The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-16
BONDING A DESERT In KANSAS
A PIONEER GET-RICH-QUICk IDEA
~ POLITICAL FINANCE.

II Made WaEonload OF Spectators
Wealthy Al the Expense OF Eastern
Bondhoiders and Now Turns Up 20
COmpiicate the state Campaign.
TOPEKA, Kan, Oct. ia queer story Of
early finsnciering in Kansas has been re-
vived by libel suit brought by three State
officers against newspaper publisher OF
Topeka.
The newspaper recently printed a story
which in effect charged Secretary OF State
Burrows, State Su pit erintendent Dayhof and
Attorney General Coleman with oonniving
with bond agent to invest State school
funds controlled by them in Comanohe county
bonds--a PURCHASE which, as the newspaper
said, indicated reckless disregard for the
safety Of the funds. The three men, be-
ing nominees on the Republican ticket
for resleotion sued the newspaper FOR
$751; 900 damages. The reply Of the news.
paper has just been fled, and It brings
out unique chapter in get.rioh-quick
schemes thirty years old.
In 1870 the Legislature Of Kansas, In
generous mood, created Sumner, Harper
Comanche, Barbour and other counties out
OF the uninhabited section OF the State,
and defined their boundaries. Comanche
county Is on the southern border adjoin.
ing the Indian Territory. and little west
Of the centre line.
Its altitude and its location place 1t
beyond the rain belt. 1t is composed
Of high bluffs, deep cations and table land,
Is unfit for agriculture and is of indifferent
worth as a grazing country. In 1873 the
Indians and hunters were killing buffalo
all over that section, and Comanche was
uninhabited save by occasional maraud-
ing bands Of Indians
lished by Legislative investigation, A. j;
Mowry and four or five other men started
in a wagon from Hutchinson, the nearest
point on a railroad, to Comanche county,
seventy-fve miles distant. taking with
them a city directory of st. Joseph Mo-,
and scheme for corralling pile Of Doodle.
The scheme was to organize the county,
issue bonds sell them and divide the pro-
ceeds.
Under the law it was necessary that
the county be shown to have $50 house
holders to enttle it to organization. Az
soon as the party. arrived the members
proceeded % take the census Of the county
by writing in a book names they found
in the ST. Joseph directory. This Census
they sent to Topeka, and In due time they
their organization.
A pretended county election was held,
at which Mowry was elect member
of the Legislature. James Hopkins county
school superintendent, and w. Allen County
Clerk. As matter Of fact. there was no
one in the county limits but the wagon.
load Of Hutchinson men. At the pretended
election the county, by unanimous vote,
ordered the commissioners to issue bonds
for bridges, for general expenses and to
build a court house.
The total issue aggregated s72 900. and
as the interest rate was generous, the
bonds found ready sale in the East to men
who knew none Of the facts. When the
first interest payment became due they
discovered how they had been swindled.
The bondholders wrote much and pro-
tested loudly, but could do nothing. They
put the bonds away in their safes and
waited. Their time came in 1880, when
the boom struck Kansas.
The overflow sent about 5000 persons
into Comanche county. which was no sooner
organized than it was served with notice
of suit by the Eastern bondholders. The
county tried to evade payment and the
legal fight went from the State courts into
the Federal tribunal being finally decided
Meanwhile an exodus had begun from
the county. At present there are not more
than 100 inhabitants in it, and these have
the hardest task of their lives trying not
to accumulate enough property Con to make
effected in 1890 the bond issue was reduced
to S133,OO0, sum much less than the
amount of the Judgment. with interest
and costs.
Mowry and his confreres, finding bond
issuing an easy road to wealth, then formed
two school districts, and Issued two bonds
OF 81, 900 each, which they sold to the State
Board OF Educational Lands and Funds for
1875.
Mowry's vanity and desire for political
prominence. however were his undoing.
When the Legislature met at Topeka in
January. 1874. he appeared with his creden-
tials and obtained a seat az the member
from Comanche, Soon afterward the story
of the bond deal became known and
resolution of inquiry was adopted. The
committee reported that Mowry was not
entitled to seat, and he left town.
A special session Of the Legislature met
in September Of 1875, and the Attorney
General was instructed to investigate the
story. He visited the county, found mo-
ever had resided there for long The final
paragraph OF his report reads:
As Marius sat amid the ruins Of Carthage
and ,wept., j eamped upon the townsite OF
sma llwood NAMED after one Of the STATE Ate
county seat and feasted upon wild turkey
with no Iwhltel man to Tnolest or make max me me
doors, windows. sashes or blinds About q
mile of is another deserted ranch. a1d these
compose the houses OF the householders Of
the county. In this county there Is not an
acre OF land OF dollars worth OF property
subject to taxation. Its sole inhabitants are
the Cheyennes and the coyote, the wolf and
the Arapahoes, and rs organization is and
When the Legislature OF 1879 convened
Mowry turned UP again as a member, this
time from Doniphan county. Indignant
members had a committee appointed to
investigate his conduct in Comanche county,
and he was expelled. The committees
report shows that, not having enough men
In the party to effect an organization OF
the two school districts, fictitious names
were signed to the bonds by Mowry, who
deposited the money received from their
sale to his own credit In bank. the blank
school bonds being secured by. him from
the State Superintendent. A criminal pro-
ceeding was threatened, but Mowry dropped
out OF sight. The two State officers who
bought the bonds were banished from
politics. The bonds themselves are still
held by the State School Fund.
NEW GAME FOR. THE RED MAN