Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1899-08-05
STATE 5 SWAMP LANDS
Thousands of Acres Of Valuable
Property Now Belonging to
the Counties.
Much Of 1t Pastured and Some Cur.
tivated No Taxes Being
Paid.
Citizens of 0skaloosa Want the
Fifty first Iowa Mustered Out
At Des Moines.
Special to Times Republican.

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines, Aug. 5.-In northern Iowa
there are many thousand acres of
valuable farm lands, title to which is
now held by no one. This land is now
the property of no one, but a title can
land is situated if the proper steps be
taken. When the government surveys
We're originally made careless work was
often done. Then there were about three
feet more water on the now lands than
there is at the present time. AS most of
the surveys We're made in the spring
time, many large tracts of'what is now
comparatively dry land We're mean
dered as lakes and the title remained
in the government.
Some years ago parties began to in
veseigate these lands. 1t was found that
the soil was the most fertile in the
state, and that even when too wet for
cultivation it made fine pasture land
Under the swamp land act of 1850 the
title to the land goes to the state when
1T can be proven that it was meandered
wrongly. The state also has passed
llaw giving the land to the counties in
such instances, and it is to the interest
of the counties to obtain possession of
as much Of this land as possible
J In many instances this land is now
being used by the owners of adjoining
Eproperty, and although many acres of
this land are under cultivation no taxes
are being paid by those who get the
: benefit. II is stated that in one in
stance 1,S00 acres are being farmed by
!. lone man who has never paid one cent
for the use of some of the most fertile
; farm land in the state By obtaining
j possession the counties can prevent
this Where the lake can be preserved
by damming that policy is followed, as
. the government has no desire to destroy
the lakes.
Attorney f. b. Evans. of Des Moines,
has been conducting an investigation
lalong this line and has spent some
E weeks travelling through the northern
: part of the state with a view to ascer-
) tanning how much of this land can now
l}>Il5e secured by the state and then turned
over TO the counties in which it is stu
ated. He reports that he has found
more than 10000 acres. all of which is
now being farned or used for pastur-
} age by adjoining property owners He
has secured descriptions of the land
and will go to Washington next week to
take the matter up with the federal
government. a government surveyor
will at once begin the work of making
a new survey, and if it can be proven
THAT the original survey was wrong Mr.
Evans is confident that the title will
; revert to the state and thence TO the
counties.
:. Citizens of Oskaloosa have petitioned
Governor Shaw to have the Fifty-tirst
Iowa returned 10 Des Moines for its
muster out. Maj. John f. Lacey heads
the list, which contains the names of
more than 600 residents of that city.
: The petition was circulated by Robert
: kissick, the author. and personal let
ter To the governor accompanied the
petition. In this letter Mr.. Kissick
states his belief that there is a general
demand on the part of the people OF the
state to give to the regiment a grand
reception on its return from foreign
service If the regiment were mustered
out in San Francisco and the men al
, lowed to return by different routes this
would be practically impossible. and
the petitioners ask that the organiza-
tion be returned to Iowa at the states
expense. Governor Shaw is of the opin-
ion that the plan is unfeasible because
. there exists no fund upon which 10
draw money to cover the great expense
of such an Undertaking.
According to letters received from
Iowa soldiers in the Philippines Capt
A. F. Burton, of Company b, Fifty-first
Iowa Volunteers, has been disgraced
and dishonorably discharged from the
Iartny because of cowardice in the face
lof the enemy. No official information
has yet been received by the state au-
thorities on the subject although the
incident occurred more than two
months ago. Adjt. Gen. Byers has been
Uniformed of the case, however, and
knows of the truth of the reports
Burton was formerly a teacher in the
public schools of this state. He gradu-
lated from the Iowa State Normal in the
class of 1891, and during his senior year
held commission as captain in the ca
ldet battalion. At the time of the out
break of the war with Spain he was
Superintendent of the schools at Wy
more, Nsb. When the call for troops
was made he left the school without
; ileaving word as to where he was go-
ing. He then came to Nillisca Iowa
} his former home, and was elected cap
!, tain of Company Il. Before the regi-
ment left the state Burton had won the
ill-wili of nearly all the men in his COM
mand and was in disfavor among his
fellow officers. His disgrace is the first
of its kind among the Iowa troops.
The bath house maintained by the
city of Des Moines will have to be
closed because of lack of patronage
and the fact that the expenditures for
maintenance have so exceeded the re-
ceipts that the annual appropriation
has already been exhausted. This insti-
tuition was taken up by the city of Des
Moines several years ago The bath
house is located on the river. where
bathing facilities are of the best
!. Everything necessary to the comfort of
, the bather was furnished at small ex-
n pense. the city calculating to conduct
1.-THE place at actual cost Of maintenance.
~