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Show Smoke From The Weekly Pipe PERHAPS the flu is subsiding to a certain extent, andi late health reports re-ports indicate that it is, but the number num-ber of new cases reported daily and the death record every twenty-four , hours combine to make those who are watching the course of the epidemic very skeptical. There is one thing there can be no question about the situation has been handled, very badly. In other larger cities, the disease has been practically stamped out in short order, and the way our state and city officials have temporized is not particularly pleasing to most people Right off the reel, the theatres, and other places of amusement were tx closed; we believe this is their eighth if week of darkness. But for weeks j crowds were allowed to congregate everywhere else wtihout calling for anything mor draEtlc than a warning that poor1 ing a mob were in danger of acting the disease. The schools .vhere the children could be kept under proper surveillance wore also closed, yet it has been the experience in other cities that the disease was less prevalent among pupils pu-pils in schools than in those cities where they were turned loose. Recently came a belated order to regulate office hours, and the opening and closing of different classes of stores in order to relieve the shopping and transportation congestion, but the new arrangement has not proven signally sig-nally successful. There is no more reason for closing the theatres than for closing the stores, and in justice to all, either the theatres should be opened open-ed and the people attending them be compelled to wear masks as they are in some other cities, or else close the whole town up for a week, and stamp out the flu as they have in various other cities by that method. : It migh work a temporary hardship, but it would be a great deal better than to drift through the wintei on the present plan with little noticeable decrease in the number of new cases, and business generally upside down. We noted with interest in one of the dailies the other morning that the situation was well in hand, and in another an-other column that 98 new cases had developed the day before, and a number num-ber of deaths had been reported. Frankly we can see no excuse for the terrific loss theatre- people, merchants mer-chants and business men generally have been compelled to take, through the inofficiertt handling of the flu sit-, sit-, i uatlon the first really serious health 4 situation the state has been called t upon to face. ' The salvation of the country does ', not depend on the way Salt Lake " ' E handles the flu, but one could easily ' imagine that that is the case. The big '. cities whore the disease is prevalent are not closed up. Where they were it was only for a brief period, and after sensible plans for its eradication I were agreed upon business was re sumed as usual. v i (1 But why should any cow town abide by the precepts of those in the cities where their work has told. This town has been closed now for nearly eight weeks, and it is outrageous. Make the closing general for a brief period or open it up. It is the busiest season of the year and the losseB being sustained are enormous. That would be all right if any good were being accomplished by the slip shod methods employed, but none is, and the Avhole thing looks like rank discrimination! or inefficiency. ineffici-ency. x In one bank alone, half the force came down with influenza, and three fine men died of the disease. Why not close the banks? If it is so contagious, contagi-ous, and it must be, It isn't necessary for a crowd to gather to endanger people. Close it all or open it all, or try the experiment of compulsory- wearing! of masks. Do something, and, do it quickly, quick-ly, and quit temporizing, for the people peo-ple have had enough of that and are growing very restless under the various vari-ous restraints. Eddie O'Day has discovered a new poet in IFresno who edits the Mirror there. He is Poet-editor Mappes who, after quoting some free verse by Witter Wit-ter Bynner, proceeds to show how real free verse should be written. Mapes says that it is "very hard to write, as our pencil, pitted, with teeth marks, our rumpled pompadour, and our tattered cravat attest". The, lines he says he wrote "in our garage by the light of an auto lamp," and here they are: We met on the windy boulevard. I opened my mouth, to say "Howdy?" And the wind blew dessicated Bull Durham into It. She laughed. Dammit! I felt like stabbing her wtih a. pencil. My love has gravy on his "flu" mask. Has he been eating chicken Maryland or just plain mulligan? Oh, I could bite his cheek If my teeth were not at the dentist's. Her eyes are like fried egs, And when her ardent gaze Upon my soup stained vest doth concentrate con-centrate I feel like a ham sandwich. Why is the cat much lovelier than the fence? J3 Come, let's imbibe. Let us leave the garden, Maud. The ants have got into my pants And are laying eggs as big as Big Berthas. The night birds are gurgling Like dishwater going down the sink, Your breath is bad, so kiss me on the neck. You must not eat limburger, sweetheart. sweet-heart. FOLLOWING- the prompt squelching of the New York reds by the soldiers sol-diers and sailors a few nights ago, the city commission here were prompt to act in anticipation of any local disturbances, dis-turbances, and the result is an ordinance ordi-nance that will effectively .stop any demonstrations of an anarchistic nature. na-ture. Other cities all over the country are doing the same thing, so there is little likelihood of any Bolshevike getting a good start. A fine of $299.00 or imprisonment or both will be the lot of anyone displaying display-ing a red flag or making any anarchistic anarchis-tic demonstration, and the ordinance is effective immediately. It is drastic in its wording and prohibits the wearing or carrying of any objectionable emblem em-blem on the streets or at public meetings, meet-ings, and a red flag may not be displayed dis-played on any house or building or from any window. Prompt action of this nature will do much to curtail any sinister influences that may be at work, and prevent anticipated an-ticipated attempts to upset any part of the federal machinery or infringement upon the laws of the land. A SHORT time ago when one of the city teachers received her pay envelope, it contained a slip stating stat-ing that a certain amount of money had been necessarily spent to help to pass the mining tax amendment to the state constitution, and that each of the teachers was supposed to contribute a proportion. If this was sent to one, it was sent to all and there should immediately im-mediately be an investigation to And out how much was spent, who spent it and what for. If this does not come under the penalties pen-alties imposed by the Corrupt Practice Act, we should like to know why not, and as for compelling the teachers to make up the money irrespective of how they stood on the question, that is nothing less than outrageous, and there should be an immediate accounting account-ing with the responsibility traced to the proper source. It Is one of the rottenest things Ave have heard of in connection with the whole rotten business of the passing of the amendment, and we are going to endeavor to find out just who is responsible, re-sponsible, who sent out the notices, and by what authority the teachers are asked to shave their pay checks to grease the Democratic machine. |