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Show v H ...... ... -i ... , , , , ' . B ' ' r ' i " "" . H . I I An Able Paper. MCTXFJC PP TrW RF.WterJf. I H READ THE' WHOLE Of IT. X As JL JEJLAJd CLASS 1907 A. C. Of L. I v ' ' . H Generally spending, there is a H strong .tendency on tlie part of H college men and women of to-day, H to ide.ilic persons, things and H conditions while within .college H halls. They are apt to paint in H fanciful hues, pictures of ideal H conditions for society, forgetting H thai! he problems, which confront H them aie fads' and 'not fancies. H They aie inelined (o lay down H certain rules, to which society in H ' general must cmifoim, rather H than making inles which eon H form to the nlie.uly established H society. At giaduation time, the H . young men and women aie given H oppoi Minify to express themselves H in repaid to certain pioblems of H the day. It is heii that this H idealisation is made Visible, as it H ' ( liters to a great' extent into the H papers written by them. , H In choosing' subjects to (lis- H course upon, a 4'oinmon mistake H is made in selecting a subject, H which although of great social H impoitanee, is unfit for one, H wliose horizon is so narrow. And H it is generally conceded that the H horizon of the average college H graduate is on a pretty narrow H plane. What he says about a H subject of this nature is but a H "rehash" of what he has read, H (and naturally it is superficial. lie, H can place it before you in elegant H robes, but ho cannot prove the H Sincerity. H ,"r A Great Question. H These few preparatory stato- H nients arc made in an explanatory H nature concerning the subject H ' handled herein. In 'general, it is H h great question, yet iti is not one H which permits of tlights of fancy H or high idealization. It ..deals H with ordinary every-day existeuca H . of every man. woman and child H of just 4in ordinary town. It is H . a question ' which admits of H lengthy discussion, but yet does H not) require experienced miitds or H any superior statesmanship to at- H tcstttp its sincerity. There are H other social and political, qucs-H qucs-H tions of the day, which are of H more interest to yoti perhaps, and H which would make a better com- B. 7nencement aper, but they aie K discussel, mid redlscusst-d in the B magazines, periodicals and news- H . papeiN of the day by men of au- H , fhority and experience in a man- H ner far superior to that of any H mere, college graduate. Then H ' probably all you would get from H the latter would be other men's M ,, views, mutilated and rehashed, H and ttheji called original. Again, H these great questions, while of H . importance, do not nearly so H much concern the walfare of a H , community. They may be of H gicat interest, but they do not go M with you into your koines, for H they are ttoo big for any great" B thought when the ordinary prac- H lical questions of life arise. The fl big questions are all right in their H plate, and Jiy all means deserve M consideration, but subjects con- m cerning the daily life of n com- H munity Jiro of more value ,and H their solution will bring forth H more happiness. M The subject' "Ciyiu Pride"' is M not original. It has called forth H inift'h eminent of late, but it is n H question which confronts you and H me every day vo Jive, ft comes H to s, and is a question -not only 9 for big men of masterly minds. B but also one for good ordinary HJ citizens to solve. B Town vs. City. B f The question arises'as to what B eonstitutcK "Civic Pride." It is BH tho purpose of this paper to put Bfl forth a few of the salient featuies, BH which make up this intangible BH ' something; a something which is a necessary requisit for good citizenship. citi-zenship. In this paper, the endeavor en-deavor has been made to confine the topics as much as possible to ..mirliiiiiiiu 1i1.f (liivn u'n ftlirl ill the towns and small cities, for it is. here that tjie luck of Civic Pride 's'most noticeable. In largo, oitlcs, the question of "Civic P.ltfity" overshadows all other' Social Ues-tions, Ues-tions, and usually on account of the centering ofwc.ilth, "Civic Pride" becomes a secondary inc. City life with its hustle aiid bus-.tie. bus-.tie. I'enps men awft.c and a i..'ii npporturiitie.s r -r niprovinp their conditions of living. Life in the towns and small cities is usually void of hard competition, 'niul men vare apt to settle into ruta, and becoine eonteutcd with worn