Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-02-12
LOCAL COMMENT

+ LOCAL COMMENT ;
The merchants of the town are ask
ing cooperation in passing prosperity
around. The dollar which is due the
grocer should be paid in order that 1t
may go to the ice man, from him to the
wagon driver, from him to the shoe
man and then to the bank on the shoe
mans note where it may be borrowed
by the contractors in building house
and be paid again to the carpenter
and by his TO the butcher who in turn
hands it to the clothier or pays his
Wife's bill at the dry goods store. Pay
up week seeks to encourage the nimble
dollar, to break the credit jam and let
trade flow freely where it will. The
one bill which remains clogs commerce
and retards prosperity for everybody
else in town. workman as well as Iner-
chant. = .-.-
y Marshalltown needs a system OF
sewers to carry away surface water in
time of storms At present the sani-
tary sewers which serve the buildings
are not adequate for storm water and
were never intended to be. Every city
when it is wen improved plans a sep
arate system for storms which is
combination of surface drainage tapped
by under drains SO as to prevent the
streets being flooded at insufficient
outlets. The estimate of cost for that
part of the work which is urgent is
about s. per capita. If bonds are is
sued and paid off in equal annual in
stallments covering q period of TWEEN
~ years the bond payments and in
terest charges will approximate So
900 per annum for $4,000 worth of
sewers. The city ought to have the
work done.
The school board is entitled to credit
for one job of ventilation for a school
building done. If they will now con-
slider the other buildings early enough
to have the work out of the way dur
ing the summer vacation they will
please the vast majority of school
patrons not only for today but for
many years TO come. In Indiana and
several other states the ventiating of
school buildings is required by law
and in Minnesota it is required before
state aid can be received.
The board Of supervisors has acted
wisely and in accordance with public
sentiment in providing adequate public
comfort service in the basement of the
court house. It is far better and much
cheaper than TO have built a special
building outside and the rooms are
being utilized which We're actually in
tended for that use when the building
was designed. r.-|
II should be noticed that suggestion
of the possibility of bringing school
children from the farms Immediately
surrounding the city to the Marshall
town schools By means of consolidation
or tuition has started a consolidation
movement southeast of town. A build
ing out there will serve the children
Of the lower grades probably as well
but no better and 1t will fail TO put
into operation the bus service to Mar
shalltown which the older children will
need when they attend high school.
Followed out in all directions from
town the multiplication of such build
ings would probably cost more than
buttons in town even tho an extra
building were made necessary in the
city schools for in Marshalltown not
to exceed one regular ward building
would be needed which would cost less
than several rural buildings and the
buttons needed to pay the bonds for
the one building in Marshalltown
would not be so expensive as the taxes
needed to pay the bonds on several
buildings outside. However, the graded
school and the bus service are worth
more than it costs anywhere and IN
less some movement Is started to-
ward centering the school population
Of this vicinity in Marshalltown the
consolidation by neighborhoods should
Re put thru.
The road convention next Saturday
should be we'll attended. 1t will decide
the biggest project for the welfare OF
Marshall county that has ever been
proposed and it does not involve one
cent OF extra taxation to any one.
County road taxes and auto licenses
are fixed by law. AT present they are
going into repairs to be washed away
by the rains and then to be done over
again next year. The same taxes ara
going TO be paid each year whether we
build hard roads or whether we con-
stantly repair mud roads. Other states
have been getting hard roads to use
without spending as much money as
we spend on our constant repairs to
mud roads. They do it by bonding their
fixed revenues just as We do to build
school houses but they build perma-
nent road which will outlast the bonds
and apply their taxes on bonds in
stead of wasting them in temporary
repairs to mud.
the board Of supervisors now has
requests for twice as many permanent
bridges as can be built from current
fllnds so that old bridges must be