The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-08-11
Threatens to Sue Commission
Men for False Arrest.
HIS MELONS SEIZED.
Sold at Sheriff's Sale on Behalf
of Local Firm.
W. o. Anderson Says There Is
No Trust in Topeka.

them up and burned them: 1 planted
the little seeds in the soil and watched
the tiny plants spring up; 1 nurtqred
The small vines and looked for the
fruit; it came and 1 watched it grow
big and fine; then I gathered it up in
my arms as I would an infant fondly,
and carried it and loaded it onto a
car. Do you wonder I want something
for It ?"
Thus J. A Murphee. small sun
burned man from the new state with Il
farm at Chickasha. proved his case to
Police Judge Urmy this morning. Sc
curing his discharge. He had been ar
rested last night upon complaint OF
commission men who complained that
he was peddling watermelons.
This is the turning point. Heretofore
it has all been the way of the COM
mission men. Now he threatens to sue
for false Imprisonment.
His car of watermelons was attached
last evening by Sheriff Norton upon an
order from the district court granted
upon a petition of Anderson & Arm
strong. They asked $160 damages foc
nondelivery of two carloads of melons
July 80. This load sold for $25 at the
sherif's sale this morning.
The carload OF melons sold last night
were brought to Topeka Monday morn
ing. Murphee had telephoned to White
ker Brothers offering them the melons
for $75 net from Harrington. They told
him to bring them on. When he ar
rived he talked to Byron Willcuts about
the melons but said he had promised
them to Whiteker.
Whiteker delayed looking at the
melons for an hour or two and the
farmer became disguised and returned
to WillcutS who looked at the mel klS
and offered SS5 but would not pay thu
freight. The freight was over $50 50
he could not afford to sell. He talked
to all the 0+her commission men but
could not get a fair price, he says. Then
them
chants.
He sold to Green. Horsefeldt. and
Mullin and was contracting for more,
having several orders to fill.
Meanwhile the commission men got
together and decided to stop him. T. A.
Armstrong got Willcuts and George
Whiteker into his automobile, picked
up Patrolman Bundy for a witness and
proceeded to the vicinity of the Car
standing on the tracks. Murphee and d
boy driver were loading a wagon for
the Green grocery The policeman,
WillCutS and Whiteker went into the
Pugh hardware store and kept watch.
Soon the melon wagon statted out and
Mr.. Anderson approached asked for
melon, asked what it was worth, and
paid 20 cents for it. Then the police
man did his part and Mr.. Murphee was
arrested for peddling without license.
He had been giving melons away to Ia
borers around and would have given
this one to Armstrong, he said, but was
offered pay for it.
The lawyer for the defense showed
that the commission men had trtcked
the man into the sale for the purpose
Of his arrest. that he was not a ped
dler having been solicited for the sale
and that even if he was he had right
to sell the products of his own raising
under the ordinance, that the supreme
court has held that one sale does not
constitute man peddler.
The judge ruled that the evidence did
not disclose that the defendant was
fnTT h.
sale of them but was himself solicited
that he had a right to sell his own
product and was discharged. Then he
further found that the action was
brought without iustifiable cause.
The commission men hurriedly got
into their car and drove away. It was
later learned that one of them had been
the man who bought the melons at the
sheriff's sale. In fact only one of 20
men at the sale was not a commission
man.
There has been some feeling aroused
about the matter. especially among the
grocers. Hearing of the trouble Mr.
Murphee was having. the Grocers' As
sOciation last evening offered him S1.17
Il hundred pounds for his melons. That
was d great deal more than he was get
ting as he was selling them, but when
they went to get them the sheriff had
already begun receiving bids.
Mr.. Anderson Explains.
W. Q. Anderson, the local commission
man. caused an attachment of his
goods Yesterday. claiming that Muir
Thee had failed to deliver him two car
loads he had verbally contracted for
July 80.
Mr.. Anderson this morning in dis
oussing the recent charges of certain
grocers to the effect that there was some
sort of an agreement between the COM
mission mon which controlled the price
of produce in Topeka, said: There is
nothing to that story. Most of us are
Of
fuse to speak to each other. Does that
look as though we were in a combine?
LAS to prices being higher here than
at Kansas City, I will cite an instance
which occurred during the strawberry
season. We sold the local grocers crates
at the rate of 50. and at the same time
we received 81 per crate for the Der
ries we sold to the Kansas City houses.
Does that look as though we were hold
ing up the local merchants? And when
they are paying a dollar more crate,
how can the Kansas City produce
houses sell to local merchants cheaper
than we can. Again we recently sold
three carload lots of peaches to Kansas
CITY houses at the rate of 80 cents per
l,ushel. while the local merchants were
only paying us So cents. As to lemons,
the prices which we received for lemons
were printed daily and we maintained
those prices
And regarding watermelons we are
rot trying to hold up the producer and
receive the profit ourselves. On July
30 this same Mr.. Murphee offered US
two carloads for $135 per carload lot
After we would have paid the freight
if would have made the cost to us
about 80 cents a hundred pounds. These
melons are retailed to the local dealers
at the rate of so cents u hundred for
small ones and from so cents to 81 for
large ones. Does this look like We were
making handsome profits off melons?
LAS for this man Murphee, he has
been making false statements to the To-
cal grocers. The truth is not in him."
The Prudential state bank, corner
seventh and Kansas avenue.