Emmons County record. [volume], December 28, 1922, Image 1

About Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current

Image provided by: State Historical Society of North Dakota

                
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A-
BRIDGE COMPANY WINS FIRST
"V^v»
t,. Judge McKenna Rules That Various
Illegal Steps in Letting Contracts
Should Not Bar Payment of Work
5jf Done.
The hearing in district court of the
taxpayers' suit restraining Jibe coun-
ty commissioners from paying for cer
tain bridge work sattrohavebeen il
legally let wpchjjte heard before
Judge McKeqprai Tuesday, Wednes
day and Thursday of last week in
Bismarck, was decided in favor of the
bridge company and the commission-
The plaintiffs immediately'
led a bond and served notice of ap
peal to the supreme court. Scott
Cameron and Zuger ft Tillotson repre
sented the commissioners and Law
rence, Murphy ft Nilles, of Fargo, rep
resented the taxpayers.
The proceedings grew out of a
movement started by Dr. R. R.
Hogue and L. D. Seemanto curb the
extravagance of the board of county
commissioners. About a thousand
dollan was raised by popular sub
scription, and attorneys retained to
see what steps could be taken The
Fargo firm wais retained, and Mr.
Nilles, of that firm, came to Linton
to investigate. The first thing he
discovered was
ing contracted
out proper pgftions,. without proper
without proper bond
being filedthe successful bidder.
A restraining order was at once se
cured The comfelaiijtf filed by the at
torneys as is :t^Bal|y?jc^^shargi
ed most every thing under the .ami
However, at the hearing the plain
tiff's attorneys elected to stand simply
on the illegality, of. thelfettings. They
declared that the letting* hM been
made illegally, and that' 'numerous
former decision* made it practically'
certain that an injunction shouldbe
sustained by the district court. Had:
that been the result, then the bridge
company 'would havebeenfo?c$d to'
ie board with?^'
see for a reasonable amo^i'^^P'^
decided by a jury-r-for the %ork al-
per tume to go into the allegations, of
exhorbitant charges and frandulient
construction.. Hence they put no wit
nesses on the stand to prove either
Die value of the work or the manner
in which it had been constructed.
Messrs. Lee and Mcpoinville, Engineer
Tong and E:\D,. Fogle were the only
vdtaefses ^^fi^cfense, «md R. R.
•^Soffit the odly witness for the plain
-^rs. Other witnesses jprnent,
etuding Ben Ketchsmj W- McColley,
$5 Oscar Larvick, E^ftV'^urintuni Win.
5,'^r
re not called to the stand.
J«dge- M^cKenna, in giving his de
dsion held that, while tbe proiqisedings
til letting the contracts were not ac
cording to law, the .work had been
&me and the bridge company was en
li"™ titled to recover the contract price.
.Th« plaintiff attorneys contended, that,
tt:ythe .contrwt"had not heen let. ac-
Tj «H^bag jto law, the law and niimerous
similar case, by oiw
pBeclud^'^.::^nil^^^i^id^iii("'
the applicati«n f{K
They are still stmdb^ot^iSie
contention and have appealed to
supreme court, whete th^«|*!bter.will
lie finally decided. The ease t^ouM
have gone to the sopreme court i^ any
case, .as the"defendaa|a
tainly have
:spp$j||e^Mi^^
court decision-been
We might
heard in Linton because Mr Camer
on, feeding counsel-for the defendants,
objected to th« .case l^in^ la
Linton. The plaintiffs at no time off
^ered objections to the hearing being
,held in Linton. Likewise, the de*
fendants were extremely -anxious to
i§r7^'" have the case heard by Judge Mc
...vv ^smis, while the pKsintiffs ^md, |tl
$M:-th9ash when Judge McKenna jwas illi
:fpt-4hey suggested either Judge AUn or
,v^. Judge Coffey. The plaintiffY^ttw
!«eys madfrno objection for ^hie j^
son that they at all times proposed-'ing
to ^pkal to the supreme ei£)rt if im
•nccessful: in the distrirt^^warti
1
WlSe^ir ii. at course im^Mibl* for
•ny person'to' accurately foretell
what any court may do in a caw, our
readers ihouid ^emevber ithat ithe ac
tion of the distrhit jpoart in nb way
determines the fih^ out^ome. As an
Instance, we might remfa^. *Te^«f
ers of the noted Lynn-a»dci^|^B»*
ton !a»» /.wherein.:.ther Ji^^jMdpb/
•warded titles to tiiouainds. ef
at lands to plaintiff, Lyt»D, which the
supreme court subsequently reversed,
the defendants, Haekney-Boyntoo,
-kvisk-' ••wfaatot111 •wwrettte court
is nof uncommon foir the supreme
court
to reversethe lower court. Hence,
the decision of Judgs McKenna simply
gives the first mund to the defendants.