paths. There' seems to have been a fad or a fancy spread across the cbuntry for "boosting," as against what is termed "knocking"' "knock-ing"' a town. While Ibis to a great extent is commendable, yet tJiis so-called "boosting" does not always "boost." .As one writer has put it, "Boosting is but an indirect ny of knocking the .other fellow." The real "booster" of a community is a good citizen, who is up and ready to improve conditions., of life around him; the lenl "knocker" is the fellow, who knows no such thing as "Civic Pride." . ' It makes' no difference how many so called "boosting mot-tos" mot-tos" are originated; how many "get acquainted excursion?'' are run; how ninny "busy nil the time badges" are worn or bow many advertising booklets are distributed, dis-tributed, if the 'ltii'iis of a place are not inibuej with the spirit of helping each nthir improve and ben ut if v their town. The best-way best-way to "boost" a town is to stop "knocking." Let us see what the leal "Ihioekn" does, and what real "knocking" is. As to Knockers. The real "knocker" is a man with tho full lights and prerogatives prero-gatives of n eit'sci-u. He receives the protection r.doidid him by our gov eminent; is benefited by the society jiikI ntscfiiition of his fellow beings. However leg'inl less of all these piivileges, he givs nothing in return. In other, wor Is. he is ,i 'etch upon the rominunity. JA us examine hi? lionn' fo see if ihe evidence' does not Mibslnntiat? tin above statement. state-ment. In approaching, you find his sidewalk badly kept. "Weeds grow proiniseously on the ditch-banks, ditch-banks, and the ditches themselves, are cleaned buti on'eo a year, and that is when the municipal au thorities do it. The foot bridges are . loose mid tottering. His front fence, usually a' poor make shift, is out of line and some of the posts urn rotted and pickets are gone. There is no gate, or if there is one, it swings eiookedly. Neither the fence nor the gate have ever seen paint or the kindly white wash brush. On entering there is'a meandering trail, marking' mark-ing' t ho line of travel If there are lawns, they are hidden by a thicket of weeds. No flower gardens gar-dens or vines are visible. On the front porch are piled a baby carriage, car-riage, a clothes washer v and a broken down bed stead. The house, itself, no matter how well it was built, has been nt'glcjc'ted. It has not been renovated each spring, by the carpenter or (he painter. It groans fdr paint. Let it be said heie, that paint is one of the modem improvements of society, for it covereth up a multitude of sins. Aipooj house, well painted comes nearer being a thing of beauty andiir'joy for-ever, for-ever, than a mansion without paint. The 'Back YanL. ' Suppose we go" around the word pictur6 is' an extreme. (Jrauted. It has been made so purposely. Luckilyjhere are but few hoqies, which possess -nil of these disagreeable features, butf nU "knockers" homes possess n few of them. "A chain is not stronger than its weakest link." t ' i i. BluQBBBBBBBBBBBBBBH B''BiBJBBflYflBBflaflBflBflBflBflBJ B'fl'fl'fl'fl'fl'fl'fl'fl'fl'fl'fl'fl'flffflHES'kCB'flBBflffl'fl'fl'flH' bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbwhHbbbbIIIIH bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbmbbbbbbbbIIIIIIb BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBJ B. F. RITER JR. house and' look. This same un-thriftiness un-thriftiness prevails. The back vard is full of weeds, and serves as a kind of a general garbage dump. No matter what it is, the back yard finally gets it. If it is table refuse dump it out1 in the back yaid. If it is a badly worn family album give it to the back jard. Dump out the stove ashes there, and be careful fo scatter them around well, or if there is an extra accumulation of newspapeis. throw them out back. T.hey will blow around easier. Then there is the ever friendly wood pile, which with its chips and rouh logs forms a nucleus for all this disorder. The back yard would never be complete com-plete with out the barns, stables and out houses, all going to pieces, and in needof repaiis and paint. The worst feature about Jhis back yard is that it is clean-ed clean-ed only about once a year, and that is when the health officer remembers there is a statute requiring re-quiring an annual elean-up. What do you think about a community, when there must be a law requiring requir-ing a man to clean his own back yard What do you think about a