Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-09-19
Wright Takes Lead
in Building of Good
Roads and Drainage

Goldfield, Sept. 1s.-Interested parties
evidently propose to keep Wright u
.ty in the FIRST division so far as agri-
cultural excellence is concerned. 1t is
said hat a county official has In
the last year signed drainage contracts.
aggregating about $1,000, 900.
And some day in the not far distant
future western Wright county will he
pointed to as an example for initiation
In the matter of road Improvement.
There will be no local criticizing heard
about it in the meantime either, no
charges of graft or favoritism or ex-
travagance or lack of judgment on the
part of road officers for it is the average
farmer and landowner that is doing u
large part of the work and the town
ship road system in full measure that
is receiving the attention. Men in this
section who insist that mud roads are
good enough for these days are mighty
scarce. OF course individual opinion on
the general subject of road improve
ment varies as it always has n al
ways will here and everywhere else but
when a man here attempts to express
disapproval of anything in the line of
road improvement he is careful to pref
ace his remarks with II am in favor of
better roads" That class of people
known as retired farmers'.is not gen.
orally credited with exceptional i'm
provement boosting pr%oclivities, but 1t
Is different here. A retired farmer in
Goldfield community talks and acts a
good deal like n other human being.
He has been known to get out over the
country and work for the cause and
contribute funds for improvement with
no other reward than the qualification
Of his desire for community betterment,
that is, so far as anyone a been able
to ascertain. Nobody in this locality
has yet intimated to me that any OF
these are secretly in the employ of ce-
ment manufacturers or gravel pit own
erS.
Getting down to particulars. there is
a trail" thru this point leading to the
town of Renwick. northwest. once I'M
perfectly grayeled. but needing re-sur.
facing. One day two local men went
along the line and returned the same
day with pledges of $1,000 for the i'm
provement. Young farmers and old,
foreign born and native. contributed. 1t
is said that one wealthy farmer, an
American citizen by adoption. when
asked for a donation answered. GO
ahead and get what you can and when
YOU are thru call on me for what is still
needed West of town there has been
a two mile stretch of township road
graveled. This connects with an auto
mobile route which has not yet been
fully provided with markers and 1t Is
told that travellers every day make the
two miles and retur as a result of fail
ure to distinguish county from town
| ship road. Misleading to the tourist. OF
course, but not so ~aggravating as to be
| deceived into a mud hole and assessed
| five dollars foria half hours job of pull
ing out with a team. A farmer dairy
man living some three miles out comes
in every morning on his 3S5-day road
and makes his deliveries from his car
and tells how he can reach several near
by towns from his farm without travel
ing thru dirt or mud. All talk is FOL
extension Of these roads and a cont1n.
uance of the cooperative plans EN-.
ployed to obtain them. There is only
one complaint heard, viz: We cant get
our grading done fast enough. About
sixty five or Seventy miles in all Of
highway in the county are surfaced at
the present time and approximately
half of this is township road.
Because of imperfect stand in
many fields 1t is thot h corn crop
here will be about a three -fourths acre
age Weld. e There has been no com
plant of drouth as was the case IN some
parts of the state. Small grain thresh-
ed out better thar a normal crop. The
frost of last week did no damage IN
this section. The few farms that have
changed hands here in the past year
have been record breakers in the mat
ter of price. One place a shor dls-
lance west Of town and another a lie"
miles east have been transformed. one
for 1928 per acre, the other somewhat
higher and on the latter. the w. h.
Ellsworth farm, an expensive residence
has since beer built making it one OF
the SHOW places of the locality.
The town Of Goldield a few years age
built an unusually large and expensive
school house population considered
| The town has since grown and the
school house is now none too large. II
school families attending were all as
large as is one of them h present
building would be about one-thlrd the
necessary dimensions. Mr.. and Mrs
Fred Madison, we'll known farmer resi-
dents. near town. are this year endin
in their eight children that are of schoo
Iage. This does not include several mar.
| ried sons and daughters nor others MOI
vet old enough for enrolment.
&C. E.. Wilson.