The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1917-10-05

our kind feeling to the highway COM
mission and all we can say that we
rC@t highly appreciate the interest
| they have taken in planning this
bridge and the al'otting of $4,000 to
| assist in the building of the same.
eve feel grateful to Mayor Champlin
| for carrying cut successfully the con-
| tracts and agreements made by his
| predecessors, and we most highly con-
| graduate him upon being mayor of the
city of Mankato while this bridge is
| H0iry dedicated We also wish to thank
81 the citizens OF Blue Earth and Mic
| Cllet counties who gave their support
IN the promotion of this magnificent
structure"
Former Governor Spoke.
Mayor Champlin now introduced a
representative Of the Widell company,
| former Governor Eberhart This spea'l-
er declared thai nothing that he could
say would speak in more eloquent
terms of the bridge upon the river
than the bridge itself. Just let the
people look at it. He remarked that he
had haC occasion to travel great deal
and heard much ABOUT the success of
| enterprises in the city of Mankato, but
! he had never heard SC much about the
success Of any of tt ESQ enterprises as
he had about the new bridge.
He spoke about the years 1903 and
| 1905, when he was in the state SEN
ate and of the successful efforts that
had been made to push bill through
| to get an appropriation of $4,000 for
! o new bridge at Mankato. But, strange
to say, that bridge project fell through
on account Of local opposition. The
| former governor remarked that this
world seemed to be made up of two
| classes of people who might be called
| hammers and anvils. He was glad to
! say that the hammers seemed to be
getting fewer and a larger number OF
people were willing to be anvils and
! take the knocks, rather" than knock
| Mr. Eberhart declared special credit
was due to former Mayor Meyer and
his successor, Robert Lamm for the
construction of the bridge.
The former governor declared the
people were very lucky to get that
bridge erected for such price as
would be paid. He said under present
conditions it would not be possible to
! erect such bridge as that for less
than $4,000. Even on the basis OF
prices as they were at the time the con
tract was let, the people got bargain
of $4,000 below what should be paid
for such structure. Oh
Senator J. w. Andrews was now
called upon. The senator went back in
to the early history of the agitation
for the new bridge. He told how the
| matter had been taken up6by the Man
kato Board of Trade, which had long
since ceased to exist. When he was
mayor the project was taken up and
an appropriation of $4,000 was pushed
| through the state legislature. But
even with this help, the project
failed. An injunction was gotten out
and the matter fell through. The
speaker said he was thoroughly glad
when the matter was taken up by the
late Mayor A. G. Meyer. He knew
what Mayor Meyer had done IN st
| Paul with the state officers in sup
port of the bridge project. He told
| how Mayor Meyer had worked witt
the statN highway commission ant
how he himself with Senator K. c
Dunn had labored for that approprl'
alton. Sd: -.al-
Senator Andrews remarked that ont
thing that the people Of Mankato AMI
North Mankato seemed to have for
gotten was that in 1915, the stat
! legislature had passed a law unde
which the village could be annexed
| to the city by a popular vote. INA
will be DONE" declared DR.. Andrews
THAT will be the next move
| general burst of applause greeted thl
| utterance.
j. Adam Bede introduced.
Mayor Champlin next introduced
the known orator, j. Adam
Bede, who was the last speaker OF
the program. The mayor had a little
poem which he read in introduction
of this famous wit, each stanza end
ing with the line, 81 can never I'M
! prove on our J. Adam Bede."
The former congressman's address
was a feast of wisdom and humor
Mr.. Bede went back to the old days
when there were no bridges because
ndIlOllS dIu IFlUSS WoIS oi"oJo hSh'
ing. They did not want bridges 10
fear the enemy could use them. Thes'
days bridges that were more ant
more permanent were being built
} These were achievements OF peace
He alluded to bridges of ancient AM
modern times, the bridge that Horatl
us defended at one end to keep al
enemy out of Rome until the struc
:, ture was demolished the bridge tina
! Caesar built upon the Rhine, tn
London bridge and many others. Hi
talk was a ramble, wherein he hghtl.
passed from thought to thought ant
J from joke to joke in a manner tina
; kept the audience continually enter
tanned. He spoke of the new brldS
: at Main street as monument o
? the triumph of peace over war an
: of civilization over barbarism. |
/ showed that people no longer hate
each other for living on opposite side
r of a river
7 He declared that the world wa
1 getting better and better, notwlth
2 standing the terrible things tina
1 were going on in Europe. He sal
| people on this side seemed to hav
i the impression that all Europe ha
gone crazy. 1t was only the dark an
s. dismal things as rule that wer