Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, April 7, 1909, Page 1

———_— ¢ Vor. XVI.—No. 42 . Grand Uapids Herald- \ Granp Rapips, Irasca County, M1nn., Wepnespay, APRIL 7, 909. evicw. Two Dollars a Year. COMMERCIAL CLUB AND MERCHANTS Of Grand Rapids Send Strong Pro- tests Against Passage of Ton- nage Tax Measure. APPEAL MADE TO STATE SENATORS Retail Merchants Join in a Letter to Wholesale Dealers of St. Paul and Minneapolis Asking Their In- fluence Against Tonnage Tax It is evident to any outsider that the protests being sent out from northeastern Minnesota against the passage of the measure imposing a special tax on iron ore, is not the work of mioe owners. The retail merchants, the professional men, the laborers, men in every walk of life who make their homes and living in northeastern Minnesota are alike in- terested in saving this section of the state from the business calamity that would follow the enactment of sucha law. It is true that the mine owners are equally opposed to it, but the men who have vast sums of money invest- ed in iron Jands and iron mines would by no means be the main sufferers from the effects of this unjust tax measure. The man, of small means who has invested his all in any one of the range towns because of certain eonditions and future possibilities that were evident to him, will be the one to suffer far more than the mil- lionaire who may have invested in iron properties; it will be the laborer deprived of his full dinner pail; it will be the professional man whose busi- ness must needs be reduced; and above all, it will be the struggling farmer from eyery section of the state, and especia)ly the farmer of this sec- tion, whose market will be greatly re- duced and impaired if this measure should become a law. Pally realizing the impending cal- amity, the merchants and Commercial Club of Grand Rapids have put forth every effort to make known their sentiments and, if possible, exercise an influence that might aid in bring- ing about the defeat of this impending danger to our prosperity. Secretary C. H. Dickinson of the Commercial Club and also secretary of the Grand Rapids Merchants Associa- tion has prepared and sent out the following letters, the first to members of the state seaate, and the latter to the wholesale merchants of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The letter to the wholesalers is signed by eighteen of the leading merchants of Grand Rap- ids. LETTER SENT TO SENATORS We believe that any measure which serious- ly injures one section of the state will work an injury to the state at large, and we sin- cerely believe that the so-called ‘Tonnage Tax Bill” now before the senate is such a measure. We do not know how you stand on the matter, but we have no doubt that your in- tentions are both fair and honest in judg- ment; and therefore wish you would seriously consider the matter before voting for the passage of this bill. We do not need to discuss the matter with you as you are familiar with the arguments on both sides of the case; but we do feel that the seriousness of the thing is not fully realized by some who have been in fayor of such a measure, A point not often considered is the fact that such a taxis a direct invita- tion to the iron people to mine all the ore possible, in a dull season, outside of this state, and thus work a hardship not only agaiast vhis section but also against all the farming sections of the state upon which we depend for the increasing volume of supplies used by the vast number of people engaged in the work here. We do not wish to worry you, and thank you kindly for your consideration in this matter, and trust you will use your good influence to defeat this measure in the senate. LETTER TO WHOLESALERS We, the undersigned merchants of Grand Rapids, are each purchasing goods from some or all of the wholesale houses of the Twin cities and therefore feel that in a matter which is of vital interest to our section, at least, and we believe to the state at large, that we are justified in coming to you to ask that you use your influence in our fayor in the matter which we are now pressing. We refer to the so called “Tonnage Tax Bill” which is now before the senate of the state for consideration, and which we wish you would influence the senators from Ramsey and Hennepin to oppose. There is no need for us to enlarge upon the unjust features of this bill, especially against this section of the state. Its iniquitous nature is patent to all, yet the seriousness of it does not seem to be realized. . May we not count upon you to make some definite effort to reciprocate the vast amount of trade now coming from this section, and which is to continue to come with increasing volume in the future? We