TWO
THE ALLIANCE HERALD, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1922.
BUt AUtattrr Hrralb
TUESDAY AND FRIDAY
BURR PRINTING CO., Owner
Entered at the poatoftire at Alliance,
for transportation through the
aj second claxa matter.
CKORGE L. BURR, Jr. Editor
EDWIN M. BURR Buninesa Mgr.
Official newspaper of the City of
'Alliance: official newspaper of Box
Butte County.
Owned and published by The Burr
Matins Company, George L. Burr,
Jr President; Edwin M. Burr, Vic
President.
AN END TO SLIPSHOD METHODS.
Considerable -comment ban been
roumd among the voters of the coun
ty by the article in the last issue of
The Herald which explained the im
possibility, in view of the. way the rec
ords of county road expenditures have
bees kept for the past five years, of
getting together any accurate duta to
present to the state committee which
next Tuesday will begin to investigate
the matter of whether roads can be
built and maintained cheaper by coun
ties or under state and federal control.
The article was not primarily intended
wjt any direct criticism of the Box
Butte county commissioners. In days
past, both Alliance newspapers have
pointed out some of the bad results of
the rather slipshod methods then in
use in handling the county t!n;tnces,
especially in regard to road making.
The evils are not those of Box Butte
county alone. The legislature has been
snorting regularly every two years for
over four decades, and each session
finds a number of new laws on the
.statutes. Some of these impose new
duties on county commissioners. These
officials, until a few years ago, held
office for but two years. The job is
not attractive. The salary is low, und
there are all kinds of kicks and com
plaints. The result has been that in
most counties, commissioners do not
long stay with the job. About as soon
as a man gets on to the ropes, he re
tires or is retired, and another man
las to learn all the dope, and in turn
be makes way for a fresh victim.
It's safe to say that there are a
good many laws on the books that are
lisregarded by the commissioners of
most of the counties of the state.
Perhaps these officials do not know of
them. ' Perhaps the taxpayers pay less
extra work, to sort out claims and
make tabulations, but this will not, in
the future, be necessary. ,
It's a cheering reflection that,
despite the methods used in approving
claims, the county has not lost any
money. In the future, there will be no
possibility of approving the wrong
claims or allowing the duplicates to
pile up until there la an opportunity
for overpayment. I
The chief danger in the prevalence
of these methods among commission
ers over the state is that the counties,
by their careless financial methods,
may damn themselves. The state
committee investigating roads will
bring in a recommendation to the next
legislature concerning the discontinu
ance of federal aid and state super
vision. Many counties have built bet
ter roads at less money than the state
highway bureau. But, with a hodge
podge assortment of figures such as
must necessarily go forward from
least, is not all select1 It's true that' axe
.1.- A - . .. '
mo iioor managers are conscientious
and careful, but unchaperoned girls
cannot - be prevented from dancing
with boys and young men with whom
they would not dance were their par
ents or an older freind present. Don't
mistake us the dances are not immor
al but at public dances girls are not
fo choice of partners as they would 1
under sympathetic rupervision.
The remedy lies in Alliance taking
the same step that other cities have
taken when confronted with a similar
evil. Instead of condemning the dance
and making a futile oratorical effort
to do away with it, why not make the
amusement innocuous? In the larger
cities and some of the smaller, there
are high school dances, with teacherf
as chaperons. Music is furnished by
victrola or school orchestra. The fun
is over at a reasonable hour. The
immoral and suggestive influences
simply aren't present. The young pco
ARGUING BY THE BOOK.
Box. Butte county, will they be in any I P'e are together, with undesirables ex
position to prove it? I eluded. It has been shown that where
The chief blessing will be that public 'there are dances of this nature open to
attention will be called to the old. the younger generation, the public
methods, and it should be impossible,) dances lose their appeal. But dance
in the future, for a relapse to the old they "will, and if not at school or
slipshod ways. I church, under proper influences, they
will dance elsewhere under condition
that are not so wholesome.
