer will be the |
premier fights of the spring. The at |
torney fight is betw Assistant City |
Attorney w. c. Ralston and Hugh Nc |
Farland. It looks as thought the lat |
! ter would pun all of the younger votes |
| in the city and the former would have |
the main lead to the older heads. 1t is
going to be a close fight whatever
| happens. There are three applicants
| for the treasurer job. Councilman c.
tison and Frederick S. Brown. Mr..
| Kutz seems to be sure of his ward and