The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1910-10-18

And then the fire chief came In with
grievance, and the head Of the de-
partment Of water, gas and electricity
and other officials. So the whole day
passed. and so does the whole year
pass for the mayor Of Skyscraper
City.
"A strange sort Of place indeed. this
city" you will say. Where Is IT."
Skyseraper City, to enlighten you. is
a ubiquitous community located in
every part Of the Tilted States where
land has become so valuable that, in
stead of capitalists building over
large area. they build In limited
spade, and straight toward the clouds.
In plain words. it is none other than
the great modern skyscraper. with its
population as great, In many cases. as
that of a third class municipality.
But the mayor" you will say. Who
ever heard Of a mayor of building?"
Yes. the mayor. You have heard
of a superintendent Of building, and
if the superintendent of skyscraper
housing from five to twelve thousand
people has not as much right to the
title of mayor as the chief executive
of community Of. say one thousand.
! spread along couple of streets,
where the city limits are marked out
| by fence rails and stone walls, then
the United States is not a democratic
country.
! Building operations can't go on with
! the spirit of emulation that now holds
between contractors without the Sky
scraper City Of a few years hence
being in sore need of a real munci-
pal administration, with a mayor. al
dermen and all the other public serv.
ants that make annual elections nee
essary. 1t has them all now under
different names.
There are. for instance, the mem
hers of the health department. which
sanitary body consists of corps of
able bodied women. equipped with
mops and pals and compelling voices
That corps of women alone is sufi-
cient to suggest an analogy between
Skyscraper City and representa-
tive American municipality, and should
give the former a lasting right to the
name of a thriving city.
Policemen on Patrol.
Then there are the members of the
police department, whose main duty
in the suppression of criminality is 10
see that no one walks of with any
Part of the building or its contents
These are the watchmen. who patrol
continuously night and day. and the
main differences between them and the
police of your recognized city are that
they are paid less and are, perhaps
not subject to periodical charges OF
graft. Nor do they have to parade for
composed of the electricians and as
who stand out in the sun, doffins
their hats and smiling approvingly. the
while patting each other on the back
in appreciation of the department they
have developed.
What more heroic and picturesque
body is there than the fire depart
ment, with it's red shirted or blue
shirted. or any other color shirted
men. ready and eager to grapple with
flames or anything else. under any
conditions and at every moment? lr
Skyscrarer City the fire department
consists of an efficient band of men as
we'll trained as the firemen of large
municipality and equipped with all the
latest devices for combating flames.
And there is the department o
water. gas and electricity. the latter
composed of the electricians and as
: sistants in the engine room. These
t>,,;1 do
outside sources for their electricity
They have thoroughly equipped plant:
5 for manufacturing their own. AS ia,
as the water department is concern
ed, one New York skyscraper has s
pumping station that is capable o
? supplying sufficient water to furnish
city of 100000 people.
2 Now here is where the similarit,
between the skyscraper and the recog
nized city is made strongly apparent
Skyscraper City often has within it.
= boundaries establishments which cal
: supply every need of hungry. thirsty
dirty. naked citizen.
No need to die of starvation were
B. you to be confined for life in Sky
r scraper City while its restaurants are
> able to get dinner together. Its cafe
would Danish all fear of longing fol
l something 10 render the throat anc
!. stomach moro comfortable without
I hope of receiving 1t. Its haberdasher,
and tailor could clothe you In the lat
: est fashion: its shoe store would at
=. tend to the task of keeping your fee
y we'll shod. It's baths would be evel
ready to open their arms to you. Your
, every want for things procurable onl,
, in a confectioner's shop would be fill
; ed, while you would merely have tt
: go downstairs should you feel thai
} your happiness might be enhanced BY
, fragrant cigar. The fruit stand II
! on the main floor, left.