All over the country schools and
There may be other methods that even some churches are doinnr this. Al-
are "just as good," but experience is,jliance school authorities have never
after all, the best guide. A man gifted, favored it If the Rev.. Mr. Smith
with a good imagination may be able, wants to do this city a signal sen' ice
to picture the discomforts of the frozen he will change his mode of attack. If
north, the mental agonies of prison he were to demand supervised dances
life, or the evils of the dance, but, as a for school children, under adequate
rule, unless he has been there himself,! supervision, there would be some op-
his arguments lock conviction. , portunity to put it across. Otherwise
There are too many reformers these he will succeed only in stirring up
days who go by the book someone strife for his too general statements
else's book. This, it would seem, is
the case with the Rev. Mear C. Smith
of this city, who is giving a series of
sermons against the dance. The ser
mons are exactly what might be ex
pected in the investigator who has
done comparatively little research
work of his own, but bases his conclu
sions upon
others. The
will have this effect,
To condemn the dance because some
people go to perdition though it
like concerning lood because some
men and women overeat. Food fill
natural want, and the dance a natural
desire. Because some men suicide
with rope, shall the manufacture o
evidence secured by . rope be forbidden ? Men have gambled
conclusions, of course, on horses. Shall horses be abolished?
HQU. m Htni.. linlii. tfena. ' . k. VAm. MAR n .sivmn. nAa, mm-
jiv iiiuic vuiuc uicii uic i uwixe iiii.ii aim nuiucu r7iiu muii
evidence upon which they are based. (money on automobiles than they can
TLl- -' 1 sa. i . . !r l rm t n - 1
una evidence it ih impossioie 10 uuorii. mis may endanger meir im
evaluate, for it isn't first hand. It's
something like the case of Kipling's
"Tomlinson":
"Nay, this I ha' heard, quoth Tomlin
son, "and this was noised abroad,
And this I ha' got from a Belirian
book on the word of a dead French
mortal soul.s. Let us haste to outlaw
the automobile. There's no limit to
the possibilities of such a line of argu
ment.
MORALS AND THE MOVIES.
I . I In A civulm ur n Ai.cn t mfilrA a &iiyi.
attention to this office than they do to ve " a nu , nave to the 0,d proverb ,t.
others. Undoubtedly, the constant men say, I probably as true as any of the ancient
change in the personnel of county. And this they wrote that another man sayinjrs that have come down to us am'
wrote of a carl in Norroway." v have been rather overworked along the
Tl .... ......1.1 - M Vf I 1 : J 1L.1 I 1- It. !.
iuu.1, we wvuiu wuntiuuc iiviii mi. way. iirguintf irvm uuiv uasis, it i
will fall. Contracts will be ab
rogated, and a black. list will be estab
lished. Mr. Zukor believes, and rightly,
too, that public opinion will stand back
of such a move.
Of course, that is all from the
standpoint of the producers. These
fellows are interesjerfln the box office
receipts. They realize that there are
certain offenses the public will over
look such as the marriage of Doug
and Mary and others that are unpar
donable such as the Arbuckle affair.
The big objection to moral censorship
of this kind comes from the stars
themselves. These stars are, for the
most part, men and women who, with'
out the tremendous advertising on the
part of the producers, could not have
attained their present prominence,
Now, since they have received stellar
honors, they forget that it wasn't en
tirely due to their perronal merit. Ar
buckle was a ham actor until some
screen producer discovered him on the
kerosene circuit, educated him and
"made" him. There are dozens of
players as capable as Mary Pickford or
Doug Fairbanks, who saved their sal
aries, capitalized the publicity that
others paid for, and are now doing
their own producing, when they are
doing anything. The. headliners are
the people who now consider them
selves above censorship. " " '
Thus, Doug and Mary are now tak
ing a high and mighty attitude in re
gard to insinuations against their pro
fession. "America is going to lose its
motion picture industry unless criti
cism of its people stops," says Doug,'
and Mary bobs her little flaxen head in
approbation. "Unless the intolerant
critics of our industry quit attaching;
the stigma of narcotics, scrambled
domesticity, purpleJoves and all the
rest of it to our people, maybe Paris or
Rome other capital will be the future
enter of picture manufacturers."
Bosh! Doug is talking through his
hat. The one thing that movie produc
ers in this country are worried about
now is the strong foreign competition.
