The De Soto County news., 1915-03-11

to complete the work that should have
been done with tho first issue. Mind
you, I do not say that this Is the case
here, hut It makes that kind Of a noise
to me.
Materials.
Supposlng that you had large or.
der for printing the very best paprr
to be used, you would not say TO alI
the paper houses when their Salcsmon
came around to get that order, ~ will
use only John Doc paper" If you did,
John Doe would charge you what he
felt like charging, and you would have
to foot the bill. You would, am sure,
say to all the statesmen, "Give me your
best price on your best paper" and
you would create competition and get
good figures. It Is the same with
paving materials. If you specify that
certain streets will have brick lnd
nothing but brick. If you shut out all
other materials, why, of course. you
will have TO pay for brick, and you
will pay some money.
People in our northern cities, MS
we'll aS I'm tho rest of the country,
have looked with longing eyes on wood
block, but they had to look in vain
in most places, because the price was
prohihltivc. Now It seems to. me that
with n plant for creosoting right AZ
your own door. il might be well tu
ask for bids on wood block as well,
and II the cost would compare favOrd-
bly, with other materials. you would
pay for tho raw materials to your own
friends right here in DeSoto county,
instead Of sending half the money nut
of the state and the other half To the
railroads for freight. have not look.
ed into the matter, hut 1t strikes me
aS well worth cOESidcrinG. I would
certainly suggest that bids he called
for on all different first class conStru'.
tions. and then before awarding ;hc
contract for any particular kind ~
paving. let the voters have Just on'
little word as to what they would prc.
fer I'm front of their doors. We must
remember that the man who foots the
hin should mt least he given the
chance to say what he prefers, even
If he should NOT got 1t.
Widths of Streets.
on Your main business streets II Is
essential that there he room for vehi-
clos both I'm motion and at rest at the
same time. In other words, that n
wagon or car stand on each side Of
the street and that there be room he
tween these two cars for two more 70
pass abreast; each car or wagon
should hc allowed eight feet width;
that will require a street Of thirty.
two feet, or at the most thirty-five
feet Every additional foot Of width
is a waste Of money. Every additional
foot Of sidewalk gained in the business
section means dollars and cents to the
merchant. Did you ever notice that
our sidewalks are very narrow, dnd
that n few people will soon I'LL thcm
and make passage impossible? THIS is
bad and should be remedied as soon
as the new curbing is in place they
should be at once extended to the
curbing. The width of the sidewalk
rather than the width of the street. +
the bread and butter Of the merchant,
In Philadelphia, in 1890, Chestnut
street was widcncd; that is. the drive
way remained the same as before, and
is yet 26 feet between curbing llaua
mind you. the most prominent street
in the city,. but the sidewalk was
widened an extra ten feet by cutting
the fronts Of houses OF and setting
them back ten feet. II cost thousands
of dollars, but paid for itself by the
extra room afforded the public.
] can see absolutely no reason why
any street excepting Oak street and
those streets each side Of the A. g.
l.. depot in the business district,
should he more than 30 feet wide. All
main arteries leading out from the
city on main roads should he thirty
feet. and all others either 90 or "a
feet between curbing. Sidewalks
should be ordered on all streets paw.
ed, and the space between curbing and
sidewalk should he sloped and sodded.
Negro Settlement.
In looking over the list OF contem
plated improvements / notice that not
IL