davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23
PUBLIC OPINION
. o o . o o o o o o o o o o =
Fire Motor Truck.

To the Editor of The Gate City:
There seems to be a determination
in Keokuk to guy a motor driven
hose and chemical fire apparatus OF
some sort. The class turned out by
the regular fire apparatus builders
cost all the way from $4,000 to $5.ooo
depending on the amount of polish,
brass, weight, etc. One OF these
trucks must weigh about ten thou
sand pounds, when equipped with
twenty-five gallon chemical tank, J..
900 feet of hose, ladders, chemical ex-
tinguishers, and six men. BY reason
of the large number Of runs in large
cities, and the amount of equipment
and men, must of necessity be heavy.
II Keokuk want to gradually re-
place its horse drawn apparatus then
you can get all you want by buying
Buick, Overland, Studebaker or some
other practical commercial truck,
costing about $1,000 to $1,000, with
slight alterations which will answer
all purposes. OF course this will not
be a fine, hand-polished, nickle-trim-
med, gold striped apparatus, but a
good, serviceable working machine.
which will be economical, sensible
and practicable. l have before me
one Of the above (Buick) commercial
cars, quoted at s1,225. This car can
fhave a step placed On the rear, q
couple Of three gallon chemical tanks
placed along the sides, a rack placed
for carrying ladders like the present
chemical truck, and you can carry L.
1000 feet Of hose and three or four
men, and by the expenditure OF two
or three hundred dollars with the
equipment you have, YOU will have a
lflrst-class, serviceable truck. After
all, it matters little whether hose is
hauled to a fire In a wagon, motor
truck, aeroplane, submarine or dirl'
gible balloon, so you get the hose
there, and have plenty Of water and
men when you get there. Wtthou:
men, your hose and water is no good:
without hose, your men and water
are no good. So the main thing is a
conveyance to get the hose there, al
you have seen and water and good
commercial truck will give you just
as good service as Fort Madison.
Burlington or Quincy has. In dress
parade, perhaps you will get second
place. In efficiency you will get first,
with men, water and hose. II Mr..
Collins will consider this matter in
/ this light, the problem is solved and
he needn't buy horses, nor discharge
men from the service. The entire
matter is simple, practicable and CON-
prehensive. This is not one Of the
many gold brick schemes which have
been pulled off on Keokuk during the
! past three years where 100000 has
been spent. For once let us be
! practicable. / enclose you copy OF
the kind of truck. am plugging for
no company. any good commercial
car, altered to suit, will answer as
we'll as the best $4,000 truck you can
buy.
COMMON SENSE
Keokuh, Iowa, April %, 1916.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23

minutes late" Mr. Shelley said.
In reviewing the situation" he
continued, II will again state that too
little attention is paid to the track re-
turn circuit. Our track maintenance
department is kept busy repairing
special work and paving and have no
time to look after the rail joints that
ride smooth, although they may steam
with the heat OF lost power. Make a
swift examination of your track after
any light snow, and look for the points
on the rail where the snow flakes
melt. You will not require a bond
tester there to tell you that your
bonds are broken.
I'VE all know how difficult and ex.
pensive it is to keep the track up to
given standard, but with improved
methods, repair bills should be less
and loss Of power greatly reduced. A
thorough examination or test of all
bonds and cable connections should
be made twice each year, and a rec
ord kept in such form that a repair
gang can follow up and correct the
faults"
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23
CROSS, FEvER|SH
CHILD IS BILIOUS
OR C0NST|PATED
Look, Mother! If tongue is
coated give California
Syrup of Figs.

