Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-09-07

state authorities will engage Lawyer
Odell to defend the state against the
mandamus proceedings instituted by
the c. Lamb Lumber company of Gin
ton, to compel the secretary of state
to receive and file its articles of incor-
poration without the payment of the
fee required by Secretary Dobson.
a**
Anthony Swindle, who came to Iowa
in 1851, and Henry Ehler, who reach
ed the best state in the union in 1854
were at the state house today. Both
men We're without means when they
landed on Iowa soil, but both are now
wealthy farmers of Delaware county.
1t is the prevalent opinion that the
encouragement given the project to
bring back the Fifty-first Iowa at state
expense by the papers of the section
where the Forty-ninth regimnt is
located will result in the failure of the
plan. The papers of that section have
given notice that if this plan is car
ried out, a demand will be made on
the Legislature for a bounty of about
$4,000 for each OF the state regiments
Whether the candidates for the legis-
lature will care to meet this, or not,
| by signing the agreement to vote to
reimburse Governor Shaw for the S40,-
600 he will advance for the one regi-
ment, is not known, but it is feared
not.
Governors Merrill's fatal illness re-
calls a very interesting story concern
| ing the first interview ever printed in
u Des Moines paper, and it is said at
the state house, in an Iowa paper.
Governor Merrill was in the executive
Office from 1867 to 1871. The Des
Moines Leader had imported a report
er from the east about the time the
governor was inaugurated. This re-
Iporter's name was West. Upon an oc-
casion soon after the governors inau-
guration the Lender came out with
| twq-colmun interview with him regar-
ding some important subject and in
which he was quoted as saying the
most outrageously ridiculous things.
| 1t seems that West had heard of the
| interview in the east and had decided
| to try it on his Iowa constituency.
There was not single word of the in-
4 terview which was authentic. In adj
dition the interviewer made the gov
ernor out to have interrupted the con-
Iversation at number of places to in
wife the newspaper man to take
drink. 1t was well known that Gov
ernor Merrill was a temperance man.
The outrageous interview was SEN
saton for time. Being the first of
/ sr,l -, ri Nv ~ hof
branch of the newspaper business into
|disrepute. But West soon disappeared
and has never been heard of since that
| time. Major William Fleming, the
private secretary of a half dozen gov
ernors. and in which service he has
been for a quarter of a century off and
on, says that he is of the opinion that
in nine-tenths of the cases in which
interviews have purported to have been
| had with public men, they are pure
fabrications. He has recently written
an article to this effect, and it has
been given publication. He adj
mits, however, that many of the spur
ious interviews are those written, by
newspaper men who understand thor
oughly the sentiment of the men that
are interviewed. There are newspaper
men in the state and in Des Moines
who are given authority to write in
terviews with public men, without
newly conversing with them, concern
| ing certain subjects on which their pos
sition is perfectly known by the
writer's. n
! Des Moines, Sept. 5-"Why doesn't
Iowa take more interest in the devel-
opment of beet sugar manufacture?
was asked of c. L. Saylor, apostle-in-
chief OF the beet sugar propaganda of
the national department of agriculture,
yesterday. Mr.. Saylor has travelled all
over this country, investigating The
couture OF sugar bects and their manu-
| facture into sugar. He spent last Win
ter in Cuba and will spend the coming
one in Hawaii, on further inquiries in
i to the sugar business as carried on in
/ those. countries.
Because the people of Iowa have so
many sure things that they don't need
to experiment" replied Mr.. Saylor,
sententiously. "Out in the mountain
states. where they have to irrigate,
and therefore are compelled to inten-
sify their farming; in Nebraska, where
they are never sure of crops such as
we raise in Iowa, and in many other
states which have not the agricultural
advantage OF our state, they are COM
PEELED to look to every new thing
which promises large profits. But in
Iowa we don't have to do this. We
have other things from which our peo-
pie know, by long experience, that
they can earn sure returns"
| Anybody who may be inspired by a
curiosity TO know just what Mr.. Saylor
meant, would find an answer if he
had visited the state fair grounds
last week. AT II O'Clock each
morning 500 head of the finest
cattle in the world We're parad-
ed in front of the grand stanu on the
fair grounds. John Cownie, who is
generally considered IL pretty good
farmer, and who ought TO know what
he is talking about, declared it was
the finest cattle show ever presented,
not only in Iowa, but in the United
Estates. 81 know all about the stock
show at the worlds fair" added Mr..
Cownie, "and ! will be backed by ev-
erv stoekman here when say that we
have better stock exhibit than was