The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1893-12-07

&C. was sold to CA. Smith & Go. of Min
eapolis on Jan ~ ls3 , ~ aa 60 sa ner
The price said timber sold TOT was @@ per
Ivy very f BTEfsnhNS, state Auditor
On March / Representative Dunn ~ lnlr0-
duceI the following resolution. which was
s SResolYcd, That the speaker appoint a
committee Of FIVE to inyestigate tne az AZ,
state auditors Office, more especially with
reference to the sale of pine timber Err on sec
ton 80, township ~, range -: Mic Laos s
powered to employ a stenographcr ana
send Tor persons and papers and administer
oaths. authorize and compel, attendance OF
witnesses and renort to this house not
later than two weeks from this date,
& Pursuant to the above resolution, the fol
lowing committee was appointed; hcpre-
sentatives Dunn, Fleming Aelch' Cole' -
and Glrman.
On March I the committee held its first
meeting in room 1S at the capitol, the 1ol-
lowihs members being present: Dunn,
Fleming ZeIch and Cole.
The first witness examined was John Goss
OF 3AnoEa. Reing sworn he SAID ne had
laefed on Rum river ana rae Jus rr ast IL
had SECTION 36, town ~, range =, estlmatea
by competent esti1nators and cruisers with
a view to bidding for the I'm TIMER eta+ on nnd 5ne
or to be held at Princeton in May, 1872.
He testified he. went to PRINCETON pre-
pared to bid as high as 81 per 'o1o 1eet TOT
was estimated by his men to contain nearly
6. 900. Eject of an extra good quality OF
pine !.
That on going to Princeton he appeared
at the office Of the auditor OF Mile Laos
county, where such sale was advertised to
take place. and was there advised that sald
land had been by the state auultOr Will
That he went to st. Paul to learn why the
land had been withdrawn and was told by
Auditor Bielman that the timber had been
sold In December to G. A. Smith 4 Co. of
Minneapolis. exhibiting at the time con-
tract between G. A. Smith ana the state in
Which the timber was sod At - per LOO.
RobEs-fs, Mile Laos county,, and Il practical
lup,besn;an who is thoroughly familiar with
oil the pine lands in that region testified
that he had cruised- and estimated the tim
Der lands in question with a view to bid
ding on it at the May sale;
That he estimated the section to contain
5, 100 feet of pine Of an excellent quail
Ti,;er II was worth 81 per 1000 bank scale.
Being c.oss- questioned by: Auditor Herman q,
per 1,DO0 and was still willing to pay that
price for what was left of it.
E. s.. Page a we'll known and responsible
lumherInan OF Anoka. testified that he had
desired to purchase the, same timber, and
corrohorated the testimony of the foregoing
witnesses relative to the quality and value
Of the TIMBER. -ss, = - ~.
r. Il. Mcclellan, county surveyor OF Mile
Laos county, Testified that the pine on sec
ton rs was Of an eAcelleat quality and
worth 81 per l 900. 20 ~ sSs.- &i5@5gt
March 10 the committee met with the fol-
lowing members present: Dunn. Cole, Zelch
and German. G. A. Smith testified that he
had bought the timber from the state audit
| or at private sale for s. per 900 and
| thought that was a fair price for it. he also
| testified further but offered nothing in re-
buttal of the testimony already offered as
/ idaion sfhez value Of logs iii minneapolis
/ and 9th er irrelevant matters. 5s
! 7, Auditor Rierman testified that the pine on
the section : in question was sold on an
estimate of 100000 feet and that bond Of
81 500 was exacted on the contract estimate
( exhibited. being a fragmentary slip of paper
bearing no date or signature, but simply the
words and figures, section 3G, town ~, range
26, ZOO, OOO.) II
He testified that there had been no recent
| APPRAISAL of the timber. He had sold to
township east at public sale in December,
1881. He sent appraisers On the land in
after there had been some talk of an in.
! vestigation, and they reported that there
| We're 5.5000oo feet on the section.
during his term r'o Of oc eeh he ' lad sold old
| cuttings at private sale, but never virgin
pine He had always had" the timber ap
pt JAMES, oe M1fSey ne of Saltwater and W.
Ransom of Minneapolis, testified as to the
relative value Of logs in saltwater ant
The committee met again March 90, thos,
present being Dunn, Cole Fleming, Zelct
and German. ~ 49,
Leonard Pratt testified that he was on,
Of the appraisers who appraised the lan(
in question for the sale advertised for May
1892 He had put bidding price on j
realizing that it was. worth 81 per LOO
figure. Knew lumbermen who would BIZ
that for it. It was one of the best section
in the reservation, was excellent timbe
and had hot been and was not liable t
damage by fire. The reason he did not pu
the bidding price higher was that if he ha
appraised it AT its true value GA per 1,0Occ
would have said he was trying to bar Their
: out.
! A. w. Woodcock resident of Princeton
j an old time lumbernan on Rum river, test
fed that he was intending to bid in sectio
36-42-26: and that he would have bid
, per 1000 had he been afforded an oppol
tunity to do so and knew Of other lumber
/ men who We're ready to pay the same price
Bassett Of Minneapolis was sworn an
testified as to the value of logs in Al II
: ! neaDOliS, but knew nothing as to the valn
Messrs Bessett, Mulvey and. Smith, aboy
noticed, testified on request Of the auditor
of Anoka, testified that he had lumbcrt
He, with Josiah Wilbur, carefully estimate
) the month Of April 1891, in, order to b
on the same intelligently at the sale. adye
tised to occur in Princeton in May. The tiI
WAS uESt-CItSS EtIst utility: III
Z all white pine; was uninjured by fire al
! was large and long-bodied, going about ii
and one-half logs to the 1000 He estimate
: the section to contain on q safe eStlma
: 5475,OOO feet The evidence Of the witne
y was clear, concise and to the point, al
was in no degree shaken by the rigid eros
examination at the hands of the depu
state auditor. He said he was ready to
81 per 1000, and that he was still willing
& give 81 for what remained TN cut at the pre-
!. ent date He testified that the timber sou
: of the section which had been referred
. by Mr. herman as subjecting the timber
: danger by fire, had been cut twelve yea
8 ago, and that there was no danger OF
Y from that direction, or from any other
z reCtiOn that he could see.
Il. NJ. Cowles, q. lumberman and pine La
owner and speculator. testified that he b
sold stumpage in section 24-42-25, imInet
: ately adjoining the section in question,
: 81 per 1000 bank scale and cut clean.
] That this timber was hauled eight mil
! into tributary Of Snake river while th
on section Sc was hauled less than five mil
into Rum river. He had attended the {
: cember land sale in 1891, expecting that Il
i section would be sold and was expecting
bid on 1T. He intended to bid 81 per 10
Z for it. On the opinion Of his estimator
felt that it was q bargain at 81 per LO(
Z He testified that he had not sold any f,
. cutting in that vicinity for the last
4 years FOR less $4 per 1000. Cross question
Z Il he said. asI should certainly have given