Our readers "should bear in mind
that the merits or demerits of the
work that .has been done for the coun
ty by the bridge company, as well as
the price agreed upon for the work,
has not yet been touched It will be
in due time. If the supreme court
reverses Judge McKenna, it will close
up in an action by the bridge com
pany to recover a reasonable amount
for the Vork. If the
sustains the district court, then the
^oestion will be tested fa 'to entirely
different action. However, the Rec
ord still backs up itjs, statement that
bridges have been constructed that
were not according to plans and speci
fications, and that profits over a rea
sonable actual cost of the work have
reached^*s high: as 100 per cent.
.. That' the Record'* contention that
the county engineer has actually
proven a detriment to the county
At. no time has the Record man
a position to have any in
duence^ over the manner in whiih the
taxpayers' case has been conducted.
Nevertheless, every move ^that has
beeq made in the matter has been crit
icised ty tlte-op^osition as~ being the
direct acM of ^e editor.of this pa
per. We are f^nk to state that had
we bem'kble to eointlroi the rfteps Mk
en, we would not have favored charg
ing the rommitfsioners with being
financially interested in the bridge
company. Snch a_«torge, even
though tone, would be.practically im
possible of proof.. We would have
charged, however, that exhorbitan\
prices were paid, and that an attempt'
had been made to defraud the county
in actual constructiqi^ Those things
we would have stoOd TCady to .prove
In fact, if Mr. Fogle will bring a
libeh mtit Igainst the Record, we will
gladly make an effort to jarove those
lAiAgs in^cQiirt. Now, that is jnst
^tly mat we mean
»SdlA'0
witA
r. V. Vv
-rjyxm
'J.
Bupreme
court
IKTSS
stttidn^y demonstrated in the case in
Bisiixiarck. For instance, when Mr.
Fogle was on the stand under oath,
the plaintiff's attorneys^ttsft&l^ him if
the bridges constructed had heen ac
cording to specifications.. Mr Fogle
answered that they luiil "as far as
tha:t
TTE MU^
had a
(Fogle's) shoulders and that he had
probably, nev^r seen the, ,w?k done in
Some cases.''. ?^eh Mr. .Tong Was.
on the stand-he/testified,-according to
our information, that the sc^called
Larvick Kridge, for instance, was built
according to specifications because he
had personally inspected the construc
tiorf',"1 Mr. W. S FVeemitn, who was
employed on the constvaction of that
bridge, states that he personally
knows that the bridge was not built
according to specifications in that the
cement in the footings was skimped
by a considerable amount, that cobble
!*tones were piled in where the speci
fications called for reinforced con
crete, and that th® iron was spaced
"Tnder jfean tW 'ptabisliiiBed tars tlius
cutting: down the wnoan^of iron need
ed on the job.
'*i/ 'iit
FLAKE PR£SSNT
4he Kel|ogg Toasted Com Flakes
CB^ijis'plainly no.llooeh in pushing
its fln» is one of the
grwatest advertisers in Qie
Mk and incidentally, -a mighty
good laying proposition. -The Kdl
99t PWncts are kno^m in every
h#«»eh«W, and it is thefr wonderfui
P^Wcity department thathas brought
WSti week, tiie itocord *x«.
perieneed ancrfther side to their pub
licity wofk. 'We receiveda'lafgebdx
whk^x eonteined a coopTe of bo«es of
the various products put on the mar
Iwt ^pi^oaij^. Inside the tat
was a nif^^little letter informing
that,the coinpfny appreciated our co
operation durimr the past year in
HaiKlling their advertising, and ads
us to ftceept the enclosed boxes
of their prodwts ae a.. .Christmas
token of good^wiU'., ',
The men whei'^trol the j^bMeity
of the Kellogg j^le-*trtainl£ tap*
their fhosiiienr Those, Gh^titfas|
packages sent to the variom.-ne#spa
pers of thelJnited Spates wilhbri^g
far. grreateraaaountoffree advertisw»
ttan the vi^oe of t^e gflods.
Jgdgo »Sam, there's more uses for
a nuH^ than to shave with. -A-riia,
is a ^angtrous wiipdn to carry
around/ Sam—But, jedge. dis razor
aint i%d*#gen^jrafcor, it am ah
sai'ety^^rxv
,y
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Sgitev,,
m:-'wrnm,.
