Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1903-06-26
NOTES FROM THE CAPITAL,
Dee Moines, June =. 1904

NM crusade 4 year ago whicn
..,,,ns n the abolishment OF oil slot
machines from West Des Molnes n ~.
snd = narallel in fight against sno
dice rollers. Following up tne tnI
10 sneak softly but carry Dls s sr;.h
Jnstice iris, who started tnlnss wy" "a.
the machines, has given genue ~
,aorition to one or two cigar men
that rambling with dice would not ps
ta,aroted as substitute lor tug
aho,,shed machines. Il am not e
800, emong cigar men. l smoke ana
sse tobacco myself" said the justice
~ one Of the dealers who had cone
to his ONCE to protest agalns'
edict laid down, "but ! Will NOV h n.,r
gambling going on where ! can nap
~ The fight against the siot ma
shines was one which started III juss
ouch a manner. Justice TITS caiieo
shs attention of few to the ob1ectlon
If their use. then he notified all OF
shem and finally caused their sup.
preston by convicting one man anu
lining him $50.
F. W. Cherry has confirmed tne ne
published statement that the hoca
Island has secured the Des MONIES q
Southern railway property, IoI
which it paid $4,000. He furtner
states that the requirement OF the
property by the Rock Island voice
the taxes which we're voted between
W;oterset and Greenfield. These
amounted to between $4,000 ana
SEQ 900. Half Of them have ALREADY
been collected. Under the law, inc
taxes voted for the construction OF =
railroad cannot be turned over to me
nromoters. after they have been col.
iected by the county treasurer, until
after the road has been built. =! e1.
meet to get some of the Rock lsiand
officials here in few days." said Mr..
Cherry. "and together we will 60 10
Winterset and Greenfield and form
ally release the taxes which aireaoy
have been collected, so that tney
NAV be turned back to the property
owners, The Rock Island has given
assurances that it will make no Ell
fort whatever to retain or collect the
additional taxes. The fact of the mat
ter is that when the property passed
into the hands of the Rock Island,
that very transaction voided the
taxes. The law provides that when
the promoter or an officer OF ne"
railroad makes any statement TO IN
duce voters at the polls to vote tax,
and that statement proves false, the
tax is voided and cannot be collected.
Personally, l went to the polls on the
new route and told the people far
and near that the property would
never pass into the hands OF the
Rock Island" The Rock Island will
make a new survey 1t will not fol-
low the route laid out by Mr.. Cherry
and his engineers. 1t will build
much further south. This is for the
purpose of getting the road as far
from it's main line as possible.
The report from Polk county to the
executive council, showing the as
sessed values and the selling values
of farm property that changed hands
in the last half of 1902, has reached
the Office of Secretary Dawson. There
were not a large number of transfers,
but the report shows the farm prop.
erty in the county is assessed at a
pretty good figure. The sale values
are SO per cent Of the assessment.
1t is likely this showing will have con
siderable weight with the council
when it comes to sit as state board
of review and eQualize the assessment
on town lots and it is not improbable
it will lead to an increased assess
ment on these. Mr.. Dawson has re
ceived reports from about seyent!
counties.
The National Association of Rail
way Commissioners will meet al
Portland, Maine, this year, July II
The members Of the Iowa commission
will attend, leaving here about
July g., ..a. 3.
Manager Grail, of the Grail Peter
son company of Council Bluffs, con
tractors for the new roof of the CAP
itol, accuses William Fem of Council
Bluffs Of having forged checks or
the company. Fem came to Dies
Moines to work on the capitol. lie
is alleged to have passed some of the
checks here and also at Council
Bluffs. ,-' , FNrs
A corps of eleven engineers arc sur
veying q route for new line for the
Burlington from Tracy, where the
proposed line from Oskaloosa will
connect with the Abba branch. The
new route will follow along the high
ridge from Tracy to Charlton and thus
avoid expensive construction like the
old gradients at Abba and Russell
the latter only eight miles east oil
Charlton. The new line will no; an.
proach nearer than ten miles to the
main line until nearing Charlton
Polk county has appealed from the
decision Of Judge McHenry that the
county treasurer John Mckay, and
the tax ferrets cannot collect the
taxes against the telephone company
for 1897, which was time prior to
the adoption of the present code. The
decision Of the Judge applied TO q
number of insurance companies as
well as the telephone company, and
the reason for his decision was that
previous to the adoption of the cole
taxes were paid to the state treasurer
and the county could not collect. 1t
is decision of considerable .imn,rt.
ance. t, a tr "
Work on the survey of the Council
Bluffs-Des Moines interurban line han
begun. Two gangs have started from
this city. 1t is proposed to survey
two lines near Des Moines, one for the
freight service to connect With the
belt line and the other for the passen.
ger service to connect with the Col.
fax line. i. 81 tsa @1 -
The Doctors wife went to the door
She and the woman next door were
not on friendly terms, but the tram,
didn't know that. DE lady next door.
ne SAID, give me niece If hor hnr,