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THE LAKE SHORE NEWS, THURSDAY, AUGUST 3,1916. qF|.,'*"J- fifc'i *.*? ffE LAO SHORE HEWS »r THE. W1LMETTE LOCAL NEWS =fc PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY f*l The Lake Shore Publishing Co. ....-' 1222 Central A»enu« % Telephone 1640 !&»*'■ »■'■»' " ' "■'"■ ' ' ..... ■" ' ' ' '■■ ■■■--* H. W. WnMf,................. Editor Ljlotd F. Hoixister. .Business Manager •UB8PRIPTI0N $2.00 A YEAR I Entered e* Becond-cla»» matter March U. ItH, at th» postofflce at Wilmette. Ittnols, tinder the act of March 3. 1879. Addrew all communications to The Lake Shore News, Wilmette.' Anonymous eorarounlcatlons will dot be noticed. Re- jected manuscripts will not he returned ttaleas accompanied by postage. All met- ier for publication in the current week't teew> should reach our office not later then Tuesday noon. f THURSDAY, AUGUST, 3, 1916, jtitifBD: BUSINESS EFFICIENCY. The complaint now being raised by die farming sections of this township seeing in no way to impugn the integ- rfty of New Trier's highway commis- sioners. But it does demand a more intelligent business administration of the township's financial affairs. |&^ officials directly concerned pro-, test that the complaints are vague and inaccurate. They have declared that they fear no publicity In the discussion of their activities, or the iack of them. Yet they have either willfully or in- dlfferently evaded all opportunities to explain their attitude on the drainage and road-improvement problems of the Western sections of the township, or to, gain, the co-operation of the resi- dents of these sections. In a letter ad- dressed to this publication one of these officials, apparently inspired to such action fey (the remaining pembers of the toardV dwellp at some length up- on the, unreasonableness of the alleged demand that the township commission- ers use the township funds to drain the privately owned farm lands in this sec- tion. ,t ■ . ■■ ]. : To those who have interested them- selves enough to become acquainted with conditions it seems ridiculous for a board of public officials to hedge up- on such a point since it is well" under- stood that no such demand is made by any one. With the exception of a few hundred yards, in one section of this territory What drainage work has " been '^oae#$feas "been' -accom- plished by the individual farmers and land owners at their own expense. The bed of the Skqkie, which in past years created a marsh, utterly useless ex- cept as a breeding «round for mosqui- toes, out of a vast stretch of land which now sells for $800 an acre, was opened up by these farmers who worked on Sundays to clear out the masses of weeds, driftwood and 'silt whjch ^chpjked $te stream and the re- moval of which reclaimed their lands. ■ What these property owners ask-- and it seems reasonable---is that the township, commissioners. assist them by cleaning out and opening up the ditches along the public roads and which are. township property. It can- not be denied that this work efficiently 4o$e jjrpiL benefit these taxpayers; but their demand is not made on this basis hot from the sensible contention that such, work will conserve the public In- terests by draining prdperly these pub- lic highways, which will protect them against, floods and which means a con- siderable saving to the township treas- ury. ; It does, seem that such an item as this should receive t|e favorable consideration of the officials whose oath of office clearly obligates them to thte duly.' , * , ■' "' > ... .'-,.'■.. - Again, the ancient law of New Trier stipulates that the township commis- sioners shall receive $2 a day as com- pensation for their services. - Custom haA interpreted this stipulation to cials are giving the public work very little of their personal supervision. : One commissioner admitted to the writer that "perhaps the township work was not being done as efficiently as it should be and that he was not personally familiar with the manner tn which the roads were being repaired In some sections, but that he had pade a tour of a few of the roads last Sunday morning in his automobile and they seemed to be in unusually good condition." This commissioner admitted that very little durability could he expected from read repair work where the stone was merely dumped into the holes without, the .use <jf a "binder" or a roller. He declared that the township could not afford more thorough treat- ment of its highway. It might be sug- gested that this commissioner invite his fellows to an inspection of the twenty miles of Glencoe's streets- highways which represent the acme of perfection in a community. We might further suggest that they consider a few of the lessons: in efficiency which these streets offer, namely the "patrol system" and annual repair work at |200 a mile. It can.be seen clearly that if Glencoe resurfaced all her streets every year, which is not neces- sary, the bill would amount to but 14,000. ,;-'■■.'