LAW CHANGES NBE&JBD
Governor Nestbe Expected Tell
^Legislature of Neceesaiy|S§-'
Changes
N a a I
distiince ot the Grand Forks inill and
elevator from the state ea^tol makes
it imperative that a ~boaid be named
to manage the inill, bnt that the prin
ciple of non-political management of
the industries also applies to the Bank
of North Dakota
There are several measures said to
be. necessary: in consideration of. the
rural credits department. During
de last six month* the amount of
money used from the Bank of North
Dakota to act as a revolving fund
for. the handling of the farm loan
business has varied from $600,000 to
$i,l(W,000.00, averaging .about $800,
000, end it is held by the bank of
ficials that the same amount of money
will be needed for the efficient hand-'
liiig of the business fo:4| years to
Changes Held Neceesary
Under vie rural credits law, the
department is permitted to charge
an amount to cover administrative
expenses not exceeding one percent..
There is, however, no provision for
taming into
sthe
i[iin|i|ijj|pi' ipf^ryn—r*' i, "rrp^pr'T^j^rE]^^
&
Linton, North Dakota, fFfcorsday, December 28, 1922.
-i, if" rj«» i" r-»
Revision of and strengtifct«9ing of nomy and) for the welfare of the
tne rural creaits depikiHbn^it of the' state to abolish the private or indivi
Bank of Notth Daltbtai is exjpectedj dual deposit features of the Bank and
to be .urged uftcjj| the leg^sl^Mre at to: devote the energy of the manage
its- forthcopii^KBessidh, by (Joveriior. ment of the bank to a complete devel
R. A, Ne^jps/ The propwals of the: opment of the rural credits depart
Governor «4« expectted to embrace ment end the handling of the funds
both the remedying of defe^ts' exist'lbelongihg to the state and to the va
ing in the law at the prescint time rious' institutions. When the present
and permitting the continuant of the management of the Bank of North
rural predits business in the'ifuture. Dakota took over the bank the in
In line with the .Gov^or|l(-v|K^icyi rdividual deposits amounted to $26,000
as announced in campaign -speeches,, and now are about $13,000. The in
of asking that the state indnstrieien-' divitjhtal, dejposit feature, however, is
terprises be placed in the hands/of held in'ajministration circles to be a
non-political boards of exp^^, is [commaci^l. function of the bank
expected that such a recommenda^oii which ouglit to be dispensed with
will be made with regard to the
come. l%e legisalture ptobably will: hy Judge James A Coffey in
be asked to provide for such a re
volving fund, because of the uncer
tainty of depending upon available
t«i funds in^* the bank
farm loan any ex-
cess there may be over the actaial jchore Layer's children are now
administrative expenses. One diffi-1 acattered in various homes and one
cnl^r: encountered by both the leagoe
at maturity ^*s fixed by law at the,
islatnre will be asked to enact a law
making, the payment optional, either
at the stats treasurer's office or at a
trvst-eompany-in New York. The
law'governing the making, of farm
loans by the board of University and
School lands provides that the board
R«y pay .taxes and insurance upon
land an'd bandings on which .loans are
made when the borrower is delin
quent, bot there is no such provision
In the Bank of North Dakota law.
iThe- ^am pimnitting .the issuance of
bonds has- been construed to mean
that farm loan mortgages must wa
tnre withfn SO years after the passf
age of the law, which would make
the amortiuition period at this time
but 26.year*. It la desired to clearly
nravide fpr^an amortization period of
It also 'has been pointed out that
although 'the limit of bonds which
may be issued by the rural credits
department was raised from $10,000,
000 tS $20,000,000, if the department
state treasurer's efflee whereSs most children are in the institution at Fair
bond investors desire bonds paysbl? .mount^ but probably will be placed in
in New York. It is probable the leg- homes.
is to be permanent this latter limit|nifying success in love
"1
2a»a«"
inust be increased.
Abolish Deposit Feature
With regard to the Bank of North
Dakota pgoper^ it is understood that
Governor Nestos is prepared to re
commend that in the interest of eco-
I^.i^ also known here that Governor
before .the legis
1-possib!e
the payment without delay of
all soldier bonus claims, on a basis
somewhat similar to the hail warrant
sales negotiated by the administra
tion
MRS LAYER DIVORCED
The following, taken from the Bis
marck Tribune, refers to the wife of
the man who murdered the entire
Wolf fondly at Turtle Lake, the vic
tims being relatives of John Bossert,
of this place. ]ltr8. Wolf was Mr
Bossert's sisW:
Divorce was. granted- Mrs. Lydia
Layer, wife of Henry Layer, serving
a life sentence in the state peniten-.
tiary here for the mtirder of eight
persons near Turtle Lake in April,
district court, today.
