Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, April 4, 1918, Page 1

\ e | i 2 “‘voted last February for the payment . ftered for sale, have v{ithout Xcep- = for_printing of the bondg, attorney’s | \WARDED - T0 SCHUMAKER; POINT RAISED T0 STATE ATTORNE Price of Money Cuuse of Lack Of Bidding; Five Per Cent Too Low for Investors. i IDDER DEMANDS Los Hundred o lars By Wretched Condlhons ‘ cil. tem and.other featuressef the water |~ lp Checkmx ‘Water. R. H Schumaker, representing the Wells—l)u;key company, Mlnneapons, was awarded thie $26,000 bond-Yesue, ot the new bridge, by the city coun- tmon, there is: - = point 0 be submitted to the attor- “ney general, that of “the lega.my of the transaction so. far as a certain point is affected. The statute expressly (otblds that the bonds; in such instance, shall be sold for the, full*amount of the issue, plus_the accrued interest and 5 per cent. - every instance they -have b 1 “of - tion specified a large-discount -cited fees and other work incident to find- ing a purchaser, the bidders acting as brokers in'the trs‘nsnction e Seek Higher Interest. -As has been stated, thé high money. mnr](et is the eause on dccount of the low rate of interest, while in- ooking for ‘the hlgher rates, w}flcg are not-difficult to find. In the: bld ot Mr humaker, _he spee-lfled a & clude ‘all penbee ot prlntlng the bonds, all fees and other- expenses oplnlqn, he held it as ms belief - that the $25,000 could be paid into the eity, then the city to pay to. Mr. Schumaker the sum stipulated as the discount, for handling. the bonds, in- cluding all expense, he acting as the agent of the city in the transaction. This was held by ‘Mr. Fisk as be- ing -withiti. the legal special point in the statutes. Meyor Going to Know. Mayor Vandersluis asked that the opinion be sybmitted to the attorney general. He stated that unless it was done he would refuse to sign the bonds, giving as his reason, “It ‘- has been stated frequently that the contract when the bridge was let was jllegal, and I'm going to see that payment for the vridge is done le- gally. I'don’t propose to sign any- thing that will make me personally liable nor the officials of the city.” City Attorney Fisk was instructed to submit the opinion, together with an explanation of the situation, to the attorney general’s office. There were two others bidders, that of LeRoy Elwell, representing the Farmers’ State Bank-of Nymore, he belng the cashier and a stock- At the meeting of the stockholders of the Short Turn Tractor, held yes- terday after the noon luncheon of the Commercial club, the following officers were elected: President and general manager— John ‘Dahl, Glenwood. Vice president—S. M Kuhnley, Minneapolis. Secretary—J. P. Lahr, Bemidji. Asgistant secretary—Donald - O. Wright, Minneapolis.- Treasurer—J. LeRoy Elwell, midji. The directors of the company are: John Dahl, Glenwood; l:‘ B. Wright, Minneapolis; T. A. Lunde, Cotton- wood; John Moberg, J. LeRoy EIl- well, A. T. Carlson, J. P. Lahr, Be- midji. The concern is already located in Bemidji and most of the casting will be done at the outset by the Bemidji Iron Works. Adjoining the iron works will be erected a small build- Be- ~|lons of water and had been allowed The bidders for the bonds, in| holder, and the Jolm Nuveen Co. Chicago. ‘ Mr. Elwell's -bid was 'at a 81 400 discount, but he exphined (during the}- course of the evening: that ‘he 'had made o provision tor. printing the bonds, as he supposed they were ull ready for sale. - The-bid of the Chieago concern tufled to conform to tlie advertise- ment for the sale of the bond fssue and’ ‘whs. eliminated. It offered; to take tl\e bonds at a dleeount of $2, 420. That was the princlpal business for which. the council met in ad- journed sesslon. i3 on the condition: of the system ing ‘for instructions from the co He stated that the meter sys- ‘supply revenue were in an exceed- ingly chaotic_condition and cited a few instances ‘to’ substantiate h!s as- sertions. / Mr. Eckstrum called- attention 'to one instance, where a certain con- .sumer: had used ‘thousands of - gal- to pay only $1.80 per guarter, Other ‘instances were where meters had ‘been removed~and the parties were using water‘at no coet at all, where meters-had been broken and not " re- paired, where pipes had been-hooked onto other “pipes below.meters - and run: to supply ' three or four other business houses w'ithout paying & cent. - Specific instances were quoted in which the aldermen participated, narrating -the complaints they . had from comsumers whp were . paying their shiare,’ while others; were enjoy- ing immunity from paying a cent. ° The discussion resulted in instruc- ures on.26 and 50 meters which will be put ‘into operation where there are mone, and the entire scheme of water supply