Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1923-03-23
At Behest of City Commissioners
Pennsylvania Railroad Company
Promise to Repair Street at
Wildwood Avenue Station

sion form of government, there is in
~corporated a clause specifying and
directing that commissioners shall
meet at least once a week for the
transaction of business. The prac-
tice of meeting weekly, therefore, is
not optional, as some of the people
may have supposed, but obligatory.
Pursuant to the mandatory character
of this enactment, the Wildwood City
Commissioners convened once again
last Tuesday afternoon, March goth,
to hold their twelfth consecutive
weekly session in the advancing year
of 1923.
TITS a very remarkable thing to say
that this gathering took place on the
day prior to the one on which the sun
is said to step across the line, where
winter ends and spring begins. Thus
the 21st day of March, annually, marks
the recurrence of the vernal equinox,
that wonderful astronomical event
whereby the days and nights are
caused to be of equal duration the
whole world over. September 22d is
the date of the autumnaI equinox.
The month of March this year has
demonstrated more cleverly than ever
a marvellous capacity for variety Of
weather-the most talked about thing
in the world, they say-and March has
had her share Of weather gossip this
time, as our commissioners we'll can
testify.
Keeping track of all the minutes
little minutes-as they come and go,
the peoples timepiece at City Hall
last Tuesday afternoon told how two
times sixty of these tiny divisions of
time had slipped away since the me-
ridian hour, that day, just as the
Mayor raped for order and asked the
clerk to call the roll.
All of the commissioners were pras-
ent and answered to their James. The
record made by the clerk Of what
t%ranspired at the previous meeting
was soon rehearsed and ratified. Then
the weekly reports were read, finances
claiming first attention. The income
for the week before from water rents
amounted to $705.1S. No report from
the city tax collector was submitted
this week. AS the new tax rate was
only made known a week ago suff1-
cient time has not elapsed to permit
of many of the 1928 tax bills to be
delivered to their respective spons-
ors; but by next week money will be
flowing into the collectors office at a
pretty rapid rate. Every taxpayer has
been on the tiptoe of expectancy to
receive his tax bill for 1923. 1t is
some relief to know the size of the
burden to be borne; suspense often
causes more anxiety than the should
ering of an obligation when presented.
The police departments report
enumerated 376 calls to headquarters
by officers on patrol; two arrests for
duct and one for breaking and n
tering.
When the reading of ~communica-
tions were called for the city clerk an
nounced hat he had several to offer.
One from H. H. Garrigues, superin-
tendent Of the Pennsylvania lines
in South Jersey, was particularly in
teresting:
referring to correspondence rela-
tive to repairing the driveway at
Wildwood station would advise that
we are giving careful consideration to
a plan for the construction of a hard
surface pavement over our entire
driveway; but as this will involve a
large expenditure of money the condi-
lions may not be favorable to obtain
such an appropriation. We will how
ever, in any event make repairs to the
pavement as soon as the weather con-
ditions are favorable"
The reading of this letter did not
bring much comfort to the commits
sioners who have struggled so long
and in vain to induce this wealthy
railroad corporation to hard surface
all the approaches to the Wildwood
avenue station so as to comport with
the city paving on streets adjacent
thereto. The Pennsylvania Railroad
Company boasts of its high standard
Of roadbed and equipment, frequently
spoken of as the standard railroad
of America" For their W interests
as well as for the comfort and conve-
nience of the thousands of travellers
annually who entrain and disembark
at this station one would think that it
would be impossible for the manage
ment of such a corporation to so neg
lect the surroundings of one of their
most prominent stations in South Jer-
sey. If Mr.. Garrigues' letter means
anything it is that the same old patch
work, semi-hard repairs are to be un-
dertaken again, a mere temporary
makeshift, unsightly and unsatisfac-
tory.
A letter from the fire chief, Charles
L. Nickerson, was next read: "In reply
to your previous conversation in ref
creme to additional fire hydrants I
would say that by installing approx