trust we may see some effort made by you at once, COMPLANTS ARE MADE TO ATTORNEY | According to Letter Issued by County Attorney Price Some Folks Have Been Lifting the Lid. ‘SAYS HE WILL ENFORCE THE LAW | Notice Served Last Saturday After- noon on All Keepers of Drink- eries in Grand Rapids and Other Municipalities. The annual complaints of violations of the liquor laws are appearing, There is nothing unusual in the pre- valence of this periodical epidemic. It is confined to no particular locality and to no particular state. It is country wide and up to the present writing, like the white plague, no anti-txoine has yet been discovered for it. ‘hese complaints are most numerous in the spring time, while people are billious from the effects of a long, cold winter and over-feeding. It usually passes away when the grass gets green and there are brighter things to occupy the minds and mo- ments of folks who don’t drink and don’t want anybody else to drink. During the muddy break-up of the winter there are a certain class who haven’t much to do except stand around with a case of billiousness and envy those who appear to be less miserable than they. The saloons are always conyenient to kick at, aad why shouldn’t they be kicked at, when the kicking furnishes so much relief to the kickers? The saioon men of Grand Rapids have usually observed the laws in a way that has given to this town a model reputation. As a whole they are a very respectable element of our citizenship and make no protest against the observance of the laws. Asa consequence the subjoined letter has caused nd excitementor ill feeling. For some time, however. the county attorney’s office has been besieged with complaints of persons who allege that the laws relating to the traffic is being violated. When these ‘parties are asked to make clear and specify their charges and subscribe their signatures thereto under oath, they want to shift the responsibllity on somebody else. They want the county attorney to act as detective, etc. The attorney general has also been complained to and it is alleged that certaia parties claim that Mr. Price is not doing his duty ,as county at- torney. None of those who have been complaining would swear out warrants on information they claimed to have issued. Mr. Price, however, has sent out the following letter, a copy of which will be sent to. every liquor dealer in the county, which is signed by Frank F. Price as county attorney: ATTORNBY PRICES’S LETTER. Complaint has been made to this office as well as to the office of the attorney general of the state of flagrant violations of the statute of this state being permitted in re- ference to the sale of intoxicatiag liquors. As county attorney, it is my duty to prose- cut all violations of any character in re- ference to the sale of intoxicating liquors. Section 1532, Revised Laws for the year 1905 provides as follows; . “No person licensed to sell intoxicating liquors shall sell or otherwise dispose of such liquor at any of the following times: 1. On any day between eleven o'clock p. m. and five o’clock a. m. 2. On any general, special or election day. 3, At any hour on Sunday. Section 1561 of the same laws furthur pro- vides as follows: “Every sheriff, constable, marshal, and policeman shall summarily arrest any per- son found committing any act forbidden by this chapter, and make complaint against him. Every county attorney shall prosecute all cases under this chapter arising in his county, The president or mayor of every municipality shall make compliant of any known violation of the provisions of this chapter, and the chief of police, and all policeman shall make arrests and complaints as in this section provided, anything in the ordinances or by-laws to the contrary not- withstanding,” Section 1562, of the same laws also provides as follows: “Any county commissioner, member of a municipality, council. sheriff or other officer who wilfully refuses or neglects to perform any official duty imposed by this chapter shall be guilty of malfeasance in office, and shall be removed therefrom and be disquali- fied from hoiding the same for and during the remainder of the term for which he was elected or appointed and shall forfeit not Jess than $100.00 nor more than $500.00 which amount may be recovered in an actfon (Continued on Page 4.) primary and therefore no warrants have been | VALUABLE POINTERS|THE GRAND JURY ON LAND CLEARING) SUBMITS REPORT Blasting Stumps With Dynamite and| After Careful Investigation of How to Use the Explosive Many Subjects the Itasca Coun- | to Best Advantage. ty Grand Jury Adjourns. | { PRESS. BULLETIN’ NUMBER 81) LLEGKL VOTING CASES TAKEN UP ~ No Indictments Found, But Irregu- larities Discovered Due to In- competency