■ New Trier township anticipates $12,- 000 this year for the especial needs of its highway department. Perhaps it were jiot so foolish to suggest also that should these resources be placed in the hands of an individual such as he who is actively responsible for the administration of Glencoe's affairs this sum would supply the township with the convenience of the Glencoe type of roadway in short order, leaving at the completion of the work a tidy little bundle of cash which could be used for intelligent drainage. Only this expert to whom we refer would doubtless re- verse the process--build a good drain- age, system to protect his road founda- tions and then make his highway re- pairs. But this is not the present sys- tem. One point isevldent-^-that were the township commissioners half so jealous of. the people's interests as they are of "delegating authority" and of suppressing the amount of funds available more would be. accomplished on New Trier roads. OMIT PETTY POLITICS. mean any service which the commis- sioner may render the township; such as the attending of meetings, the cur- sory inspection of public work on the highways, the round of which may re- quite but fifteen minutes if made in his high-sower touring car. One commis- sioner, rendered a bill for such serv- ices to the township for the year previ- ous to March, 1916, of $26, another of $70, another of $30, which latter repre- sented an unexpired term; and his suc- cessor tor the time, he served, ten- dered a .bill for $92. , ; Offhand this seems as if the1 town- shin were receiving the services of these men, the majority of whom are experienced business men--one espe- cially being a man of technical train- tag; which eminently fits him for thia work, at extremely reasonable figures. • Then again, especially when it is considered -that there is a meeting once a month of this board for each of which session the commissioner draws $2, it becomes a question as to whether the board is actually devot- ing as much time to the duties of office as the conditions would require. Un- less it is to be assumed that the mem- bers of the hoard are donating the greater part of their services to the community, which, from the nature of man, would seem: unlikely, these offl- Once at least publicity given public protests, have benefited the residents of Wilmette, and especially the prop- erty owners. The village is at present, through the placing of the new insur- ance policies, receiving protection from fire at economically efficient rates on its public property. When it became evident that the voters were acquainted and were in? teresting themselves In the methods of placing village insurance which had previously obtained, those responsible fw 'handling .these affairs, found no difficulty in conserving the town treas- ury funds by getting rock-bottom rates at ^37, and a half cents for five years* insurance." , ....,>,.,- Now, attention is ealled to the evi- dent inclination on the part of at least one of the members of. the, village board to return to the old machine sys- tem of politics which prevailed in this community years agp. While this of- ficial cannot fail to be aware of the un- popularity of such a system with the more intelligent and progressive1- ele- ment in the village he seems intent upon ignoring this fact -apparently with the -purpose of strengthening his own fences. • But the alleged threatening of one subordinate official with "if you do as I say you will retain your job" and the Qbviojus."freeing; out" of another be- cause he refused to shirk, his duty in the face of similar demands, it may be certain will fall of its purpose at the polls next year. The offices with which the village, honors Its citizens with executive power- are admittedly honorary. It was isttended, doubtless, when the of- fices were created by; the well-wishing forefathers 5 of the present generation, to establish this, means of assuring the residents of a government in the hands of high-principled men whose interest in office would not be the financial gains associated with these posts of duty. Rather it was expected that these duties, which are comparatively fight, would develop the noblest and most worthy, talents in the officers chosen. When there came a period in which these offices were controlled by poli' ticians who bled the town treasury for all that it would stand regardless of the social, political and moral welfare of the governed, the people demon- strated their disapproval of such dis^ loyalty by ousting the officials and their machine leaders from power. Let it not be forgotten that this is likely to happen again. While experience has taught that there is little to be gained by the so- called "reform" movements this truth in no way belittles the fact that such movements indicate the trend of pub- lic sentiment. Sach sentiment merely grows more determined with repeated reverses at the polls and triumphs ulti- mately. The fact that "reform" move- ments sometimes fail of achieving the ideals they professed publicly is gen- erally due tq another