Germany, for instance, makes as good
films at much less cost than America,
and only a few weeks ago the produc
ers were wailing for a tariff protec
tion. If the American film industry
moves, it will have to take its chances
with ita competitors, and Doug doesn't
want it, nor does Mary. Whenever
producers or actors talk this way, the
thing to do is to turn them over the
knee and apply the paddle where it
will do the most good. The country
managed to scrape along pretty well
without either Doug or Mary for a
good may years, .and it might decide,
if they call too much attention to
themselves, that they are drawing
more money than they are worth.
SQUIBB'S
Alliance Drug Co.
214 Box Butte
Pure Chemicals and Drugs are used in all your prescriptions.
To-Night
IMPERIAL
To-Night
safe bet that half the counties in the sorts and among the more depraved not be accepted as coi
state buy their supplies wherever the' members of the MOO', the hugging' that the personnel of
boards has much to do with the situa
tion.
Thus, the law requires some county Smith's sermon that "the degrading but fair to concede that one instauc
supplies, such as printing, shall be. animal dances" are no lonirer an art. of crime bv movie people or haW
'purchased only by bid. , It would be a but an excitement. "Starting in re- dozen, if we want to be liberal should
conclusive proof
the movie in
individual county officials or the com- capers called trots and whirls have in-du.stry is rotten to the core, A few
snissioners desire. The proper proce-j vaded schools and homes. And instances of booze parties; more than
dure is to draw up a list of probable thoughtful observers, as they have' a few cases of illicit love, and a mur
requirement in pens, pencils, carbon watched the degraded animal dances der or two these things are not
paper, typewriter ribbons, stationery, J have wondered just what was ex- sufficent to brand the entire galaxy ol
blank books and other forms, and ask pressed in the 'tango,' the 'grizzly' screen stars. Nor, because we find
for bids. It has never been done here bear' and the 'bunny hug.' " sweet, mild-mannered, angelic Mary
it has not been done in many other I This brinjrs us to the important Miles Minter writinsr mash notes to a
Imperial Theatre
FEBRUARY 23-24
counties. Undoubtedly the different point that if one is to argue by the director who seems to have been i
officials do their best in buying sup- book, it is well to choose a book that is fairly successful Lothario, are we jus-
plies, but there is no competition
among the dealers, and this is what
the law apparently desires.
And so, when the legislature some
years ago, passed a law requiring
that counties appoint a highway com
missioner and keep a systematic record
s.. of expenditures on all county road?,
Riving each a number and keeping a
separate ledger account for each sep
arate road project within the county, a
number of counties overlooked it or
passed it up. As a matter of fact, it
has only been within the past few
years that road expenditures were of
any great importance. Five or ten
up-to-date. For in Alliance and these tified in concluding that all the angel
sermons are apparently intended for faced stars are merely posing. At
home consumption these so-called least, this is the way certain producen
"animal dances" went out many moons 'are talking since the Taylor murder,
ago during the great. war. If Mr. 'and they seem to be sincere in think-
Smith were carrying on a personal in- ing that they have an unassailable
vestigation, he would have discovered argument.
this. The important thing for an Al-I However, when one bases an argu
liance audience is what, if anything, is 'ment upon the old proverbs, the effect
is something like wordy controversies
in which the Bible is accepted" as the
1 authority. Almost anything can be
vicious purpose, ' proved by Holy Writ if one is well
ProverbF
wrong with the dunce in Alliance
today. Everyone will agree that
Salome's dance was a vicious thing,
and accomplished a
but aside from the fact that it is his-J enough acquainted with it.
