Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, January 4, 1911, Page 2

Ge me, Grand Wapids MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Vor, XXI.—No. 28 ‘. Granp Rarips, Itasca County, MINN,, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, [9II Two Dollars a Year HRoT MEETING OF ‘ADVOCATES AN NEW COUNTY BOARD. INCREASE. OF Neil Mullins Chairman and Dr. J. L. Shellman Vice-Chairman Un- animously Chosen. HERALO-REVIEW 1S OFFICIAL PAPER | First Meeting of the Year 1911 Held Yesterday, All Members Present | Considerable Important Busi- - ness Transacted. 4 The board of county, commissioners | of Itasca county met yesterday fore- ; noon in the district court room of the court house. This being the first meeting of the new year it was tthe duty of the members te orgamize for business by | the election of a chairman and vice- chairman for the ensuing year. County Auditor Spang called the meet img to order and Commissioner Neil | Mullins of the Fourth, district was un- animously elected’ chairman. Com- miss‘omer J. L. Shellman of the Fiith was the unanimous choice for vice- | chairman, The two mew membens fram the irom districts, Dr. Shellman ‘and Amdy Nelson were present and quali, fied as county legislators. The oth- er three—Neil Mullins, Morrie O’- Brien amd C. M. King—are men of considerable experience on the board. { having served im their present posi- tions the pasg six years. The first matter comsidered was ihe bonds presented by County At- torr McOuat, Anditor Spang, Cor- | Representative Warner of Aitkin County Would Raise Gross Earnings to 5 Per Cent. GIVES GOOD REASONS THEREFOR The Imperative Necessity of Great- er Revenues For Road Improve- ment Likely to Bring About Needed Legislation. Representative C. H. Warner of | tars district promises to justify the claims set forth by his friends prior to election, that he would prove to be one of the most active akd able champops of the needs of this sec- tion that ever represented northern Minnesota, in the state legislature. He js well equipped with knowledge of| the conditions and necessities of the Fifty-second district and he has tthe ability to accomplish much for the welfare of the district he rep- resents, Yn an imterview weck with the editor of the Aitkin Age Mr. War- or set forth his views on the propos- ed imcrease of the railroad -grose earnings tax as follows: “The opinion, prevails va‘froad companies are not ‘that the paying their jus proportion of taxes. That railroad property does not con- tribute to the cost of government itis fair and just share. As conserv- ane Russell and Court Comm'ss‘oner Taylor, all of which were approved. t An adjournment was then taken | for the noon hour ‘until 1:30 when | the board reconvened. ng some consideration t+ ‘ntment of .an assistant attorney the members went eecutive session to talk over matter informally. Before re- however, ft was suggested | Ex-County Attorney Price.be ap- | pointed to finish up the present term | ‘of court. This proposition was very wisely rejected by County Attorne; McOuat. The manner in ete Price left the office and the records of pending state cases was sufficient | to convince Mr. McOuat that Price is not the man, to trust with public ibusiness. No action was taken by the board amd the new county at- | terney will have no immediate as- sistance from that, source. The county attorney’s salary was fixed at $2,000 and that of superin- , tendent of schools at $1,200. Dr. Thomas Ruspell was appoint. | ed chief coumty physician, and Dr. Gqndron was appointed physician of | ‘the board of health. The salaries of | each was fixed at $50 per month. | The salaries of assistant county physicians was increased from $25 into the to $35 each, and the following @oc- | 2.4. would: be accomplished in the |from the electric wires, but , the tors were named. For the Nashwauk | district, Dr. W. J. Hewson; for Trea | Range district, Dr. Geo. C. Gilbert; | the Deer River district, Dr. GJ. | Haley. S. M. Dinwiddie twas reappointed | eri dent of the poor farm un- ie Piass conditions that existed during the past year, viz: $40 per month salary and 50 cents per day for each inmate. The Superintend- ent furnishes everything necessary for the maintenance of the institu- ‘tion. ; Charles Huss was retained as, jani- tor of the court house and jail at | a salary of $75 per month; he also was allowed an assistamt at $50 per month during