Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1925-04-23

has effected materially many OF
the Eenefcent provisions existing
under the old special charter. The
new charter gives six months
time to bring actions in tort a
gainst the city while under the
special charter there was q sixty
day limitation, and this alone IL
Illustrates one Of several substan-
tial rights taken away from us by
general legislation, repeating spec
ial city charters. A bill is now
pending before the state legislature
which. if enacted into law, will
further impair the rights of cities
with reference to personal injury
actions. By this proposed legisla-
ton claimants will have either fou1
or six months in which to file not
ice of personal injury abrogating
the existing rule which requires
that notice of injury be filed with
in fifteen days following the hap
Dening of any accident resulting in
personal injury. This provision, il
enacted into law, is extremely vic
ious IL a claimant is afforded so
long a time to serve notice of per-
sonal injury a city is placed at an
immense disadvantage. In most
cases all evidence of any supposed
defect in a highway causing per-
sonal injury would be absolutely
obliterated long previous to the
termination Of such six months linn
itation period, and the city officers
would never know until it was too
late to be OF any public use or ser
vice, the nature or extent of any
personal injury or whether it pos
gessed merit, or was merely sham
and a pretense bolstered by the
self serving declarations Of the
person claiming damages against
the city. The City of Baraboo has
registered it's opposition before
the state legislature to the bill
which seeks to extend from fifteen
days to four or six months the time
within which notice is required to
be given in personal injury actions
against the city.
Few Damage Suits
The Importance Of preserving to
the city of Baraboo all existing
rights respecting personal injury
actions and surrendering none it
has already acquired is made man
ifest by the events Of history. Dur
ing a fifteen year period previous to
1925, the city of Baraboo have
spent but $4,000 in payment of
damages in connection with all
personal injury actions commenced
against the city including all
claims filed against the city for
personal injuries that have never
been brought to trial and of these
there have been many. Personal
injury actions arise largely from
defective streets and highways and
I recommend to the street depart
ment that all streets, thorough
fares and sidewalks be kept and
maintained in an efficient state of
repair, that the city of BaraboO
may be fortunate enough to have
history repeat itself, regardless of
what the state legislature may dc.
Baraboo is known throughout
the state and even beyond the lim-
it's of the state as healthy center.
Having at it's command an unlim-
tied supply of pure water, it's in
habitants may rest assured that no
disease or contagion will arise or
occur because Of any want of eff
f1ciency or purity of the water sup
ply. The water plant of the city
of Baraboo is municipality control
led and the cost to the inhabitants
and users of water is SO small that
as compared with other commodi-
ties the comparison resolves itself
into a contrast-it is so small as
to be hardly noticeable to the av-
erage consumers. Being in close
proximity with Devils Lake and
the Dells of the Wisconsin river and
possessing in it's own right many
natural beauties and scenic attrac-
tions, Baraboo has become re-
nowned throughout this section of
the country as a most desirable
home city, and such it is This is
demonstrated from the fact that
many of it's substantial citizens
reside in Baraboo while their bus
mess calls them elsewhere.
Few Debts
l have said that Baraboo is a
healthy city and this statement is
not limited alone to the physical
well being of it's citizens, but may
be extended to apply to its financial
condition as well. The high school