Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-05-07
Looker-On In Iona

|
GarWin, May 7.-Passengers on the
! c. & n. w. railway train going east
from Jewell notice south of the track
and running parallel with the railroad
| what at first glance seems to be a new
railroad. All the hills are cut thru
and level grades on each side, some OF
the grading four or five feet. All trees
are cut down on each side of the road
! and cement concrete bridges with sides
four or five feet are in evidence. One
looks for iron rails to complete the
job. But it isn't a railroad, it's a
wagon road Hamilton county has fin
ished all except covering with gravel.
1t runs ten miles from Jewell east to
the Hardin county line. And Hardin
county this year will extend it one
mile further east, the same level
graded wagon road The writer made
an effort to get the cost per mile, but
the figures given him seem to be too
low. When finished the Hamilton
county supervisors should give the fig
ures to the public for it's a ten mile
object lesson for all Iowa. There's at
least one strong good roads advocate
in Iowa, who seeing this splendid ex-
ample of good roads, would feel like
saying. Now let thy servant depart
in peace"
Iowa is progressive in many ways.
We vote tax money almost extrava-
gantly for new big school houses, big
churches and big court houses. We're
paving our streets and putting down
hundreds Of miles Of cement sidewalks,
but in the matter Of sanitary work we
too
streams and then use gravel to filter
it for household purposes. We allow
people with infectious diseases to ride
in poorly ventilated cars with other
people. Our guarantees for scarlet
fever. diphtheria and smallpox are
farce in many cases. We allow our
railroad companies-some of them-to
furnish drinking water in cans, some
times not cleaned for months. The
writer knows of at least a dozen wells
near depots where the public drink
every day, and these wells. all of them.
are not a hundred feet from the out
house vaults. All this was suggested
by reading the following special dated:
Washington, D. c.. May I'm re-
port on the health Of school children,
prepared for the United States bureau
of education, Dr. Walter w. Gay of
thorough vaccination in Massachusetts,,
and makes the strongest possible argu-
ment in favor Of this protective meas
ure.
Massachusetts has been practically
free of smallpox for forty years." de-
clares DR.. Gay, adding that this inn
munity is due directly and solely to
vaccination.
THE risks of our every day life far
exceed those from vaccination, while
the benefits derived from the latter sur
pass our comprehension. Accidents
are so rare that they are negligible
factor in the question"
The question of consolidated
school house was before the people. 1t
came to the knowledge of a business
man in Nextown that some Of the far
mers in the proposed new school dis
trict were fighting the project and go
ing so far as to threaten trade boy
colt of all the business firms in Next
town who favored the consolidation OF
the schools. And this Is what this
business man told one farmer You
say you want to educate your children
and yet instead of helping on this con-
solidated school, where your children
| will have all of the advantages of tho
high school in large cities, you are
working against it.. You probably want
to send your boys to - where the
| saloons are wide open, gambling rooms
in the rear, and disreputable houses
upstairs. You want to send your girls
to - and subject them to all the
temptations Of city life. When our new
$45, 900 school house is finished you
can send your children here in a town
where none of these destroying in
fiuences are at work, where every FAM
| lily is a moral family, where in a small
town every scholar is known and
| watched. And when our new school
house Is in complete working order,
your children can get an education to
fit them for any work in life"
| Now when to add this is added, the
orator was German Of 80, talking to a
German of SO and in town at least
| half Of the business men Germans or
German descent, it suggests that the
hyphenated word. German-American
means something. We're all Ameri-
cans when it comes to school houses in
Iowa.
He boarded at the hotel. He prac-
| lICSO al AllS LOOlIl Oltcu dAlu AOuS. w 2
j transients had to stand It for Fourth
of July was coming and the town had
organized new brass band and he was
one Of them. Yes the town had raised
500 for brand fire new suits for the
boys. And they had Professor jerks
come twice week to teach them to at
least play the Star Spangled banner
on the Fourth. Yes, the city council
allowed them to use the fire hall free
of charge. And they didn't know what
to do about Smith. He was bound to
play the saxophone. Couldn't learn how
and never would. But Smiths father
gave $40 towards the new blue broad
cloth suits. And the new band was to
have concert, benefit concert in SIX
weeks and charge so cents q ticket
And everybody knew they couldn't
learn to play Old Hundred by that
i time. And the city council had voted
to build a hand concert pagoda, way
down on Main street and several mer-
chants say II the concerts are to be
given down at the end Of the street
they will withdraw their subscription
for the new suits" Talk about history
repeating itself. This scribe isn't as ole
as he hopes to be but in "our town