fact that the too gullible populace are too frequently hoodwinked by disgruntled soreheads, who for some reason have fallen out with the "gang" and are merely mas- querading under the guise of "reform" that they may Wield the power they crave if only for the briefest hour. There is a decided force of public sentiment here which heads for clean and efficient village government. This sentiment demands that the health laws which we have be enforced justly and regardless of favors for political purposes; also that social and charit- able work in the town shall be admin- istered humanely and entirely void of petty politics. Wilmette, July 31, 1916. Wilmette, Aug. 1, 1916. To the Editor: As a member of the board of trustees of Wilmette I am gradually becoming acquainted with the problems which the village must meet While we, do not have the same problems as a large city, the very ab- sence of the socalled criminal classes leads the residents of such a. commu- nity as Wilmette to believe that public affairs do not need the attention they receive in less favored communities. I am convinced, however, that there are many things which the citizens of Wil- mette should know more about than they do at the present time and with that object in view ,1 propose to do my share toward arousing a general inter-j_ ... jmhq-.' est in village affairs by seeking to give * to the public some of the necessary in formation upon which to base a fair judgment. At the present tteie the population of Wilmette is about ten thousand with an assessed property valuation of over two million dollars < $2,000,000) and an actual value of considerably in excess of that amount. While the taxes lev- ied tor village purposes are only, in the neighborhood of thirty-five thousand dollars the actual amount handled by the village trustees, exclusive of spe- cial assessments,' is about twice that amount and the amount expended each year in special assessments brings the total up to an average of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars per year. .To legislate.for the village, expend this large sum and generally look after its welfare the village president receives $500 per year and the trustees about fifty dollars per year each, ac- cording to the number of meetings held. Some years ago, when the cus- tom of paying the trustees was begun, a former member of the board said, "As long as I acted as trustee without compensation I felt the position to be an honor, but now when my services are rated at :a. dollar and fifty cents per, night I feel like a cheap clerk." * Wilmette is-growing so steadily and so rapidly that it will be only a short time when its population will reach 20,000 and the real problems confront- ing the village which must be met and solved from a purely: business stand- point are so important that we need the best talent available. That talent can only be obtained when the posi- tion of trustee and president of the village is a real honor or through the employment on a business basis of men specially fitted by training to get the best results in public affairs. ■ ; After going into a discussion of the various problems now confronting the village of*Wilmette I will give some further views on this subject. First, I desire to take up, however, the press- ing questions now, before the board of trustees, namely i , 1. The water supply. » ' "?l. 2. Franchises. 3. Collection and disbursement of village funds. 4. Fire and polloe force. 5. Garbage .collection and disposal. 6. Special assessments. 7. Suggestions for the future. (Signed) W. S. FREEMAN. quito we have unwittingly caused suf- fering to the prized wild birds of Wil- mette?..;-..... ■ ,..f '• •;..,. ,- The necessary draining off of all standing water has left these little singers without drinking or bathing places. While we must do what is required to get rid of mosquitoes, it seems a pity to lose one of the beauti- ful birds of our village when a little trouble and a few minutes time each day will keep them with us. , la our own yard we have had all season a bird's bath and every day dozens/of birds use it White some Wilmette residents know about it* will you not call the atten- tion of those who do. not know of it to this.matter < Very truly, <Signed) Sophia Piummer. •■*. ' As I drove along Michigan avenue, between Evanston and Wilmette, Sun day afternoon, I< could but wonder what and.how we are going to take care of the tremendous automobile traffic along the north shore in an* other year or so,; The procession of cars passing north and south were so, densely packed in line that motorists on the side streets were known to have waited more than a half hour in some instances for a break large enough for them to slip into the col- umn. ; . . ±. If this traffic continues to increase by leaps and bounds, as it has in the past few years--and it undoubtedly will in flew of the constantly lower- ing prices on automobiles, there,can .be no alternative;but to build more streets *and* larger, boulevards north and south and east and west if we are going to begin to cope.with conditions. These suburban avenues already and at almost any ;hour of the day resem- ble South Water street Chicago, at t£e rush hour. In less than three years' time it will be still more of a serious problem.. , • .,.