100 years ago: Mayor to poll residents on water-plant issues

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for January 21, 1913:

  • “The question of water service appears to be up to the Citizens of Lawrence to approve or reject the negotiations being undertaken for the purchase of the Water Works Plant and Equipment. The Mayor’s position in putting the matter up to the Citizens is a good one. He places the responsibility where it belongs and if any kicking is to be done now is a good time. Our consulting engineers have suggested and advised some repairs and extensions to the present plant. Some of them seem reasonable, others such as improvements at the Pumping Station, the Distribution System and the life of cast iron pipes lack practical information on the subject.”
  • “Ex-Governor John P. St. John, governor of Kansas from 1879 to 1883, will be in Lawrence on February 25 to spend his birthday as the guest of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union of this city. Governor St. John is an ardent prohibitionist, having been candidate for the presidency of the United States on the Prohibition ticket in 1884.”
  • “A Junior Farmers’ Institute for the boys of Douglas County is proposed by County Supt. C. R. Hawley in a circular letter issued to the schools of the county…. A County Agricultural Club for the boys and girls of the county is also suggested. All members of this club would be eligible to enter the contests conducted by the Agricultural College in the fall. It is the purpose of these organizations to arouse greater interest in farming, especially scientific farming and modern methods, among the boys and girls.”