the winter months. The matter of appointing assessors for tthe five unorganized districts was laid over until the next meeting, as was also the selection of grand | id it jurors. i A ert attorney's brace md im the sum (of $250 was se al for the use of that official. ‘Bids for the county printing were received from the Heraid-Review, In- dependent, Bovey Iron News, Cole- raine Optic, Nashwauk Herald, Big- fork Settler and Deer River News. All the bidders asked for the rate as fixed by law except the Deer | River publisher, who offered to cut | the price 5 cents per folio and 1 cent per destription om the tax list. Tre | 0 ee (Continued on page eight) = ‘middl: west, | roads cannot now take shelter | able investment. ative apd broad minded a body as the State Tax commission takes this’ view amd has recommended an increase. This recommendation | alone should have great) weight. 1} have no doubt State Auditor fein, ome} on the Iver- of the best’ posted men subject of taxation in the may also make the same recommendation. Railroads in Minmesbta do - not pay as hi, a gross earmjnmg tax as is imposed in other states. Our railroads are | | Drokperous afd are today better | able to paya5 per cent tax than/ed and the paint ‘they were a 3 per cent or a 4 per cent tax, when those rates were imposed. There is now no ques- tom of the right of the state to in- | crease the tax' if it iis just and fair and not more im proportion than other property pays. The rail- be- bind the constitution. “An increage im the gross eamn‘ngs | tax of from 4 to 5 per ceni will bring about one million dollars annually, additional revenue to the state treas- ury. It would be my idea to hae this become a part of the atate road and bridge fund. Then with state superysion amd the one mill tax as proposed by R. C. Duna which I hearti ~ AAILROAD TAX CATHOLIC CHURCH BURNED 10 GROUND | St, Joseph’s Church Totally Destroy- | ed By Fire Friday——Valued at About $9,000.00. FEW PIECES STATUARY SAVED High Wind and Frozen Hydrants Aided Work of Destraction— Pastor’s Residence in Dan- ger For a Time. Close on) the heels of the falee a- jarm which called the fire department “© the /E. J. Anderson building Fri- day afternoon, came the alarm that St. Joseph's Catholic church was afire. The department responded promptly and soon had hose spread, but on ac- count of the frozen hydrants, they were delayed im getting streams of water playing on the fire. A high wind scon, raised and it was impos- sible to save the building and for a time it was thought the pastor's resi- dence would also be destroyed fm the conilagration, but a hydramt that re- mained unfrozen was tapped before it, wap fn serious danger. The church was discovered to be on fire about 2:30 o'clock afd it is evi- dent it had been burning for some i{me, as the whole interior was a mass of flames when the department arrived, smoke rolling from both the! roof and steeple, and soon after the flames broke through. A high wind | raiséd and’ soon the roof was all| afire. A coupling was made to the hydrant new the church, but when the firemen attempted to turn on wat Pr it was discovered it was frozen, Another-hydramt at tae corner of the next block was discovered to be in jthe same condition 2p it was found | necessary to tap a third before wat-| er could be secured. During this time the fire had gained such a headway that the department turn. | ed its attention to saving the resi- | dence nearby. Several times the | roof caught afire, as did also the sheds at the rear, but several! streams of water were played on} them and, outside of being scorch- | blistered, the house was not damaged. ‘When, the house had been made! safe, the firemen turned their _ at- | j tention to the biazing edifice, but |it was so badly burned, nothing was saved but a part of the sacristy, and that is of no real value. Volunteers | j2¥id firemen carried out much of the jstatuary, organs amd many of the pews, but a majority of the pews were destroyed jim the flames as } was also much of the altar service jand part of the statuary. The logs! is’ estimated at between $8,000 ‘and | $9,000 and was opjy partially covered | by insurance. Many theories have been advanced as to the manner in which the build- THE NECESSITY FOR GOOD ROADS Hon. G. G. Hartley of Duluth Makes Suggestion Worth Seri- Only Fourteen Miles of New High- way Necessary to Complete Con- nections Between This Point