El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-10-01

~ UCLACARI, n. n, Sept 3O-Ar-
rive in a town and be able to
go from the station down q
wei graded, smooth street with wide,
even cement sidewalks on each side,
the electric lights blazing if it is night;
go to a hotel where you can get a
room and a bath as nice as you can
find In st. Louis or Chicago; get I'D
next morning. you have been q
night arrival-and go to a restaurant
where the service and cuisine is not
surpassed in Denver or FL Paso; then
walk down the streets between rows
Of two story concrete and brick build
1ngs, clean s1deWalks-nO boxes or
barrels or trash to litter them-and
you can help Dur get gOOd impress
sion of the town you know that the
place is alive, that the citizens are
progressive.
That is what happens when a visitor
comes TO IucumcarL Nobody would
ever call Tucumcari anything but a
live town, even from the first impress
sion, and a person unaccustOmed TO the
wonderful growth Of western com
munlues would never believe that 10
years ago there was no town here.
a toWn-it might better be called
city-W1th three good hotels, one OF
them costing in its mission cOnstruc-
ton and furnishings over $40, 900, two
banks carrying a total OF S55O,OOO to
100000 IN deposits, an Elk club that
cost $4,000, a high school that cost
$4,000, an electric light plant, a mu-
uic1psl WaterWOrks plant that cost
$4,000, a sewer system that cost $751;
0O0i tWO-stOry hospital, an ice fac
tory, a theater, and other things In
keeping with such progressiTeness
cannot but Impress upon any visitor
its importance and stability. Tucum@
carl does this and more. If Tucumcart
IS not the largest town IN New Mexico
IN 10 years, It is going 70 crowd Albu-
QuerQue, Roswell and Las Cruces III
the race. Eleven years ago the prairie
was a bare spot herea bouts Today
Tucumcari counts its citizens above
the 5000 marx and hasn't a vacant
residence or store. 1t hasn't dirty
And it has lots Of streets and side
walks that are mighty clean ana pref
", lined on the sides with cottonwood
trees and flanked by beautiful little
homes and big homes. 1T has church
es. too that would be a credit TO many
towns much larger.
How They Got Good Roads.
western progress and civic pride Is
q byWord; It s. 70 be expected in the
west, but seldom is 1t seen 20 better
advantage than in TuCumCaTi- Wit
ness the recent decision to get good
roads onto the cap rock country
southeast OF here, to bring in the farm
ers. The county had no money and the
chamber OF commerce had no money,
but the chamber Of commerce wanted
the money and &c raised It Over $1,000
were placed In the bank TO the credit
OF the territorial engineer in a very
Few days after the subscription list
had been started by president A R.
Carter. When the people got an idea
that they ought to have cheaper water
they did not haggle about It They
went 60 the private concern owning
the VTa.tsFTTorEs plant and made q deal
60 buy it. They paid So, 900 for II and
cut the price TO consumers from 70 to
50 cents q thousand gallons
Splendid Civic Spirit.
that IS the spirit that prevails in
everything az TuCumcari. When the
f50 FIlzs Of the town decided that they
needed g home, they did not sit down
On q dry goods box on the corner and
white and say that they ought to
have Il In the first place, there are
no dry goods boxes on the corners 70
white on. for Tucumcari keeps her
trash cleaned mp, but anyhow, the
Ellzs lust held g meeting and decided
10 build what they wanted 1t cost
them $4,000, but they put Il up, and
they certainly did not drive bad bar
gain with the contractor, for there is
not G p~ettieE club home in the state
than the one that houses the anuered
herd Of this place. The church con
rreEatfons did Just the same way when
they wanted new homes and the peo-
DIe did the same when they wanted
80 residences. the merchants ditto
and there are no shacl1s in Tucumcart.
The men who put up shacks when Iu~
cumcarf was in Its infancy and they
dfd not know whether the railroad
division would stay here or not, have
torn away the shacks and now the