of Election Boards —Recommendations Issued by Supt. McGuire of Exper- imental Farm-Should be Studied by Every Farmer in This Section of Minnesota. The Itasca county grand jury for the March term of the district court submitted its final report to Judge Bb. F. Wright last Thursday after- noon, and was discharged. Judge Wright took occasion to compliment the jury upon its labors during the session and upon the report sub- mitted. A copy of the official com- munication presented to the court, is printed herewith in full together with a letter from County Attorney Price | sent to the jury while that body was in session, and which he had read in court and made a part of the clerk of cuurt’s records. It is plain to be seen from the two documents that complete harmony did not prevail between the prosecut- ing attorney and the grand jury in the matter of investigating certain alleged violations of the election laws that were developed, it is to be pre- gun or firearm. sumed, in the trial of the contest case The explosion of dynamite takes | °f Riddell vs Riley, for the office of pla¢e through a heavy jar. Unlike } Sheriff of Itasca county, heard before powder, it does not explode from com-| Judge W. A. Cantof Duluth. The ing in contact with fire, and in this} raed jury states in its report that respect is not nearly so dangerous as4™?. Price refused to bring other powder. lection cases which he had in hand Before using dynamite, however, a after having submitted testimony in careful study should be made of how} three such cases. According to re- it should be handled. Knowledge of | Pott, Mr. Price insisted that it was its use will not only avoid danger but fUiS duty to remain in the jury room it will enable one to secure better | uring the entire time of the exami- results. nation of the witnesses in those cases. Dynamite is now used almost exclu-} To this, itis said, the jury objected, siyely by men who have made a study but insisted upon their right to uf clearing land. It is surely the further examine witnesses after Mr. quickest, easiest and most practical | Price had floished with them. Mr. way to remove stumps that is yet Price’s contention, on the other hand, known. Its economy will depend to| Wa to the effect that some of the a large extent upon the price paid, | Witnesses could easily be lead to con- and also upon the experience or abi]-| ttadict themselves and otherwise ity of the one using it. impair the strength of their own The price of dynanite of the grade testimony if allowed to doso, hence commonly used (40 per cent) varies| bis objection to submitting his from 103 to 20 cents per pound, de- | Witnesses to those not familiar with pending upon how and where bought. the conditions that he was endeavor- The wholesale price of dynamite in | ing,to develop. : ‘The respective positions taken by 100 pound lots is from 12 to 13 cents id per pound. In car load lots 1t may be BBO ECOMBLY AyMOr Dey anOG sen aeeeud secured as low as 104 cents per pound. yale or own An saeiepbeuded A pound of dynamite will generally | *°P°"'* | blow a stump completely out of the Report of the Grand Jury. ground, from 12 to 18 inches in diam- We, the grand jury, beg to sub- eter, owing to the condition of the mit the following report: ground As required by law, the grand EE OL ts jury has made acareful inspec- From this the cost of clearing up a tion of all county buildings, in- field may be estimated reasonably In the clearing of land the removal of stumps has been the cbief diffi- culty. Various methods have been advo- cated and tried. The most satisfactory method yet found, especially for stumps over 12 inches in diameter, is that of blast- ing. The use of dynamite. Dynamite properly placed under a stump will remove it entirely from the ground and break it up into pieces so that it can be easily loaded and hauled from the fleld. Dynamite, bowever, is not generally used by farmers. Being a powerful explosive it is regarded as dangerous, and men who have had no experience with it are slow to take it up. With proper knowledge of the use of dynamite, and care in handling it, dynamite may be used with as much safety as in handling the ordinary facilities. We also respectfully recom- mend that the proper authority cluding the jail and the poor close. condition of the jail will permit, cessful results.