Williamsport has twenty-seven avowed candidates for nomination as city commissioners, or councilmen with more to hear from.

Montoursville cannot get anyone to run for councilman and will hold a public meeting this evening to discuss the situation and endeavor to prevail upon a few patriots to stand for election.

The present councilmen are Dr. R. H. Born, J. S. English, F.A. Hayes, W. C. Bennett and Jacob Harman. The term of five of these expires on December 31; Mr. Hayes being the only man who holds over, in addition the term of Burgess John Hanner also becomes vacant.

The quintet of councilmen and the burgess have absolutely refused to run again and every man who has been canvassed has begged to be excused.

The whole trouble is over roads. Montoursville roads, especially the main street are notoriously bad. It will be remembered that the councilmen were ordered before Judge Whitehead, who told them that they must repair the main street. The council did improve it, but it is still pretty bad.

It was planned to pave this street, but the proposition to raise the money by a bond issue was defeated in a town vote. To build a pavement it will be first necessary to put in a sewer and the town has not enough money for this, let alone to pay for the pavement.

While there are numerous men in Montoursville interested in and desirous for the public welfare, they are not sufficiently interested to be the knocking post of all the other good citizens when the roads are not improved. Nor are they at all anxious to go into court and pay fines for not improving the road, whey they know they can do little or nothing if elected.