torically interesting, it bears as little and wise sayings have likewise a sort
relation to the dance in Alliance today ! of universal application. Thus, we re-
years ago, the entire sum spent for as the animal dances that are call that "Where there is much smoke,
road improvements was only about anathema to Mr. Smith and the danc- there must be some fire." Then wifie
$j,000. Now it is six times that ing master whom he quoted.' comes home after a week's visit with
amount, and more, in Box Butte coun- If Mr. Smith will investigate the mother dear, and discovers the library
ty. Where, formerly, any commissioner dancers and the conditions under which table cleared of its cover, poker chips
could keep th various claims in his they dance in Alliance, he will find scattered about the house, corks over
head, now, with that amount of money j that "the books" have been a most the rug and the stale air bearing the
spent yearly, it is well nigh impossi- treacherous guide. He'll find people eent of many cigarettes and other
Me- ' - J with as strong a sense of right and stimulants, who will say she is not
The commissioners have found that wrong as his own who will uphold this justified in drawing. . certain conclu-
the road expenditures huve been in-( amusement He'll discover that many ( sions? If there is a strange perfume
creasing faster than they realized, of his arguments intended to influence lingering near the fireplace, and if
They have this year taken steps, fol-1 Alliance people, do not fit the commun-j a lace handkerchief is discovered in
lowing uignway commissioner lty or the people he is trying to con- hubby's coat pocket, it may be a per
Knight's plan of last year, to see to it vince, just as hi3 exceptions of the fectly innocent matter, or a prank of
that a systematic record of claims of dance do not correspond with the facts, some kind on the part of his pals, but
nil 1. ! I . I . 1. . T '.11 -it i ...... .... . . . . ...
nu niuus i kjiu r rum now on, even Ann ne win aiso nna tnai tnere is mend wife, in view or tne circum
t hough claimants submit a number of room for improvement in the dance. ' stances, rightly concludes that it's up
to hubby to explain.
That's about the position that the
movie people are finding thlmselves
iuim-aie ciaims, me uupiicaies win oe uy uamning we dance in its every
weeded out before the commissioners J pWf, he will get nowhere. By in
haye to consider them. In the past, telligent criticism, he could bring about
with the old careless system in vogue, needed reforms, locally, and we as- up against. Some of the larger and the
there were very few claims that sume that is where he expects to see. better class of producers realize that
slipped by and were approved and in the fruits of his sermons. I they have the floor right now, and they
every one of these cases, the commis- There is room for improvement irt are coming out with frank statements
Eioners say, the error was discovered the dance in Alliance, although not in 'of conditions and are promising to do
t-ooner or later and correction made. In the way he suggests. The chief evil better. Adolph Zukoh has a plan for
the future, with an up-to-dute claim does not he in the dances themselves,
register, it will be impossible. The for present day dances are compara-
commissioners cannot be particularly tively simple and sensible easy to do,
blamed for not immediately adopting pleasant to take and harmless. The
businesslike methods, for it is only in trouble lies -with the dancers. Little
the past few years that the volume of ( high school girls, early in their 'teens, gatherings and keep their eyes am
money handled was large enough to attend public dances, and, unchaper- ears open. When any star, or any les
demand systematized accounting. It oned, stay there until midnight. Public ser screen light, shall prove to be unfit
Las always been possible, with a lot of dances draw a crowd that, to say the to associate with decent people, the
a vigilance committee, composed 01
men and women with a keen sense of
responsibility and a fair degree of per
sonal honor, who shall keep an eye on
the movie folk, attend their social
1
f w m
H I tliiHIHI.
POPULAR PRICES
ItU "Vigilantes"
TONIGHT ONLY
A love story of the West in the days of '49 in California
USUAL COMEDY ADM.13 and 36c and W. T. &
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18
4 Acts--Vaudeville4 Acts
PHOTOPLAY
FS "DR. JIM"
COMEDY AND LATEST WEEKLY NEWS
REGULAR ADMISSION
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19
NORMA TALMADGE in
"Wonderful Things"
Directed by
HERBERT BRENON
There's a smile for every
tear in this story of a mad
cap girl who becomes a
lonely wife. It's something
new for Norma.
Comedy "BIG SECRET"
Latest Current Events.
CUT ADMISSION
13c and 31c and W. T.
FEB. 20 MONDAY FEB. 20 .
SECOND BENEFIT BAND CONCERT
By THE ALLIANCE BAND
PHOTOPLAY
ALICE BRADY in
"THE LAND OF HOPE"
USUAL COMEDY
Matinee 2:30; Night 8 p. m. One Show Only
New Admission Price, 13 and 31c and W. T.
imtmtnttKttttttttttmmwms
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m Oat Into
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