Imperial Valley press., 1926-04-26
FOR A BETTER Ell CENTRO

Seraton ana appear cOnCerng the outer aspect OF I'll
Centre 1t is well worth reading that the editor
herewith effaces his stuff in favor of this pertinent
civic appeal by Jimmy Greene)
Back east where cities and towns of long years
standing have been the cause of establishing certain
traditions and usages which have all the force of law.
there used to be custom in vogue at this period OF the
right
April saw the end of the snow period. Trees were
beginning to bud, flowers were peeplhg up and the
of the house ceased to worry about the rapidly d-
minshng amount of coal in the cellar. The kids pack
ed away their seds and skates and drew out their tops
and marbles, their baseball equipment and kites.
All these signs of spring, Just certain as
the lengthening Of the days the gradual rise in the
thermometer.
The housewife, however, had sign of spring all
her This the spring houseceaning" And
the "housecleaning only embraces the house
itself, but the yard and surrounding property With
mop broom dustrag and carpet sweeper the inside OF
the house gone over from cellar to garret and
back again, to the dust and dirt accumulated
through the winter months.
In the yard hoe rake and shovel piled by
father and boys they removed the rubbish that the
melting had left behind. To them also dele
gated the task of beating the carpets and rugs that
the lady of the house pulled and she to it that
they did their jobs well.
If fathers pocketbook could afford it, the house
and barn and the inevitable picket fence received
fresh coat of paint In localities it white
wash, but New Englandlically speaking it paint.
After week of strenuous work in odd hours and all
day Saturday the boss of the house inspected things
Saturday night and if the result satisfied her. sprng
housekeeping decreed success and the world
resumed its normal state Of affairs.
Only the most shftless neglected the ceremony of
spring housecleaning' and they considered out
from decent society, the the town drunk
ard the who beat his wife. If you didn't have
spring housekeeping" you just didn't belong, the
heresy being the not having beans on Saturday
night again speaking from New England viewpoint.
There scores of yards IN this town that never
know the gentle of the rake, hoe shovel;
of houses that have had only remote acquaint
with the paint brush and at the risk of being tar
red and feathered by the ate women OF the city we
venture say that there OF houses thanO,
lost and don't dare say it, but we'd bet
it Just the
Vacant lots in the business section bear prolific
growth of junk OF kind another, paseboard
and paper cartons broken bottles, tin automobile
parts and the general OF dump heaps. Our streets
in the business section dirty even if get scaped
for saying AS for the alleys aside from the paved
ones in the business section they sort Of dismal
swamps' Of unsighty rubbish.
Tourists from other sections of the country invari-
ably stop here because OF superior hotel accomoda-
tions and with these Accommodations now being en-
larged the number of tourists coming here when the
work is completed will be larger than Why sit
content with things they are, when with a little
work by property owners they could be vastly i'm
proved? A few hours work each week. after homes
and yards have been put IN good condition. will keep
them looking they should look and the result will be
we'll worth the effort.
Look at the parking space between the sidewalk
and the curbing in front OF your house. In some in
stances here it is not just plain desert it is
with weeds No attempt made to plant grass or to re-
move the weeds if grass growing Take look at the
parking space across from the Automobile Club of
Southern CalfOrna ONCE on Main street. A rev
weeks ago it was barren Today it will compare faV-
oraby with the court house lawn.
How about your house, Mr.. Citizen? Does it look
like something you proud of, has it the unovely
appearance OF d weather beaten barn? Are you
ashamed TO have little grass about your home?
Would you rather have bare cracked clay? Don't you
suppose if you spent lew dollars putting in d flower
bed that your wife would enjoy it? She would and
than that she would get lot Of healthfuI enjoy
ment working IN il?
Mr. Busmessm&n are you so busy making money
that you haven't time to clean up around your place?
il you busy there couple Of hundred Boy
Scouts here in ri Centro who would be glad to a
little extra money after school hours and Satur-
day. cleaning UP for you. In fact the Scouts would
like to do it is q decided Bit Of civic Improvement
TO which they pledged.
Nothing be accomplished without united ef-
fort That is a fundamental here in FL Centro
have Rotary Cub l4IWanls Club, Chamber Of
Commerce. Lions Club, American Legion and a number
OF other organizations Why get them all together
get back of real clean up campaign that will
plish something and improve appearance OF
city.
Luncheons and discussions fine things. How
about field day with every citizen putting his
als and doing half day work d full day if poss
ibe removing the rubbish and Junk from the city and
then standing committee from all these civic organiz