The Oskaloosa herald., 1903-01-01

Ing OF stlmulantS is
normal ta : institute i:tiit costs. s sa ! 5.ss5
Number Of volumes in .,o
libraries rHs{ :::S" 20 & 4sS, - 80 E ~, NJ ~
Test Suit begun.
The Citizens Railway g. Light com
pany of Muscatine has brought suit in
the federal courts to test the question
of whether the cities of Iowa have the
right to fix rates for gas and electric
light service to the people by corpora
tions which use the streets. The ques-
ton never has been decided by the
courts, directly. 1t is claimed that the
| rates which have been fixed by the
Muscatine city council are %unreason-
able, that they amount to c~onfiscation
Of the property of the corporation, and
that if they are permitted to stand the
corporation viii simply lose its prop
erty. This is contrary to the eonstitu-
ton of the United States, which is in
voked. Lawyers who have had expert
ence in franchise matters believe
that the court will gointot the question
of the reasonableness of the rates fixed
in Muscatine, and if they arefound too
low to permit reasonable earnings on
the Investment they Will be set aside.
Milk Association Formed.
Sixty farmers of Linn county who
have been selling their milk to city
dealers at two cents a quart have
formed an association to protect them
selves from a stationary market and
with a view to compelling the milk
dealers in the city to pay them in pro-
portion to the price of milk in the
cities. The farmers are inclined to de-
mand two cents in the summer months
and three cents in the winter. In Des
Moines the market price for milk to
consumers is now s 1-3 cents a quart
Despite the great quantity of pastur-
age and the cheapness of hay, the milk
making quality of the grain and hay
this year is said to be less than in
former years, hence the increased
price. The farmers who produce the
milk now propose to gain a share of
the profit made in supplying the milk
trade in the cities.
Des M0ines Stands Third.
1t is learned that the Rock Island
railroad handles more baggage at the
Des Moines station than at any other
point on all its lines except Denver
and Chicago. 1t sells more tickets al
this point than it does at any other
on its system except Chicago. Tn,
daily sales of tickets here amount to
about $1,000. The Northwestern, the
Great Western, the Milwaukee, the
Burlington and the Wabash do the next
largest amount of railroad business
out of Des Moines, in the order named.
Cummins to Lecture.
Gov. Cummins has consented to deliv-
err a few lectures on political economy
before the classes studying that
branch of social science at the state
university. Dates in February will be
fed for the lectures. The prominent
position attained by the governor in
his discussion of the "Iowa tariffidea"
in the east led to his being asked to
deliver the course of lectures at the
university, in addition to his own per-
sonal prominence, but his lectures at
INC ulLlNCISlty VIII hpb Pdi thhC III any
particular of the tariff question, it is
said.
Urges Manufacturing Display.
State Labor Commissioner Brigham
has urged on the Iowa commission in
charge of the exhibits of this state at
the ST. Louis exposition, to make an
especial display of the advantages of
Iowa as a manufacturing state. This,
he believes, will be of more value to
the people of Iowa than any other
expenditure of money. He has APP
peared before the commission and ar
gued at length for his idea, and some
of the members of the body are in ia
vor of it. The exact scheme for maxi
ing an exhibit has not been determined
upon, as yet, bus the members of the
commission have been allotted certain
of the exhibits, and will be ex-
pected to superintend the exhibit in
their several departments. Prof. L.
III. Pammell, of the state agricultural
college, has proposed TO the commits
sion that a plct of ground 200 by 800
feet, in the shape Of the state If Iowa