Every mother realizes, after Civ
ing her children California Syrup OF
Figs" that this is their ideal laxa-
tive. because they love its pleasant
taste and it thoroughly cleanses the
tender little stomach, liver and bow.
els without gripping.
When cross, irritable, feverish or
breath Is bad, stomach sour, look at
the tongue, mother! If coated, give
a teaspoonful of this harmless fruit
laxative" and in a few hours all the
foul, constipated waste, sour bile and
uundigested food passes out of the
bowels. and you have a well, playful
child again. When its little system
is full Of cold, throat sore, has stom-
ach ache. diarrhoea, indigestion, collie
good ''inside cleans,
ing" should always be the first treat
ment given.
Millions of mothers keep "Califor-
mia Syrup OF Figs" handy; they know
q teaspoonful today saves sick
child tomorrow. Ask your druggist for
a so cent bottle OF California Syrup
of Figs" which has directions for
babies, children Of all ages and
grown-ups printed on the bottle Be-
ware of counterfeits sold here. so
don't be fooled. Get the genuine,
made by California Fig Syrup Com
pany."
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23

other civic bodies, who have realized
the menace and the unresponsibility
of the whole proposition.
But the craze has reached its height
and is now waning. The small car
| owner, If he has not already done SO,
will soon find out that he cannot carry
passenger for 5 cents and make
profit. But have not five months now
elapsed, and are they not still doing
business?" This and similar ques-
tons are frequently heard. The an.
swer is this: Investigation has shown
that very few of the men who oper-
ated "jitneys" few months ago, are
still in the business-the personnel of
the operators Is constantly changing
And the few who are staying with
the game are doing so because it is
the only employment they can find;
they are satisfied with the income re-
naming from the nickels collected less
the cost of gasoline and minor re-
pairs. When their machines are worn
out, Or if they should ever meet with
a bad accident, they realize the jig's
up. The proposition is therefore
largely product of unemployment,
and can not continue to exist for any
length of time. That it can not do so
under proper regulation Is further
evidenced by statement made by the
'jitney" owners in Los Angeles that
the passengers on the running board
are the profits of the business.
But believe there is a field for the
auto-bus, but not as a scent PROPOSE
ton. Its mission Is rapid transit de
luxe. A no small proportion Of the
population in the larger cities would,
without doubt, be glad to pay higher
rate OF fare than that charged by the
street railways for guaranteed seat
in a comfortable and up-to-date We
hicle operating at a rapid but safe
rate of speed. The auto-bus should
take place between the street car
and the taXicab.
Correction of the evil effects OF the
"jitney" bus will have to be by the
public, and not by street railways.
The industry, however, can do much
toward this end by a fair and square
presentation Of facts concerning the
effect the "jitney" will have on COM
munity if permitted to continue oper-
ating unregulated.
A number Of companies have been
! using space in the daily papers on
this subject; others are undecided as
to the ACCESSIBILITY of this procedure;
and still others have not seen fit to do
so, probably on account Of attacks
made by the press and its favorable
attitude toward the "jitneys." For
tunately, street railway company
does not have to depend on the news
papers to reach the public. An ex-
cellent way to present the facts about
the 'jitney" is by the distribution of
circulars on your cars. The people
who ride on the street cars are the
Jury in this case, and I know Of no
better way to present your argument
to that jury.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23
Keep Track Good

Poor return circuits are respon.
sible for loss Of power, and loss due
to electrolysis, and also loss Of pas
sengers, according to F. V. Shelley,
assistant general superintendent Of
the Tri.City Railway company, Daven-
port. Mr.. Shelley said that decrease
in the earnings of the car due to
slower schedules was not so apparent
some years ago as it Is now, with
the advent Of the "jitney bus"
Now, a passenger waiting at the
end of long trade will be picked up
by 'jitney' bus and whisked away to
his destination and the street car
company will lose the nickel because
the power was poor, and the car two
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23
Electric Sparks