-'■..,; .;•.-•■ What's the matter with starting this long-talked-Qf boulevard oh either side ^he drainage: sanal?.. That t would ;di- yert some of the traffic and that pre- paredness would count fof much. Also, how/, about Sheridan road» north? In thte ^prospect lies a problem for serious consideration,., for property holders- especially. When they are truly alive to the magnitude of the; proposition they - will -accelerate the village authorities, into action. Wider and better paved alleys would assist greatly in relieving congestion such as that which hampers traffic on the main thoroughfares. Reader, think this over. * ™,*..v.(Signed)L.:Paul- Schroeder. CONTRACTOR IS SOUGHT TO CART OFF ALL REFUSE "Tf- Village f Is y^dvertemg >|or % Someone to Help Solve «■■ Vexing Garbage Problem. ^ Wilt stre» scho ing roon nes 11; PhHattf!* Science. v^- "imrch.. of Christ, "Scientist,,. #»*(vntral fl^nue and Tenth S§f;i;Iay, 10:45 &. m. Sunday 5 % a. m, - Testimonial meet- t#-ci«gr at 8 p. m. Reading Ijpiii- 'to't^tm., except Wed- !»*(■<inesday until 7:45 p. m., JfMte- «v©npe.f • ■ ; . • adv-tf To the Editor; The other side of the mosquito ques- tion presents anew problem, . The Wilmette Improvement associa- tion has organized a very thorough campaign against. mosquitoes. They haver been, and stili are, sending out circular letters asking for contribu- tions, of two dollars each to help carry on their mosquito campaign. ". Their work is to dry up as many pools of stagnant water as they can, and to pour kerosene or -oil on those that are too large to dry up or fill up. Now, far be it from me to try to discourage anyone in this campaignv but I have something to say that may interest the lovers of birds. Think for a minute of how hot you have been these last, few days, and then try to imagine what you would have done without water. Before this mosquito campaign was inaugurated, the thou- sands of birds in Wilmette were ac- customed to drink and bathe in these same pools that we axe trying to dry up. Now most of these pools are dry, and if the birds try to.drink the kero- sene w^ter they will die. But let them go elsewhere, you say, in your hate of the mpsquito. Where can they go? Most of the suburbs along the North Shore have mosquito campaigns sim- ilar to ours. Besides the birds do not like to fly far in search of water In the summer time. . , What can.you do? You can build, or buy hird' baths, and, get your neigh- bors to build or to,*p»3r them. Will the birds use them? They will, I can an- swer this definitely. We have had several in °ur yard this summer, and they are always in use. If you keep your bird bath full of water, put it up on a post in the shade where as tray cat cannot get at it, you will have your yard full of the feathered songsters all summer. It is not too late to put it up now, in fact now is the time- that the birds need it most Following is a good plan, if you do not wish fe> buy the baths. Procure a box about fourteen Inches square and about four inches deep. Mix a pail of cement (have the same amount of sand or coarse gravel as you do cement), be sure that the cement is thick enough, then pour the cement into the box. Take a wash basin or a shallow bowl and hollow out a place about two inches deep, leave the bowl in about four or five hours. If you do not want to see the birds go, build bird baths and bird feeders, and g&t your neighbors to do the same. (Signed) A Lover of Birds. DEFINES GARBAGE, TOO Estimate Places Collections Under Schmidt Ordi- [ nance at $3,000. Wilmette Baptist Church. Rev. B» Frank Tsfter, pastor, resi- dene4 *H& Forest avenue. Sunday services held in the Woman's club building, corner of Greenleaf ave- nue and Tenth street. 9:45 a. m./bible school. 11 a. m,, .morning" worship. The pastor will preach., Subject, "The Call of the Cross." The Lord's Supper will be administered. 7:45 p. m., union serv- ice in the Presbyterian church. Rev. Dr. Fitch of.Ohio will,be the preacher. ;' '. ■' •'* .'?',.' i*T \ ' '•.-'..; '..: i .). .'.First Presbyterian. '-'. The Rev. William Barrett Miilard, D. J)., will conduct the regular.Sunday sendees at the First Presbyterian Church of Wilmette. Djr„ Millard is executive, secretary of . the Chicago Church federation. The subject of his morning sermon, will be; "The Bible, the Word'of God." '..,,. '\ In the> evening the union service of the BaiJilst CongregationaL Methodist 2nd Presbyterian congregations will be held,' c\ .... ..;.