Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1912-02-24
Local Comment

The house situation is more serious
in Marshalltown than most people
realize. The story Of Mrs. Clark re-
ceiving sixty inquiries for one house
which she advertised to rent has been
told. Now comes young man who
must vacate a house on North Center
street March l with the complaint
that he will have to put his goods into
! storage because he can't find house
and yet he would pay as high rent as
sS5 per month il he had to. 1t is not
uncommon for agents to have twenty
five applications for single house to
rent An insurance man, wishing to
live here. has been hunting for two
days for a house to rent. 1t is time
that some of our investors were get
ting busy.
But it seems strange that so many
people will keep on renting houses
when the rent they pay Will ouy a
home of their own in a very few years
The savings and loan ASSOCIATION has
! $4,000 ready to loan on new houses. A
man who can raise 800 can buy Sooo
lot and borrow s1,40o at a net cost OF
81 per month on the shares which
eventually pay off the loan and $3.50
per month will pay the interest. Taxes,
insurance, repairs, etc. will not eN-
coed IS per month, So for S2l.5o per
month this man can live in a new
$1,000 house of his own and have II
paid for in ten years. Why does he
keep on paying rent?
Even the man who has only a little
saved up can build new home If he
bears a good name and knows how 10
keep a good job, suppose he could
raise only $500 and could find some
one who would sell him 2 $500 lot for
800 down and take a second mortgage
at per cent for the balance. He. too.
could borrow $500 with which to
build a $500 house and $3.50 per
month would pay for his home in ten
years except that for the first five
years he would have TO pay IS per
month extra on the second mortgage
Until that was cleaned up. But why
should he pay rent'
And then the fellow who never saves
a ceui Cd, g good job Is not hope
less. The chances are that he is pay
ing SIS per month rent. He could. II
porarily or. by some other economy.
save SO per month With this $40 per
month he could take out twenty IN
vestment shares in the savings and
loan association and three years from
this spring he could begin building
for himself q $500 house on $500 lot
because on the equity saved up in his
shares he could borrow $1,000 and at
the end Of ten years his home would be
paid for. He had been paying SIS rent
before and was owning nothing. Had
he moved into his new home $40 per
month on the shares. so per month in
terest and SIS Per month for The main
tenance Of the property would swing
the deal. Why should he pay rent?
A resident far out on West Main
street has written TO the Times Re
publican under the evident impression
that the school board had optional
some very low lots fronting on Main
street and west of Thirteenth street on
the south side of Main. The lots which
the board has optional at $4,000 are
four lots north Of Main and east Of
Thirteenth streets in the tract known
as the Electric addition. but il does not
necessarily follow that these lots will
ne purchased. II the necessary au-
rhority is voted some suitable site in
the extreme west part of town vii! be
purchased for a new school house.
The building Of new school house
is going 20 make il possible for the
children o. the neiEhhoring rural
schools to be accommodated IN the
graded schools Of the city and it Is 70
be hoped that the city school board
this wear will issue a general tnvi-
.a-ion 10 all rural schools within Ave
miles of the city 30 close up their
small schoolhouses. nut on well
equipped covered buses and deliver
their children to the well graded ana
superior city schools upon tuition
basis. Ten such convevances would
cover the contiguous territory nicely
and transport 200 children whose oc-
cormodatiun now requires fifteen 20
twenty small rural schools. The ex-
pense Of rural teachers and upkeep o,
buildings is more than the tuition and
transportation would be and the school
advantages can not compare with those
offered by the city schools
II the city council by letting a paw
ing contract early while material Is
low in price can get concrete paving
as cheap as last years price the
amount of such improvement TO be
done should be limited only by the
ability of the city to pay its share OF
the expense Marshalltown will never
buy good paving cheaper than last
years contract and will do well if It
gets as good price.
The ability Of this city to respond TO
the demand of a worthy cause was
again evidenced in the success Of the
ladies in obtaining support for their
Y. W. C. A. work. They feared that
they could never raise s1,42o and some
told them that they could raise only a
rart of il now but in three days time
they had actually exceeded the amount
which they had planned on getting
from the public altho they must yet
work hard for the sustaining mem
berships among the women which they
had planned on in their budget.
! Now that the Milwaukee road IS
| Ilanninz extensive double tracking i'm
provements thru this county, 1t is time
/ that an effort were made to indu ce