and recording is to, be thoroughly gone into, and failure to live up to the reguls,tions and tamp- ering with the meters s wdll brlng a penalty when sueir measure is- pre- pared and” passed by the city counecil. ‘the building postoffice. - Tt has been the custom for Bemidji to fur- nish -water free for biilding pur- poses, whlch is also a liberal practice for a munlclpsmy. The ‘contractor for the government building has been allowed this gratuitious favor and it was stated that thousands of gallons ‘had besn wantonly wasted. - " Government Carelessness. Another thing laid to the” build- ing of the postoffice was the condi- tion of Beltrami avenue-all winter. The city’s ~principal = thoroughfare has been jammed and choked with piles of sand and debris, with the contractor away and only an. eight- foot passage in the avenue. In run- ning a drain pipe the workmen broke a hole in the storm sewer, inserted the pipe about two feet into it and left it. For a distance of about 60 feet on one side and about 30 on the other the storm sewer was allowed to become choked with ice and the city was compelled to thaw it, which required 27 hours of city time and expense to thaw out. Street Superintendent Hazen was instructed to grade the Jefferson Highway leading out of the city southward. ‘The stretch to-be graded is about a mile in length. Short Turn Tractor Elects, ‘Many Inquiries Received; Ready To Begin Operations ing for the assembling of the trac- tors. Material and parts necessary for the building of the tractors will be loaded today at Minneapolis and as soon as they arrive work will be- gin in earnest on assembling and getting them ready for the trade. President Dahl, general manager, will move his family to Bemidji. - . “We intend to go slow at the out- set,” said President Dahl today. “We are not going to splurge but work on a sound business basis. I be- lieve we will be obliged to greatly expand before we are operating very long. Only today we received a let- ter from the governor of Indiana, asking how many we could ship in: the course of the next thres weeks. A member of the state board of con- trol of Minnesota has also asked about our ability to supply tractors for work by the state. That will give one a good idea of what we are confident we have in sight.”” t, s 2 ‘,,,__._ i me 3 tions being issued for obtaining fig-{ F. B. Wright of Minneapolis Speaks to Bunness Lat Others Speak of Progress. - and: lntm'mgtion idji; du'rlng which’vhe snld’ 5 Is An 1 flrmly believe that “this com- peny will mesn to Bemidji whai the jompany. - means ‘to its emidji will boost ,and have .the best tractor in-the world roday:’*" President- W Z Robinson. called upon ‘W. F. Wolf, formerly assistant secretary of the Rome, N. Y., Cham- ber of Commerce, who biefly out- lined ‘the work: of commerciai clubs in general and dwelt upon the serv- ice a club. can be to the commmnity. Mr, Wolt lives In Grand Forks and has been a regular summer visitor ln Bemidiji. < Bolcom . Ini thie schools” was next. introduced. He made ‘a splendid impression and Lenraot Wins In'Wisconsin By Over(2,000 (By United Press) Milwaukee, Wis., Aprjl 4.—Prac- tically complete returns from every county in the state on the senator- ial election held Tuesday, gives Len- root 148,302; Davis, 136,162; Ber- ger, 102,611. The republican candidate defeated his opponents by a plurality of 12,- 140 and he received 45,691 more votes than the socialist candidate. CREEL'S WATCHMAN IS DISCOVERED MURDERED (By United Press) Washlngton, April 4—The- first beligf--that ‘a .spy.:murde d - James King, night watéhman at t‘he.bureau of_information, is being replaced by the suspicion of William Clements, with whom King ©often quarreled. Clements left home at the usual time but failed to report for work. Washington, April - 4. — James King, night watchman for- the com- mittee on public information, was discovered this fmorning mysterious- 1y murdered while on duty. It is believed German spies committed the crime. The revolver that King carried had been snapped four times -but each time failed to explode the cart- ridge, proving that he battled des- perately wit his assailant. The crime was apparently com- mitted between 4:30 and 5:30 o’clock this morning. No trace of the mur- derer was found. A hurried search failed to' dis- close that the slayer had secured anything of much value, which.King guarded. It has also been learned that King and a negro janitor quar- reled frequently, and the negro is net here. _ The weekly noonday luncheon and meeting of the Commercial club yes- terday étternopn, was unusnally in- teresting, for aside from the talk-by |9, A Childs, a representative of the state~board of health, on ‘the sub-| ject of water, others had something & of value in the way of suzgeetlons 'F. B. Wright 0 Mlnnehpnus. one ‘of the backers.'of the Short Turn rsctor,, which’ has located in. Be- in gseatvdemend and-we knaw. ws troduced.: endent. W. . G.