Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1912-05-03

his time and attention for which the
people have asked. The intolerable con.
| condition Of affairs at Abbott Crossing
will cost him many votes OF the travel
Ing men a. well as voters and citizens
obliged to change caEs at that point.
An Iowa Falls travelling man this week
at Abbott Crossing was freely express
ing his opinion Of q railroad commits
sioner that would not look out for the
interests Of the travelling public enough
to compel two big railroad systems to
install telephone system at an OK
pense Of say 500 year for both roads.
He told the story Of being one Of forty
passengers waiting in that depot dur
ing the snow blockade in January last.
Some OF these passengers had been
waiting for Ave hours. Six o'clock
came and no train and no way Of find
ing out where the train was If this
crowd of people could have known
where the train was many would have
gone up to Abbott for supper, mile
away. and brought back lunches for
the women and children. AS 1t was
the whole crowd waited till after
o'clock before getting on the train
and 1t would be two hours more be-
fore some Of them had even a lunch at
Marshalltown.
Mr.. Ketchum is not the whole board,
but the public has the impression that
his department is in the line Of super
vising train service while other mem
bers Of the board attend to rates and
freight service. 1t is stated Governor
Larabee once had some personal ex-
perience waiting for a passenger train
on an Iowa prairie at railroad cross
Ing, with no building to shelter him
and other people from a winters storm.
The result was buildings at all rail-
road crossings in Iowa. Some travel
Ing men are cruel enough to wish Mr.
ketchum or other members Of the COM
mission would once get stuck at Abbott
Crossing and miss meal or two. Mr.
ketchum was once travelling man, and
aside from his ability as a business
man which is recognized everywhere
the wonder is he does not take up some
Of these smaller affairs, these irritating
and unnecessary outrages on the trav-
cling public.
1t will surprise many farmers and
others in central Iowa to hear that in
kossuth, Woodbury. and Wright coull-
tE. oats and wheat now show green
and cover the ground. The cool wealth
er so far has made the small grain
stool OUT in fine shape. And in this
part OF the state potatoes are selling at
s1.25 per bushel with a tendency to-
ward lower prices. SO many small lots
Of twenty-five to seventy-five bushels
being brought in by the farmers that
have held them for high prices ana
now bring them 10 market.
Verify it is the Cement age" &c
ment slices by the hundreds will be
pue on Iowa farms this year. At New
berry cement silo machine has been
shipped in and is or soon will be in
operation, making a slightly curve
block with joint to match and hold
each block. 1t is stated that seventeen
wooden slices in this vicinity were
blown down on destroyed one storm
last summer. At Belmond the Klemme
Cement Company are making regular
full size and thickness cement block
for slices. which when built into a
tower and a Grating Of thin cement
spread over the inside. makes a cistern
OF cement on top Of the ground moth
ing short of lightning or earthquake
can destroy Cement slices cost but
trif1e more than wooden ones, If the
latter are built Of lumber costing in
some places $3.50 a thousand.
BY all means encourage oratorical
contests of the high schools. In Shelf
fed recently such q contest brought
out seventeen orators" and even II so
much eloquence was "dfshed up during
one evening to tired out apprectative
audience, it served to bring such con-
testants together and helped to smooth
off some of the rough spots. Then too
the parents get interested. some came
twenty miles to hear our boy speak
his piece" The church could not hold
the crowd and an open air meeting
would have been well attended. Keep
up these contests. We shall always
need spellbinders.
40 MA1.<