Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1900-05-17
NOTES FROM THE CAPITAL
DIES MONIES. MAY Ia. 1000.

DIES MONIES, May IA, 1900.
M. L. Bledsoe, clerk of Dodge town
ship, Boone county, has notified the
secretary of the state board of health
that there are smallpox cases in TWEEN
ty-six families in the township. Sec
rotary Kennedy, who has just returned
from a trip to Decatur county, found
two cases at Lamont and two more at
LeoE. Several cases have been re-
ported from Bloomfield, Van Cleve and
the town of Greene.
Governor Shaw has appointed the
following men curators of the State
Historical society: Harvey Ingham,
Algona; W. r. Boyd, Cedar Rapids;
Prof. l.. w. Parish, Cedar Falls: II. W.
Byers. Harlan; living A. Richman,
Muscatine: Frank w. Bicknell, Des
Moines; Prof. Jesse Macy. Grinnell;
Col. II. II. Rood. Mount Vernon, and
lrof. L. w. Stanton, Ames.
The dairy commissioner has appoint
ed +. W. BouslSa, of Protivin. Howard
county. as assistant dairy commission
er, the appointment to take effect on
July /. Mr.. Bouska is graduate
from the four-years' course at the
Iowa Agricultural college of the year
1897, and has pursued postgraduate
course at that school and holds the
degree of master of science. He has
hello a position as instructor in dairy
ing at the college, and last winter was
instructor of buttermaking at the
Massachusetts Agricultural College at
Amherst.
sasp
board admitted seventy-three candi-
dates to the bar. Twelve were re-
jected.
Prof Frank A. Wilder, assistant
state geologist, will spend most of the
summer on detail work for the survey
in Webster county. He has already
begun the work, which relates espec-
tally to the gypsum deposits. He con-
cludes that these are far more extern
sive than has been commonly sup
posed, and that when the promoters
conclude it worth while to go farther
under ground than they are now going
they will have a practically unlimited
supply.
Ia the federal court, Henry Miller,
one of the tramps who were charged
with delaying the mails because they
jumped on the trucks of a Burlington
train and occasioned delay of fifteen
minutes while the members of the
train crew were engaged in putting
them off, entered plea of guilty and
was fined $40.
The supreme court has decided the
famous John Irwin land title case, in
volving some 10000 acres of northwest
Iowa lands. The case is decided
against the Irwin heirs, and the opiE-
ion debars them from redeeming the
lands from tax sales, which were made
many years ago. Irwin came to Iowa
before the war, with great amount
of military land warrants. and located,
not only 10000 acres of Iowa lands,
but also 5000 acres of southwestern
Nebraska lands. To these under his
warrants he ultimately secured patents
from the government. 1t would have
made him one of the richest men in
the new west If he could have paid his
taxes But he invested everything in
the lands, and was not able to keep up
the taxes. He fought for many years
to save the property, but could not
prevent it from going to tax sale, and
lost it. He died in 1898, at the age of
ninety-three, and his heirs undertook
to show that he was insane when the
lands were sold, remained so till his
death and therefore that the heirs had
the right to redeem the lands from the
tax sale, under the Iowa law. The
testimony was voluminous, mainly
bearing on the question of his sanity.
1t was finally held in the lower court
that he was not proved insane, and
this is sustained in the supreme court.
State Architect Liebbe has Just COM
pleted the plans for the improvements
that are to be made at the hospital for
the insane at Mt. Pleasant. and has
submitted them to the board of con-
troll. The chief improvements will be
the addition of a number of workshops
for the inmates of the hospital.
The state auditors office finds itself
with greatly increased duties as re-
suit OF the legislation adopted at the
recent session. The requirement. for
Instance, that a separate warrant be
issued for every account drawn by
authority of particular section of the
code increases fve-fold the work in
this one direction. Then the new
law for the assessment and taxation OF
telegraph and telephone companies
will greatly increase the detail work
Of the Office. The new building and
loan law likewise increases the work
in that department. Despite all these
additional duties, there is practically
no increase in the facilities for doing
business.
The term of the United States court,
after a four days session, was adj
journed by Judge Shiras without date.
This will probably be the last term
Judge Shiras will hold in the southern
district. The indications are that
congress will adjourn in a few weeks
and Smith Mcpherson, who has been
appointed to succeed Judge Woolson,
will qualify Immediately upon adjourn-
ment and commence his judicial du-
ties.