Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1911-04-28
Looker-On In Iona

Hubbard. April 27.-What eventually
Will become a big business in Iowa, the
on small scale in Belmond Mr.. G. n.
Thompson now runs several incubators,
charging so much per dozen for hatch
ing out the eggs furnished by others.
He also cells chickens two weeks old,
or will take an order, for chickens
twenty -four hours old. He has not as
yet gone into the business as conduct
ed in the old countries. There big con-
Germs take in eggs and deliver live
chickens at once the same as formerly
our farmers took meat to the mill and
traded il for flour With the present
cottage plan OF raising chickens and
keeping hens, any one with a back yard
forty feet square can keep a hundred
hens and make good money in a small
way.
Belmond is TO have a fire proof post
office built by Mr. E. NJ. Sheffield and
constructed for governnl entail use for
term of wears. One out of the ordinary
feature plan of building is that the
side walls will be solid reinforced ce-
ment work The cement for this pur-
ppSe - FoLESts Ittheu iHtO d
work OF wood, which when hardened
the wood work is removed leaving
wall only an earthquake can destroy.
Iron Orders and cement tiled floor
make such q building fire proof. And
this suggests something before men
toned IN this column. And that is
there should never be another school
house built in Iowa or elsewhere that is
rot fire proof. If we can have fire proof
post offices. certainly the tax payers
can afford buildings safe TO send our
children to nine months in the year II
comes to the writer now the reneIn
brance of a tHo-story wooden school
house in Iowa, that has been 'on fire"
three times. and the same defective
furnace and fues were used all last
winter Tax payers N that town con-
tinue to send their children day after
day into that Are trap.
Speaking OF fres. the town Of Thorn
ton. which has had an expensive ex-
perience IN burning up has now re-
built nearly all of the burned out dis
tr,ct and OF course, is a much better
looking town than before. Nearly all
of the old firms are In business again,
and some new ones have come In.
A few weeks ago there came to the
writer the story Of 1.-The finest fgurer"
in Iowa. He is worth a quarter OF
million. his wife half as much. She
cuts his hair. and he let's his beard
grow Once in a big city he walked
TWO hours to find q 1o-cent shop. One
nt his financial deals IS to pay cash FOR
everything. but always to be little
shy" of having enough. II he owes a
bill OF $50 ne pays 1925. and will
hand YOU the quarter next time. KIN ow-
ing full well he will not be dunned for
the 25 cents and hoping II will be
forgotten. However, II dunned. he pays.
never disputes the account. He and his
wife pay fairly we'll toward church SER
vices. but the clerks in the stores in
that town wear more expensive wear
ing apparel than he does. His wife is
as economical as he Is. According to
one observer she has worn the same
winter hat and cloak for ten years To-
gether they don't spend one-fourth of
their income, are still piiing it up, and
not a chick nor a child TO leave it to
when they join the majority.
AS everybody knows. Easter this year
was several weeks later than usual, and
yet the weather prophets did not care
about that. They didn't plant potatoes
until Good Friday. and when we were
having some snow squalls few weeks
ago, these same forecasters were sure
we wouldn't have settled weather un-
til after Easter" And we didn't. And
the man that planted potatoes on Good
Friday was at it early enough this
spring And IF it rained on Easter
we'll have seven rainy Sundays" seems
/ 60 In
March or April. The clerk OF the
weather knows which months 1t is go
ing to be in and fixes up things accord
ing to Easter. The strange part Of all
this superstition is that it does not
die our. These weather prophets re-
produce their species. Of course. John
Jones, ST., in New England, and John
Jones, Jr., in Iowa prophesy "a wet
season until after the moon changes
But John, of Iowa, misses it. IT is as
dry as a bone ont here" but the old
man down in Connecticut hits 1t exact
~. Same moon and same latitude pro-
duces two kinds OF weather during the
same months. But that does not deter
them from prophesying again next
spring. We are wonderfully complain
| ant and forgetful- How many readers
of this, even now, can tell whether the
muskrats built thick nests last winter
| or not. Were the corn husks thick or
thin last fall? How about the hogs
meat last winter? There's a 1910 al
manac printed by noted weather
prophet, now hung up in some business
places. And the author Of the prog
nosticators went all to pieces 'in No
vember and December. Didn't hit it
once Bad storms and billiards. didn't
| materialize. Will this hurt his reputa-
ton? Not much. His almanac will sell
just as well next year. We have new
moons every month and year.
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