The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-07-20

SrOuSly donating ana deedlng TO the
! city right-of-wny over lots Z, s and
y of said block, and in addition have
paid into the city treasury the sum
of twenty-five hundred dollars for the
purpose of constructing first class
paved and curbed highway thirty-six
| feet wide with seven foot concrete
walk on each side. This improvement
will be in harmony with, and con-
| tinuation of the road on the viaduct,
and will end on First street midway
between Main and Blondeau at an
elevation of about ten feet above the
| intersection Of First and Main. Up
! to this point all the conditions for
splendid city entrance are ideal, but
so far as we know at this moment
this grand Improvement has reached
! its limits and must stop here. Stran-
! gers after crossing our beautiful high
! bridge and viaduct will naturally ex-
pect continuation of the same ex-
| cellence on up into our city, but in
! stead Of proceeding on well paved
street on a two and half percent
grade they will descend on seven
| percent one on First to Main. thence
iup Main on a 1866 percent grade to
level on Second street, which for
the first time is now presentabhe on
account OF the Improvements recently
made thereon. If you have followed
me closely you have observed that If
we stop on First between Main and
Blondeau we have lost one third Of
all the advantage of grade which the
bridge company have secured for us
between First and Second streets.
This must not be. and just here is
where the Industrial association work
begins. The reason for the city stop
ping further improvement at the point
named Is owing to the peculiar pro-
vision of our state law which prevents
it from appropriatfng any money for
the purchase of right-of-way from
any fund other than the general fund,
which on account of the lightning re-
peal Of the mulct law, finds us with
only sufficient funds available to pur-
chase one-half of the required space.
To be baked in an enterprise Of such
importance to our city by such an I'M
looked for condition in our finances is
Uncomfortable, and while it is true 1t
will exhaust our resources to provide
funds for one-ha1f Of this undertaking,
we feel we still have a big bank &C
count so long as your association has
not refused to furnish the other half.
Project Has Merit.
Since first considering this matter
we have met with many discourage
ments and at times have abandoned
the project as hopeless undertaking,
yet we. could not permanently divorce
this thought from our mind, to-wit:
That the project had too much merit
to abandon until the last word was
said, therefore after much study along
other than ordinary lines, hope has
been revived The cordial manner in
which the directors Of your assocfa-
ton listened to the writer explain how
this great road improvement. from
where we left it on First street, can
be continued on up to near Second
and Main on two and half percent
grade, did more than any other one
thing to inspire us with the hope that
It will soon be accomplished. A two
and half percent grade will make it
slightly less than the ascent on Fifth |
between Main and Blondeau. We want
the assistance of your association be-
cause you are noted for doing big
things, and this is certainly one OF
that class; to the extent that you pur-
chase for your own use, lot twelve |
and the east twenty (2O) feet of lot
eleven, block twelve, known as the
"Dimond property" and donate to the
city right-of-way across same for
fifty foot street. We are aware that ;
such a procedur., on your part will
subject you to severe criticism from !
those who have no appreciation of the |
of this road toward the I
future development of our city. but |
you know it is only the men who do I
things who are criticised. and would
rather be criticised, abused, condemn |.
ed and damned for trying to do some /
thing than to receive the plaudits of .
the universe for being nonentity. If
your association does this, the city |
can proceed under the law to condemn
q right-of-way across parts of lots ten
and eleven to a point on Main street |
and the north line of lot ten. This |
will give the city a continuation Of :
Bridge street across First on through
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