Typed as spelled and written
Lena Stone Criswell

THE MARLIN DEMOCRAT
Eighteenth Year - Number 36
Marlin, Texas, Wednesday, September 25, 1907
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Twelve years Ago in Marlin.
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       Twelve years is not a long time, as time is fleeting, yet it can mean a great deal in the history of a community.  The past twelve years have meant much for this live city.  We have before us a copy of The Democrat of date Sept. 26, 1895, which was Vol. VI, No. 28.  The issue was printed more than a year before the destructive fire that consumed our entire plant, excepting a hand bellows, used to clean type cases, and which we still have.
       In the paper we have, which we obtained from a subscriber, having lost the office files in the fire, we note that The Democrat, then as now and always, stood for a cleaner and a better town, more enterprises and civic improvements.  Many of the enterprises we then advocated have since been accomplished.
       The following paragraphs, taken from the editorial columns, will suffice to show some of the enterprises then needed here and which have since been secured.
       Light up.
       Water up.
       Marlin needs a steam laundry.
       A good system of water works, electric lights, sewerage and an ice plant are among the things most needed in Marlin.
       The people will come to Marlin in a hurry when they learn what Marlin has--and not before.  (Referring to advertising our hot water, which has been done to a creditable extent, but still needs more of the same treatment.)
       Among other enterprises and improvements urged at that time, which Marlin now has, were a compress, a new school building, sanitariums and hotels, telephones, better streets and more sidewalks.
       The Democrat does not claim any credit for these desirable improvements, but the above shows "which side we were on" then, and we haven't changed positions.

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printing by The Democrat, Marlin, Falls Co., Texas