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f4% i. Contract vs. Experimental Bridges. Editor Courier: Through the good graces of your They start out reciting that the year 1911 has been marked with great progress having been made in this direction, etc. Now then we have heard the nntelli 6tttute the trial jury, and not go on and recite our own case and then want jto be the jury and render our own verdi' :t. Mr Tax Payer, they told you the aforesaid article of all their ability and competency to build bridges and in the same article they told you they had one bit of ill luck. They attributed that ill luck to working too late in the fall. We want to say to you, Mr. Tax Payer, that such an excuse as this is very absurd to say the least, and to con vince you that this is true the writer desires to say to you that in Des Moines, and in fact all other cities concrete work is carried on at all sea sons of the year and successfully done, but that it is done by men of expe rience and ability. Mr. Tax Payer, they say that they have cut the price in two on this bridge building as com pared with contract bridges. They paper I desire to comment on and deal and it is good for. two years it will with a few facts relative to the article I be good always. What Better or more in your paper of January 4, 1912, en-1 economical and safer proposition do titled "Board of Supervisors Has Faith in Concrete Bridges." gent report of the honorable board Of I has~ever refused to carry any load that supervisors, with reference to their came down the'highway, nor haB the bridge work, and the remarkable ac- county ever had to defend any dam complishments they have made. etc. age action or be at the expense of We accept the report and are now will- paying out any money for repairs. lng to put up some evidence to show Now then Mr. Tax Payer we have that this work has not been done ni|told you about the high priced bridge the test interest of the tax payers and land offered you an exhibit of the are willing also to permit the tax same. Now then we want to call your payers to render the verdict and con- iittention to one of the cheap bridges mmmkm If coat $749 built in Richland township near the Sam Hardesty farm. This statement is true, and we offer in evi dence a correct photograph of that bridge, and it is shown here as Ex hibit No. 1. This bridge was built by the cubic yard, all complete, and the contract price per cubic yard was $8.56 which was one dollar per yard higher than most of the bridges built on ac count of the great distance the sand aad gravel had to be hauled to the job. PEOPLES PULPIT make it good. Further, first let me re fresh your memory that concrete bet ters and becomes stronger by age, you ask than this? Within the last three years/there has been something lilte twenty or twenty-five bridges Milk by contract in Wapello county, And in the past six years in Mahaska county there has been 150 contract bridges built, and not a one of them EXHIBIT NO. I, RICHL AND TOWNSHIP BRIDGE built bv Mr. Patterson and Mr. Hall, and refer you to the cut herewith and marked Exhibit No. 2. We want you to study this cut carefully and after a close observance we are confident you will arrive at the same conclusions as your humble writer, and that this bridge shows for itself the inability of the architect and the improper meth ods of construction. Please note the re-inforcing rods and their position in the concrete. Instead of lapping by each other and breaking the joints as we commonly term it, they are just placed in position by making the ends butt up to each other and leaving an unprotected joint to break straight through at the same place. This bridge is located in Center township and is just four blocks west of the west terminal of the west end of the city street railway line. Mr. Tax Payer, we nett call your at- EXHIBIT NO. II, CENTER TOWNSHIP BRIDGE, haw told yon that one contract bridge tention to the cut herewith shown and position marked as Exhibit No. 3. This piece of work is located in Cass township near Chillicothe. Had this bridge been built by a contractor he would have been required to haul this material from the river and used throughout first class stuff, but on the other hand here we have another evidence of the cheap bridge. Instead of paying teams a long haul for good, olean, fresh, crisp ma terial from the Des Moines river, they elected to build this bridge from the stuff at hand and -drifted up, de posited in the creek by the side of the bridge. This was made up of some of the following ingredients, just the proper