Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-30
Whole Villages
of Flimsy Shacks,


swarming quarters Of the employees. Some
of their houses are built of paper and
wood, and some of them are even
portable. An army Of about 500 car
penters is building whole villages of
fiimsy shacks to house the growing
horde of workers. Numerous thrifty
foreigners, mostly Greeks and Italians,
have come and opened up fruit stands
and grocery stores and restaurants.
thereby causing the storekeepers of
Penngrove much grief.
Truly, this village has tasted Of the
irony of fate She did not invite al
these uncouth people here. but they
have come. and now she has to take
care of them. They swarm through
her streets at night like the crowds on
Broadway, and her few policemen can
do little but seek place of safety and
quiet They create sanitary and hous-
ing problems, such as she never expect
cd to face. Their mail congests the
post office 50 that people who have
livend in Penngrove al their lives
Callinicus gets his letter from the good
wife in Athens, or Giuseppe Bassano
receives his weekly paper from Rome;
Worst of all, they have utterly ruined
those beautiful roads.
The irony of this pathetic situation is
Intensified by popularity of the local
tax laws. Penngrove has tax rate
of s2.46 on the 800. which is a pretty
good rate. 1t Is incorporated as
borough. But the twonship in which
the borough is located has a tax rate
of about a dollar less and out in the
township are all Of the immense pow
der mills and the mushroom villages.
The crowds and the traffic cost Penn
taxes are paid to the township. So
Penngrove is exasperated; to say the
least.
She thought she saw a way out. not
long ago. Through her borough coun-
Gil. she approached the township au-
thorities with a bland smile and a. large
idea. She suggested that the whole
township, with its new and numeE-
Gus population. should be incorporated
with the borough. thereby creating
nificent scheme to consolidate all this
tremendous growth under one govern
menr. to equalize the tax rate and, In
cidentally, to give the borough fathers
little wherewithal to pay their .amaz-
ing bills. The township, however de-
clined with thanks. 1t wasn't losing
any money, and did not see what was
to be gained by making the troubles
of PennSrove It's own.
This was good deal of setback to
the harassed village fathers, but they
soon Matched a
City Fathers new idea. The
Hatch New Idea. p eoune,l nov" o." pro- pro-
sent to the New Jersey state legislature
petition for the resembling of the Dor
ough character, so that PeNngrove will
lose it's identity and be reabsorbed into
the township The tail found it
couldn't wag the dog. but there is rea-
son to believe the process can be sue
cessfully reversed.
The plight of Penngrove develops
a new angle almost every day. For ex-
ample. 1t is now time to elect it's city
oihclais. The most important of these
are mayor and two councilmen, But
not soul could be found who aspired
to these posts of honor, emolument and
public service. 1t may seem strange,
put! put II Is not NO one cared to be the
goat OF Penngroves multifarious
difficulties. and SO one announced
himself as a candidate. 1t was a sit
uatton unheard of, but Penngrove
was getting used to such situations
and rather resourceful in dealing with
them. In this case it was decided to
resort to conscription. The local polit-
zeal leaders made up ticket, without
asking any one anything about it. and
posted it to be voted upon at the nrin1a
res. The drafted candidates were forth
with nominated, willy nilly, and being
thus thrust into the limelight they had
no choice but to file their acceptances.
which they did. So the machinery of
government was preserved intact
Now the citizens of Penngroye are
tackling the post office problem The
town is placarded with big announce
ments OF great protest meeting. This
is the time and place to kick" they de-
clare. "A monster petition will be ad-
dressed to the authorities in Washing
ton. Everything is rather a la-.e
scale in Peangrove these days.