The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1910-02-16

4 gambling houses have been compel
cd to close.
4 The fl.e department has been on
Grated under the same tax levy as
IN previous years. Here, too, bust
ness IDEAS nave dominated. Two sui
stations costing in the aggregate $14,
600 have been built and paid for
I hese are handsome public structures
and ere in fact the first permanent
! public buildings ever built by the
city. Much new equipment has been
added to the department, and the fire
/ fighting force was never so large
! por in such excellent condition as al
present.
/ The park system has been deyel-
oped and extended Daniels PARK,
! one of S2 and gift to the city, has
been converted from wooded pas
tEre into one Of the prettiest floral
beauty spots in the west. In The va
rious parks roadways have been laid
cut concrete and stone bridges
bu'H, permanent animal dens erected
and otller improvements made Four
teen acres have been added to Ellis
p2rk, although payment 10. this pur-
chase has not been fully made: a
new playground of one block has been
purchased in the packing house dis
tricf, and In numberless ways the
Dark system has been improved and
made lnore accessible and popular.
i is in the pubic improvements
department where tn. greatest show
ing hes been made. Last year was
ire most notable in the history of
Cedar tapids in the rapidity of de-
YelUpment OF permanently improved
streets. The amount of work done
was far in excess Of any work ever
done under any former administra
ton in one wear. II included s 10
miles Of block brick paving, nearly
two miles of tartreated maeadan.
ahcrt Il miles of cement curbing,
Z 12 miles Of cement sidewalks. s
niles of sanitary sewers, three miles
cf storm water sewers and two fine
b.idges.
An exceptional amount OF street re-
pairing was done. and the streets of
the city were never in such fine re.
pais Under former administration
the constant te9r,ng up OF pavement
Tor gaa, wafer. sewer ana other CON
nections left much unevenness. The
department Of streets and walks, UNI
de-. the new plan. repaired hundreds
G! detective places in the paving.
eliminated many engineering errors
n A+ Il
corners, set catch basins back in the
curb where they belong, raised inter
sections to eliminate gutter aprons,
and many othe. important things.
In the expedition with which pub
lc work has been accomplished the
new plan far outshines the old. I'M
der former administrations Il was
The customsto delay the inauguration
of needed improvements until far in
the summer; under the new plan the
work has been planned early in the
spring, the BIDS advertised for and
The work gotten under way Just al
soon as the weatae- would permit In
fact, much public work, including the
laying of water mains, has been push
et all winter, he heavy snow keep
hg the frost out Of the ground. The
vast amount of public work done the
past year wss made possible by the
lew plan; such great showing
y aould not have been possible under
he old plan.
Honesty has been the keynote in
he doing of public work In the fall
u 1908 contractor paved several
,iccks with brick which it was found
lid not come up to the specifications
The council refused 10 accept the
work, even under a proposition to &c.
,ept psice much less than the bid.
rhe paving was ordered taken up, aud
he new brick met every test ~
Nbich they could he subjected. A
sidewalk contractor who tried 10
ikimp his work had a similar expert
nee ''''
The city has developed fanidly. and
he demands ON the publE treasury
ave been heavy But in spite of this
act the city has been kept on 4 cash
,asis Tie tax levy, IN addition. was
eddced. in 1905 from 41.G mills to
O.G milis, and in 1903 fmM "a. IN n II
o i9.3. In addition. the city paif
If, in maturing bonds and interest
he sun of $113.6G0. Thee were is
ued in those two years bonds In the
aggregate OF sG2.0C0. of which S24..
go was for sewers oldered by the !
rev.nus administration and practie. !
NY completed before the commission, h
ert into effect In the first twenty
sonlhs Of the operation of the com
sission piaA sas e,.s b1nde,l dett
as given 4 reduction of over sse,O00:
ud there are no outstanding warrants