- Bolcom"of: (By United Press) ish front continues unusually quiet. ‘An enemy post ir the neighborhood Hebturne, near. Albert, was rush- and a machine gun captured. A few prisoners: were. ssptuted on ov.hsr parts of . the: btme tront. 3 ;> Toul Front Bombarded. With the Americans’ afield, April 4.—The Toul front was heavily bom- barded again last night. The dam- age was slight, Additional German artillery was observed moving to- ward the front. Whether they were & relief or reinforcements is uncer- tain. ; Wilson Will - Answer, ' ‘Washingion, April 4.—President Wilson will answer Count Czernin’s peace talk with assumncee America will fight to a finish, ’l‘hle is clearly N~ TRUTH ABOUT STRIKES IN GERMANY KNOWN (By United Press) With the French armies afield, | April 4,—The truth about the Ger- man strikes recently has just become known. Letters taken from German prisoners, written. by relatives in Germany, reveal that the German strikes are quite serious and more planned. The first strikes were merely’ tests of streffgth. ‘ urged the co-operation and interest of the citizens in school work. ‘“Be- midji has a reputation of seeking men who do things,” said Mr. Bol- com, “and I realize 'that there is no here for-slackers.” : J. Opsahl, chdirman of the 8- islative committee and a member of the summer mail route committee, reported that the route would be established and that arrangements are. being effected to secure a reg- ular daily delivery of groceries around the lake to summer resorters. Sunday School Campaign. A. T. Carlson announced that the campaign for raising funds, to the amount of $600gfor the Sunday school convention, which will be held here in June, would begin this morning. The membership campaign will be continued through to Friday night of this week. All committees are expected to see the prospects given them before that time. If any ex- press a desire to come jnto the club a little later on, they may so state to the committee, fixing the time, that arrangements may be made to remit the dues of the first four months as was offered during the campaign. PETTIGREW'S OFFICE IS PAINTED YELLOW (By United Press) Sioux Falls, S. D., April 4.—The office of Richard Pettigrew, former United States senator and prominent pollticlan. wag. smeared - with yellow palfit b nkxywn po.rtlge,last)ltsht Pfi{)&re& i€ ~under -~ ‘indictment; charged with violation of the es- pionage act. On the office was also painted, “BEWARE.” FIRST STAGE OF OFFENSE BELIEVED TO BE ENDED (By United Press) With the French afield, April 4.— Military men here regard the first stages of the German offense at an end. It was similar to the first stage of the battle of the Somme. In three days it is expected it will be resumed. i BROTHERS LEAVE WITH SQUAD FOR THE TRAINING CAMPS Late additions to the squad of 26 that left for Duluth early this week, for assignment to military camps were two brothers, Charles and Frank Dickey of the Fifth ward. One desired to enlist and induced his brother to accompany him. The young men were employed by the Crookston company and their en- listment adds two more stars to the service flag of the company, which alreddy holds u large number. London, April -4.—General Haig *fithis morning reported that the Brit- Wllson To Answer Czernin indicated by administration officials, who said all talk of peace now is a lfake. The president will deliver his war message at Baltimore Saturday night when he speaks to launch the Third Liberty Loan, on the first an- niversary of Americ& 8 entry into the wsrh Rt kainaen Leaves. ior Front. l{srls. April 4—A newspaper dis- patch today says that General Mack- enson, one of the German generals, has gone to the west front. Artillery Fire Intense. Paris, April 4.—(Official)—Artil- lery north of Montdidier assumed great intensity last night. North- west of Rheims, on the Chimin- des Dames sector, where the Americgns are training, in the Champagne and along the left bank of the Meuse, the French penetrated various enemy trenches and_ took prisoners. LindberghOut AsRepublican For Governor . (By United Press) St. Paul, April 4.