and the Zenith City. Hoa, G, G. Hardey ot Duluth makes | the following wise comments and sug: | gestions in am article which appeared | +n last Saturdey’s News Tribune. The | suggestion to complete the highway | between Duluth end Grand Rapids is | worthy of serious consideraton by the comniissioners af Itasca, St. | Louis and Aitkin counties. Mr. Hart- Jey says: ~ | notice that recently some very jarge- contracts have been let for draining swamp lands in this state norifiwest of here and it seems to me important that settlers should be | found to go onto these lands as fast | as they are drained, so that they will no” be permitted to burn up im some | drought season, A soil expert fram the Wiisconsih | university stated at the recent meet- ROAD FROM DULUTH TOGRANDRAPIDS \the year 1909, we have extended our GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS MEN Think They Have Fared Better Than Those in Surrounding Towns During Year 1910. INTERVIEWS ON THE SUBJECT Declare Year 1910 Fully Held Its Own in Volzme of Trade Hand- led—Optimistic Over New Year’s Prospects. : | A Herald-Review representative, in bis rambles over the village during the past week, heard the following expressions from business men re- garding business during ithe year just past and how it compared with the year 1909, W. J. & H. D. Powers, dealers in hardware and lumbermeni’s supplies: “We cannot complain of business | during the year. We have certainly enjoyed our share and, although con- ditions were not as good as during trade. We certainly have no cause for complaint.” Jobn Beckfelt, of the Pioneer de- ag of the Nordoern Minnesota Devel- | opment association at Brainerd that the average Northern Mimnesota bog | d carried a larger percentage of trogen, than, stable mampre. I think ' > Was interesting news to many of hearers. There is no question about the fertility of these bog lands, | bo} the ‘tromble is it ie not generally UNGeTSOOU. 1 I have been doing seme experimen- tal (work in this Ime at Island for the past 10 years and if prospective setilers in this region could have the aflvantage of the results of these ex- periments,’ it would, in. my opinion, result in bringing hundreds of set- tlers ii is country. The beneftits of these experiments, however, have! been. largely lost, because we have no roads. For istance this farm is only five miles from Floodwood, but we have never had any :oad ccmnections with Floodwoed or the outside world in any direction. \ The county officials have this year started the construction of a road from Floodwood into my farm, aid it there was a practicad highway road | from Duluth through past my farm and to Grand Rapids, so that the public could get out there to s* what. we are doing at Island,.I believe it would result én putting a thousand : settlers.a year into that country, and at ‘would only need about 14 miles of new road to make the connection anc | provide a wagon road from a te Grand Rapids. I wish our county commissioners would find it practical to take 1 ly favor, something substantial could | img caught fire, some think it W@S' matter up with Aitkin and Itasca way of securing more amd better high ways. “There ik almost am unlimited field for the wise and profitable expen- !diture of money on our wagon | Vices of Mrs. Vital Major. This be- roads. Nearly all townships and | counties im northern Minnesota are| that | today levying the mit allowed by | the walis at aliout the center of the ‘law for township and county road | building and it ig thought they crept! and brigge funds amd yet the amount. raised is wholly inadequate and we are making haste slowly im road construction. What is wanted, is more money available for roads and: about 100 cents in results im return for every dollar expended. The one mil? tax and the one per cent gross’ earnings tax will yield about two million dollars annually, which would )be am average of less than $25,000 for each county in the state, not too jdJange or am extravagant sum. There i not a county im the state that can- noty place $25,000 per year, for an indefinite period, on its roads, and if the money is wisely and honestly expénded, have it prove a most profit Most of the coun- ties in Northern Minnesota could use to good punpose, many times that amount annually. “The wagon roads being laterals leadimig to the ra‘lroads and feeders for them, I believe the railroad comi-|4® ready for occupancy