May 28, 2109 : Six hundred new immigrants were on board, half of them
to open more than fifty new businesses, the other 300 were workers for Mars
industries. Cargo contained the machinery and equipment, furniture and
fixtures to expand existing industry on Mars, and the for the new businesses.
June 18, 2110: A new one hundred bed hospital opened in New Phoenix
equipped with all the latest medical equipment from Earth. The staff Included at
a minimum, two specialists in every major category of medical arts. There was
a new small medical college program started a year later with 22 students in the
first class. Practicing Dr's served as the instructors. Upon graduation the
students were to serve a two year stint as interns and then an apprenticeship
with the doctors who were practicing the specialty they had selected. Pediatrics
and family medicine were very popular but there were two doctors in New
Phoenix practicing family medicine who had specialties in geriatric medicine
though there were no geriatric patients at this time.
Abner finally got the Earth worms he had ordered, along with the cups,
lids and five hundred pounds of corn meal that would feed them for years. He
got permission to raise them on a small plot of land at the farm. The worms
multiplied rapidly. Abner did not start selling them until his stock had doubled
then he let everyone know over talk radio that he had worms for sale. Business
was brisk. Abner and the other five people on the farm only worked with the
worms for sale when they were off duty but they were allowed to keep the
money that they earned.
The fish had a chance to mature and multiply. Fishing was now fair to
good in more than thirty lakes and streams on Mars. Boats with electric motors
trolled the lakes, people partied and cooked on the docks.
As predicted the Ivy had spread, climbing up the walls of all the caverns.
Now when one traveled anywhere on Mars they got the impression that they
were in a place of lush greenery because growing greenery was what the eye
caught no matter what direction one looked. Most of what they were seeing
was Ivy but all of the gardens, vineyards and orchards were thriving.
September 14, 2110: One of the women who had remained on Mars
when her contract was up with the Government approached Abner one evening.
Abner I took a job at Burger Boy because I couldn't decide what kind of
business I would enjoy working at. I have enough money to go into business
for myself and I do a lot of fishing. I think what I would like to do is to open a
bait and tackle shop. If I did that would you keep me supplied with worms. The
worked out a deal for Sarah to market the worms. Sarah then placed a large
order with a sporting goods wholesaler in California. The next thing she did was
to have friends of hers and the people working on the farm go to Super Store
and buy all the fishing gear they would sell them. Once she had all the new
fishing gear on Mars she leased the lot built the building in the square at The
Company cavern and hung out her shingle. “Sarah's Bait and Tackle Shop”
Everyone on talk radio could talk of nothing else for a few days. Some of them
were not too happy because Sarah had doubled the price that she had paid
Super Store for her inventory and raised the price of the worms that she got
from Abner. People grumbled a little but they understood. Sarah became the
local fishing guru and gave free advise with every item she sold. Within six
months she had received her own inventory from California and Super Store
had replaced theirs. Sarah's business was a success and Sarah was a very
happy camper.
February 3, 2111: Over the years since Tim and Carla had arrived, a few
pet lovers had bit the bullet and paid the one hundred thousand dollars fare to
have a dog, or a cat and a few cases even a parrot brought to Mars. Tim had
finally realized that on Earth having a pet around was a part of growing up, and
the kids now growing up on Mars were missing out on this experience. With the
arrival of each new ship there was less and less demand to Include only critical
items on the cargo manifest. Also there was the fact that Mars was now able to
provide ample food for the population and still have a surplus. Tim had
arranged for one couple who had completed their contracts with the
Government to open a pet store. He also arranged for them to be able to
import up to one hundred pets aboard every ship that arrived from now on to be
shipped for $100.00 each, providing the pet store owner agreed to no more
than double his money when he resold them on Mars. The pet store owners
proved very canny and began to purchase females that were pregnant or in
heat. By 2117 there would be thousands of pets of every kind on the planet.
So many that New Phoenix had to establish an Animal control agency and a
pound, where pets could be adopted. No pet was ever subjected to euphemism
on Mars.
April 4, 2112: There almost one hundred children in New Phoenix due to
start Kindergarten but so far there were no schools. Not only were there almost
one hundred this year but there would be twice that many next year. Tim
authorized funds to build and equip a school. Tim provided enough land but
only authorized hiring or reassigning enough teachers to handle Kindergarten
and preschool programs. Tim warned the council that this facility was hereby
donated to them and they should construct the buildings and hire the teachers
by next year when they would have first graders to contend with. This lead to
the bank putting up the funds and the local Government obligating itself for
repayment. The council became disparate and had to figure out some kind of
tax scheme to support the schools. They debated all sort of taxes but there just
wasn't enough tax base to provide the funds that they required short of
imposing an Income tax.
May 15, 2112: The council enacted an Income tax bill, then realized they
also needed an Internal Revenue Service to collect the tax. Soooooooo on....
May 16, 2112: They created the IRS of Mars. This served as an
interesting beginning to a very familiar cycle. They had already realized some
Income from DMV fees, but they started considering a duty tax also. As a result
of this the first grade classrooms were built, equipped and staffed with local tax
revenue. So far so good but they had the second grade looming over their
heads.
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