Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-12-11

merce for the appointment of a committee to
bring the matter to the attention of Congress,
, and to request an appropriation to aid in the
construction of the bridge.
Mr.. McClung was appointed chairman of this
| committee. With his usual energy and deter
mination, he set about providing convincing
| figures to prove that the government would
prise.
THE MILITARY TO THE FRONT.
In the furtherance of this object3he Was ma
terially assisted by Gen. A. H. Terry, COM
handing the department of Dakota and Gen.
| Charles 81. Tompkins, chief quartermaster.
| From the records in their offices he compiled
! valuable statistics, to show that the govern.
ment during the war had been at the enormous
expense of paying out yearly $4,000 or more
for ferriage, and that since the war $500 to
$500tper month had been the amount so ex-
pended, not counting in the delay caused by
inadequate means to meet the demand on the
ferry.
memorial, drauehted by Mr. McClung was
sent to Congress-, being committed especially to
DR.. j. 81. Stewards charge, who at that time
was Representative from this, the Third Con.
gressional district.
A MASS MEETING.
Meantime agitation over the bridge business
had assumed the dimensions of a widespread
excitement. Everybody had tho bridge in
their mouths, or, at any rate, if they didn't
bite of the thing in fact, they spit it out on
every occasion. In the regular American way
expression must be given in a mass meeting;
SO mass meeting was held. 1t convened at
the old court house on the 10th of February,
1879. MIR. D. W. Ingersoll presided and DR.. A.
Wharton acted as secretary. Besides large
concourse of the people, the Ramsey county
delegation IN the legislature was in attendance.
Here again MIR. McClung urged that 'the old
flag and an appropriation" was no novel idea,
though With good p one tf;. and ; wholly Wholly
sition to the idea, however. was
prevalent, though the meeting was unanimously
in favor of voting 100000 worth of county
bonds for the project, as was done, as stated
above.
Fortunately to disabuse the public mind in
its opposition or disbelief in obtaining govern
mental assistance, DR.. Stewart, NJ. O., address
scd letter to NJ nc Chung, which was duly
presented to the Chamber of Commerce. ad-
visiug that Congress be petitioned to set off,
say, four or five sections of the Fort Smelling
reservation to aid in constructing the bridge.
This was an intimation very decided and
favorable to"the old flag and an appropriation"
tor Alexander Ramsey was employed to visit
Washington in behalf of the
Fort Smelling bridge, or those,
both civil and military, who wanted it,
and wanted it bad.
10 the qualification of such as believed in it,
and to the immense satisfaction of st. Paul
and her anxious neighbors, along about June
18th, 1878, wsrd reached st. Paul that Congress
had passed a bill authorizing the building of q
bridge at Fort Smelling and had appropriated
s65, 200 for that purpose.
Exultant exultation!
Besides the potent fact of $65, OOO the bill
provided certain provisions regarding 'the
non-interference with navigation, etc." and
named certain specifications, usual in author
izing such i'm prOvements, among which was the
provision that the $65, 900 should not be paid
over to the bridge commissioners until the
bridge was finished.
THE MINNEAPOLIS PLAN.
As a matter of history it should be recorded
that Minneapolis opposed the bridge on the
general principle that St. Paul wanted it, After
the bill appropriating $65, 900 had passed one
branch of Congress-, a special meeting of the
Minneapolis council was called, and preamble
and resolution adopted protesting against the
bridge. The preamble set forth that the bridge
was to be ffty-eight feet above hig Oh water mark,
while boats required sixty-fve feet, and that by
making the bridge ifty-e1ght feet high it would
prevent boats reaching the foot of the falls.
They accordingly asked that the bill be changed
10 compel Inc ne1gnG 10 De seventy teet. The
Minneapolitans were much chagrined when
they found that the bill provided that the
bridge should be sixty-eight feet high which
was three feet above what they had claimed
was necessary for navigation. The plan was to
defeat the bill by indirection. As it had passed
one house, if change could have been made in
the other, it would have proved fatal. It was
in the closing hours of the session. The action
| of the Minneapolis council was telegraphed to
Washington June IL, and on the 18th Congress
adjourned. 1t was critical time, and if the
Minneapolitans had known that the plans called
for sixty-eight feet, they would have set up the
necessity of having it seventy eight feet.
Senator Window felt himself in duty bound
to make fuss for Minneapolis, and so far lent
himself to the scheme to temporarily delay
its passage. When it was shown that the Min
neapolis council had overreached itself, and
that the bridge was to be at least three feet
above their own assertion of the necessity he
had no ground to stand upon.
ASSISTANCE RENDERED..
Explanatory of all the above legislation,
much influence needed to accomplish it..
This assistance came in the voice of the peo-
pie, and called to tho accomplishment of the
project the following, who may be classed un-
der