proportion in which its was used, we cannot tell but it consisted of some sand, some coal slack, some dirt and some other drift and matter Now then, Mr. Tax Payer,, call at the county auditor's office and there you will find on file with him, the full and complete dimensions, including the solid contents, showing the exact number of cubic yards of concrete work employed in the construction of this bridge. There is a guarantee ,be hind this bridge for two years to carry banks. Why now would this bridge, ficient bond? any load that travels the highway, and be anything else but cheap How it Is hacked with a $5,000 bond to could it be anything else? Mr. Tax- Pip* such as is usually found along creek such an agreement and under a suf- EXHIBIT NO. Ill,, CAS S TOWNSHIP. BRIDGE. j- payer what have you got for your money? Look at that cut and note the appearance of the structure, if so elect to call it a structure. Look at the face on the retaining walls. Look at their ends and see not only the crudeness but the coarseness, and gen eral absence of mechanical design and appearance which shouM so qualifled ly recommend a bridge to you. Again Mr. Taxpayer, the builders to our knowledge have never taken out the torm upon which the bridge was built. We have a right to presume that they may fear the collapse of the bridge when this form is taken out. Now I want to appeal to some of the farmers of Wapello county who have spent time and money improving and beautifying their farm and homes. Would you pay for a job presenting such an appearance as the one in this cut? I dare say you would order the architect off vour farm and demand from him a formal apclogy for his hav ing put such-a crude, coarse structure on your farm. But Mr. Taxpayer, you have paid for this all right, and never made a grumble and the men who jr spent your money have never yet told.^ you what it cost you but the facts are thai if coat anything it cost too,had mucl1, In conclusion. Mr. Taxpayer I have this\to say. I would like to have you look all the work over and examine all the bills and see what you received in return in each case for your money expended. I contend that in cuts -No. 2 and 3 you have received nothing for your money. Even worse than this you are much worse off for you will have to expend money to get rid of the "junk" occupying the place where the Jjvidge should be in order to re-, move it and place a good structure in 'I1 Tpere is but one thing for you to depide, and that you can decide on the eighth day of next November. First, shall we go one and conduct an experi mental school in Wapello county for the purpose of educating each new member elected on the board of sup ervisors and teach him the art of bridge building at the expense of the county? Would it not be better to render a verdict in favor of the county beard letting these contracts to a competent bridge builder that is al ready schooled in the profession, hav ing in his employe a competent corps of men and getting his designs from competent eng* eers already school ed in this art and place him under bond for the substantiability of his work, and the safety of the public, and hold him to the strict requirements of J. A. Lafferty, General Contractor. a****"* 1 l'" I •'.'.•'t-i aJi*1- ,TTr»TT7ir» mrrwcirvAV OTTUMWA COURIER, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1912. SEITZ ANSWERS PRESS ATTACK BY LAFOLIETTE Publisher Charges Senator's Attack on Newspapers at Banquet Was Wicked and Untruthful. I Philadelphia, Fek 3.—Tb'i dinner of the Periodical Publishers association did not break up until an early hour this morning and Its cljose was marked by a tart denunciation of Senate La Follette by Don C. Seitz, of the Amer ican Newspaper Publishers' associa tion, who acted as toastmaster. Senator La Follette began his speech near midnight, and spoke for nearly two hours. The more than 600 diners were visibly wearied by the long drawn-out remarks of the Wisconsin senator and toward the close fre quently interrupted him. Much of his speech was devoted to the money pow er and an attack on the sincerity of the newspaper press of the country. When he had finished Toastmaster Seitz said: "I shall not* attempt nor have I the time to come to the defense of the newspapers of the country which have just been foolishly, wickedly and un truthfully assailed." Senator La Follette made no sign of hearing the caustic remarks, which was uttered In a half-angry tone. Malicious Attack Says Seitz. Today in an interview Mr. Seitz said: "As the banquet was given"" by the magazine publishers, and as I