The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1894-10-05

deavor to postpone the construction
of a sewer until it shall be too late to
do any work this year. Three differ
ent propositions have been under con-
Sideration, and the owners of the
| brewery have made more liberal offers
to the city in the shape of assess
ments and bonus than could have
reasonably been expected, yet each
have been rejected more than once.
The imposition which is being placed
upon the people living along the pres
ent-open sewer from the brewery is a
disgrace to civilized community, and
if there was any way to collect DAM
| ages from tn" city instead of suing
the brewing company, the people who
are suffering would require very heavy
damages to recompense them in the
slightest. The matter will come be-
fore the council Saturday night again,
and will again be postponed, if that
| body's previous record on the subject
is maintained.
| "A number of other parties living
along the Guenther creek, besides the
two who have brought suit against the
brewery on account of the poisonous
stencil from the creek bed, have con-
suited Attorney Plymat in regard to
the commencement of suits, and more
suits are apt to follow. Mrs. Frank
sons lot is next to the creek on Fourth
street, and Mrs. Hides lot is next to
hers. Mr.. Plymat has given the mat
ter much study, and feels confident
that his clients are entitled to dam
ages. Their homes have been made
almost uninhabitable on account of
the stencil. The people living along
the creek in many cases have the
same slckening appearance as in a
malarious country, caused by breath
ing the contaminated and germ laden
atmosphere. The records show that
damages have been frequently secured
in similar cases, and it is reasonable
to believe that the sufferers ought to
be entitled to damages. The question
now is, will the city, having refused
to put in sewers toward the brewery,
stand by the company and pay any
damages the court may award?
Mrs. Wilhelmina Frankson, who
has brought two suits against the
brewing company for damages, on &C
count of the contamination of the air
from the polluted creek, attributes
the death Of her two children tOsthis
cause. This is undoubtedly true, and
it is no less true that other cases of
sickness and death are due to the
same source. Everybody is familiar
with this disgrace to Mankato, yet
the council will do nothing to remedy
it, even when the brewing company
offers to meet the city more than half
way. 1t would have: been stricte1
| justice had the suits been brought
against the city. Had the same nui-
sance existed in any other part of the
city, where there is less patient and
long suffering population, the nuisance
would have been abated long before
this, or something would have been
heard to drop.
The FREE PRESS had occasion a
| few days ago to refer to the rumOr
that Mrs. Stevens received votes in
the late Republican county conven-
tion that were not counted for her,
and denied the correctness of the
statement on authority of one of the
| tellers. And now comes gentleman
from one of the rural towns who was
a delegate, and who insists that he
and two others voted for Mrs. Ste
| vens. This settles the question, as
the gentleman making the claim is
entirely trustworthy and truthful.
Evidently the tellers got those tickets
mixed up in the count, and as result
they failed to show up. 1t is, how
ever, a matter of little moment, as
the result would not have been
changed even if the votes had been
counted as cast, and failure to do so
was clearly an unintentional error.
| The Board of Public Works in
tends to appoint man, probably
Frank Halstead, to inspect the plumb
ing of the water closets of the city
for leaks. 1t has long been suspected
that large percentage of the wastage
of city water is, through defective
plumbing of water closets or the fail
ure of the apparatus to properly work.
1t is the intention to bring these de-
fects to the knowledge of the water
consumers before the November bills
are presented, in order that they may
have the proper repairs made. In this
way it is expected that great deal OF
water will be saved to the city.
| AS announced in Mondays is.
sue, L. G. Long failed to put in an ap.
pearance yesterday, and no meeting
was held last night. Mr.. Long did
not even send word to explain his alb
Sence, and it is not known whether he