The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1911-11-10
The Meddler
III The coat fis yo1. PT u on.

one NJ the numerous problems which
RrattleborO must solve " ~ rNp.ots
rnpid growth during the next Few
ycnrs i that of moderate.price boarding
md lodpinp houses for worklngmen' Az
nresent. accommodations Of tins sort are
lacking IL we may Judge by the recent
.eXperiencc of an employer who recelN'
cd the following letter on the morning
he expected new mans; .,,
~ arrived AT Bratileboro last niEhl
and was disappointed IN the town lheA
wanted - week for board alone hhu
would not pay mere than s3.Jo ~ the
hotel, aud this morning my bfeaktast
cost me g. cents for things YOU coull
act for II cents in Boston. Hoping YOU
will get someone who VIII pay those
prices, | am, ete, ., n a.
writer III the foregoing letter used the
hiph.coSt.of, living excuse 10 cover up
bis real reasons for not wanting TO staV
In town. but other similar Instances thht
hnye recently been brought 20 The Med
Hers attention lead him 10 think that
there is some basis for the man ; com
plnint even though he may not nave
realized il. Very likely the board which
he Thought too high was worth every
cent asked for IL, and the same way win
tho Accent brea kfast, but man whose
Naoes require him tn conform 10 q
schedule In which board Is placed ~
$3.50. can find slight satisfaction m the
thought that more expensive meals cost
more. II is perhaps too much 10 eNpect
that Brattleh0ro can compete WIN =
city like Boston when Il comes TO cheap
meals. but il We are TO grow IN NUMBER
and kind of inhabitants we must be pre-
pared 10 satisfy all sorts OF appetltes'
and to make up in quality. ana sur,
roundings what we are unable 10 oner
IN price.
Some people may say that this : a
subject that should not be discussed IN
public. arguing that If prospective resi-
dents discover that we are having nlln'
rulty in accommodating newcomers they
viii moi move here at all. Bosh! Ism I
il better TO run the risk of soaring away
few faint hearted folks by admitting
that we realize we have got TO hustle
Ia keen pace with ourselves, than TO
keep luiet and let them discover too
late To avoid annoyance that we are
making slight effort TO provide for their
nrriyap II is doubtless true that at the
present moment BrattleboTo' 5 growth Is
retarded more BY insufficient housing
accommodations than by any other
cnuse. hut fortunately we have discov.
cred this situation and bid fair to have
il well on the road toward satisfactory
settlement within short time.
Brattleboro does not use its library
books as much rs it ought, according TO
figures issued by the state library com
mission. With the third largest public
library in the state, 1856 volumes, the
town ranks sixth in total circulation
and in circulation per person is so FAR
down as not TO be included among the
first six. However, these statistics are
not wholly diseouraging. II Is possible
that they indicate an unusually large
proportion of privately owned Libraries.
Little has been said during the past
wear about the condition of the local
railroad ward because of the general eX-
pectation that improvement would come
i'm the course of the proposed railroad
changes. but now that the likelihood of
immediate developments has grown so
small it may be well to call attention to
the fact that the yard was never in
worse condition than il is at present,
the recent rains having turned II into
quagmire of inkv nastiness. In the
opinion of The Meddler, the possibility
Of future railroad improvement consti-
tutes no good excuse for neglecting the
ward in the meantime: ii should at least
be repaired temporarily.
When town of 5000 people can
boast of an annual building record of
S150,000 it is safe gamble that it
won t remain that size very long.