The divorce was asked and granted
solely on the ground that Layer had
been convicted of a felony, Theodore
Koffel, Mrs. Layer's attorney, said,
this being a statutory, ground.
Since the famous murder, case
originated the family has been scat
tered far and wide. It was on May
18, 1920, that Layer, a farmer, was
sentenced for' the murder of seven
members of the: Wolf family and a
glncg
and present administrations in the Dakota home, one was run over by a
sale of state bonds was. that payment
j^g jie(j ©ne is in a North
truc]c near
painnount, Minn., last Oc-
Inj.
was killed, and four other
Mrs. Layer, it was said, plans to
leave North Dakota
Layier has niade no further effort
to avoid serving a life sentence since
nn appeal to the sttprehie cowt^ailedl
Layer c^itfesjted to. the mnrdCr«, the
most- grewsome in thj.' $is'to^y of
NortlftB|kota, and later ^laimed the
conf^^m^as obtained 'by *Hhird
degt^mtethods.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Sunday, December Slst
Bible School at 10:30. Junior
League at 8 0Q. Epworth League at
6:45. Preaching Service at 7:30.
Sermon by the pastor:
WA
New Year's
'Message."'
'Service at Temvik at 3:00 p. m.
You are cordially invited to all
these services.
Victor Phillips, Pastor^
Princess Mary's engagement ring
was setftrith single emerald, sjg-
*-V
Hi
1
FRANK CASE ON TRIAL
Judge Berry, of Mandan, Presiding.
Jury That Served in November
Is Back on Job.
The $75,000 personal injury Buit of
Wm. H. Frank vs. the Emmons
County Light & Power Co. was start
ed here in district court yesterday
forenoon, with Judge Berry, of Man
dan, presiding. The jury which
served at the November term is pres
ent, Judge Berry having issued an or
der recalling them after Judge Allen
had dismissed them. Judge Berry's
order was backed by an order of the
supreme court.
The so-called Frank case resulted
from an injury which the plaintiff
received while in the employ of the
local light company. Mr. Frank was
rewiring the town, and was working
on one of the poles just south of the
W. E. Petrie store when the full
charge of plant went through his body
when he came in contact with a wire
which was not insulated. His body
was drawn down against the wire, and
there he hung for several minutes
until a phone call to the engineer at
the plant caused the power to be
turned off. Frank then fell to the
ground, where he was quickly given
assistance and carried to the Wolver
ton hospital. For a time it was
thought that he would not recover.
The plaintiff will attempt-to secure
damages by claiming the light com
pany responsible for the damage done
him because of the fact that the com
pany was not carrying state compen
sation insurance, as required by law.
The defense will seek to prove that
Frank was _in complete charge, that
he had been warned to be cautious,
and that he had not believed that the
company should pay the premiums for
state insurance.
The case comes up for trial at this
time instead of at the time the other
cases were tried as the result of
jockeying for poSition by the contend
ing parties. At the time Judge Al
lfn was hye. F. J. Piete. for the
defendants, filed an affidavit of pre jit
dice which it was expected would put
the case over, the term. Jacobson ft
Murray,, of Mott, representing the
plaintiff, appealed to Judge' Berry,
who had been selected by the supreme
court to take the place of Judge Al
len, to prevent a delay of the trial.
Judge Berry then ordered the recon
vening of the jury, and the supreme
court issued an order sustaining his
action.
The jury was ordered to report yes
terday morning at 9 o'clock. How
ever, at that time the Judge had not
put in an. appearance, and it was
nearly noon before work got under
way. A temporary panel had been
called when the noon whistle blew.
After dinner the examinations of
prospective jurymen began, and seven
of the first twelve were quickly re
leased, one for bias, and six by the
use of peremptories by the'two sides.'
About' Qiree o'clock this afternoon a
jury was finally secured, after most of
the available peremptories were used.
The jury wihch is trying the case is
as follows: Hans Hanson, Kintyre
Lorie Dornbush, Pollock L. H. Har
wood. Temvik Roy Bales, Pollock
Peter V. Wolf, Strasburg Fred Droog,
Strasburg Bert Skinner Hazeltxm
J. P. Henn, Strasburg Warren
Ryckman, Westfield Frank Bauan
gartner, Linton A.. J. -Fischer,
Hague Frank Lawler, Temvik. Both
the women jurymen on the panel were
excused, Mrs. Streeter for bias, and
Miss Grunefelder by peremptory chal
lenge.
