Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-10-18
.PEg|FER0US DIM CAS[
Bonaparte Dam Has Been In
River and Courts a
Long Time
$4,000 AWARD s7AeeERs STATE
Originally Built by Government Then
Sold to Meek Brothers to Operate
Woolen Mills-WhoIe Dam offered
for s25,ooo-Wonderful Activity in
lnterurban Building Promised.
Special to Times Republican.

\ Special to Times-Repubican.
| Des Moines, Oct. 1S.-The Bonaparte
dam case has reached another turning
/ point, and it is now UP to the governor
of the state to direct what shall be
done. The dam has been i'll the river
and the courts long time and is about
! 1t was built under government super
vision and sold by the state to the
Meek brothers many years ago. The
woolen mills they own and operate III
| the town of Bonaparte is the p!ide OF
the village and in fact the main sup
port of the town. But the dam is the
eyesore of the fishermen and after the
| state had failed in every way to have
! it condemned as a nuisance and the
Legislature had refused to buy it. last
winter a bill was passed directing the
attorney general to have condemned
over the dam a right to the erection
of a fishway. The act specifically pro-
vided that the attorney general must do
this. He fixed on Oct. IA as the time
for having the sheriff's jury fix the
damages for a fishway. The Sheriff
called as condemnation jury the
following: #. d. Carr and j. M.
Lapsley, of Pennington: ]. D. Rowland,
OF Milton; S. w. Manning. of keosau-
qua; II. a. Whitmore, of Bonaparte,
and Girard w. Workman, of Win
chester. The jury viewed the dam and
heard the arguments of the attorneys.
The attorney general had designated
a. local attorney to act for the state
and j. C. Davis, of keokuk, acted for
the owners of the dam. The owners
|contended that to permit a fishway over
the dam constructed out of a few
boards SO that the fish in times of high
water could go UP over the dam would
iniure it about $4,000 worth. They
had previously offered to sell the dam
for something like $4,000 to sS0,00O.
1T is understood they value it much
higher now. The sheriff's Jury de-
Sclt.ed that the state should pay $4,000
for the privilege of erecting the fish
way. Notice to that effect was received
today by the attorney general. AS
both the attorney general and the
governor are out of the city it is not
yet determined what the next step viii.
be.
The act of the legislature provides
that the parties shall have the same
right of appeal as in railway condem-
nation cases. But it also provides that
when the damages have been ascer-
tanned and certified to, the auditor of
state shall draw a warrant for the full
amount, and the legislature appropri-
ated an indefinite sum to cover the cost
of the fishway. 1t also provided that 1t
shall be left to the governor of the
state for final approval before the pay
ment shall be ordered. Unquestiona-
bly, Governor Cummins will refuse to
allow the state Of Iowa to be bled for
$4,000 for the privilege of having a
fishway constructed over the dam at
Bonaparte. 1t is pointed out that $780,
600 would buy fish for several years for
all the people who live along the Des
Moines river clear to the Minnesota
line, who depend largely on Des Moines
river fish for subsistence. The award
is looked upon as huge joke and
farce, and the feeling is that the sheriff
picked men who would give the state
the worst of 1t. If the award had been
as high as $1,000 the state officials
would have been surprised. An appeal
to a jury of the district court will cer-
tainly be taken, for unless this Is done
the dam will be victor In the fight.
A good deal of interest is taken here
in the projects for suburban electric
lines in eastern Iowa. The Illinois and
Iowa company has been granted right
of way along the river road from Dav
export in the direction of Vinton. This
company is represented by Tom Will
cox, formerly of this city. He was a
clerk in the office of the republican
state committee a few years ago. Last
winter when the interurban bills We're
before the legislature he was one of the
most persistent lobbyists and had a
good deal to do with fixing up the bill
which was finally passed AT the same
time a Cleveland syndicate was also
interested. This campany, at the head
of which is John U. Macy, had project
ed some lines out of Des Moines but
was forced to give up by other compa-
MES. 1t appears that the May company
and the Wilcox company have been
fighting all summer at Clinton and
Davenport, and the May Company has
been forced out of the field. 1t looks
from this place very much like there is
q concerted movement on the part of
few capitalists to crowd out of the state
all others who seek to build electric
lines and to control the interurban bus
mess of the state. incidentally it is
now known that whereas the interur-
ban bill was passed ostensibly to curb
these enterprises it was fixed up to
exactly suit the promoters. The result
is wonderful activity in interurband
construction in Iowa.
,,,h,ouc cI,to XMaMEN