Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-11-01
An Interesting Case.

"A case WAS Uflou III CHo ClrCulG
court last week-on appeal from a
justice of the peace in this town
ship-which possessed more than
usual interest to the citizens of the
Valley. The case was styled
Gabriel Szabo VS.. The South Hun
garian Land and Colonization
Company. The facts as developed
by the testimony was as follows:
Through an agent of the Com
pany, one Felige, Szabo purchased
thirty-three acres of land in the field
west of and contiguous to Pilot
Knob. This land had been laid
off into lots by the said Company.
Szabo chose the lots he wanted,
agreeing to pay therefor $3.50. He
did pay $3.50 cash and agreed to
mortgage the land for the balance
of the purchase money upon re-
ceipt of his deed, which was to be
made Immediately. He at once
entered into possession and began
working upon it, cleaning it up.
His deed not being forthcoming,
he became insistent, when he was
coolly told by Messrs. Mullin and
Conway, the local representatives
of the "Company," that they could
not give him a decd for all the land
he had purchased; that two of the
lots had been sold to other parties;
and they proffered him some land
near Middlebrook and a house in
Pilot Knob in lieu thereof. Szabo
would not agree to this and de-
manded a deed to the land he had
bought, or the return of his $3.50.
Both demands were refused.
He vas a stranger, unable to
speak or understand the language
of this country; his payment Of
the $3.50 had left him penniless;
and he was in a sad plight. Some
one of his countrymen, of whom
there are several at Pilot Knob,
brought here, as he had been,
through the exertions of the said
Company, advised him to see a
lawyer. He came down to Iron
ton and secured the services of
Messrs. Edgar and Damron, though
(crying like a child, through an
interpreter he told them that he
had no money to pay them. They
took his case, nevertheless, and
last week secured Judgment against
the South Hungarian Land and
Colonization Company for the $3.50,
with interest at 6 per cent. from
date of demand. He had fortu-
nately preserved the receipt given
him by Felige, and it was full and
explicit enough to convince the
jury that he had been grossly
wronged. The defendants tried to
deny the authority of Felige to act
for the Company, but in that too
they failed. The defendants have
taken an appeal to the st. Louis
Court of Appeals.
| have heard of a number OF
cases wherein the countrymen OF
Szabo claimed to have been de-
ceived and defrauded of their
money by the agents of this AS
ISOLATION, but this is the only COM
plant put to a legal test.
The readers of the REGISTER will
recall that it has never INDUCED in
laudations of this South Hungarian
Land and Colonization Company.
For this reason I have been de-
nounced, from time to time, by
the sheet down the street,. n Of
whose projectors is Mullin, as I'M
progressive and "opposed to the
building up Of the community
But l think | stand indicated tc
TALL who heard the testimony and
the proceedings in the case above
referred to. And this same bunch
! who refused to return the poor
Hungarian his money or to make
a deed to the land he had pur-
chased in good faith, are socially,
politically and financially back
ing the crowd Of false accusers
and "court house ring" howlers
now seeking to deceive and mis-
lead the honest people of Iror
county! Wouldn't a ssring'' with
the Hungarian Land and Coloniz-
alton Company to round out the
circle, entrusted with the affairs OIL
the county, be just the caper?