The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1911-07-21
The MeddIer
~U hs coat fiis yoa. paf u on

I'm spite of the outcome OF the Note
M Tuesday Is school meeting on ,he
onestion of granting a pension 10 MIs'
iI 4. Elmer, Brattleboro : NeteIhl
teacher. The Meddler cannon pelleN.
that the sentiment Of the malotlly ol
voters in the district is against payIhs
this deserved recompense TO one NM
And vet the friends of Mrs, Elmer nave
only Themselves 10 blame for ne out
come which would certainly have be,eh
different had there been anything nhe
n representative attendance NJ inc
! meeting. The Meddler has no desire 70
nick n fight with those who are against
The principle of service pensions, Tor
avery one Is entitled 10 his own opinion
in matter of this kind, but IN TINS
nartjcular ease il does seem as II the
merits were sufficient 10 outweigh az
general considerations. The splendid
influence that Mrs. Elmer has exerted
over the Young people OF TINS town our
ing the 80 years she has taught IN the
local school can never be adequately
Maid for in dollars and cents, but the
district ought 10 esteem II pflhllegs 70
make il possible for her to retire AFTER
such n long term of conscientious en-
deavor. In ease the matter is taken up
nj a special meeting, as now seems lke'
IL. il is sincerely 20 be hoped that the
attendance will be large enough 10
make the vote a true expression OF
opinion whatever that opinion NAV De-
The selectmen NAV well give favor
able consideration 10 the petition whlch
they have received for new highway
from the end of South Main street to a
point lust south of the Fort hummer
monument on the Vernon road. II Is
proposed to have this highway located
west of the present road and 10 extend
in straight line between the points
mentioned bv grade which VIII not he
Greater than 5 Der cent. Its construc.
ton would mean great Improvement
in the entrance to BrattleboTo from
the south rs il would tend TO divert all
automobile traffic from the present I'M
slightly Vernon street route and bring
II into town through a section that az.
fords a splendid view of the town Itself
and the Connecticut valley TO the
north Compared with the advantages
the cost of the new highway is hardly
worth consideration.
In the opinion of The Meddler. who |
does not pretend TO he an expert on |
highway maintenance hut Judges solely |
by results. there is something wrong |
with the system of street oillng IN use 1
in this town. At any rate the high |
WAYS which have been treated with |
dust LAYING preparations in this town do |
not begin to be in as good condition as |
hose in other places. for example. the |
citv of Keene. y. II. OF course il Is
possible that the original surface of the
streets themselves has something TO do
with the matter, but il would almost
seem as if more frequent use of OF
would help matters greatly IN and
around Brattleboro.
A writer in the Boston Transcript
concludes an interesting article on the
anti.hv crusade by the following tenn
perate view of the situations "There
IS a proper and important place for
rational anti-hv movement. The real
evil, however. is not the fly. but the filth
lpOn which he DEPENDS. Wherever open
privies exist, as in MANY of our towns
and villages. the fv win transfer the
organisms of typhoid. when that disease
occurs, and is in such circumstances
source of some danger to the public
Otherwise. he is n nuisance. an annoy
lnce, an offence against neatness.
,ign of more or less slack housekeeping i
n the civic sense: but in a city like
Boston he is not menace TO public
lealth. He is undesirable, but not to i
INV calculahle degree dangerous. We
hall have him with us so long as the
manure of horses and swine is accumu-