Southern Illinois Record

              The Most Satisfactorg Newspaper With the Largest Circulation in Clag Countg
The Southern Ilunois Record
A Good  Newspaper is a  Power  in  the  Home.  School.  State and  Nation
VOLUME V.
FLORA, ILLINOIS. THURSDAY, JULY   5.  1917
NUMBER 41
IPIPORTANT MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL
Flora Preparing to Oil Streets— Ordinance Passed.—Tractor and Street Sweeper to be Purchaaed
An Important meeting for Flora of the city council was held Monday evening, for at this meeting a decls- iop was reached to purchase a traction engine and street sweeper. Also, un¬ der the authority of a law passed. by the late lllinolsleglslature, the coun¬ cil made a special appropriation of three mills on the dollar on all tax¬ able property within the city, the same to create a fund to be used ex¬ clusively for oiling Flora's streets.
It Is estimated that this tax will give the city next year a fund of ^bout S15(K) for street oiling purposes. None of this fund, however, wili be available for this year.
Mayor Price believes that a tractor and street sweeper will save the city
at least 5() per cent, in street work, besides doing more and better work within any given time.
Thus the Flora iiousewlves, and readers of the Record, will take notice that relief from the InsufTer- able dirt and ctioklng dust of our streets Is coming, and that, at least, we may all lixik forward with hope tiiat next summer, If we survive, we may live In our homes and ottices and business houses with more comfort and satisfaction.
The writer recalls that twenty years ago his readers laughed at him for advocating the theory of oiled roads to lay the dust and mud. People said It was visionary—that It couldn't be done. Now, at last, the slate recog¬ nizes It, and in effect orders It done. Verily tlie world moves, even If It does move slow.
An ordinance was also passed by the council providing for a 15-foot con¬ crete walk on the soutli side of North Ave., leaving a 3.1nch space fur laying cable for lighting purposes.
His First Effort
Police Magistrate Flncli's patriotic meditations were disturbed yesterday (J uiy 4) by the appearance at his oflice
of a young couple from Xenia who bashfully en(|uired "is tlils the place wliere people get married V" The Judge pulled his feet down from his rolled-top desk where they had been reclining for some time, coughed slightly, and put on a grave face, as he wheeled about and replied: "Ves, this Is the place, Tiie Court—that is, I mean, I'm busy—very busy just now. If—lf_lf you could come In, say in a half hour, I'll .liave the witnesses ready and we'll proceed witli tiie case —I mean tlie ceremony." The couple beamed joyfully, and hand In hand tiiey went away for a stroll. Mean¬ while the Judge humped himself, Hshed out a newspaper clipping or two he had tiled away for an emergency, nosed Into a dust-covered copy of Sliakespeare, made a few notes, and when tlie pair returned he was ready.
Morris Durland and Jas. McGregor, who were present, assert that consid¬ ering the Judge's nervous state and his natural diffldence In the presence of ladles, he got along tine, and tied a beautiful knot.
The contracting parties were Ollle Bayles and Sallie Ruah.
Da Von Smith, of Urbana,  is Ing relatives here this week.
visit
WE MUST WIN THE WAR
If We Don't Win the War, God Help Us
One of my friends, a man in close touch with the current events, writes me as follows:
I am more and more Impressed, every day, witli the fact that as a wiiole tlie people of the United States have not even a faint realization of tha Im¬ mense gravity of the present situation, I am eiiual- iy impressed with tlie absolute conviction that un¬ til our people are generally aroused to a realization of existing conditions and that this war is for us a, life and deatii struggle, the very existence of our country Is In jeopardy.