- The coming season The county jail, however, fre- from information - ; pecuren ep auvan! Grand Rapids village prisoners se: council make other arrangement The system of drainage is inade- Dynamite freezes at a temperature ded cells with outside entrance to be thawed out before using. We find the poor house properly, not can be told by the feeling. When 200 feet farther back from Hale the stick is Yielding to pressure of| tion of the Grand Rapids village We have inspected the Grand a larger boiler of hot water. The dy- mite in the warming receptacle till . = compel suflicient exit facilities house. The jailis found to be During the past year (1908) dynamite well kept, the prisoners are well was used for clearing land on the Ex- and the sheriff is to be commend- ed for the satisfactory manner it is planned to conduct extensive ex- periments along this line. quently contains double the num- ber of prisoners the jail was in- ese hae a) dynamite is unhesitat-| re contined in the county jail. ingly recommended, and the follow- We respectfully recommend Dynamite comes in half pound| for the confinement of village Sticks, size one inch in diameter and| Prisoners until such time as the quate. There should be a toilet of twenty degrees higher than the} in cumnection with each cell. freezing point of water, and if used to corridor. The hotwater plant is not large enough to furnish When frozen the explosion is yery ADIDEHECE kept andjclean; we respectfully re- commend, however, that the barn frozen it is hard. The stick js as un i lake and the manure at the barn yielding to the pressure of the fingers] be removed at once in order to the fingers. water supply. We also recom- To thaw place the dynamite ina mend cement floors in the base- Rapids village hall and do respect- namite should not come in contact| fully recommend that the village with the water. ready to put under the stumpas it ; § in rooms in the county where quickly freezes again. moving picture shows are operat- .cared forso far as the crowded perimental Farm and with very suc- in which his work is being done. From results obtained so far, and tended to accommodate. ing instructions are offered for its that the Grand Rapids village eight inches long. county jail facilities are enlarged. ‘Lbere should be one or more pad- when the weather is at all cold it has sufficient supply of hot water. Whether the dynamite is frozen or and closets be removed at least as a stick ot wood. When not frozen} pervent any possible contamina- 7 ment. small boiler or pail and place this in council provide additional exit It is necessary to keep the dyna- ‘When the temperature of the day isi ed. (Cottinued on page 5.) : (Contiriued on page 4.) DISTRICT COURT STILL GRINDING John Hepfel Gets Verdict Against Village of Grand Rapids for $1,314. WILL APPEAL 10 SUPREME COURT Attys for Village Will Take Case Up ---R. E. White Gets Verdict Against Minneapolis and Rainy River R. R. Last Saturday evening Judge Wrizht did not adjourn court until 7 o’clock, at which time the case of John Hepfel against the village of Grand Rapids was given tu the jury. This case been before the public since September, 1907, when Mr. Hepfel demanded damages from the village because of the lowering of the street grade infront his place of business which necessitated the lowering of his building several feet. The vill- age contended that the increased valuation of the property because of Lhe street improvement was asuffi- cient uifset to any damages that he may have sustained. The council and the plaintiff did not seem to be able toget tugether on a_ basis of settlement and hence the suit. Mr. Hepfel brought action for the re- covery of $2,000 damages. The vere dict gave him $1,200 with interest since Septemver, 1907, which brought the amount upto $1,314. The case will be taken to the supreme court. The case of R. E. White, a log- ging contractor, against the Minne- apolis & Rainy River railroad, was an action for damages in the sur of $1,700. The allege@ damages were caused by the destruction of a car load of vegetables while in transit over the company’s line. The jury returned a verdict for $847.68. The case of Larkins against the Rainy River ruad was dismissed Mon- day morning on motion of defendant’s attorney, because the plaintiff was not present. This was a case of per- sonal injury. The court this morning took up the criminal calendar. KILLED BY TRAIN AT STAPLES, MINN ‘Aged Father of James Connell Meets Death in Shocking Manner Near His Home. James Connell received word by wire last Thursday that his aged father had been killed near his home at Staples the night before. Mr. Connell left on the first train. Ina letter to Mrs. Connell he briefly men- tioned the circumstances of the sad fatahty. It seems that on Wednesday .