Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1912-11-29
PAVING is POPULAR.

Encouraged by the street i'm
| provement recently made, the people
of Willamina plan to do more paw
! ing in the near future. There is
also Il possibility of a new store
building and another hotel to be
erected. Work on the new depot
is progressing satisfactorily and
| the new structure which is of
pressed brick, will be creditable
addition to the modern buildings
in the town. The probable loca-
ton of the new hotel will be about
five blocks from the present loca-
tion of the postoffice e--McMInnvllle
News Reporter.
SO things look promising in VILLA
nina. Willamina, the thrifty little
village in Southwestern Yamhill
county with a population, according
to the last government census, OF
376, and with a system of paved
streets. Think of it--a city with a
population in 1910 of 1,74S less than
Dallas, and yet with paved streets
while Dallas people founder in the
mud! This is but another evidence
of the short sighted policy which
side-stepped the paving proposition
two or three years ago.
On Saturday, a road scraper, two
teams and three or four men were
engaged all day in scraping up the
mud on the macadam streets. They
scraped and they scraped, and they
piled an immense quantity of mud
in the center of the streets but they
hardly started in their work. Came
other men and other teams and other
wagons and hauled off the mud. In
a few weeks the same thing will
have to be done over. II will have
to be done every few weeks until the
Spring comes and the sun shines and
dries up the. streets and the mud
turns to dust. Then the city council
will have 10 spend another 5000 or
$500, or even more, in a system OF
oiling or in sprinkling with water
which will cost more. Then another
winter will follow and another long
period of scraping the mud and
hauling IL off. So il goes indefinitely
and interminably and 1t all costs mon
ey and good money. too. Isn't II re-
that many people cannot
see where they are getting of at
the small end of the horn" in this ]
matter? We spend large sums in /.
building our macadam streets and
then we spend other large sums in
trying to keep them In passable con- I
dition, and when someone occasion I
ally laments the fact that hard sur
face paving wasn't started years ago,
some ultra-conservative property own
ar viii send up a doleful wall to the 1
fleet that property values won't .
stand it," Yet. had all the money
hat has been expended in unsuccess- .
.ul efforts TO eliminate the mud and .
he dust on Dallas business streets
N the last six years been expended I
n hard surface paving Il would have
been sufficient TO pave every street in
he business district and extend the
Improvement long distance into the
esidence section.
Dallas people visit McMinnville.
lewbcrg. Willamina. independence.
Albany, Salem. and all other towns.
'ig and little. in the Willamette valley.
md every time they do. they praise the
Inc streets they find in these cities.
they say these are thee kind Of
treets 90 have. and when they return
md behold the mud and the streets
.lltd with water and slushy ooze. don't
hey feel a pride In their city-Dallas.
he only community In the Willamette
alley % any pretensions toward met
that is stin ioundering
n the mud of the rural days
The Observer is not criticising the
ity council for their efforts % keep
h. sfrerfs r,reuonfa fIa-fha,- -. A.
ng the best they can-makinE the
est of a bad bargain. but we 40 OBJ
act 20 the short-sighted policy which
as made such a condition possible.
Practically every business m an ls IN