man, who gets mad and cuises such a law? What do you think about n citien. whose premises have to be cleaned by the municipality muni-cipality Another thing, if this good citizen is' so attached to this junk of his, why does not he keep' it to himself It might not be so pleas nit to his neitflfbors. The different odors may be delicious de-licious to his nostrils, but may not be so to' some people, who disagree with him in his selee-tion. selee-tion. If you are determined to keep such' a back yard until such a tim' as the health officers liiake you clean up, there is one alternative. "Don't let us sec it fence it' in. Put up a high board fence aiqund three sides of vit, and a lattice feneo in front, separating se-parating it fiom th.e front yard. Then keep your old back yard. But it will lo argued that this. All of these before-mentioned unsavory un-savory conditions are the weak links in the chayi of good citizenship. citi-zenship. If it is the fence, which only needs lining line, it. If tho lawn needs weeding weed It. If the porch needs painting why paint it. It is the little things which count, andsay don't forget for-get about that back yard. Mot Expensive. In these little improvements, the Hist question which arises is the cost. It is but natural, but stop a minute to consider how much it costs to keep he back yard clean flow many cents does it take to keep your family heirlooms off of the front porch How much must you pay to keep your side walks and ditches in condition? Is there any extra consideiatjointo keep your chickens chick-ens to yourself, and not let your neighbors enjoy their company? It does not cost much to he a good citizen. .Tpst a little time between sjipper hour and dark each evening,- when you come home from work will get and keep the old home in a presentable present-able condition. When all of these diagieeablc conditions have been eradicated, then improvements im-provements can follow. Start a vine at the corner of the lmuse, which sags n "little. Put in ,i tulip qr sweet pea bed, wheie you once raised milk weeds and dandelions. dan-delions. Now there are the tree-.. Don't forget them. Plant plenty of them; some might' die. They do not cost much, but they go far in beautifying a little home. Tt is "in the shade of the old applo tree," where most happiness is found. On tho front porch put a sefee or bench where the ice cream fieezer once stood, and in that back yard, which you and I love .so much, build an ash pit. After a while, yon can put tip a little lattice fence to obscure the back yard from profane, public gaze. Then above, all things invite in-vite the health officer, and tell him you have refonped. All of these little improvements improve-ments make your existence happier, hap-pier, and at the samp time is "Civic" Pride." When a visiter comes to your town, and sees your home in n neat condition, he says to himself, "There lives Mr. Booster. He has done his share toward beautifying the town." More of The Knocker. We have seen the "knocker" in his existance. Now let us see how- his spirit enters the public" life. This "knocker" is the same fellow, who allows his irrigating ditch to overflow its banks, and flood he streets and sidewalks. Ho has no consideration for women wo-men who must pass along, and besmirch their gowns. Then Again this fellow takes pains to sweep all of the side walk refuse into the ditch or gutter. A while back in Salt Lake City, six of the smaller grocery men were arrested arrest-ed on this charge.They'all cursed the law. and could see no damage in choking u'pJlte ditch and flooding flood-ing the street. A brother to this "fellow is the one, who throws banana and orange peeling? on the side walk, ahd releases large pieces of paper to be blown 'about ou -the public thoroughfares. T'e discarding of these peelings in such a manner, is not only dangerous, but shows also a noticable u.Jk of good liome training. If you eat a ban-alia ban-alia or orange in public, yon can find a place to deposit" the peel-insg. peel-insg. Every grocery man hns a refuse box in a handy place in his store When you purchase a banana, leave 'him nn overpayment overpay-ment in the fornj of the peeling. It is safe to say that more run away accidents are caused by hoises becoming frightened at loose pieces of paper, than by biass bands. or automibiles. The person. fwho is responsible for a piece of paper floating around, is almost an abettor to a crime But putting aside the dangerous