The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-05-19


About ten days will be required to
finish the task.
Birthday of the State.
Minnesota is fifty-three years old
The lusty infant numbered approx
mately 10000 inhabitants at the
time of her joining the sisterhood
of states, and her fifty7third birth
day anniversary finds her with more
than 2,OOO,OOO-and still growing.
The act admitting the state to the
Union was passed and approved May
IL, 1858. Trials and vicissitudes
had trailed this momentous event in
an unbroken string until that time.
Scarcity Of Money
The last legislature of the state
convened December 2, 1857, and con-
tinued until March 25, 1858, when it
took recess to await the admission
Of the new state. There was an al
mighty scarcity of the almighty dol
lar and when effort was made to
negotiate a $250,000 loan, the money
barons refused to listen, because,
they said, all acts of the self-consti-
tuted legislature were illegal, and the
embryo states credit was nil.
Notes Were Issued.
Whereupon, negotiable notes in
the form of bank notes were issued
and became more or less current.
For time they were discounted, but
when the act admitting the state to
the Union was passed, they became
worth par and eventually were re-
deemed. This appears somewhat
odd now, because there is a perma-
nent fund in the hands of the state
treasurer of more than $4,000, 900,
and it is expected that within the
next forty years this will be in
creased to $250,OOO,OOO or 100000
000
Who Shall Pay the Costs.
The question, who shall pay the
costs in the Minnesota rate cases, is
still an open one. 1t was decided
yesterday afternoon at conference
between the states attorneys and
the representatives of the railroads
to allow the matter to rest until
AFTER the uecISlOn VI the supreme
court.
Judge Sanborns decision assessed
the costs of the cases against Attor-
ney General Simpon and the three
members of the railroad and ware
house commission.
The greater part of the costs, some
$4,000, has already been advanced
by the railroads.
Can Roads Recover?
Whether or not the roads can
eventually recover from the state Of
ficials as individuals is one of the
questions which the supreme court
will be asked to determine. 1t was
said this morning that any action on
the question before the decision of
the court might result in making it
moot question, which would be
thrown out by the court
Former Attorney General Young
of state counsel will leave tomorrow
evening for Washington. He will APP
pear before the supreme court Mon
day and ask that the Minnesota
cases be advanced to an early date
in October Whether the local cases
will be combined with the Missouri
rate cases will be for the court to
decide.
Miss l.. B. Trott, clerk of the fed
eral circuit court, completed this
morning the boxing of the records
in the rate cases, and they are piled
in the clerks office in the federal
building, ready for shipment. The
records make a stack six feet long,
four feet high and sixteen inches
wide, and weigh in the neighborhood
of 1900 pounds. They will be ship
ped to Washington at once.
st. Paul, May 11.-New mysteries
i'm the alleged arsenical poisoning of
Resident Surgeon E. J. Davis and his
wife of the Soldiers Home, and
threatened law suit by G. w. Nash,
veteran discharged from the home for
complaining of the management to
the legislature, kept the authorities
at the home busy yesterday.
DR.. Davis last Thursday night, aft
err the state chemist had analysed
the coffee the household had used,
and found arsenic in it, received a
message purporting to come from the
wife of the state chemist, saying
strychnine had been found in the
coffee. His suspicious were aroused
at once, for he had asked the chem
ist to say nothing of the matter until
he wrote the formal result of his
analysis, and he believed it i'm
probable that Mr.. Hortvet, the chem
list would transmit the result of his
test to him in such way.
Was Woman's Voice.
woman's voice had called up the
orderly, at the hospital and had told
him to tell DIR. Davis that she was
Mrs. Hartvet, and that her husband
had asked her to let DR.. Davis know
strychnine had been found in the
coffee. The orderly did not know
Mrs. Hortvets voice, and took the
message in good faith.
But Mr.. Weber, son-in-law of DR..
Davis investigated the occurrence the
next day and found that Mrs. Hortvet
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