The Cairo bulletin., 1909-03-21
be A BOOSTER
FOR YOOR TOWN
PREVAILING SENTIMENT OF
SPEAKERS AT MERCHANTS
LUNCHEON,
IMPRESSIONS OF CAIRO
BY Newcomers-F:ne Prospects, Fine
People. Good Business Point.
But Needs Clean
inn Up.

Somewhat varying views were
given yesterday at the Merchants
Luncheon, from the point of view oi
the comparative stranger in ouI
gates. No harsh criticisms were
made and such as were made were
couched in gentle words and, to
some extent, were excused.
The gathering was presided over
by II. W. Tolle who came here some
time ago from Mattoon, H., to take
lcharge of the W. P. Halliday estate
and there was full board" pres ant.
a representative gathering of men of
affairs in the community. Mr.. Tolle
spoke briefly of his impressions of
Cairo before settling here with his
J family, He inspected the city care.
! fully before deciding to come; was
| favorably impressed with its fac
| tories, its business houses. its
schools, churches, public library,
banks; its situation as a good ship
ping point, the hospitality of the peo-
pic, and while he was impressed un-
favorably with appearances in some
respects he felt that these conditions
would disappear with the completion
of the great system of street i'm.
provements which had been inaugu-
rated.
A. B. Turner. superintendent of the
Singer Manufacturing Co.'S works in
the upper part of the city. said he
cama here on short notice from
South Bend, Ind: he came first TO
see what he could do with an estab-
lished business. knowing that Cairo
had superior facilities as shipping
point; but ii was not till he began
preparations to bring his family here
that he sought to learn what the city
offered as a good place to raise
family. The long existence of the
place. in spite of adverse conditions.
and its growth and prosperity
seemed to prove that there was neel
Of a city here-the countrys com
merce demanded it. The city's ship
ping facilities were extraordinary
and It was good manufacturing and
distributing point, beng easy of ac
cess for raw material. The compile.
ton of the deep water way plans
would undoubtedly add much to the
eity's importance. So much for the
good things in Cairo and Mr.. Turner
felt that the city would go forward
in spite of obstacles in the future as
1t had In the past. 1t could be helped
however, greatly in various wavs.
What IL needed most, in the judg-
ment OF the stranger. or new conner.
was cleaning IN. He felt that the
street improvements would transform
the city gradually and the sipe water
was no draw back to the place. nor
the dirt in the middle of the streets.
1t was the dirt and rubbish along the
cutters and curbs. and on the private
premises. the shacks. and the gen
eral appearance of untidiness which
the stranger unfavorably.
The stranger judges the people bv
these appearances. and comes to the
conclusion that the people are low in |
their tastes and in moral tone. He
knew from experience that this was
not true of the people of Cairo, for
since coming here he had met more
good people than in any town of the |
size he had ever been in; but the
stranger did not know this and could /
iudge only by appearances. AS in.
stance he mentioned dilanidated
orick walk which had been that WAY
Tor months, and a shack about to fall
Iown between two good houses
shade trees were needed. moro flow.
'fs. more lawns 1t had been said
nat there was no use trying to raise
1oWers as children wOnld steal them
)ne way to prevent this was to make
loMers so common that nobodyi
would want to steal them. An i'm
iortant thing is Law and order. If a
,iiy wants manufacturers and Der-
nanent residents IL must enforce the
avs and punnish criminals. Saloons
'ught to be regulated. One of the II
greatest troUbles of a manufacturer
Employing many men was the Sun.
Iay spree which kept men from work
Mondays. In an establishment like tho
singer works the absence of one
nan who hal charge of a machine
would stop the man who sent ma
erIal to that mans machine and also
ne man who received material from
t. and in this way many men might
De thrown out Of work for the time
'eing by the drunkenness of one. To
prevent this evil the Singer Co. hall
instituted the Saturday half-holidavl
premium to men who appeared in
good condition for work Monday
morning Mr.. Turner complimentedl
he city on its library. schools
etc. ami closed by saving
lie believed they could get what tbev
lcedei in the wav of god govern.
nent if they wanted It. II
Mr Tolle expressed the belief that
AFRO was like the smut-faced boy
uE @ns 4