Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-08-05
COME INTO COURT.

Pressing Invitation by the Supreme
Court to the Minneapolis Mill Com
pany.
Messrs. John s. Prince and Horatio Houiton
yesterday fled an information in the supreme
court asking for writ of mandamus to COM
pei the Minneapolis Mill company to construct
sluiceways through its dams and slides, fix
lures and appliances SO as to permit the pas
sage of logs of said Prince and Houlton into
aud through the sluiceway constructed by the
United States government aud over the Falls
of st. Anthony.
The writ was allowed and made returnable
the supreme court.
The points presented in the information are
as follows:
That petitioners are interested in the free
| navigation of the Mississippi river, and that
said river is navigable and admits the free
passage of boats and other water craft, and
| the running and transportation of saw logs
| and lumber.
That the Mill company is a corporation
under the laws of the State, authorized to
| maintain dams and sluices upon said river,
That in and by its charter the said mill COM
pauy was and is required that the dams 80
authorized to be constructed shall always be
provided with suitable slides and sluices, so as
| to admit the passage of logs and lumber down
| the Mississippi river.
That said Minneapolis Mill company, under
| its charter, constructed dams in the river but
has failed to maintain the sluices existing at
the time of the passage of its charter and
| wrongfully allowed the same to be destroyed.
That it has erected dams without any slides
| or slulces whatever, so as to wholly obstruct
the navigation of said river and SO as absolutely
to prevent the floating or passage of the logs of
petitioners over said dams and to maintain
! the same without any sluice or passage way
whatever and thereby wholly obstruct naviga-
| ton.
! That the government of the United States
| has caused to be constructed certain dam and
sluiceway below the said dams and distractions
of the Mill company, but that by reason of the
non-construction by said Mill company of
suitable sluiceways and slides through its said
dams, the said sluiceway made by the United
States cannot be used in the running of logs or
other purposes of navigation.
| That petitioners, John s. Prince and Hors-
| ito Houlton, are owners of large quantities of
| logs and lumber above said falls, which, but
| for the Instructions aforesaid, would be driven
down said river to St. Paul. That the passage
of said logs over said dam built by the United
States tends to injure and impair the works as
constructed by the United States, and that
| the Boom company, which holds the logs of
petitioners. are enjoined aud restrained from
passing the said logs out of their said boom with
out such sluiceway and slide is erected and
| maintained by said Mill company, SO that they
| may pass therein into the said sluiceway con-
structed by the government and not over and
upon the same so as to injure and destroy the
| said government works.
| That the Mill company has failed to con-
struct the said sluiceway in order to prevent
logs from passing below said Falls and to mo-
nopolize the market and compel the owners
thereof to dispose of the same without having
| the benefit of the enhanced value of the logs
| at markets and places below said Falls, and to
that end have induced the officers of the United
States by the said acts and omissions to apply
for suit of injunction against said Boom COM
pany and Messrs. Prince & Houlton.
| That petitioners own large quantities of logs
above said Falls which they are DESTROYS of
bringing to market through said government
sluiceway and river below said st. Anthony
| Falls in order to fill existing contracts, and
that if not allowed to pass without delay, great
| loss and damage will ensue TO them.
| Whereupon the Minneapolis Mill company
are commanded and enioined that immediate
| ly after the service of a copy of the writ upon
| 1t, If the said company comply with the pro-
| visions of its charter by the construction of
| suitable sluiceways through it's said dams with
slides and fixtures SO as to permit the passage
of logs through its said dams into the sluice-
way erected by the United States, or show
cause before the court on the 10Th day of
August, 1880, why it has not done So