Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-08-22
Many Complaints Filed.

DAY lndl swept over lIle CITY ilSi!4' ~ up
erty owners who are affected claimlnE
that the work should not be ordered al
this time when labor and material are
al premium, and when the ready
money Of all people is needed for wal
investments and war work donations.
No One Knows Expense.
The exact figures of the proposed ex-
pense proposed TO be forced upon prop
erty owners is not known. City Engi-
neer Steiner said it was impossible &c
know exactly at the present time just
what the improvements would amount
to- The last city sidewalk contract
recently completed, was let at lax
cents square foot, with approaches al
I4%. Mr.. Steiner did not think II pos
sible to let q new contract for less than
IS cents. The normal price, prevailing
before the war, was from 10 to II cents
With an estimated improvement OF
twelve miles Of new walks ordered in
the resolutions, the expense would total
a little over $4,000.
Bankers Not in Favor Of Improvement
In order to see how bankers OF the
city feel over the propose. to saddle
such a big expense on the taxpayers at
this particular time, the presidents OF
the different banks were interviewed by
the Ttmes-Republican Those who had
given the question any consideration
unhesitatingiy declared the time mop
Fortune for the creation Of any expense
that was not absolutely needed.
Thinks It Ridiculous.
President c. c. ST. Cla'r, Of the First
.r
most ridicul ous tr'.g I ever hcari 81
a. a time when our country Is in war
There may be individual cases where
| repairs are needed, but I don't believe
for a minute that every property listed
in the official publication actually re-
quires a new walk. OF course there is
some liability In the case Of defective
sidewalks, but the liability Is spread GU,
| over wide area. and 1t seems to me
that there Is no need of big expendi-
ture Of thousands Of dollars in order tc
avoid an occasional liability OF a few
hundred dollars. II the council does
not know exactly how much money will
be required to pay for such an improve.
ment. 1t certainly Is not doing bushes:
in the right way. / think the thing
take action IN court to get It done"
All Right II There Is Demand.
President A. F. Balch, of the Mar
shalltown State Bank, while admitting
that he had not given the situation
much thought. said that If there were
demand for the walks he would say
go ahead, but If the walks We're being
forced on the public. that was a differ
ent matter. He thought possibly the
cement business would suffer If al
work of this kind were stopped. ant
further that the building Of walks
would aid in employment.
Doesn't Look Good to Arney.
~ don't think a little bit of it," sait
President w. H. Arney, OF the lowe
Savings Bank. 1T doesn't look good tc
me, and I think it ought TO be dropped
for the present. l am surprised thai
the council would think of ordering
pavement or sidewalks at time like
this. We ought to cut out everything
of this kind until after the war unless
the improvements are absolutely neces.
sary.
Let Go Till After War.
President H. ]. Howe. of the Fidelity
Savings: Il thought yhen I read tina
long list of walks last night that thi
was a bad time to start such an i'm
provement don't think such improve
ments should be made until after the
war, and feel that we should not Great
any public expense of any kind unit
we are absolutely obliged to-
President H. NJ. vawter, Of tn
Security Savings, had not given tht
question any thought and did not car
to express an opinion.