It is prgbable that the tfral of the
case irilitake a couple of day*. All
Jurymen not oh trial of the case were
permanently, excused, as Judge Berry
will try only tlMa ope juiry case.
Judge Berry is one of die three judges
of the district lying west of the river
from Mandah to Beach.
TO DELINQUENT SUBSCRIBERS
This will be the last issue of the
Record that will be sent to a number
of those who are. pretty far behind
and who have nether made a nayment
nor. arranged for us for further time.
Every once in a while a subscriber
will get a cquple of years behind/and
then very calmly tell us to go to
thunder when we s«k for payment
There is not mudi ps^fit in subscrip
tion accounts anyway, and we want to,
start the New Year right. We hope
to Veep all our subscribers on our
list.. But we feel that they should
either pay the bank accounts, or at
least arrange: when payment will be
madeiprjj
f-aWCrf -V
itrz"* 1
*. wt JL
1
ir f%
**&£%
$2.00 Per Year, In Advance
NESTOS ASKS ECONOMY
Sends .Letters to Various County Au
ditors Requesting Meetings of
Officials to Plan Economy Pro*
gram
Herewith the Record reprints the
letter received by Co. Auditor Brant
from Gov. Nestos requesting a meet
ing of newly-elected officials to plan
an economy program for the coming
year. The brunt of this effort must
fall upon the board of county commis
sioners, as they have to do with mak
ing the levies and expending the funds.
While there are many fixed expendi
tures that must be made, it is possible
to cut down disbursements a great
deal in this county. The county dads,
when they organize in January, should
set out to slash the bridge and road
expenditures to the end that the levy
can be cut down in July. The $6,000
for engineer, assistants and mileage
can come off. An annual saving of
$25,000 to $30,000 can be made on
these three items alone. There is ab
solutely no sense in having a county
enigneer eating his head off all
through these winter months. Less
expensive bridges, and care in making
improvements will give us just about
as
much road-building and up-keep as
heretofore with a material 'saving..
It would also be a good idea to keep
the public informed
as
to the amount
of county aid being given to individu
als, as well as the amount paid for
deputies, etc. The old plan of buying
the winter's coal by contract instead
of by the load should make the cost
less. Let it be understood that this
•is not "trying to dictate to the com
missioners," but simply mentioning in
a general way some of the things the
taxpayers want. The Record pro
poses to keep after this matter of
economy throughout the coming year,
without regard to the political effect
it may have on our own fortunes.
We believe that newspaper commen*
dation is due where public officials
are honestly and intelligently working
for the public welfare, and we likewise
thoroughly believe in a little timely
criticise where officials become arro
gant, or oat of touch with the inter
ests of the taxpayers.
Following is the letter from Gov,
Nestos to the various county auditors:
"About a year ago I wrote youjuia
asked your aid in. securing" the co
operation of your county officials,
and the officials of your cities, vil
lages, townships and the school and
road districts in a general campaign
of economy and retrenchment, .in or
der that by our united efforts we
might be able, before long, to reduce
the tax burden now weighing so
heavily upon the people of_ our state.
"At this time I want to thank yon
for the co-operation given by yom
and to express through you my ap
preciation to all the other officials
of your county and the various po
litical subdivisions of the county for
their helpful attitude and for what
by the$r aid, we have succeeded in
doing even in this short time.
"I realize that some of the ceuntjr
officials, who co-operated with us dur
ing the past year, were qbt candidates
for re-election this fall, and that many
changes will also be made in the va
rious city, village, township and
school election during the coming
spring, and that therefore it is most
essential that the new officials for
1923 should also be impressed with the
importance of scrutinizing all expen
ditures with great care, and to reduce
the levy wherever possible so that by
the united effort of the state and the
nolitical subdivisions, we may he able
during the next two years materially
to lighten the tax burden.
*1 sincerely hope that yon will call
all your county officials together for
a conference as to what can and
should be done in toth your county
and. in the.- various subdivisions of
your county during the coming year,
to insure! that in each case wise econ
omy w^ll be exercised, that no esential
tod beneficial interest and work will
be sacrificed, but that by eliminating
that which is needless, and concen
trating on the essential things, we
may continue the growth and develop^
ment of our state, and at the same
time reduce the hitherto increasing
expenditures."
g^^Rep^ind-
"Now I've had my revenge/' said
the shoe-shop proprietor to his friend,*
as a customer left.
"Revenge? How so?
"Well, the young lady who just went
out is a telephone operator.
her the wrong number."
&
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*2
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