If we don't win the war, Germany will. That means that Germany will levy upon us as they have upon Belgium, enough to pay their entire cost of the war, as Germany openly stated she Intended to do. This statement Is positively made by our own Ambassador to Berlin, Mr, Gerard, and Ills state¬ ment Is confirmed by one of Germany's leading newspapers. The Kolnlsche Volkszeltung, which editorially remarks:
"We need not worry about the American fleet. C!ertainly the heads of our army and navy weighed the possibilities carefully in the balance before de¬ ciding on ruthless submarine warfare and we can leave the future In their hands. We are entitled to a thumping war indemnity and wk do .vot cakb WHO PAYS IT, Those States which have sacriticed Immense sums wlil be unable to pay it, therefore America, wliich has earned thousands of millions through munitions and supplies, will have to unbut¬ ton its pockets,"
STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN We must realize that the boys fighting in B'rance today are just as much our boys as If they were born and raised In our own home town, and that they are fighting our battles for vs there. In the hope and expectation that they wili thus make It unnecessary that we should fight a harder battle on our own soil. Soon our own boys from America will be flghtlng side by side with them—a million of them, and more, I predict—and justly so. For without that kind of help and assistance we can¬ not WIN THE WAR and we cannot perpetuate tiie Ideals and principles of American life, bought by the bicxxl of our forefathers, and by which alone Ilfe will be worth living for us, or our children, or our chlldrea's children.
"We are fighting Germany becaute she sought to terrorize us and then to foul us. We could not be¬ lieve Germany would do what she said she would upon the seas.
"We still hear the piteous cry of children coming up out of the sea where the Lusltania went down 1 And Germany never lias asked forgiveness of tlie world!
"Gerniany Wills to Rule.
"Then we saw clearly that there was but one law (or Germany—her will to rule.
"We are fighting Germany because she violated our confidence. Paid Germans fliled our cities. Of¬ ficials of her government, received as the guests of this nation, lived with us to bribe and terrorize, defying our law of nations,
"We are fighting Germany because while we were yet her friends—the only great power that still held hands oH—she sent the Zimmerman note, calling to her aid Mexico, our southern neighbor, and hoping to lure Japan, our western neighbor. Into war \ against this nation of peace,
"The nation that would do these things proclaims the gospel that government has no conscience. And this doctrine cannot live, or else democracy must die:
"For the nations of the world must keep faitli. There can be no living for us In a worid where the state has no conscience, no reverence for things of the spirit, no respect for International law, no mer¬ cy for those who fail before Its force.
GERMANY BARED TEETH IN CHINA
"With poison gas that makes living a hell, with submarines that sneak through the seas to slyly murder noncombatants, with dirigibles that bom¬ bard men and women while they sleep, with a per¬ fected system of terrorlzatlon that the modern world first heard of when German troops entered China, German feudalism Is making war upon man¬ kind."
—Signed E. C. SIMMONS
Will Flora awaken?   Will our "City Flag"
remain neatly folded in the city hall while our flag pole
rusts in the park ? Our flag which was raised in the presence of 500 school chil¬ dren should float everyday over our city. Everyday it remains idle it is a silent boast for Germany.
We must   organize   as   a   whole  city   and  county
ready for our government's call. "START NOW." Give your name to N. E. Prince, President RED CROSS, the only volunteer society authorized by the government to aid our land and naval forces in time of war.
J. BOWMAN,
A REAL WHEAT FIELD IN CLAY COUNTY
Five Feet Hi|h and 30 Bushels to
Acre. Three Hundred Fat Cattle
Ready For Market
A representative of the Record had the pleasure Tuesday morning of taking a drive with C. F. Brown, of this city. Mr. Brown said lie had something to show tlie Record man- and he had—a forty acre fleld of wheat on his farm across the road from the McCabe chapel. Had we not seen lliis wheat field with our own eyea, walked through it and looked over It, no one could have con¬ vinced us that a field such as this Is uould be found In Clay County this year.
' The growth Is uniform over the en¬ tire fleld. The stalks stand five feet high and every one bears a well-fllled head of wiieat. Part of the crop Is now in shock—big shocks, close to¬ gether, and presenting a sight goixl to see, Mr. Brown, as well as the har¬ vesters, estimated the yield at 30 busliels to the acre, and this seemed conservative. The land on which this wheat was grown was cleared of an old neglected orchard of some twelve years standing. Since clear¬ ing this land four years ago Mr, Brown has grown on it three good crops of corn, which, witii tills year's wheat crop will more than pay for the land and leave lilm a fine crop of timothy hay for next year—for the timotliy seed was drilled in wtth the wheat last fall.
Mr. Brown further Informed us that he now has on his pasture land west of Flora 30