Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-05-11
Looker-On In Iona

LOOkEY-On In Iona
| Colo, May 11-Here's a little Iowa
town with public enterprise, sufficient
for ten thousand city. The writer
| saw the places for the new $4,000
school house in Colo. There are sew
eral towns in Iowa with ten times the
population of Colo, that have no such
building. A gymnasium room. one for
domestic science, one for manual train
! ing, a big assembly room and a large
number of class rooms. An effort is
being made to buy more land for a
play ground, and $4,000 has been Of
fered for additional lots And in this
little town is a barber shop, where the
owner invested $3.50 in plate glass,
shelves, etc. This is true where the
bank has marble counter fronts, and
all that goes with such inside fixtures
There is better hotel here, this in ev-
cry respect save one, than any town of
5000 inhabitants the writer visits And
all this because a spirit of enterprise
exists God made the country. man
makes the town."
At one time we had 1900 postoffices
in Iowa, probably a less number now,
the rural delivery system cutting down
the number. But it's fair statement
that we have 1900 towns with all the
way from one to ten garages. A low
estimate is 5000 garages in Iowa. An
equally fair guess is that $1,000 men
find employment in the garages in
Iowa. State automobile licenses now
are over the 100000 mark, will prob
ably be 100000 this year. 1t takes a
heap of money" to buy that number Of
cars 1t costs a big figure to employ
$500 men to store them and keep these
cars in repaid. Query. what was done
with all this money before the outomo-
bile came into existence. No, the an
swer Is not. 10000 Iowa people living
in California on Iowa earned money.
No, it's not the investment Of thous-
ands of dollars in land north, west
and south. This kind Of spending money
was going on before the automobile
showed up. Guess again.
It's encouraging as one goes from
town to town to hear more talk OF
spraying our fruit trees in Iowa, than
ever before. A few men are going into
the business, charging so much per
tree according to size. Now If we can
get some professional primers to make
business of trimming our fruit trees.
for no state in the union requires more
pruning of fruit trees, for our soil
makes these trees run too much to
wood. we shall sooner be ready to
learn how to prepare fruit for market,
and how, when and where to sell 1t.
Today in every little town in Iowa are
boxes OF apples, sound az dollar and
nearly as tasteless, selling for 80 cents
a dozen. Every fruit grower in Iowa
can have this 80 cents a dozen for
home grown fruit, less retailers, less
wholesalers profit. il he, will spray
prune and pack for market as do the
growers of Idaho. Montana, Oregon
and California. Better than all when
we grow and sell fruit On a scientific
plan, we can furnish the consumer
better article than any irrigated pro-
duct.
Some one suggests, its not only "our
brass band" that lives perpetually. Our
fire company never dies. To be sure
the interest dies out. meetings are not
attended, and the captain of the hook
and ladder finds his weight of over
200 little inconvenient to run with
the machine. But just at the psycholog-
ical moment, just when nobody Is at
tending to the hose. just at the time
when the fire bell rings three taps
for the weekly meeting and nobody is
there to light up, then the public
wakes up, a new company is formed.
we have dance for the benefit Of the
new company, and at the next fire
alarm, we read "the new fire company
was on the ground in eight minutes
after the alarm was given and thanks
to their good work little damage re-
s,!ted" ncc't %'c-r:-y;-, sc VII VI! a;w ray
have a fire company.
And SO 1t is about that hotel Mr.
Jones gives up the hotel, because of
his wife's health, and his inability to
get good help. Mr.. Smith ceases to run
the Girard House because the owner
has raised the rent. Mr.. Thompson
quits running the hotel because pro.
visions are so high and less number Of
travelling men on the road. But again
don't worry. We shall always have
hotel in town. Some farmer will
trade his eighty for the hotel, because
so cents a meal looks like torture
to the man who knows how little food
costs on his table at home. There will
always be the man with big family to
do all the work, won't have to hire any
help. to get that 81 day. Every year
some ambitious young married woman
persuades her husband to lease the
Metropolitan, and get 75 cents for
beds and so cents for meals. She's
more than anxious to work seven days
in week, eighteen hours q day. And
after q years experience she gives
UP frequently with ruined health. don't
worry because the hotel will be closed.
There'll be another ambitious young
woman ready to move In the day the
lease expires. Tne writer can name
town, where the hotel had ffteen land
lords in nine years. = -. e. Z.
| a. MlA