amd vitally inter-| Will be held there Sundav. The peo- jeans ane See eeee {'ple of the parish feel very grateful jto Mr. Hughes, he not only renting jive. SAM sh, Sen tom eee, hat ested im their improvement. More (Continued on page eight.) , logical conclusion ig that it caught (from the furnace pipes, there hav- ing been) a fire built that morning to | warm the church for the funeral ser- iitef is strengthened from the fact the flames first ate through | jalong the walls to the roof. The! | heak from the fire was intense and | | the firemen are to be praised for the | grit and endurance shown, it being difficult for people standing across the street to face the blaze. | Before the fire was entirely out, | the pastor, Very Rev. Dean Buech-! \Jer amd the trustees were made! substantial offers of help by a num-' ber of business men and when plans’ | are completed a $20,000 Lrick edifice j | will stand on the spot occupied by | ; the old building before being razed | jby the flames. Committees will be | appointed at an eariy date to as-| certain the amount of poney tha | ‘cam be raised ad it is thought it} will not be long bef-re plans will be | | formulated. | Village hall was used to hold ser-! | vices in Sunday and 'he hall in the | Hughes block has been rented and | will be used until he new chuich | Services | { | might raise. county commissioners and see iff the |three.counties would not join in mak- | ing this 14 miles of inexpensive road,’ certainly a good one and the . a smail section of which would be— located im each one of these counties | amd if this road could be made fit for automobile travel it would certainly | be very popular, to say nothing of its | practical use im bringing settlers into | that country. The proper place for settlers to, Yocate is along the lines of railroad where they will have facilities for shipp'g the timber cut in clearing jand as well as amy produce they! Good land can be bought along the Great Northern be tween, here and Grand Rapids for | from $3 Ko $7 am acre and the paper nif at) Grand Rapids, crate and box | factories at Cass Lake and Duluth and the cha‘r factory at Sunerior pro- vide a market for merchantable timber | even of most inferior qualities, cut in land clearing. It is however, useless to expect settlers #0 come irto this country without a wagon road. conditioning that the amount of the partment store: “Grand Rapids is passing through the stage that a great many other villages im this section will soon pass through, that of from logging trade to the trade | of farmers, and it is difficult to say” just how good business has been, but | I will say, taking all conditions into consideration that I have enjoyed a brospersnc trade ail Ghhik tie” posi ness menu of Grand Rapids, as a whole, have famed better than a ma- | jority of the business men im the surrounding villages. I am well sat- | isfied with the patronage the Picneer store has received.” Will O'Donnell, of the J. P. O’Don- | nell store, dry goods and groceries: | “Our trade during the past year has | been all that could be asked for and, although we could handle more, we have mo reason to feel dissatisfied Our list of customers is constantly increasing and we feel well satiis- fied.” ' C. H. Marr, dry goods and cloth- | ing: ‘Grand Rapids merchants can | certainly have no. case for com- | plaint on business received for the past year after looking over the ad- joming villages im; this section of the state, but it is ch‘efly the year 1911 that I am interested in. All indica- tions point that it will be a hummer in a business way and I predict that both the volume of trade and the pop- ulation will be greatly increased be- fore the bells toll out the birth of another year, and there is no reason ! why this should not Result, iif the peo- H ple pull together and boost at every chance,” Hon. D. M. Gunn, of the Pokegama hotel: Speaking from the hotel man’s standpoint, the year 1910 was far exceeded that of 1909. The ‘ range trains have brought many trav- ( elers here to spend their evenings | and the Pokegama has been filled ; the year ’round.” j Henry Hughes, of H. Hughes & Co. | department store: ‘Well, it has been } a@ good year with us and we are more | than satisfied with the volume of | us‘ness done. Taking crop condit‘ons | into consideration, Tt may say it was | a better year than 1909, Of course | the Christmas trade was not as good | as