Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 96, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 August 1902 — Please Come, Doctor, [ARTICLE]

Please Come, Doctor,

And Clean Up CWr Dirty Towri For. Us., The ladies of Rensselaer have written Secretary Hurty, of the State health board, a most touching little plea, asking him to come up and clean the town before their street fair. The doctor claims that he is not exactly in the street cleaning business. He says that be would be glad to help the ladies, as the town must be in an awful shape, since they claim it has not been { cleaned for two years, and that the) local health board will not do a “single little thing, and it’s just too awful for words.” The fair is to be held Aug. 1, and it would cause considerable hustling on the doctor’s part to get things in shape in time. The communication was written upon the most delicate shade of yellow paper, and there is a suggestion of the fragrance of rose leaves about it. It appealed to Dr. Hurty’s aesthetic sense, but he very unceremoniously tossed the missive in his spacious wastebasket. The above is from the Indianapolis Sun, headlines and all. Strange that the common run of people here have failed to notice this alleged “too awful for words” condition of streets- Evidently Marshal Simpson will have to hump himself, literally as well as figuratively, to meet the approval of these ladies of the delicate yellow paper and the roseleaf fragrance. Plain sweeping and shoveling alone will no longer go on our streets, and Shorty and his men will have to get right down on their hands and knees and scour the streets every morning, with, scrubbing brushes. It will be pretty tough on a man of Abe’s very extensive abdominal developement, but we don’t see any way out of it for him. Yet, all joking aside, it can not be denied that the present condition of our business streets is far from what it should be; but we do not know but that the marshal is doing about as well as he can with the means and authority at his disposal. But it surely would help matters vastly if the ordinance against permitting horses to be hitched and allowing them to stand for extended periods of time in the business streets, were better enforced. Also the one against throwing rubbish in the streets and gutters, such as pieces of paper, spoiled fruit, straw, hay etc.