Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1909-04-01
JUST TAKE NOTICE
SOME POINTERS FROM MAYOR
kern, BELLEYILLE, Ill.
what Nan Has Done, Man Can do.
Aberdeen's Opportunity to do the
Things That Will Make others
SIT up and Take Notice and do
Likewise.

Now that Aberdeen mas vUmnienc-
ed her new era Of prosperity, anu is
doing things, leaf out of the his
tory of Fred J. Kern, who, by the
way. is desciple of Henry George,
and who has served several terms as
mayor Of Belleville, Illinois, will be
of interest.
Bellevile is the seat of St. Clair
county, which in the fertility of its
soil and the immense deposit of its
coal beds. is one of the richest cOun-
ties in Illinois. With the exception
of East st. Louis, the people of the
county are nearly all German or of
German extraction. A large num-
ber of the German students who par
ticipated in the revolution of 1S4S-
40 came to this place and neighbor-
hood. Those who took to the culti-
walton of the soil, were referred to
as the Latin farmers" because they
could carry on their controversaries
in Latin quite as we'll as in Ger
man. OF this city Mr.. Kern was elect
ed to the office of mayor in 1903,and
has now entered his fourth term.
The first thing Mayor Kern did
and request the INTO show him their
guns. He found that they were all
antiquated and of different make.
"You must have regulation revolv-
ers, and of the best make; and above
all you must learn to shoot straight,
so that when you are obliged to
shoot you shall hit the man you are
aiming at instead of d bystander.
And don't use your guns at all, eX-
cept as last alternative"
He had tree medals struck--one
of gold, one of silver and one Of
bronze-and told the policemen that
they must have target practice at
stated times, when the most success
full marksman should receive the gold
medal, the next the silver, and the
third the bronze. These medals were
to be property of the municipality,
the possessors to wear them only so
long as they were able to hold them
by superior craftsmanship. This had
net cr., the effect - "79Ring good
marksmen of the police force, but
it was soon discovered that htOse who
won the medals were men of steady
nerve, from temperate habits.
The mayor found a volunteer
fire department inadequate to the
demands and needs of the growing
city; so he supplanted it with mod
ern department which has all the
skill an deficiency of any of the fire
departments of our larger cities.
He found the city with about one
mile Of street paving. He has paved
twenty miles of street with vitrified
brick, which in a city like this ought
to give service for thirty years.
He found the sewer system extend
ing very little beyond the paved zone.
He has constructed thiry miles of
sewer, fives miles of which is a
large intercepting sewer into which
all the others discharge. 1t is pro-
vided with septic tank by which
the sewerage is purified.
The city has also been substituting
cement sidewalks for the old plank
walks, and extending them as rapid
ly as possible. This work is all paid
for by special assessment, system
of collecting revenues for public i'm
provements whcih assesses abutting
property, vacant and improved alike,
$780,, a. ~, - ugh it is, ap-
nroaches nearer to the single tax
than any other system Of taxation.
Such vast Improvements at the ex-
pense of abutting property owners
got all the old fogies and knockers
on the firing line. For while they
made Mayor Kern's life miserable.
Even some of his friends began to
suspect that perhaps his enthusiasm
for improvements was due to his
friendship for contractors.
AS new industries were established
new mines opened, and a new inter-
urban line began operating to East
st, Louis, Mayor Kern saw that these
developments were comforting i'm
mense values on land outside OF the
city limits, due entirely to the popu-
lation of Belleville. These lands
were rapidly changing from farms to
building sites, and he determined
that they should become a part OF