Ft. Madison Democrat: Mr.. and
Mrs. A. S. Nichols, Mrs. F. Gwynn
and Fred Gwynn left this morning for
Keokuk where they attended the
morning sessions Of the Electric
Light association and Contractors as
ISOLATION conventions which are be-
ing held there. They were among
the party of delegates who enjoyed
the excursion to Burlington in the aft
ernoon where banquet will be Civ
en- this evening in the Burlington no.
tel. Important business sessions were
held on board the boat.
There are only seventeen street and
interurban railways in this state, but
the list Of delegates registered at the
convention of the association number
ed several times this many.
Local men interested in the three
conventions which have just closed
their meetings here, are congratulate
ing themselves on the fact that there
was no attempt made by any city to
secure the conventions for next year.
Two cities offered perfunctory invi-
tations, but neither pressed the invi-
tation in any way. The reason for
this, as was admitted by the dele
gates, was that no other city next
year can entertain the conventions IN
anything like the way it was done
here. The comparison is not wanted
by any other city in the state.
While it is customary for cities to
harp about their hospitality when
conventions, the de-
scriptions OF the spirit shown here
during this convention is in no way
exaggerated The delegates were
unanimous In saying that they have
never been treated so royalty as
they have been here.
The Elks~xaub came in for much
praise fronrs1ne visitors. The club
was turned Soxer to them during the
four days conventions and many To-
cal Elks, in-no way interested in the
conventionss-assiste In entertaining.
The Keokuk Electric company had
several street cars waiting at the
boat landing when the G. w. Hill re-
turned from the Burlington excursion
last night. No charge was made by
the company for the rides. The cour-
tesy was greatly appreciated by To-
cal people as well as by the visiting
delegates.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23

other those helpful agencies that aid 70
comfort, and yet are perfectly safe to use
and among these they recommend
Mothers Friend
1t Is entirely an external application
designed to Intricate the broad, fiat
muscles and skin that protect the
abdomen. It has been in favorable use
for nearly half century and is known
to mothers in almost every settled COM
munity in the United States who highly
recommend 1t. You will find it on sale
in drug stores. Mothers Friend" is
utterly harmless. contains no deadeninc
drugs, very. beneficial, very soothing and q
wonderful help.
Get a bottle OF Mothers Fr1end'' to-
day at any drug store and write to us
for our instructive little book to mothers
Address Bradfeld Regulator Co., 31s,
Lamar Bldg. Atlanta, Ga.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23
The Jitney Bus

/ That the jitney bus craze Is waning,
| is the opinion Of C. l. Palm of the
Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Rail-
way company. The following is from
his paper mead today:
The infant was born in Los Ange-
les, California, in November. 1914. At
the age of five months, it has grown
to be enormous Gin number). But
the doctors" say II will be short
lived; it has case Of 'infantile lit
nitis"-an ailment caused from lack
of proper nourishment. It needs to
be fed something stronger than "jit-
neys."
Much has already been written in
the past few months concerning this
subject, and it has been discussed
from all angles. No doubt, all Of you
are cognizant of the virtues and
SINS" the advantages and tlisadvan-
tages of this late mode of transporta-
ton. So, to throw any additional
light on the subject, the writer feels
is beyond him. This paper will, there
fore, be q brief review Of few con-
siderations regarding the subject, and
give you an idea of the ''jitney" situa.
ton in Omaha and Council Bluffs.
There probably was never an ad-
verse movement against public utili-
ties, which has spread as rapidly
throughout the country as the "jitney"
bus craze. In less than four months,
it completed sweep OF tho country,
invading cities in nearly every state.
Some owners of secondhand auto
mobiles in Los Angeles being out of
employment, thought they could pick
up q few "jitneys" Or nickels by
carrying players to the various NOV
ing picture establishments. The own
ers of these small cars had read
about the big and apparently highly
profitable business being done by
100000 motor coach company" oper-
ating between Los Angeles and neigh
boring villages, but at rates of fare
considerably in excess of five cents
This latter company, by the way, went
into the hands Of receivers last De-
cember, and its buses were taken to
satisfy a mortgage, and were trans
ferred to San Francisco to be oper-
ated as 'jitneys' during the exposi-
ton. Thus did the 'jitney" bus idea
originate.
Newspapers Help Project.
To our "friends,' the newspapers,
belongs the credit for the rapid
spread Of this craze. It has been
stated that Kansas City (Missouri)
publisher, who opposed
the granting of franchise to the
Metropolitan Street Railway company,
became so pesved, when the franchise
was granted by a popular vote, that
he sought revenge against the street
~ailway company by starting to pub |
lish stories of the success" OF the /
"jitneys" in cities along thu Pacific
coast. Extravagant claims were made |
of their earnings, but nothing, of
course, was ever mentioned about |
their expenses. A number of small |
car owners fell" for it, and converted !
their cars into '.jitney" buses by hang
ing a 5-cent sign on them. Newspa- !
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23
Final MEETING on Boat.

