Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-10-15
L0oker-On In Iona

Rockwell, Oct. 15.-W. p. Doderer, of
this place, one of the supervisors OF
Cerro Gordo county, has had several
years experience in road building and
travelling, altho a strong believer in
good roads, is not committed to any
particular kind. He says locality, ma
terial and other conditions must de-
termine what is needed. He tells this
scribe that the paved road between
Mason City and Clear Lake is sue
cess. This paved road. Is feet wide,
6 inches deep on the outside and ~
inches in the center, built on the dirst.
has stood the test of two winters.
showing little wearing" Some cracks
have occurred, but these have been
filed with asphaltum at cost not to
exceed $50 mile. No worn places.
that is, ruts are to be seen, and the
outside edges of the pavement are not
Worn off by the wagon traffic. lnclud-
ing donations of material and labor
the cost per mile was s11,500. So we'll
pleased are the farmers and the town
people. say the taxpayers, that an eff
fort is to be made to pave this road
all the way from Mason City to Clear
Lake.
teal experience with graveled roads.
North of Rockwell towards Mason City
he has built three and one-half miles
OF graveled road which is used by
loaded wagons every day in the year.
The gravel on this road cost % cents
load at the pit was hauled on an
average three miles and cost 1880,
labor and material. These figures both
the paved and graveled road are from
we'll kept books.
But you cannot make the people in
neck Of the woods believe Uncle Sans
bookkeeping on the corn crops OF
Iowa or. for that matter, the report
of the whole country, is correct. One
farmer in the barber shop here in
formed us after reading the govern
ment reports. that it vas lot OF
damned lies. put up job between the
government reporters. the grain men
in Chicago and the Iowa newspapers
to report big crop. 50 that prices
would be low and the Iowa farmer
get nothing for his crop. One man
with several hundred bushels of old
corn on hand for which he was offered
IS cents and can now only get 50 cents,
asked the writer what he had seen
over the state. was told the looker-on's
experience and sightseeing, and then
You're off. l don't believe
you've been in corn field. All you
know is what you've seen from the
car windows
The Iowa farmer is a fatalist What
ever is to be is sure to come. If the
corn crop is a failure l can't help 1t.
If am to lose hundred fat hogs from
cholera it's not my fault. Quit raising
hogs. not much, going TO look for my
money where lost it. It's a fact, bus
mess men in this locality, where Jack
Frost got in his hardest work, are talk
ing hard times much more than the
farmers, l. e, the owners of the farms
and the crops. One farmer said today,
we have got to be lenent with our
Some of them simply can not
pay what they have agreed to in cash
rent. Give 'em a chance and next year
they'll square up"
No better work has ever been done
At Ames than in offering free of charge
to bring buyer and seller together. in
the handling of potatoes and apples.
Last week the writer was In a town
where % cents for potatoes was all the
would pay in trade. This
week a merchant in Thornton asked
the writer where he could buy potatoes
and found he had a letter just written
to Anes college asking the same ques-
ton. It's strange producers of all
kinds OF farm products do not write |
dealers in the larger towns and find on; |
what such products are selling for in |
the larger towns. Recently travelling |
man cotton the train with twelve dozen
eggs, taking them home. Seven cents
a dozen cheaper in. Sextown than his
home town Made his carfare and
more. The local demand in the larger
towns makes eggs and dairy butter al
ways easily 20 per cent higher than in
small towns ten to twenty miles away.
the big trade the parcel post
was 10 bring the farmer in supplying
city customers The trouble is the
average Iowa farmer is too we'll off to
bother with truck trade. Seventy-three
thousand farmers in Iowa don't peddle
.-S5 :,.t Of THAR aIItnrnnhileS
90 ~