aspect, as-pect, does'nt it' look beautiful to see the comic section of a Sunday pape,r promenading Main .street, in advance of a dust storm If one will but notice, he will find that our' public school children are greatly resjvonsible for; the sprend of paper on the streets. Coming home from school, they thoughtlessly drop scraps and' pieces over the fence and- in handy nooks, to be lilown about, when the first opportunity ar-' rives. Parents should leniind their children of the importnnee of either leaving waste paper In baskets at school, or bringing it home. The Spitter. Now comes the fellow, who expectorates ex-pectorates on the side-walk, and deposits his cigarette aiid cigar sfubs (hereon. Have you ever gone along' Main street of your town on a Sunday afternoon, and noticed the fonjier camping grounds of these highly iutellec-Mini iutellec-Mini Sunday afternoon congregations congrega-tions "the united order oj street loafers" They gather around a railing or use a market display stand for a lostriun. Here they hold their sessions, and besides be-sides annoying citizens, who pass, make themselves obnoxious by aV most rendering the pnvsage im-possible. im-possible. Their continuous expectoration expec-toration soon, forms a small size lake, and through this, ladies must drag their skirts, or if they lift them, they draw out unseeiu-ing unseeiu-ing remarks from the loafeis. Peanut shells, also litter the walk. I know business men who make it a rule to never hire a sheet loafer, for even the meanest of toil, for time and again he has proven hiniself.no ood. These arq the 'fellows who are the principal' vjolatcrs of an anti-expectoration ordinance. It is'nt the M busy man, who hurries along the street. He generally steps up to the ditch curb. 1 1t is these no account' ac-count' Roughs", who are a curse to the community in which they dwell. They belong to the same category as the "town hoodlum" J he .worst x" knocker" in existence. ex-istence. The Hoodlum, , Before paying my respects ito this fellow, let us make a differentiation. differ-entiation. In large cities, we have the "city tough, ' who is nn entire ditVeient type of a human being from the "town hoodlum". The fiist personage, after running run-ning into the minions of the law once or twice, learns to respect it. lie I'ehnves himself through fear, and an iron hand keeps him within with-in bounds. This fellow, usually is sharp enough to reason with, and way down underneath he has a small spark of honor. A good police or juvenile judge finds this spark, replenishe8"'it with fuel; and keeps it burning. You can appeal to most of these fellows, and if you geti them interested in a line of wok,' a good citizen usually results. As a. police judge once said to a, roundsman, "we will make these fellows respect Us; and then reform them." A "town hoodlum" has never been taught to respect law and order, for usually in a town or small city, tlu arm ofi the law is too weak. Being reared in a back district, these fellows are not -is snappy, clever or bright as the 9 "city tough," mid this small difference dif-ference makes' the ','hoodlum" hard to handle. When you attempt at-tempt to reason with him. he sneers at j ou, and as a rule these smalle- places have no means to divert his attention during loafing loaf-ing hours, other than the ool hall or saloon. The "towji lidod-lum" lidod-lum" and the "village wloon bum" are of the same family "-both "-both belong in the house of cor- ' rections. To proceed, the "town hoodlum" hood-lum" is the brake to civic im-piovement. im-piovement. Every community is composed for the most part of good citizens. These citizens from M'jne to time improve their surroundings; sur-roundings; they fix up their homes and beautify them. They' prompt the city authorities to improve im-prove the public utilities. It is just at this point, when a caiii-munity caiii-munity feels as if progress is be-injr be-injr ninde, that the "hoodlum" makes his entrance. He proceeds lo steal floweis and tear upflower beds. He knocks over fences or smashes ornamental fence post. He tramples lawns, and dumages shrubery. He yanks young trees nit by the roots, and 'twists them out of line. He takes his pocket knife out, and cuts great gashes in fence pickets br street' comer signs. He murks up public build-ings build-ings and wnlls. Occasionally he relieves the monoton.v by firing a brick thioiigh a window, or cutting cut-ting a plnte glass. He