IN the final meeting of the Electric
Light association, held on the first leg
ol the trip, officers were elected for
the coming year and resolutions
adopted, as reported in The Gate City
yesterday evening.
The location Of the next convention
OF the three associations has not yet
been determined. Dubuque and Ames
were the leading candidates among
the electric light men, and it will
probably fall to one of these two.
IN all probability the gas association
OF the state, which holds it's annual
convention next week, will meet joint
ly with the three associations that
were here, next year. Many gas men
are members of one or more Of the
other associations.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23

original discovery Of beer parties
and other gay festivals In the court
house at night. 1t is expected Fish
e-'s resignation will take effect May
1. Similar action Is pending against
Supervisor OHM Stewart, but Stewart
has not yet decided whether he will
resign quietly or hire good lawyers
and fight.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23
Start Clean Up Day.

UNITED Press Leased Wire Service
DIES MONIES, Iowa, April 23.-At-
torney General Cosson won the first
round In his fight to clean up the
Polk county house when Supervisor
Al Fisher, signed his resignation,
rather than face custer charges pre-
pared by Cosson and County Attor-
ney Wilson, at the suggestion Of
County Auditor Able r-hn made tlNa
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23
STREET AND |N1ERURBAN
RAILWAY CONVENTION Ems

boat besides the delegates and local
members of the associations. The
poac lett here at 2 in the afternoon
reaching Burlington shortly before s,
ana leaving at $3.50. She reached Keo-
Kuk at about 2:30. There were sew
eral hundred people on the boat.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23

ne patience. the
fortitude. the sub
lime faith during the
period OF expectancy
are second only to
the mother love be-
slowed upon tho
most helpless but
most marvellous cre-
ation-a baby.
Women arc quick
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23

Total ..7.l2c per mile
Divide this by (seating capacity
equals 1.7S cents, the cost per pas.
senger seat mile.
The above estimate does not in.
clude anything for injuries and dam
ages resulting from accidents, which
are bound to happen. Nor is any al.
lowance made for license fee, taxes.
interest on the investment or insur
anoa, all of which the taxtcab COM
pany has to take into consideration,
and so should the sjitney" owner.
1t is apparent, therefore, that It
costs at least Z cents per mile to
operate the cheapest kind of Git
ney."
What, then, can it earn? The
length of the average trip is about
two and one-half miles one way, or
five miles for the round trip. This is
the case in Omaha. Assuming that
the "jitney'' averages three passen'
gers per trip, which is high, the re-
ceipts will be 80 cents for round
trip. Three round trips per hour al
lows a speed Of fifteen miles per
hour, which is about right, taking
stops into consideration. Therefore,
the earnings Of a "jitney' would
amount to 80 cents per hour. It's oper.
ating expenses, at cents per mile.
amount to $1.O5 per hour.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23
Craze Waninu.

Opposition to the 'jitneys" and petit
tons for their regulation have not
come from the street railway COM
panies, although they have, of course,
protested. They have come from the
business men, Improvement clubs and
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23
Greatest Event
in W0man's Life

All human experience looks back to
motherhood as the wonder of wonders.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23
PROFESSIONAL CARDS
PLY SICIAN.

PHYSICIAN.
DR., w. p. SHERLOCK,
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON.
Office, Masonic Temple. Residence
Hotel Iowa.
Office Hours-10 to IL q. m, 2 ID
8 p. m; evenings. to S; Sundays,
II to / p, M United States civil ser
vice examiner.
The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-23

