The bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-09-15
EDITORS OBSERVATIONS.

our CnlcagO VISIT curing the great
Masonic conclave, which was recently
held there. We will begin in Des
Moines and motor overland in COM
pany with my wife, two children,
Enola and Nelson, and Mrs. Mollie
Watkins. For one who has no auto
mobile knowledge and knew not the
roads, with nothing save automobile
maps, you can to some extent realize
how we felt,not knowing how the
weather would be nor the accidents
that might befall US when our claxton
sounded the start on an 800 mile trip
at 6 o'clock a. M, bidding farewell to
dear old Des Moines, the scenes of my
college schooling and my home during
all of my married life, where my chill
dren were born and raised, leaving our
many strong and beloved relatives and
friends, will indeed cause a person to
enhance thew alue of home sweet
home. Within about two hours we
we're at Mrs. Battles in Colfax,
Iowa's great health resort. After
spending few minutes here, again
We were on our journey. The roads
20 this place were very bad and
muddy. Newly worked roads and the
sandy roads made travelling difficult.
However, we reached Grinnell about
Two hours later and spent about two
hours with our old friend, John A.
spencer, the cement, contractor. After
! view of his barn sand cement yard
and many tools that he has. He has
just purchased f9e-passenger auto
mobile and John issgping to learn to
run it soon. Mr.. R. sG. Craig is an old
citizen. He worked in the Iowa leg
islature. Mrs. r. Redrick is also an
old and respected citizen. She, like
Mr.. Craig, owns her own home. We
soon made a dash for Iowa City, but
stopped a few moments for rest and
refreshments. While there we met the
only colored family Mr. VIII: Maycs,
who has lived there for about forty
years. He is barber and owns valu-
able property. He is improving and
remodeling his property. Two hours
later we entered Iowa City, where is
located our great state university.
This is strictly college town. The
few colored families here are doing
we'll. Mrs. H. R. Moore on College
street formerly lived in Des Moines
and is running first class hair dress
ing parlor and is doing we'll. J. w.
Thompson is still here and has charge
of large fraternity frat. Mr.. Chas.
Alberts is in the contracting business.
He is doing we'll and owns a nice
home. Mrs. D. Patterson and l.. Dun
negan are here and doing we'll, also
T. McDavis. Away for Davenport for
the night, a distance Of sixty-fve
miles. We reached here at 1880
o'clock, stopping with Mr.. and Mrs.
Eugene Green over night and spend
ing the next day here. We left this
town Saturday morning across the
Father Of Waters, over the prairie to
Sterling, where we struck the Lincoln
highway, claimed to be the longest
and finest highway in America. 1t is
graded up from two to six feet high
and laid with crushed stone, which
makes the surface rough and uneven,
but the most serious objection is
that it is only about twelve to four
teen feet wide, which is entirely too
narrow for large cars to pass one an
other at a thirty mile speed. Most
teams drive along the side of this
highway. It must be widened and the
surface made smoother. At Sterling
we met a Mr.. Clark, one of our SUBJ
scribers, who works at the Elks club.
From here we made Dixon, DeKalb,
Rochelle, Batavia, Wheaton and Chi
cago, the coming metropolis of this
western hemisphere. Here lives more