Laurel outlook., 1946-12-11
COMMERCIAL CLUB
ENTERTA|NS THREE
COUNTY OFFICERS
Commissioners FentOn, Yer.
ringtOn and Engineer Dur
land Speak At Meeting

Two members Of the board of
county commissioners, G. w. Fen
ton of Laurel and Carl M. Yerring-
ton of Billings, and County Sur
veyor C. E. Durland of Billings
were special guests Friday at a gen.
eral meeting of the Laurel CONNER
cial club. They appeared on the
program as speakers. The meeting
was at the L. l.. club. Also guests
for dinner were several officers and
members of the cooperative asso-
citation of turkey growers who had
been holding a meeting earlier at
the l.. L. club.
President Glen Roysdon presided
at the business meeting. B. B.
Hageman reported about $4,000 had
been pledged for the baseball park
and recommended that 18 acres of
the Morris farm be purchased as
a site. Frank Hartley suggested
that the Commercial club contribute
a sum of money to the Laurel fire
department for purchase of a re-
suscitator. The machine, costing
5000, was recently delivered to the
department. The club voted to con
tribute 500. C. w. Laird reported
that inquiries had been received
from people proposing to open a
mortuary here. He considered it
better for the club to handle the
correspondence than for the ceme-
terry board to do so. Several store
managers discussed opening and
closing hours for business houses.
Stewart Johnson, R. H. Sterrett
and P. A. Johnston were appointed
or a committee for that purpose.
B. L. Price introduced the guest
speakers. Commissioner Yerring-
ton recounted some of the pleasures
he had enjoyed while serving the
county and called particular atten-
ton to a pending meeting of the
Yellowstone Valley Reclamation as
ISOLATION which will open sessions
Dec. Is in Billings. Although total
valuation of property in the county
has been increased, the land values
have remained about the same. The
increase is largely represented by
city improvements. Some farm
areas that had become seeped have
been reclaimed in recent years, and
in the unirrigated sections there
has been a program for retaining
springs and creating reservoirs in
grazing territories.
County Surveyor Durland discus
sed the road building work of his
office, quoting sums of money
available for the purpose, their
sources and how they are spent. ]
Because of the war there has been
no new material available for SER
eral years, which has made carry !
ing on the program unusually diff
He compared the 1915 roads
with those existing in 1916 and out
lined plans for road improvements {
in this end of the county. Often {
governing the work of his depart
ment is establishment of new school l
bus routes, their changes and use I
by beet growers who have crops to s
deliver in the fall when bad wealth l
err often prevails. There are now /
to 80 special rural improvement 9
in the county for which |
MS office has to do the figure work
and drawing. The improvement dis
are for sewer lines, ornament I
al lighting and a variety Of other y
projects. N
Commissioner Fenton acknowledge y
I'd the desirability of having as L
many miles of good roads as pos
The county has made steady i
progress in this direction over the
ears, although the program is not
ret completed. The county has
many miles and also has
ome oiled roads, which do not in
lude the highways constructed and
maintained by the Montana highway ii
commission. During the war some t;
f the old equipment wore out and I
ould not be replaced. Illustrating v
he difficulty encountered in this L
aspect he mentioned that the coun- r;
Y had contracted last March for fl
tx trucks. Only one has been de- W
w
Before relinquishing as master of ii
ceremonies, Price said he had re- al
contacted a mar in Helena 81
Tho was making a study of flood
ontrol in this area. Price recon- il
that the mar be informed W
oncerning flood waters that have re
ntered Laurel from the west in B
ears past. TT