invades Hie cemeteries; steals flowers and tips over head stones. Nothing is saeicd within his reach. -He disturbs religious gatherings and public assemblies. When a citizen attempts to park each sjde of ,the walk in front if his place, the thoughtless pedestrain walks over the newly made lawnThis necessitates neces-sitates a fence being put up, which is just a new nwarming place for the "hoodlum." He sits (oii .the fence; sags it down until . i j .t looks like if -uloflios linii, jimi llu'rif passes the time invny. Send lh'era To Jail. We could 0 on cnijnicrailtH,' I tho potty doprodirlir.il of the "town hoodlum," but his crimes ;i)0 tub liiiinv. lie enn do more, , diunii'i' in n uiglit, tliiin six' Hioiitlis or' toil can improve. If lie destroys, Nat tire Nature is not quick to jQiuudy the spoiln-tiou, spoiln-tiou, for it takes time. " IJefore a eoinmunity enn advance these "hoodlums'" must be taken eare uf, and the 'only 'way possible, is through nit iron hand. Sqnd them to jail,' or hotter still, put them iii a chain vrmij:. and make them work on tile public streets. One of the highest compliments to be paid to a country justice, is to say the "hoodlum'' is afraid of him. The country officials are to a jrreat extent resTnsible for the continued depredations of "hoodlum's," "hood-lum's," for too often there is a laxity in enforcing the law. When a town can brag that there are 110 "hoodlums" and "street loafers." it has boosted itself better bet-ter than n thousand excursions could do. Good Rteds. ,' 1 ' There is" Hie other aspect now; of civic improvement on ' the part of civil officers. First and foremost the question of "-good roads looms lip, and it would admit ad-mit of-- lengthy discussiou. We could shpw the many manifold advantages derived, from good roads, and tell. of tlie many different differ-ent Wthods used in securing them, but time, will not permit. Suffice it to, say, a systematic im-piovement im-piovement of village roads is the hey note to the situation. Let one or two miles of road be chosen each summer to he macadamized, eobblostoncd or paved,'and at the end of a' few years the community commun-ity will have ' several miles of streets, which will cost Init minimum mini-mum to keep in 'repair. The method, prevaile-nt generally of hauling gravel br shale to fill in a bad street, forms but a temporary tempo-rary repair, and after a short time' the street' is worse than ever. In order to have good roads, they must he drained, ancLthe filling in of mud holes is not draining. Tine, however, the latter remedy is better than no remedy at all, 1 and this system will" probably al-v al-v ways exist until the street have been properly taken' care of. Aside from the standpoint of improving im-proving streets the matter of keeping them in repair is import-ant.The import-ant.The rocks and rubbish should be systematically raked off, and hauled away. Weeds give an unthrifty un-thrifty appearance1 to a street. The matter 'of eradicating them from nil' public highways in a town is practically impossible, but the streets in the business portion of town should bo free from them. A very good iden to keep rubbish off oPthe streets and sidewalks is to place at eacli corner, n rubbish receptacle. It is surprising how much waste is depo.sit.ed hero, and also it is ah .inducement to keep n street clean. The idea of sprinkling the streets is a, gpod one, " and it should he the endeavor of every oity or town council to. extend tho district thus favored to jis large an area as possible. Sidewalks Necersary. d'ood sidewalks are a blessing to every community, and tho only on-ly satisfactory walk thus far found is the one made of cement. As the decision of crqutinj, side wnlk districts, in most communities, communi-ties, is left to the citizens, it should bo thff pride of every one of tlteni to have a gooi side' wnlk in front of his property. -In this connection, I feel as if it is not out of place to. nrgo upo'n the citizens of Logai tho necessity of constructing satisfactory sido-walk's sido-walk's to tho. ' Agricultural College. Col-lege. In disngreonblo weather, the student re forced to' wnde through mud and watou to school ruining their clothing and ' impairing' im-pairing' then health. "They are compelled ,o sit all day, wearing wet sliues and wearing apparel, and when night conies, wade Unci;, home iirtnuut and water. It is not rmlit, to ask young inch and women to come here to school, and then offer