The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-01-19

over Which Battle Was Waged.
| Maj Frederick Abbot Of the engineering
corps. u s. A, not having battalion
at his command, and not even having his
| own regimentals to cow the turbulent
| spirits Of the st. Croix valley folks, had
Patrolman Skoog, of Lieut. Boerner's or
derby squad. make demonstration In
force" as Gen. Butler would report 1t.
at the chamber of commerce rooms yes
| terday.
| Either the cff1cer's presence, or some
| thing else, had a salutary effect, too.
fer, while there was manifest feeling Of
hostility, the opposing elements did not
proceed to measures of physical agrees
| sion.
The st. Croix river was the Tugela
over which these forces were fighting,
and its commercial and picturesque at
tributes, rather than it's strict military
Importance, was being considered by
Uncle Sans war department. repre-
scented by Maj. Abbot
Maj. Abbot has control Of the ST. Croix
river and It's tributaries under the control
of the war department, not because there
Is any immediate prospect Of having to
embark armed troops at Saltwater to
make a night attack on the Devil s htch-
en-, at Taylor's Falls, but because of the
fact that 1t Is part of the Mississippi
system, which, as whole, has Demon
strated itself, and may, possibly, again,
| to be a military route Of strategic i'm
| portance.
The numbering interests of the St.Croix
valley, to generalize the story of the
| fight, were arrayed against the railroad
and steamboat interests, which have re-
gained much Of their old strength since
| the advertising given the Dalles Of the
st. Croix, as the location Of the inter-
| state park, has made 1t q popular sum-
mer excursion resort. Both elements be>
ing subjects Of Uncle Sam, Maj. Abbot
! was present as sort Of military gov
ernor for the occasion. 1t had been ex-
pected that the Marquis of Queensberry
| rules would govern, but the Abbot rules
and the policeman-were found suff-
Gent.
Maj. Abbot explained that he had in
vited all interested in the river in any
sense to appear for hearing, In order that
he might have as full as possible a COM
prehension Of the various interests in
volved The law prohibited any one from
interfering with the course Of naviga-
BILE streams, whether by logging or other
wise, and providing severe penalties.
Any one could make complaint against
violators Of this law, but It rested with
him to say when suit should be brought
in the name Of the government. The
enforcement Of the strict letter of the
law might ruin both the disputants.
! Then the hearing began.
| William M. Blanding, of st. CroiX Falls,
said the st. Croix River Boom company
had ruined steamer traffic on the river.
By the Nevers dam, II miles above the
Dalles, 1t could control the flow of water
at it's pleasure. They had not only ruin
ed the steamboat interests but had drlv-
en- out the small mill owners. Mr..
Blanding thought boats. should be allowed
to make trips daily.
/ H. p. Burdick, of Osceola, said the ef-
feet of the Boom company dam had been
to drive navigation off the river.
C. w. Staples, of Osceola, said the st.
Croix had been a. navigable highway un-
til the construction Of the Nevers dam,
which had caused the depopulation Of
| the towns of Franconia and Marine and
the destruction Of thousands of dollars
worth of property. If properly done, the
sluicing Of the logs need interfere but
| little with navigation.
Frank B. Dorothy Of st. Croix Falls,
| thought the interests Of all concerned
might be conserved under proper rules.
The boat might run say four days In
the week-that would be sufficient. He
read a petition signed by number Of
residents Of st. CroiX Falls, setting out
the damage done by the Nevers dam.
| It had been charged, too, that the Gus
tom of sluicing the logs down with sud
den rises and sudden falls of the river
was doing an injury to the channel,
which might be remedied by the ADAM
donment Of the plan, or by the construc-
ton of wing dams. A considerable ap-
preparation, he thought, should be
recommended by the major for the i'm
provement Of the st. Croix channel.
w. H. G. Folsom said that when the
great western tract was coded by Vir-
GINA to the government in 1857, 1t was
provided that there should be free nav
igation Of all streams in this territory
at all times. He had resided sixty
four years in the upper Mississippi region
and fifty-dve years in the St.Croix val
ley. The boom company had destroyed
the navigation Of the upper st. Croix
and built up Saltwater, at the expense
of the towns above 1t.
q. E. Blanding, Of Taylor's Falls, and
George w. Seymour thought compro-
mise could be reached satisfactory to all.
c. R. Gardner, of Saltwater, thought the
dam a detriment to navigation. George
W. Hazard thought the steamers ought
to be allowed daily trips up to July 4.
After that five days q week would do.
He presented the following statement:
undersigned, wish to file with you the
| following as our Judgment, desires and
requests as to the st. Croix river:
First-We insist that the river channel
be kept open for steamboat navigation
between Saltwater and the Dalles of the
st. CroiX.
Second-We protest strongly as to the
| a., rr,bi 01, hoy hAa trno taI
by you in not expanding any part of our
appropriation on the river the past two
seasons. and declare the lack Of such
outlay of money as could have been made
in a judicious manner in running repairs
has caused our interest to suffer greatly.
Third-We further protest against your
thousand Q,OO0 dollars for further ap-
preparations, and earnestly petition you
to make the amount twenty-five thou
sand (25,OOOl dollars in your next report.
Fourth-We recommend that you con-
tinue to have the water gagged at the
dalles daily, SO that you can tell what the
even flow of the st. Croix river is, and
that the lumber interest be compelled not
to interfere with such even flow. It can
also be found what draft steamboats, can
operate the river with assurance of not
sticking. and If owner puts boats of too
heavy draft on the public can locate the
| blame.
Fifth-The numbering interest should be
and can be so handled as not to Interfere
with the free use of the channel To do
this may call for a separate of friendly
cooperation. and we bespeak your in
fuence to bring this about.
Sixth-.If, however, any one or any in
terest fnterferes purposely with the free
use Of the river channel in a manner to
monopolize 1t, we ask you to commence
action at law against such at once.
Seventh-We earnestly request you pro-
coed at the earliest moment possible to
improve the river with the money now at
your disposal.
We would further represent that the
actual cash value of the various inter