was a guest of Cyrus H. K. Curtis, president of the association, I had to be cautious in mj/remarks on Senator La Follette, dQi j,t recaU exaoUy what 8a sena -tor had flnished a but I do re- member declaring that the The body of Marroon id when senator made unkindi unjust and wU. fully malicious attack on the news- papers of the nation, and if I had had more time 1 would have said some thing stronger on 'the subject. "Last night's dinner, during which we thought we would 'josh' the states man, ended in a calamity. It was a tragedy for Senator La Follette's hopes. He has simply wiped himself off the map. "Undoubtlv he came to Philadelphia to make the address of his life and when it developed into an infamous slander of the newspapers and a wal lowing, sycophantic praise of the fs overstepped his mark. "Previous to that time the senator had talked for more than two hours and when he concluded I certainly re buked him. In my mind, the senator, not knowing the relationship between the magazines and the newspapers, came to the dinner to attack the lat ter and to curry favor with the maga zine publishers. magazines, I realized that the man had The portion of Senator LaFollette's speech to which Mr. Seitz took excep tion was as follows: "I have sketched the growth and power oLihe grept interests that today control our property and our govern ment. I have shown how subtle and elusive, yet relentless they are. Rising up against them is the confused voice of the people. Their heart is true but their eyes do not yet see all the in tricate sources of power. Who shall show them? There are only two agen cies that in any way can reach the whole people. These are the press and the platform. But the platform in nq way compares with the pres's in its power of "continuous repeated instruc tion. "One would think that in a democ racy like ours, seeking for instruc tions, able to read and understand, the press would be their eager and .willing instructor—-such was the press of Hor ace Greeley, Henry Raymond, Chas. A. Dana, Joseph Medill and Horace Ru bles. "But what do we find has occurred in the last few years the money power has gained control of our in dustries and government. It controls the newspaper press. The people know this. Their confidence is weakened and destroyed. No longer are the editorial columns of newspapers a potent force in educating public opinion. The news papers, of course, are still patronized for news. But even as to news, the public is fast coming to understand that wherever news items bear in any way on the control of the government by business, the news is colored so confidence in the newspaper is being undermined. "Cultured and able men are still *o be found on the editorial staffs of all great dailies, but the public under stands them be hired men who no longer express honest judgments and sincere convictions, who write what "ley are told to write, and whose judg ments are salaried. "To the subserviency of the press to special interests in no small de gree, is due the power and influence and prosperity of the weekly and monthly magazines. A decade' ago, young men trained in journalism came to see this control of the newspapers of the country. They saw this unoc cupied field. And they went out and built up great periodicals and maga zines. They were free." Collier's Wife is III. New Orleans, La., Feb. .3.—The con dition of Mrs. Robert Collier, wife of Robert J. Collier of New York, presi dent of Collier's Weekly, tyho is ill at a hotel here, was said to be much bet ter today. No newspaper men were allowed to see Mr. Collier last night and it was erroneously reDorted that he was ill. .• -MB S«\ Wf v- 4 MURDERED ATLAWRENCE iaio 'v j, State and Local Police In vestigating Crime in City Already Stirred by Strike —No Bearing on Strike. Lawrenoe, Mass., Feb, 3.—The state and local police who are investigating the murder of four persons, whose bodies were found last night in a tenement hopBe near the heart of the city, obtained a probable clew this morning when they learned that Shese Marroon, one of the victims, had recently drawn about $500 from a local bank and had the money when he went to the house in which the crime was committed. The police did not find any money. was not identi. lied until early today. He was a Syrian, about 35 years old. The dead are: Mrs. Annie Dennis, aged 36 years. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Savia, aged 35 and 40 years respectively. Shese Marroon. A disturbance was heard in the Savia apartment about 3 o'clock in the morning by the family which lives down stairs, but no investigation was made. When no member of the house hold appeared during the day, however the police were Called in. The body of Marroon was found in the kitchen with his throat cut and there were knife wounds on his body. In a corner were the bodies of Joseph Savia and his wife, both of whom had evidently met death during a bloody battle for their lives. In a bedroom adjoining was found the body of Mrs. Dennis. Her throat had been cut. T,he po lice say no connection between the murders and the mill strike here is apparent. It is believed the murderer escaped by a rear door, as bloody foot prints were found on a stairway lead ing to it. The police have no clue. Murder at Kansas'City. Kansas City, Mo., Feb. 3.—Mystery surrounding the murder of Mrs. Luc etta Dorsett, widow, whose body was found in her home in Kansas City, Kan., last evening, deepened today af ter an announcement by the coroner that the little woman had been dead since last Tuesday. Mrs. Dorsett, known to the neigh bors as, Aunt Lou" was said to be the smallest woman in the city, being slightly under four feet tall. Her body was found by Mrs. M. F. Fisher, her sister, who after several days' ab No money was found in the hotrse. Detectives today worked on the theory that robbery was the motive, it being known that a considerable amount of money was left to her by the death of her husband, a commission mer chant recently. Stranger Sought For Murder. Kansas City, Mo., Feb. 3.—Thomas Edwards, whose dead body was found shot through the head on a driveway here, Thursday following his disap pearance from his home in Yankton, S. D., Sunday, left that, place with a stranger to come here to close a land deal. This information was contain ed in a telegram received by a local fraternal order today from officials of the lodge in Yankton. The message says the stranger was not known in Yankton and that friends of Edwards believe that he was murdered. JUDGE LOANS MAN MONEY TO PAY FINE Dallas, Tex., Feb. 3.—Donales San doval, sentenced at Brownsville to pay a fine of $600 on the charge of violat ing the neutrality laws will square the bill today with money loaned by the same judge who sentenced him. Sandoval was convicted January 5, at Brownsville in a trial before Feder al Judge Walter T. Burns. Since that time he has been in prison at Laredo unable to pay his fine. Compassion for the man caused Judge Burns to advance the money with which to set tle with the (government. BURLINGTON GIRL IN WEST IS INJURED Denver, Colo., Feb. 3.—Miss Garnet Taylor of Burlington, Iowa was prob ably fatally injured today near Fort Collins, when an automobile in which she was riding, in company with three others skidded and crashed into a telephone pole. The top of the pole was broken off caught upon a wire, swung ^around and struck Miss Taylor in the back of the head. AGENCY. T. H. Armstrong and William Rill shipped a car of hogs to Morrell & Co. last week. Mrs. B. F. Cremer, who has been «Iek, is better. The Agency high school basketball team goes to Garden Grove Saturday to play with the team there. The Agency Methodist Episcopal church choir went to Batavia Wednes day evening and sang to a large and appreciative audience. Including the choir and others, forty-five went down^ The meetings at the Christian chufcTT are still in progress. Several have united with the church. Mr. Andrew has sold his 80, acre farm four miles northeast of town to take Elkins for a good price. Mr. Enkins [Will move on it March 1. 114 So. Market St. I sence went to Aunt Lou home jn|priday after a pleasant visit with accordance with the usual custom to. fiends In Oskaloosa. light the gas lights, Mrs. Dorsett b-w. j. Wilford returned home Satur ing unable to reach them even fron* day after few days spent at Keokuk a chair. Mrs. DorSett's skull was fractured apparently by four blows. Old Phone 251-Red New Phone 664 No. 209411 West Main Chicago, Feb. 3.—One of the first results of the threatened cold wave was to sefld the price of eggs to the highest price ever reached in Chicago— forty cents a dozen, Wholesale, for first quality. There was talk that Monday would gee the new high record smashed again. 4 SALEM CHAPEL. airs. E. E. Gilyeart and daughter Crystal attended installation of of ficers and the banquet of Woodbine camp No. 1014 R. N. A. Tuesday even ing: Jan. 23 at the Masonic temple in Ottumwa.. Born, to Mr. and Mrs. John Proud at the Ottumwa hospital Wednesday morning, Jan. 24, a daughter. Mrs. E. E. Moore entertained Wed nesday at her home at dinner the ladies of the M. E. Aid society and their hus bands. Mrs. J. N. English and son Mark spent Friday in Ottumwa. Crystal Gilyeart returned home on on business. Bertha English came home Friday from her school duties in Ottumwa to SDend Sunday with her mother Mrs. J. X. English. Mark English was a visitor in Oska loosa Thursday. E. E. Gilyeart attended the Kelley sale near Hedrick Tuesday. Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Wilford spent TRUST Your* for uni formity. Your* for great est leavening power. Your# for never failing results. Your# for purity. Yours for economy. Youffc for etvery thing that goes to make np a strictly high grade, ever dependable baking powder. That is Cain met. Try It once and note the im provement in your bak ing. See how much more economical over the high priced trust brands, how muth better than the cheap and big-can kinds. Calumet is highest in quality —moderate in cost. Received Highest Award World's Pure Food Exposition. ,-gp^PV W "v 4 FARM LOANS m- 4 In spite of the universal shortage of funds, we still have plenty of money for first class March loans at reasonable rates. Write or call. PHOENIX TRUST CO. This has been a hard winter on pumps of every kind, many freez ing and breaking. If you have a pump broken or any other kind of a farm tool or implement broken or a part worn out, I might be a good fellow to see for if Shepherd does not have the repairs he knows where they can be had and he will tell you. Repairs for everything. 8treet. Eggs Forty Cents a Dozen Wholesale at Chicago Today Ottumwa, Iowa. ,JAS. H. SHEPHERD "New 8hepherd'« Ranche." Ottumwa. Iowa. KILLS THREE AND SUICIDES Tells Tuberculosis Family it -h Would be a Good Thing to End Agony Instead of Dy- S wig by Piecemeal. Appleton, Wis., Feb. 3.—Belief that sudden death was preferable to long suffering from tuberculosis caused WH- Ham Maihland to kill three members of his family and then commit suicide on his father's farm near -Binghamton" 16 miles from hereM yesterday, it was said by ollh^ers here todajv ^... V*. During the-last few year$ five ,memr hers of the Maihland family have dioit rJV from tuberculosis of "thei lungs, -All of the victims "Of the tragedy were af fected with the disease. This condition worried William. A few days ago he partly unburdened himself to the members of the jamily, assembled at dinner. 'v "We have been dying piecemeal for the last few year's,"-he-said. "I be: i:" lieve it woiild be a good thing if wj could end this agony at once, all dying together. I believe I'll get some car bolic acid and kill the whole bunch. But the boy could not^ obtain the acid, so he changed his'plan. First he killed his father Lewis Maihland by shooting Off his head, then cut tho throats of.his sister and brother. Dora aged 16 was found lying on a couch in the parlor her throat slashed and the deed presumable committed while she was asleep, while the body of John, aged 8 was found in the smoke house. William then cut his own throat with a razor. Sunday with Mr. and Mrs. Bennie Rooker near Highland Center. Mr. and Mrs. Dehart visitfed Sunday at the Rollin Shaw home. Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Wilford spent Sunday with Mr/ and Mrs. John Mc Coy. FRED SIMMONS DIED SUDDENLY SON OF GEORGE SIMMONS $UC- it CUMBS TO HEART FAILURE IN HOTEL AT PEORiA Fred £immons, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Simmons, 619 Bast Second street, died suddenly at a hotel in Peoria, 111., Saturday night at 8. o'clock Death is supposed to have been caused sg,* by heart failure. The first message of his death was received by the American Mining Tool Co., with which the young man's & father is connected, from the coroner at Peoria, which stated that a travel ing salesman for the firm by the name of Simmons had died there in a hotel. Telephonic communication was se cured immediately with Peoria. It was learned that Mr. Simmons became sud denly 111 in the hotel and asked for a physician. He died just a few moments after. Frank Simmons, an uncle of the deceased, went to Peoria this morn ing to take charge of the body. The re mains will arrive tomorrow afternoon on Burlington No. 9. Mr. Simmons was twenty-four years of age and is well known in Ottumwa. He was born in this city. For the past several years he has been travel ing salesman for the American M4ning Tool -Co. Besides his parents, he leaves one brother, Harold, attending school in the east, and one sister, Mrs. Aimee Halo of Lockhart, Ala. The funeral arrangements will not be made until the brother and sister are communicated with. fly for "4 -. jf & as* 3 W- 'i*T 4V". -V/'. $