had grievances against the street rail-
way, took the tip and likewise started
spreading the craze. Or perhaps they
were subscribers to the newspaper
syndicate association, which, of late,
has been sending out material attack
ing street railways and boosting the
"jitneys." This bureau, having ex.
hausted other subjects which it
thought would be of live interest and
win new readers for the members
papers, suggested to the subscribing,
unable-to-think-fo editors
that they take a shot at the street
car service" while the "jitney" bus
movement Is at its height.
Cost Of Operation.
The big problem Of the ''jitney" bus
is not its earning capacity or the
suf1iciency of traffic, but rather the
operating cost. All who have investl-
gated the economic phase Of the Git
ney" bus have been convinced that
the business is an Improbable one
for the operator, and one need not
have a great deal of knowledge of the
automobile. and its cost to operate, to
ascertain this fact.
Summarizing the items Of expense,
we have:
Depreciation ...... L .05c per mile
Wages Of operator. .3.00c per mile
Gasoline .......... .0.67c per milo
Iubricating oil ........ .0.4Gc per mile
IlreS l.UUC per mile
Repairs, storage, supplies,
etc. ..............1.O 0c per mile
Total 712c Der mile
Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-07-28

II was moved by Rausch second
ed by Simon that the bill of Peter
Schneider for making the assessmt
and taking the census i'm the unor-
ganized portion of Potter county
be allowed in the sum of $1,000
1850 for making the assessment,
and $3.50 for taking the census.
On motion being put the following
vote was recorded on roll-call:
Knott. yes; Simon, yes; Rausch,
yes; VonWald, no; Williams. no.
Motion was declared carried by
Chairman Williams.
The bill of G E Gardener in the
sum of SO for meeting with the
board at their April meeting was
on motion duly approved.
Application for school loan of
Nicholas Leonardy on sw4nw4 and
nw4 and e!sw4 sec 26-12O-76 for
$500 was ON motion approved.
duly approved
j T. Adrian Oyer-aSStSSment on lot
in town of 1.54
John Adler over assessment on ne4
5 and ne44-120-7 5 45
Jacob Trefs over assesmnt on nw4
14-120- 20 5 Is
The following bills were on motion duly
approved
S M Howard postage and express
LIST and 2nd quarter. $500
Fay Weaver salary as dep. register
of 14e 90
a G Williams commissioner salary
and auto II 60
David VonWald same 25 20
Henry Rausch com sal 2 meetings ~ 20
Stephen Simon com salary........ Is 90
John Knott same ID 40
There being no further business
to come before the board at this
time, it was moved to adjourn sine
die. Motion carried and board
adjourned.
A. G.. Williams
Attest: Chairman
Ed. B. Toomey, Co. Auditor.
Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-07-28
AGENCY RIFLES

Mr.. Antrim is building d new
addition to his home.
Luke Gilbert made q Grip + Get
tysbnrg and back Tue sday.
p. Stalberg returned from
Philadelphia Monday, evening.
Nj. and Mrs. Perm Garfield! are
spending their vacation at Lap Ant.
Supt Campbell will leaye in: a
feH dayssfor his ranch in Monta ia.
Rachel Medicine Man. hospi tai
s eook be returned from her ya.sa-
stion.
HsFoldIBrpce vii join. his moth
seIsss 81 81 = AZ and sperd : few days
|sa!El!. Jobn Backor emit ,rtained
4anss Conedon 81 din uer ths
Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-07-28
Continued from first page

sible. On motion being put each
member voted yes and motion was
declared carried.
a petition was presented signed
by w FL Hughes and several other
freeholders praying for the grad
ing of several impossible places
on the township line be-
tween townships 117-75 and
lis Is and the placing of a culvert
in the drain between sections and
: twp l17-75. It was moved by
Rausch seconded by Simon that the
prayer of said petition be granted,
said work to commence as soon as
possible; motion carried.
1t was moved by VonWald sec
onded by Knott that the meeting
adjourn to 9oclock am. July 22nd
and that 9 part of t-hescommission-
ers look over the proposed road
work east and south and part over
the work west. On motion being
J put each member voted yes; mo-
ton carried and the rest Of the day
was taken up in looking over said
work, Williams, NonWald and ST.
mon going west and Rausch and
KNOTT south and east
July 20, 9a.m a. Board mot q
perS adjournment, All members pre-
aent, meeting called - order By
Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-07-28
CARD OF THANKS.

We wish to express our thanks
to the many friends and neighbors
who assisted US 50 kindly during
the sickness and death of our be-
loved daughter, Veda March; aly
for the beautiful floral tributes.
Mr.. and Mrs. Roy Gates
and fan .ily