The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1922-03-31
"WATCH
SMITHVuLE
GROW!''
Is Leavenworth Going to be Satisfied
With Signboard or Shall We
Work Maggie?

Work Maggie?
The secretary of the Pasco Cham
ber Of Commerce included the follow
ing in an address at the Bremerton
Convention Of the Washington Asso-
alton CT Commercial Organization
Secretaries and it is good enough to
be repeated here in Leavenworth So
that all may know that sometime
more than a signboard is necessary
to municipal or community growth:
"The other day ran across one of
the parallels of the "Safed and Sage"
featured in a religious paper, which
so completely illustrates my thought
that l present it just as it is written
in closing. 1t is entitled The Par
able Of Seeking a Sign
There is a certain city and its
name is Smithville And the men of
the town got busy and they said, we
will put this town upon the map and
they raised fifteen hundred Shekels.
And they set up great sign where
the railroad tracks crossed that he
who ran might read And the sign
said;
i T. y Il = = Il
WATCH SMITHV1LLE GROW, +
Greatest Railroad Center on *
Earth, \
For information about factory
sites and home sites, write to the :
Secretary of the Smithville Board s.
Of Trade. =
"And they sat down to watch
Smithville grow. And they greatly
admired their sign and bowed down
before it and worshipped it and the
electric light company fitted it up
with lights and furnished the juice
free, for they thought that sleeping
car passengers would wake up in the
night in order that they might watch
Smithville GROW. And they hired
damsel whose name was Marguerite
but whom everyone knew as Maggie
Perkins, that she could answer letters
of inquiry, for she could punch a
typewriter And they fitted up an
office on the second floor of the
Smithville First National Bank. And
they had letters of gold on the Win
dow saying 'Smithville Board of
Trade and they expected Maggie to
have writer's cramp writing letters of
enquiry And Maggie had nothing
to do but chew gum, powder her nose
and make dates for the movies.
'For none of the thousands of pass
engers who rode through Smithville
on the two railroads cared a hoot
whether Smithville grew or not
"Now about this time I visited
Smithville and they desired me to
make an address and l said unto
them. 1t doth pay to advertise pro-
viding Thou hath the goods, but | do
not watch Smithville grow. This is
an evil and adulterous generation
that doth seek sign and the only
sign that shall be given il is the sign
of the Prophet Jonah, preaching and
saying; if indeed ye desire that
Smithville shall grow, then do some
thing to make people want to come
hither.
Pave your streets, paint up your
houses and clean your vacant lots, de-
stroy the weeds that grow every
where and plant flowers and green
grass. Wherefore do We spend money
for that which is not bread and your
labor for an electric sign is nothing
to write home about.
"You have proclaimed with great
boasting the glories of your town, and
have never done a blooming thing to
make anyone want to live in it,
"And a few weeks later they sent
me marked copy of their local pa
per. And they were having a clean
up and paint-up week. And they
were discussing the paving of streets.
And they were improving the schools
and identifying their parks and I
sighed when I thought of Maggie for
if this thing keeps on, Maggie may
have to get busy.
For Smithville is really beginning
to grow"
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