—Chdrles A. Lindbergh of Little Falls, former congressman from the Sixth dis- trict, today filed his nomination pa- pers as & candidate for governor of Minnesota on.the Republican ticket. He is the first candidate to file. indbergh. has - thesendorsement of e Nonpartisan league. - Governor J. A. A. Burnquist, it seems likely, will be the only candi- date opposing Lindbergh on the re- publican ticket. He has not thus far filed, but his friends are confi- dent will do so soon. The elimination of one of the as- pirants at the primary will mean that he will be opposed in the election by Fred A. Wheaton, chosen by the democrats as their standard bearer. FIRST CARLOAD BRICK ARRIVES FOR NORMAL The first carload of brick for the new Normal school was unloaded here today and the work of hauling to the school site was immediately commenced by Tom Smart. The brick are the hollow tile. Mr. Smart has the contract for the excavating and the hauling and has several teams mow at work on the excavation for the foundation. Mr. Smart said today that the exca- vation was a large one but that he expected to have it finished so that concrete could be commenced by next Monday. © Mr. Smart alsp has the contract for the excavation for the new busi- ness block to be erected by ° Jack Dalton at the intersection of Bel- trami avenue.and Third street. ORDER BANS WHEAT " FROM EATING PLACES Just whether they are due for an- other “bump” or not, the hotel and restaurant proprietors of Bemidji are going to ascertain, and all be- cause County Food Administrator H. E. Reynolds received an order to no- tify the hotels and restaurants to cease the use of :vheat products in- stanter until the first of September and carried out thke instructions. The hotel and restaurant men held a meeting last evening and decided not to purchase any more wheat products until their present stocks were exhausted. In the meantime, a meeting of state hotel and restaur- ant proprietors is to be held in St. Paul to take some action. ELKS’ ANNUAL DINNER AND INSTALLATION THIS EVENING Tonight the Bemidji lodge of Elks will hold its annual installation of officers, rnd =2t 7 o'clock will serve the annu:’ dinner. The ceremonies will he Le') in the Elks' temple. | 1o ‘\efi _‘LbENTATlVE B\ State Official Comés to Inspect Conditions of the Water Pumped From Mississippi DECLARES RIVER OPEN * FOR DEADLY GERMS Conditions Cause .of Mayor’s Urging to “Boil the Water;” Must Be Remedied. When the Pioneer published its story ul"pumpigg water from ‘““Lake Bemidji" into the drinking supply of the city one day last week, the arti- cle was, questioned next day by a citizen -who stated that the. water was not pumped from the lake on the shores of which is the septic tank, but from the river, which, it was asserted, was pure. Barn Yard Drain. _The Pioneer, took the statement in the spirit in which it was given, but now comes J. A. Childs of the State Board of Health, sent for by Mayor ‘Vandersluis to make an in- vestigation of the purity of the water fromn the river and lakes, and before the Commercial club yesterday, Mr. Childs stated that in looking over the land tributary to where the wa- ter was pumped from the river he found several barn ‘yard drains into the river, and some other things not conducive to a water supply suitable for household and other use, With reference to the water pump- ed into the mains from the river above the septic tank, Mr. Childs said: it Open for Comtamination. ‘‘Surface water of any kind is not sade for consumption. " ‘It 18 open for contamination. In looking over the ground tributary to where the water was pumped +, I find that several barn yards drain into.the river and that dirt from the bridges across the river falls into it whenever driven over. .z Must Be- Puriffed. “The water must be purified for domestic use. It doesn’t take much to cause a spreadi of disease when once the impuritiesiget into_the sup- ply. I will, however, be able to give a more detailed report when the wa- ter has been fully analyzed.” Discusses Systems. _Mr. Childs then discussed the old American filtering systems and pointed out where the death and sick rate had been reduced through the appilcation of such systems. His talk was well recefved and enthusi- astically applauded. It is this situation in Bemidji that caused tl:e mayor to warn the people of the city to boil the water as a pre- caution against any possible conta- gion. FORMER EDITOR OF BEMIDJI ARRESTED (By United Press) St. Paul, April 4.—James Patter- son, a prominent Minneapolis at- torney and politician, and Paul Deh- nel, editor of the St. Paul American, were both arrested today charged with violation of the espionage act. Editor's note: Dehnel will be well remembered by Bemidji citizens. He tame to Bemidji a few years ago and started what was known as the Her- ald, a weekly paper. He was an en- thusiast for Roosevelt until Teddy took a fling at unpatriotic Germans and then Dehnel changed his policy and devoted considerable space to denouncing the colonel. He left Be- midji about two years ago. BULLETINS (By United Press) Amsterdam, April 4.—German Chancellor Hertling is seriously ill. Swiss Frontier Closes. Zurich, April 4.—The Swiss-Ger- man frontier will be closed tomor- row. Editor’s note: The closing of the frontier usually precedes important troop niovéments. P OF HEALTH BOARD l I | | —