- ;„* St John's Ev. Lutheran. Herman W. Meyer, pastor, will eon-, duct the services at St. John's Luther- an church, Linden and Prairie ave- nues, next Sunday morning. The Sun- day school and bible class meet at9;30 a. m. The regular service, Jn English, will begin at 10:30 o'clock. Subject of sermon: "The Hearing of the Divine Word." Methodist. Regular services will be held at the Wilmette Methodist church, Wil- mette and Cade avenues, Sunday morning next, as follows: Sunday school, 9;50 a. m.; pastor will preach on subject, "The Last Step,".!, at 10:45 o'clock; Bpworth League addresses, 6:15, in the base- ment Last Sunday the servie© closed at 11:30.4 Union services will be held Sunday next at Presbyterian church at 7:45 p. m. Wilmette seeks a man who will con- tract to haul away its, refuse, which means its garbage, its ashes, its tin- cans and paper as well. With the advertising for bids for this work the impression has gained favor abroad that the .garbage ordi- nance, fathered throughout by Presi- dent Schmidt and whieh; is pretty generally agreed was * perfectly good •ordinance if it had been intelligently or ■even ■t&Mw<^e^:^%js people* is falling down. Also It 41 reported in circles close to the village hall that Mr. Schmidt would like to discover some convenient and yet legitimate, way In whieh to unload the rfsponstr biiity for.this waaasure, having become convinced that io JamUkihrotuKh along the lines already adopted with the villagers, spells disastrous failure.at the polls n^xt year, tor, him, at least, There can be no doubt laft,,in the mind of the irian who takes the. trou- ble- to cull the, town oyer, that, the means by which ^subscribers to, the new garbage ^ordinance have been SO' cured was. unpopular from the i start, and is growing, more so, that is the talk in all places of public meeting, iNpw with,approximately |3,0OO of the people's money, in the .village treasury, and the greater part of. that already expended for the necessary work,of the community, the problem arise* which presents the most vex- ing situation of all. ■»- ? ? ... , Won't Renew Contract. , ^ John Ileff, who resides abolit two miles west of town, and who has been the co»tractor for the village garbage, Which means discarded vegetable mat- ter usually found in buckets, pails and baskets at the backdoor of the household, has declined to renew his agreement with the village at, the: previous emolument of $1,800 a year. While Ileff has been, hauling away the-garbage proper at this figure, it has cost the village'additional money to have ashes, paper and other refuse carted .away ,as per* the .terms M ihe ordinance. This it /was necessary to do in many cases wh^re the property owner er tenant thus favored had not been a subscriber to the terms o| the new ordinance..;--. = -■,-> -,.^.s.,,.-*...•■■••# It has now become imperative- that the removal of garbage in the village be placed upon a • business basis* Therefore members of the village council on Tuesday evening decided to ^advertise for bids for the removal Ot all refuse from backdoors and al- leyways throughout the town. , This haying been once accomplished upon, a competitive basis, the problem of locating a suitable dumping place for this matter* #hich is the next diffi- culty to be overcome, will be taken UP *by the board and dealt with to a manner which seems the most ex- pedient .. ■■■■'-",-..:■■ *$:.:"", ."-' -; • i ■ ' , i ■■ - imjt '•' - <»■-■■»"•, Hhrtpry? of Quinine. • The first extraction of quinine from the bark of the tropical cinchona tree £y two French chemists in 1S20 larked an epoch in the medical world, and it was Sir Clements Markhanv of England, burned to death in his eighty- sixth year, who in 1852, after a visit to Peru, persuaded the British govern- ment to plant • and raise the* drug in India at a time when malaria was seriously harassing the population there. ': Fuse* and Feather*. ;?|i« "Some men uses big words," said Uncle Eben, "de same as a turkey spreads his tail feathers. Dey makes an elegant impression, but dey don't reppersent no,real meat." ._ Assets. ■ Office Boy--"Guy in front says can you let him have some of th' back alimony you owe his wife'. He's just back from th' honeymoon -trip, and he needs it!"--Life. To the Editor: May I call your attention to the fact Ithat In our zeal to drive out the mos- Thi* Year's Mode!.* Modern Schoolboy--"Teacher, would you mind telling my chauffeur Fm kept in and that he'll have to wait?"-- Puck. \.» / ;i Still Doing That! -4^ Writing love missives under a post* age stamp suggests that some married , couples could put 'em there and still have room for a postscript--Washing- ton POSt ■ . :.■ V-A^lV. ■ • / .. ■ May Be Rich and a Good* Citizen. , Just because a man is rich is no reason why he is not; a good man. Poverty and good citizenship do not always trot in double harness. """"* Genius Always Busy. The man who knows what to do, when to do, how to do and has the grit to do is never seen presiding over & session of the Sons of Rest * Little to Choo*e» ^ /► The fellow who never tries in many case* is little worse off than the man who lacks self-confidence when oppor- tunity comes his way. Souvenir*. If it weren't for the free seeds that come annually some of us might forget that we had a representative in con- gress.--Detroit Free Press.