| evening between 8 and g o’clock the old gentleman was walking from Matiley to Staples, the two towns only being acouple of miles apart. In some way his foot was caught ina cattle guard on a railroad crossing when almost immediately a train struck him, horribly mangling the entire body. The funeral was held last Sat- urday. PLANNING MILL TO START MAY 15 M. A. Spang and Wm. Hoolihan Will Locate Mill in West » End of Town. M. A. Spangand Wm. Hoolihan have bought the planing mill outfit put in some time ago by the King Lumber company and have ordered additional machinery which will be shipped about May ist. They have secured a site on the river just above the Itasca Paper mill between Burrows and Clough avenues and expect to have the wheels turning by the fifteenth of May. They have secured the services of George Shook to take charge of the mull work. During the past winter Mr. Hoolthan put in several thousand feet of timber that will be put through the mill besides which they will do custom work. The mill will not be on a large scale to start with, but will cost about six thousand dollars. In addition to planning they will make lath this season, The site selected isa very desirable one for the purpose and no doubt it will be made to pay from the start, WILL USE DYNAMITE TD REMOVE STUMPS Practical Demonstrations to be Made at State Farm April 19 to 24 EXPLOSIVE DONATED BY DUPONT GO ° W. J. & H. D. Powers Will Fur- nish Dynamite to Farmers at Actual Cost—Supt. Mc- Guire Issues Bulletin. There will be a demonstration of the practical use of dynamite in the removal of stumps from land at the Experiment Farm, Grand Rapids, be- ginning April 19th and continuing until the 24th. Supt. A. J. MeGuire of the Northeast Experiment farm, has had considerable experience in clearing lands with dynamite in this section and he is thoroughly convinced that it is the most practical, effectual and economical method of land clear= iug that can be employed, Through his personal interest in behalf of this section and the strong efforts put forth by him to better their condition and lighten their. burdens Mr. McGuire has succeeded in interesting the Dupont Powder cumpany to an extent that will result in being of great benefit to the farmers of north- eastern Minnesota in the work before them to clear their lands and trans- form their acres of stumps into fer- tile fields. Mr, McGuire has shown to the manufacturers of powder that the use of their product will come largely into use throughout all timber sections of the country where the land is suitable for agriculture when the farmers are shown its economy and usefullness. As a result of his correspondence the Dupont company has volunteered to donate a quantity of the explosives for experimental and educational purruses. The Dupont company will send an expert who will handle the dynamite and demonstrate the acreage of land that can be clear- ed with a certain amount in a given time. The firm of W. J. & H. D. Powers will have a_ representative present during the demonstrations at the Experiment farm to take or- ders from farmers for the Dupont dynamite, which they will sell at that time at actual cost. The Powers have taken the agency for this powd- jer, and in order to interest farmers and get them started in the use of dynamite for land clearing are mak- ing tbis exceptionally liberal proposi- tion. A date will be fixed limiting the time in which orders at that low rate will be accepted. Each order must be accompanied with cash, and customers must be present on the day when the shipment will arrive in Grand Rapids to take charge of the amount consigned to each one and re- move itfrom the car. This is cer- tainly an unusual opportunity for farmers of this vicinity to get cheap dynamite and should be taken ad- vantage of. Mr. McGuire has issued a bulletia in which dates are fixed for meetings and demonstrations at different places as follows: Grand Rapids, April 19 to 24; Bemidji, Tuesday, April 27; Miz- pah, Wednesday, April 28; Aitkin, Thursday, April 29; Barnum, Friday, April 30; Duluth, Monday, May Ist. In his refereuce to these gatherings Mr. McGuire says: “It is expected that not only the farmers living tributary shall attend these meetings but the farmers who may reach the place by train. Dele- gates should be sent from every farm- ers’ club and where the farmers’ club does not exist, from the township. Some phase of institute work will be discussed at the meeting in connec- tion with the instructions in clearing land. Everything free.’”” Faster at St. Joseph’s. The celebration of Easter Sunday at St. Joseph’s Catholic church will be of unusual interest this year. The many decorative and other improve- ments recently added to the interrior of the church building through the energy and untiring efforts of the Very Rey. Dean Buechler will lend a decided charm to the beautiful ser- vice that will certainly beappreciated by the congregation. There will be special song service appropriate to the occasion. Conconi Mass in F with violin and cello accompaniment will be sung. ieipeetitnstereeienen ain ae 4