Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1904-05-10
ANONYMOUS LETTER WRITER
TALKS OF DYNAMlTINa
GRANT coWLEYs HOME.
ADMINISTRATION L,
TOO PROGRESSIVE
Recent Orders for Reforms and I'm.
provements Said to Be Reason for
Threats to Destroy House Where
Head Of Government Makes Home.

T.
cause the new administration Of which
ne Is the head has instituted several
reforms in the government of the cor
poration of Eddyville, Grant Cowley,
VINO has been mayor of the town only
about one month, is in danger of as
sassination II the threats made In an
anonymous letter received last night
are to be credited. The people Of the
town are excited by the occurrence and
the mayor himself is perhaps the least
concerned OF all
Wants to Improve EddyviIle.
Mr.. Cowley. who was elected mayor
by the republicans few weeks ago,
inaugurated his administration by or
dering several reforms with view to
making the town better in many ways.
The town council. OF which Mr. Cow
ley is the presiding officer, has ordered
that paving be laid in some Of the prin-
cipal streets of the town and that 9TH
er. work be done to bring Eddyville up
to level with some Of the other
towns in the vicinity.
Meets With Disapproval.
1t is evident that these movements
toward municipal Improvement have
not met with unanimous approval
among the citizens. for several com
plants have been heard on the part of
some of those affected either directly
or indirectly by the new orders. How
ever, little Importance was attached to
| these complaints until the mayor re-
ceived the threatening letter. Now all
Eddyville is talking of the occurrence
and watching anxiously for the next
development.
The Threatening letter.
The letter was received by Mr.. Cow.
LEY through the mails yesterday: Its
story before 1t was balseSssss ~ Mr. Cow
ley in his regular Sunday niaarssll 4. -
be traced, as 1t was in appearance not
different from the others received BY
the mayor yesterday. When 1t was
opened, however, distinct difference
was noticeable. Instead Of formal
business matters the letter stated that
unless the mayor change his methods
his house will be either burned to the
ground or blown up with dynamite.
| cIew to the Writer.
There is a clew to the identity OF
the writer of the mysterious note, Mr..
Cowley thinks, and he is confident that
he will discover the mischief maker in
time. The letter was unsigned and
was written with q lead pencil on a
poor quality of paper. The writing,
however, was legible and in a prac-
ticed hand, with no indications that
any attempt to disguise 1t had been
made.
i Public in the Dark.
The general public is entirely In
4 the dark as to the identity of the
writer Of this threatening letter or the
clew Mayor Cowley claims to have.
Although there has been some COM
plants Of the policy Of the new admin
istration 1t has not been thought that
anyone was SO bitter that he would
make threat of the dire vengeance
Indicated by the letter. The people
of Eddyville, as a whole, are proud
of their thriving little town. Recently
1t has made many improvements which
have added not little to it's attrac-
tiveness and the value of its real es-
tate, and the possibility of new rail-
road line and the opening Of new mines
in the vicinity of the town have add
ed to the pride everyone has felt in 1t.
The better class of citizens regrets
very deeply that such an affair has
occurred and all hope that 1t will end
with the discovery of the wrong doer.
The writer of the letter has laid him
! self liable to prosecution under the fed
eral laws, as he sent the letter through
the United States mail. Should May
or Cowley succeed in fastening the
guilt upon anyone it will no doubt go
!, hard with him even should he not at
tempt to carry out the threats he has
made.