Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-07-01
LOCAL COMMENT

Boulvarding double street with
| park in the center is new experiment
! in Marshalltown but if 1t will work
| like it did on the sale Of lots in Binford
| Park Place there will probably be more
of it attempted in the future.
1t has been suggested that last Sat-
urday's congestion Of farmers automo-
biles in this city makes additional
parking space for automombles ur-
gently necessary and it is very true. 1t
has also been suggested that the con-
gestion can be relieved by removing
the electroiers and zones of safety Gre
ated by the plots Of shrubbery which
give our wide, streets the beauty Of a
southern city's plaza. By actual meas
urement this space on two streets
would accommodate six more cars
which is about the measure Of value
| in this suggestion. The inexpensive
and sensible thing to do would be for
the board of supervisors to go on with
! their own plans for making the circu-
lar drive south of the court house wide
| enough for cars to be parked at one
side. This will postpone the day when
it will be necessary to tear up Church
street and make it wider.
! The time has arrived for owners Of
| suburban tracts to abandon the con-
ventional plattings Of land into squares
| and adopt an established eastern GUS
! tom of plating lots in long ribbon
shapes with a narrow frontage on
paved street and farm extending a
long ways back. Now that we are to
have paved streets on seevral Of our
main roads let our suburban acreage
| tracts conform to the new improve
ment.
A man who can shoot up a billiard
| hall crowd one month and cut up q
bystander or two the next month can
| be classed as exceedingly lucky to get
off with a hospital sentence to Knox
vile. He acts very much like bad
man and most people would like to see
him restrained accordingly.
| 1t is unfortunate that the successful
paving contractor has been able to
manipulate the bidding so as to get
| paving on one street at one price and
paving on another street at another
| price. Certain differences in the cost
! Of hauling material can account for
difference of cent or two per square
| yard but not for IN cents. 1t is alto,
! gether likely that the price bid on the
| first contract was too low. The engi-
! neer had estimated that it would be
s1.34 and the next lowest bid was at
that price so the bid on the last con-
| tract is still within the estimate but It
would have been far better for the
I satisfaction Of all concerned II the bids
| could have been alike. There is a diff
| ference Of $40 to a sixty foot 'front.'
age involved in the bids and a differ
ence of about 8 cents per running foot
of property frontage on the sixteen
| foot paving. 1t is not large but it Is
enough to cause dissatisfaction. The
contractor has not helped the city
council in his manipulations altho he
has not, probably, overcharged any
| body.
This is the kind of weather that
makes us wish that we had that fine
outdoor swimming pool in operation at
1.-The city park.
| Announcement that the Y. NJ. c. A.
must have more contributing members
TO keep it out of debt is what we must
| expect regularly, for q Y. M. G. A. is
like college in that 1t aims 10 render
more service than the participating
| members pay for and contributors are
needed at all times. When the new
building was erected the association