expected, there having should have been a rush during the two weeks preceding Christmas, while in fact! there was only four or five good days, ard this may be caused partly by the recent closing order, but mon- ey was not very loose around the holidays this year. However, we; are well satisfied and have no cause for complaint.” j Cc. H. Dickinson, manager of the Itasca Mercantile Co. department | store: “It fs hard to tell, without |not yet known, the sheri jful and SUMMER OUTING AT GRAND RAPIDS WELL PLEASED svc. wa sar ter soma Outing in This Town the Lat- ter Part of June. "| BIG ADVERTISEMENT FOR COUNTY Will Be Attended By Over 100 Sheriffs and Deputies and Vis- itors Will See Many Attrac- tions Hereabouts. Considerable effort is being made wre the summer omg of the pencil pushers of northern Minn2sota vor Grand Rapids and it is likely it will be held here, although nothing definite will be known until after the annual meeting at Staples, on Janu- ary 6, ‘but it remained for Sheriff T. T. Riley to bring the sheriffs of Min- nesota to Grand Rapids in his vest, pocket—-sr to speak. Mr. Riley was im attendance at the annual convention of the sheriffs of Minnesota, which was held at Minne- apolis last week and secured the sum mer outing for Grand Rapids without a whimper or a struggle, all present uniting unanimously in declaring that Tom Riley, Itasca county and Grand Rapids should have the pleasure of entertaining the gathering at the 1911 summer outing. The 1910 outing was held at Du- Juth last June and that time Sheriff Riley warned his brother sheriffs, to keep their hands off tha next/anaual outing, as he wanted it to at all to himself. On account of his ve the warvmg was taker to wt qual With such good effect that hen the.time.came to vote on where the outihg was to be held (Grand Rapids was the: the unanimous choice, not. be'hg a dissenting vote. ‘Nhe exarit dates of the outii 1 leaving that to Mr. Riley, it will be during the latter part of June, entertainment are yet im the embryo, but ‘hk hais been definitely settled that the visitors spend ome day on beautiful Po- ama lake, where they will be take on boat excursions to view its beauti- numerous — beautie: They will also be taken on a sightseeing Means of trip through the mimes oa the rang: and will be conducted through the manunoth washing plant at Coleraine. Different methods of entertainment will be provided and whem the proper tfme comes the citizens of the vil- lage will be invited and expected to lend all possible assistance to make the outing a success im every way, and such is the civic pride and hospi- tableness of Grand Rapids’ residents that no second imvitation will be nec- essary. Ti is expected that over one hun- dred sheriffs amd deputies will be in ‘attendance at this outing and our natural advantages and the many op- portunities of this county will be givem wide advertisement if properly sei forth. Nothing is ever accomplish ed without) a great deal of labor and those who are imterested im this section and its growth should and will do ali in their power to make the stay of the county sleuths a memor- able one. Thanks to the Firemen. Amid our great, calamities we should not forget the splendid work of the local fire department and its heroic efforts. Especially are we grateful to the chief, Mr. Riddell, for his efficient work. Ail the fire- men worked admirably, but I can not refrain from particularly men- tigniing the really heroic and untir- ing efforts of Will McAlpine. L. BUECHLER, Pastor St, Jogeph’s Catholic church. Cook-Racine. rerti shall be a pant of his contribu: coking over the books just how good | Guy W. Cook, chef at the Grill, and church. Good News Service. The Herald-Review made spec‘al ar | ramcements to get the erwrep and it is oubi'shed in full five pees after being read to the: senate and house at St. Paul. j year, but I cam state that it exceeds a steady and inereasing trade (Continued on page eight.) ) DEFECTIV \tion toward the erection of a new ji ocs has been during the past Miss Emma Racine, daughter of A. Racine, quietly stold a march on. their \tthat of the ‘year 1909 and was better | friends last week by getting married \tham we expected. We have enjoyed at Superior. They returned to Grand Rapids Wednesday. Both are well governor’s | throughout the entire year and, al-' kpown and the Herald-Review joins with their many friends in extending PAGE lh