The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1890-07-03
LAND SHARPS AND LAND SHARPS.
Senator from a New State Tells How he
Once Utilized Locomotive.


Once Utilized Locomotive.
II on never heard how | made use
| of Il locomotive 10 secure a valuable
| piece of property. did you?" said a
Senator from one of the new States.
Well. its rather curious sort of a
| story, and dates back about thirteen
years. TO 4 time when things out on the
frontier were comparatively primitive.
l had invested all the money | had in
the world III half section of land on
which the city of Sioux Falls now
stands, only to find subsequently that
my title to the property was weak. ow.
ing to a deed recorded after had made
the purchase the person who made the
sale to me having meanwhile died. On
! the strength of this deed suit was
! brought against me to recover three
fourths of the land, and it looked as
though was going to lose it.
But there was mystery about the
| case somehow. | could not find out
/ for some time in whose behalf it was
that the suit was instituted, but finally
| discovered that it was a man named
JONES' living four miles out of Mime
/ apolis on farm. Without delay took
train for Minneapolis and went to
| see Jones, who said that he could not
| be the man | sought, for the reason
that he never owned any land in
| Dakota. Nevertheless | made up nv
| mind that he was the person who actu-
| ally had the title although he was not
aware of the fact. The lawyers in
Sioux Falls through whose firm the
! hnl
were simply attempting swindle with
view to getting hold of the land with
out notifying the holder of the title to
the property that he had any such
| ownership. That was all clear enough
to me when | learned the fact that one
of the firm of lawyers in Sioux Falls
was Jones's uncle. So / made up my
mind that | must obtain from Jones a
title.
Il got eX-Judge Sanders of Mnnea-
polls, an old friend of Jones's to 90
with me to see Jones, and l explained
to Jones the matter in detail-the pre-
else value of the land the manner in
which l came into possession of it, the
validity of his own title and all the de-
tails. Even had | so desired, it would
not have done for me to disguise any
thing, because any misrepresentation
on my part would render my title in-
valid. | merely urged that, on the
strength OF certain circumstances which
gave me Il moral right to the land, he
ought to give me a title and so place
me in possession of my own again. His
own friend, the Judge, urged like
argument, and Jones finally agreed to
IL
ment of so. The papers were drawn
and | went on my way rejoicing, with
my full and clear title to the property,
which was then worth $40, 900. Un-
luckily Jones had communicated with
his uncle, the lawyer i'll Sioux Falls.
during the interval between our two
interviews, and | didn't have time to
get out of Minneapolis before Jones
turned up at the hotel and demanded
the deed back. This meant that he
had received word from his uncle to
hold OH to the land at all hazards be-
cause it rightfully belonged to him. OF
course / would not give up the deed,
and then ensued Il most extraordinary
contest.
Although had the deed my title
to the property was not made until
that deed was recorded at Sioux Falls
Jones might make the transaction
nau@ht by simply executing another
deed and placing it on record first.
The only thing for me to do was to
anticipate any such action on his part
by getting to Sioux Falls myself as
quickly as possible. So took the first
train for Sioux Falls. and after | got
on board kept n sharp lookout. The
only person who excited any suspicion
in my mind was deformed little man
whom knew to be Il LAWYER and who
approached me before we had got very
far on our 250-mile journey. Conver-
sation followed, during which | allaycd
his suspicion that | was wide awake
and confirmed my own notion that he
was an agent of the enemy. Indeed.
| became satisfied that he actually had
Il deed in his pocket which it was his
purpose to have recorded before mine.
Several times he got off at stations and
telegraphed ahead to Sioux Falls, as |
managed to learn, for team of fast
horses and a carriage to meet him ut
the depot on his arrival. | saw that at
that rate | was likely to be beaten un-
less | could devise some scheme. | set
my wits to work, and an idea occurred
to me.
IL left the deformed man and went
to have little talk with the conductor.
the result of which did not appear un-
til we had got within three miles of
Sioux Falls. At that point the train
came to a full stop, and the locomo-
tive. from which it was detached, went
on to the depot. Twas on the locomo-
tive, which the other passengers all
supposed had gone for water, including
the deformed lawyer, who thought
that | was in the rear car and was
chuckling already over his antici-
pated victory. When | had been
landed in the city the locomotive vent
| back for the train, and the deformed
man upon reaching the depot jumped
into carriage and was driven as
quickly as possible to the Court House
where he threw down his deed, saving
that he wanted it recorded at once
But the clerk said that he was just
! finishing the record of another deed
handed to him half an hour before for
a certain half section of land. The
lawyer took a look at the record and
saw that he was beaten, though he
could not imagine at the time how it
had been done. Jones'S uncle, who
engineered the attempted swindle,
aiterward voted for me when | ran for
the Legislature, because he said that |
was the only man who had ever gotten
away with him in business matter
-UdShington star.