Cut Bank pioneer press. [volume] (Cut Bank, Mont.) 1909-current, 1913-07-25
BEA KNOCKER
1T TENDS TO HOLD BACK OUR
TOWN AND RETARD NATURAL
DEVELOPMENT.
Be A BOOSTER AND SEE Difference
Clean Up Private Premises and Public
Streets-Give Town a Better Ap-
pearance-Make Surrounding
Roads Inviting.

and poured and poured,
Niagara for many years just roared
and roared.
But genius harnessed up at last its
wasted energy,
And now it's manufactures vast are
known from sea to sea.
This town has it's Niagaras that roar
upon the rock,
Who waste their energy because they
knock and knock and knock,
If they who kick and I'll it down
would use that energy
To boost instead, then what a town
this town of ours would be!
What are the fundamental forces
that underlie the distinction between
the live town and the dead one? Why
is it that one town is hustling, active,
a spirit of prosperity, while another is
quiet, dismal, a~ntiquated and oppres-
sive to all who enter? People who
live in the town of the latter class
when questioned as to it's backward
ness invariably urge poverty of re-
sources and lack of facilities, but it
has been our observation that many
communities with natural advantages
greatly inferior to those of their
neighbors have been far more pros
porous and progressive, and the secret
of the matter has been found, not in
natural conditions, but in the people
themselves.
Back some where in the history of
some live town there lived a man who
realized that optimism is an asset and
when once started is self-generated,
and, like it's darksome anUlpaCny, pes
simism also contagious. He therefore
commercialized it and taught Its doe
trine to his co-dWellers. Optimism
begot strength, and by concerted eff
fort under an intelligent directorate
the town gradually underwent a meta
morphosis. Houses that were dilapi
tated, moss grown and dingy changed
their attire and became Respondent in
a new coat of paint, alleys and back
lots that were cluttered with tin cans,
rubbish and refuse took on a neat
and sanitary appearance, rough, dirty
and neglected streets became smooth
and inviting. Merchants began to vie
with one another in the appearance OF
their stores. New cases were installed
show windows cleaned, display made
heater and the stock arranged more
orderly.
And what were the returns for this
effort on the part of the people of this
town, in what way were they repaid
for this expenditure of time and
money? Right here is the vital point.
The attractiveness Of a town is one OF
the most powerful factors in it's ~
building. 1t draws tourists, who ma
turally shun the squalid, unkempt
communities, it draws home seekers,
people who want to invest where they
a expect increased valuations or
their property, who avoid the town
that has no spirit OF progression and
enterprise. Capitalists and promoters
are likewise drawn to communities
where there seems to be a sound basis
of prosperity, and are lead to investi-
gate the latent of the place,
This leads to the development of new
industries and they in turn enhance
the value of a town as a commercial
CENTER
1t is better to help the town accom-
plish one good thing than to point out
a dozen poor ones.
When you write a letter tell how
well the town is looking. 1t is as i'm
portant as the stamp. A good way
to drive the children away from home
is to tell them what a poor town this
is.
Don't leave all the work of develop
ing this town for others to do. The
proper use of a hammer is to drive
home a nail or a truth.
Individual boosting of the town is
good, but concerted boosting gets re-
suits.
If you don't see this towns advant-
ages, how do you expect a stranger to
do SO?
The village band makes sweet mu-
sic, but it isn't in it with the village
carpenter.
If you can't get behind a movement
for the towns good, at least don't get
in front of it.
There has developed in the last few
years a nationwide for the betterment
and extension of our system of public
highways. Our roads never have been
adequate, but since automobiles have
become so plentiful and are being used
more and more in place of teams for
travelling from town to town that it
has become imperative that our road
ways be improved and extended.
Ruralists will find that they can
bend their efforts to no better purpose
than that of developing a good sys-