Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-08-19
FEAR OF DRAWING
UNLUCKY NUMBER
Requests for Renewal of Automobile
Licenses Already Pouring In
on State Department
DATE Is FIVE MONTHS AWAY
Quarter Million Permits Are Now in
Effect in Illinois Other Gossip
of Springfield.


Springfield. ILL.,, Aug. 19.--Although
the regular time for renewing automo-
bile state licenses IS almost five
months away-Jan. l, 1917-automo-
bile owners are already beginning to
show signs of perennial disease. 1t
is two-headed disease. One head is
a mortal fear of getting an unlucky au-
tomobile license number, the number
charged with most high crimes and
misdemeanors being "13." The other
head of the disease is an uncomfortable
desire for certain number. Ihls
week the automobile license depart
ment received request from an up
state automobile owner for license No.
1. He thought by getting in early he
could get the coveted numeral. He
was destined to disappointment. Auto
license No. has been riding around
on the car of Sidney Gorham, Chi
cago attorney, almost since the state
license law went into effect about the
year 1907 Mr.. Gorham was attorney
for the Illinois Automobile club which
was interested in the law when it was
still a bill in the legislature, and he
was the first to apply for license. At
about the time this request was re-
ceiVed there came another request
from man with number 1901 That
number has been haunting him for six
months. He believed one number 13
would be bad enough but to have
"13" on each end of his number, leav-
ing nothing in the middle, was more
than any automobile owner could
stand. Since he wanted license for
a new car, the number was changed.
There are now 100000 licenses in
effect.
Proposes Street Preaching.
Street preaching to reach men and
women who never go to church will
be a feature of the 93rd annual Illinois
conference of the Methodist Episcopal
church, which will be held in Spring
field Sept. 5 to II. Some Illinois
preacher will deliver a sermon each
night on the court house square. An
other interesting feature will be a big
temperatance rally in the First Metho-
dist church here. Methodist preachers
high in the councils of the church from
many parts of the country will attend
the conference and many will appear
on the program.
Model Nursing Association.
A public health nursing association
recently formed in Peoria, is advocated
by the Illinois state board of health
as a model for other cities. The Peoria
association combines and centraliZeS
all the visiting nursing of the city.
Instead of working independently and
often overlapping the different organ
iZations and associations which are in
terested in any line of free nursing
undeE the new plan they will so CO.
operate that the work will be central
lied in one Office. All nurses will work
direction n q IL
ent. All records will be filed at the
central Office in regular form. The
new organization has a board of As
directors, "a of whom are representa-
tives of associated organizations. AS
an idea of the wide field of interests
represented by the units making up the
association, the following list of the or
CARNATIONS represented in the asso-
citation is given: Association of Com
merce, Associated Charities, board of
health, Anti-Tuberculosiss society, Child
Welfare league, the Peoria Betterment
society, Peoria Medical society, Peoria
Dental society, the Metropolitan In
surance company, the tuberculosis
sanitarium commission, the school
board and the visiting nurse commit
tee. A state board of health bulletin
says: This is the first organization of
its kind in Illinois, and there is no
doubt that the visiting nursing of Peo-
ria will be more easily and effectively
done under the new plan"
Board Starts Duties.
The new sanitary engineering bu-
reau of the Illinois state board of
health, established by the last legis-
lature, is now fairly started on it's
duties, although it is still in temporary
quarters in the state arsenal. The bu-
reau moved here recently from the
University of Illinois at Urbana. The
bureau is at present engaged in the
following activities: Control over the
installation of water supply and sew
age systems; sanitary surveys; super
vision Of city waste collection and dis
posal, and street cleaning: examina-
ton of swamp and overflow lands with
in the state with view of encouraging
their reclamation for both health and
profit; investigation of methods of
heating and Ventilating with special
reference to their applicability to
schools, public buildings, and audito-
RUINS; sanitary inspection of public
school buildings; typhoid fever inves-
legations public addresses on sanitary
engineering topics; informal advice by
correspondence. The bureau has
adopted rules and regulations requir-
ing the written approval of the state
board of health for plans and speci-
tications for proposed water supply
and sewage systems or for modifica-
tons and additions thereof The bu-
reau has considered 16 water supply
and sewerage projects and rendered in
valuable assistance I'm the construction
of these projects. The bureau is plan
ming sanitary surveys in manv locali-
ties. only limited appropriation pre-
venting this work all over the state. A
survey is practically an inventory of a
community's sanitary status. The
most comprehensive OF these SURVEYS
has been made at Petersburg, Ill.
where typhoid fever epidemic stimu-
lated the work. Additional SURVEYS
are being planned for Urbana, Nation .
and Jacksonville. AS a result of
number of surveys made at chautauaua
and fair grounds and other outdoor