them tlie poor nccoiumoMntiouH which have been offered in he pnsfT We do not ask you to build sidewalks the whole distance hi one summer, sum-mer, b.ut divide the distance, into districts, paving one lit a ' time. It is to be hoped that ill some future .time, not a-long ways off, that the students may be thus favored. ' AVhen sidewalks are discussed, the question of suitable street crossings arises. No matter how many blocks of sidewalks are built, if there are not good crossings, cros-sings, the great advantage is lost. A city should make provisions for (he building of them, and for the keeping of them clean in stormy weather. Every town and eitv, as soon as"po.ssible. .should perfect its water systems. Thest,two.. fne-toiVare' fne-toiVare' the "most I'mport'iint oiies in the life of a eilyi They1 me' essential to the health of a com-: muuity, ajid no place can grow without being ' abundantly sup- plied with pure water, and possessing pos-sessing a satisfactory means ' of taking eare of its refuse and rubbish. rub-bish. After the two respective systems have been "built iil cities. 1 ' it has been knqwn that; a law has had to be .enacted compelling citizens .to connect with the water and sewerage mniiisf When a city council places such an enactment in its code of laws, it proclaims to the, world " fhat "Civic Pride" in that town is at a very low ebb. and that some good missionary' work can be done-there. V There afe innumerable minor topics to be discussed under the head of "Civic Pride" as related to civil officers? but- time will not permit' further comments. ,Lct it he said, however, that if public opinion stands for "Civic Pride," the officers of a community will not be slow in .responding to this call. Advertise The Town. ( The proposition of advertising a town, or adopting the method in vogue at the present time by most "boosters." is but a logical outcome when a community feels as if there is something in their home town to be proud of. After Af-ter steps have been taken along the line of improvement of true value as noted herein, it is then time to advertise the fact thdre are some good things in tho little lit-tle town away back among the mountains. ' Many (sinall cities 'have issued neat booklets or fold-res, fold-res, profusely illustrated, giving a brief description of the natural facilities of the place, "and inviting. invit-ing. new comers. Theso booklets, when distributed judiciously bring good results.- Other methods meth-ods such as newspaper advertising, advertis-ing, trade excursions delegations to industrial conventions'; displays dis-plays of natural and manufactured manufactur-ed products at places where transients can sec them, all de-noto de-noto a general endeavor on the part of a town to let other people peo-ple know that they have n few things which lire good for all. One of the most effective wnys to advertise a town is to get a railroad rail-road interested in tho locality, and the endeavors made upon tho part of such a compnny. generally general-ly results in good for all parties concerned. Some cities hnve put up small bonuses, when it was particularly desirnblo to secure a manufacturing manufactur-ing plant. Small concessions on the part pf a city couuciIt often brings to tlie- town, nn industry, which otherwise would go to nu-o'tlicr nu-o'tlicr Jocnlity. A wide nwnlce t m u v town keeps these t little points constantly before it,v and by so doing "boosts" the town uiieon-seiontiotisly. uiieon-seiontiotisly. In summing up: It has been the desire of the writer of this paper to bring forth, a few of the important facts, which go to make up "nvie 'iyif 1 In such ait emlcaw'i', the private home of a citizen has been noted, pointing point-ing out the places where improvement improve-ment can be made. "Civic Pride" as related to Public Life has been dealt with, and -little matters, in which the general public is concerned have been stated. A short space has been tlevoted to duties of Civil officers in the matter of helping a community com-munity thrive, and note has been made that public ipinion must give, the officers strength and support. Finally, the advertising of a town has been touched upon. In conclusion, .it may be seen that nothing new iir original has been discussed here, but merely old subjects handled, but if this p'iper succeeds in reminding some one that his buck yard needs cleaning or the front -gate needs repairing, I will feel as if good has been done-. |
