Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1913-01-11
Local Comment

$4,000 a year without expert super
vision. Bridges are let by contract, and
no ore who knows how a bridge should
be built. watches the contractor There
is not even a business-lihe system. Of
vouchers for the payment of county
road and bridge employees. The super
visors simply employ superintendent
in whom they have confidence, and he
has entire charge OF the pay roll 1t
is time that the same business sys-
TEN was injected into county manage
ment that is always employed in fac
tory or wholesale business institutions
where large sums are involved The
county's business is too extensive to
be done on the average farmers sys-
tenn Of building line fence If high
class county engineer can be found he
should unquestionably be employed III
preference to the present system.
The public convenience Of path
| thru the snow. brushed clean by the
street railway sweeper. suggests what
a luxury it would be if the city's side
walks could be cleaned promptly o.
snow at public expense. AS 1t is now
some property owners shovel snow and
some do not. hence pedestrians must
wade at intervals all along the lire.
Twelve E-sharei plows. with a single
horse and driver. could traverse ever;-
! sidewalk in town from a. m. until
noon. The cost would he s24 per snow
storm. or 2 cents per city block. Al.
the city street commissioner need do
, is to contract with some iveryman to
put his entire equipment CT horses At
The task the moment snow falls TIE
| livcryman could map the town into
! routes and arrange for boys and mel
to be ready upon call. If the snow falls
in the daytime let the walks be plogNed
at night. or at least very early in the
morning. Here is some easy money FOR
a Nveryman, Very little expense for
the city, and oh, such comfort for us
all
The news columns Of the T.-R. have
recorded this week Two new families
! moving to town. and it recalls the fact
! that in the New Years edition it re-
CURED half page to chronicle the fuii
list of those who had moved. Let ev-
cry citizen wake up to the movement
that is on and plan for building OF
mo on that vacant lot.
Waterloo has four building and loan
associations aourishing TO such an ex
tent that their receipts during the Tesr
1910, from shareh older depositorS and
from interest collections. we're s.9.263,
slG1, Gl9. sl76.941. s232.s.3 respectively.
or grand total OF SGoo.s12 worth OF
payments made on homes in one year
by the people who oWnet; them. IL
means that roJ less th2n 1,Jno homes
IN Waterloo valued at $4,000 coo Or
better have been built during the past
six or seven Years by PEOPLE who used
the building and lean associations 10
furnish the money. That IS why people
in Marshal'own should put their saw
ings into the local saviI gs and loan
association. 1t can BE done by easy
month"; payments and the money VIII
earn : per cent interest, or it will re-
suit in nome OF your own in ten
years time.
Mr.. ]. G. FREELY thinks that he is IN
I bad with his neighbors BY sex ming ~
promise that Marion township would
gravel the East Main street road when
he has retired from the board but
! nevertheless he viii never take back
what he said that this permanent i'm
provement ought to be made. For his
relief the T.-R. will say TO his neigh
/ bors that when he wrote to the editor,
/ giving it as his own opinion that East
Main street ought to be graveled and
that the time was ripe fer Iowa -
get out of the mud the T.-R. took
it for granted that Friclby was going
! to be trustee next year, and wou.
! see that the work was done. Frielb%,
however, knowing that he had resigned
: %I,@1 ~ ~ II
l. speaking his own mind as free
American citizen. and really didn't in
tend to sign up for the new board.
However. FREELY is dead right as TO
what ought to be done CT East Main
street. The gravel is in the river bed
right at the East Main street bridge,
and If the county would pay part of
the cost, and the Marshalltown CLUB
part of it, the Marion township trus-
tees ought to do the rest in giving ev-
erybody east of Marshalltown a fine
graEeled road from the river to the
city pavement. It ought to be done this
next summer sure. and North Thir!
avenue should be trated the same way.
| The cost might be as much as $4,000
for the two miles Of road on Main
street. but with all hands hauling. suci,
an expense should not stand in the
way.
When one reads Of what other towns
are doing for permanent roads it
makes an Iowa town look like thirty
cents In Missouri, this summer the
people OF Seladia created a special
road Improvement district twelve miles
square, with Sedalia as n center, and
issued 100000 Of road bonds. all OF
which money was used in construct
ing rock. macadam roads radiating for
six miles in every direction out OF Sc
dalia. Such district surrounding
Marshalltown OH the same amount of
twenty year bonds xii, COS. the prop
! erty owners in the CITY about the same
as a public library and city park tax
F.! combined. but less than the usual lew
| for paving street intersections and
! to each quarter section farm in the
district the cost would avara re about
! So per snnum for 100000 system Of
/ stone roads. Sedalia is about the same
size as Marshalltown. and Missouri
j land is worth only one-fo'-rth rs much
as Marshall county land. but the brs
iress mems club in Sedaiia is scaled
the "sedalis Boosters Club They
promoted the roads