Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1877-02-03
NORTHERN TRIBUNE.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3. 1877.
TAXES VS.. PRENTISS.

Ahead d.-Mackinaw Drown tive
Horses. and ChebOygan is said ts
have some Boots.
1t may not be generally known. bu
I've learn that it is fact that Mr.. Prem
tiss, who has for several years past con
Quoted numbering operations quite ex.
tensively on the north shore. and runs
IA saw mill located at Prentiss Bay. has
lalways succeeded in some manner in
evading the payment of his taxes. This
year the Township Treasurer concluded
that if Mr.. Prentiss had the benefits oil
good government that he must pay his
share towards the support thereof. II
may be tnat this was not the course oil
reasoning gone through with by the
aforesaid Town Treasurer, but the result
was the same any way. He levied upon
personal property owned by Mr.. Prem
tiss, to the amount sufficient, i'm his jidg-
ment, to cover all the taxes and the ex-
penses of the sale. He may have csti-
mated the expenses of the sale pretty lib
orally when he made the levy upon the
property, but if lie did it makes little diff
ference with the present condition of at-
fairs and it is of them rather than the legal
aspects of The case that we have to do.
We suppose, too, that he advertised the
sale as provided by law, for if he did not
how did number Of our ChebOygaii
men find it out? There were Mackinaw
parties also who seemed to have some
knowledge of the state of affairs, for they
were present when the sale commenced
last Tuesday.
About here there commences 10 be Il
little mystery hanging over the affair.
which TRIBUNE reporter has not been
able to fathom Or entirely clear away.
Our reporter got the impression. whether
correctly or not, that the appearance OF
the ChebOygan parties upon the scene
was not altogether according to the cal
culations of the Machinaw party. In
fact his impressions are quite clear that
the Cheboy ganites were not entirely
welcome visitors. 1t may have interfereu
with some little arrangements which our
he, ghbors oil the island had among them
selves. The sale commenced, and it was
rumOred that the Cheboyganites took i'll
at very reasonable figures few cases OF
boots and some other goods. Our reporter
could nOs penetrate the mystery far
enongh to ascertain definitely whether
they paid more than one dollar per pair
or not, bus suffice it to say that if no
lawsuit was bought with the boots there
is Il margin for reasonable profit on
them. Our readers can Judge of the
feelings of the bidders at the sale. who
were imagining themselves wealthy
with their gains, when it was announced
that a telegram had been received stating
that an Injunction prohibiting the sale
had been obtained.
The sale closed abruptly, and the
parties started home, taking with them
their goods and a couple of horses of
| which the sale had put them in posses
sion. On their way to Mackinaw horse
which was being led behind the sleigh
got away and started towards Lake HUI
ron. After some attempts to catch him.
they left him, thinking he would come
home. After their return to Macklnaw.
our reporter could get no very clear
account of the transactions of eitherparty,
until little after tour o'clock the next
morning, when the Mackinaw party, in
Guiding the Town Treasurer, could have
been seen vending their way again TO
Prentiss Bay. where the sale was OPEN
ed again, and the balance of the goods
levied upon sold. This time, of course,
the property going into the hands of the
Mackinacs. Just what were the feelings
of the Cheboygan party when they
found the condition of affairs is not
definitely known. We understand that
the Mackinaw party failed to recover the
horse lost on Tuesday. AID were unior-
tunate enough to drown tn, horse driven
the next day. One of the horses be-
longed to Mr.. Chambers, and the other
to Capt. John McCarty.
Whether Mackinaw ''euchered" Che
boygan in the affair is no longer the
main question. James j. Brown yes
terday morning received dispatch to 20
and look after the interests of Mr.. Prem
| tiss, which he did Immediately, going
over yesterday afternoon, and il it is
found that the affair has not been con-
Quoted strictly in conformity to law. it
may be that the profits resulting from
the affair will not be large either to the
purchaser of the property or to the
treasurer making the sale. If it has
been, probably Mr.. Prentiss will conclude
that it will hereafter be more economi-
cal to ray his taxes than to have his
property pay them at ten or fifteen cents
on the dollar.
In either case, the small amount of
mystery which now envelopes the case
will no doubt be cleared up, and the fact
definitely ascertained whether there was
job set up between the treasurer and
other parties. We give the story as our
,~rnr <,r plo., oJ l,o IN far;ol S.<.,, III -.