The Detroit times., 1916-06-14
A Good Little Town.

Ten years ago Horton. Kansas,
swore of. and since that time IL has
kept It's swear" Horton does nT
drink intoXicants This does not
mean not publicly" II means mot
az all" The remarkable feature OF
this abstinence ia that for % years
preceding the taking OF the pledge,
Horton was called one OF the tough.
est little cities on all the map Of
Kansas. Says the Kansas City
Star. in which IS chronicled the rec
ord OF its return 20 virtue, Horton
was as bad as booze could make II.
There were many who deprecated
conditions there. but none who could
figure out the cause "A large lab
oring class" the raw good pirits
OF new town" and other causes
were blamed-all rather vague and
general and impossible 20 control
Then the railroad that was mainly
the reason for Horizons existence
took 10 discharging It's drinking en-
ployes and taking on only sober
men. That was a hint 20 the wise,
and the birth OF Horizons reform.
From this point the history OF the
good little town proceeds as fol
lows:
The saloons met the rising tide By
making concessions They closed their
front doors and opened the back ones
II "a.
saloons get on the run they always
keep going The Out-Rnd- bar
rooms vanished and then came the
era OK the drugstore Joints. They
too. went the way % all fcsh one
OF them burned down. tho propri etor
Of another was sent 20 Jail. and the
others just naturally curied up and
quit.
II required few years before the
town realized many tangible benefits
from prohibition. Five years ago the
city bought the water and light plant
for s55. 200. The electric power II
on "a hours day now. whereas "
used 70 be shut or a. midnight. The
rate IL low and II allows enough
profit % set aside sinking fund 20
az the S9nd q; ,as o 6IE ,5 5ssrryo5
water supply that IL ~ 10 drink
Next came sewage system and q
treating plant that cost $4,000. In
the old booze days Horton used to
smallpox and many other diseases
Pure water and the sewers have vir-
tually banished disesEe.
Shopmen who formerly inverted
began buying homes with their saw.
ings Once they became property
owners they became Interested In
their city The next thing vas a
ron. There IL public auditorium,
where all sorts OF meetings are held
The Are department has its head
quarters IN The building; The town
outside the city limits. for the hand
boys have their room.
Seventy thousand dollars went In
one clip for something that could not
be neglected. new high school
Horton was getting up out OF the
gutter and II was going 20 have new
rsiment Of course. some spending
was needed. but IL was better 10
spend money on public improvements
than 20 spend =, In saloons
Until two years ago there never
had been foot Of paving IN Hor-
ton To-day there are six miles ~
asphaltic- concrete streets There Is
white Way that lights up I've bust
nsss blocks There are street lights
Every downtown alley IL lighted
Alsc every alley is clean.
There Is nothing dark or dnnk
about Horton. II IL bright and clean
ann neHllUy. Inc buHlNFRf mon arc
reaching out for moro business The
workinRmen are enjoying their sal
aries \ great many Of them have
built their own small homes Tho
town has got tho booze out 81 It's
system and has cooled or A year
ago commission government was
adopted There was fight against
10. az might be expected but those
who opposed tho new plan arc now
its best boosters, just a. those who
used 20 defend tho saloons have seen
the light.
In tho last six months three new
churches have been erected. The
Catholics put up n tto,0 600 church. the
Methodists e30. 900 ono. and the
BaptistE $50 600 one.
other denominations plan new
ones. too sunday school baseball
league plays baseball evenings be-
ginning at O'Clock a down town
plat that belongs 90 the city IL he
| Ing improved and will soon be "A
beeuty spot whore the hand concerts
are held n is not difficult 10 dra "
picture ~ coutcntment In the little
city that swOre on
The tenth annual convention ~
the National Wholesale Grocers' as.