The Redwood gazette., 1936-01-23
INJUNCTION SUIT
STARTED TO STOP
PURCHASE OF LOT
Taxpayers Contend Amount
Is Exhcrbitant And
Unauthorized

Is Exhcrbitant And
Unauthorized
Attorney For Mrs. Appleton
Says She Has $4,000
+ Invested There
A group of Redwood Falls tax.
payers this week instituted in
junction proceedings to prevent
payment by the state of $4,000 fol
the lakeshore lot owned by Mrs
Elsie NJ. Appleton. The proceed
I'ings, complaint and order tt
show cause returnable in Redwood
Falls February l at 10 a. M, de-
clare the settlement to be "whole.
Ily unauthorized and the amount
of damages. grossly exhorbitant.
/ The case arises out of the relo.
cation of highway 19 and the con
.struction of the new bridge neal
the Appleton property which
fronts on Minnesota street ane
runs back to a high retaining wal
on the northeast shore of Lake
Redwood. The injunction proceed
ings add fuel to the fire kindleC
under the case by Stafford King
state auditor, who branded the
amount 'exhorbitant". and refused
to issue warrants Tor the payment
last Thursday.
Under the terms of the settle
ment made by the highway de-
paftment with Ms. Appleton and
her attorney, Frank W. Murphy
of Wheaton, Mrs. Appleton would
receive $4,000 for the property
and would retain possession of the
house after moving it to new To-
cation. She would receive $4,000
February l and $4,000 upon re-
moval of the dwelling. She is
given until June l to remove the
house.
Damages Appraised
Reviewing the history of negot-
iations between Mrs. Appleton
and the highway department con.
cerning a settlement, the proceed
ings state that an appraisal COM
mittee was appointed by the dis
trict court in 1884, members OF
which were j. R. Keefe, D. w
Gold and Duncan McCorquOdale
who set the amount of damages to
the property at $4,000 estimating
that as half of its sale value be-
fore the street was changed. Un-
der the terms Of such settle
ment, Mrs. Appleton was to re-
tain possession of the home and
lot, the payment to be merely
compensation for loss of value oc-
casioned by construction of the
highway and bridge.
The highway department con-
sidered this appraisal Of damages
excessive, the proceedings state,
and appealed to the district court
At that time the state took the
position that the property was not
needed and that it would not suf-
fer compensate damages. Mrs.
Appleton did not appeal within
the time specified by law, accord
ing to the proceedings, but later
obtained the services of Mr.. Muir
ply and recently stipulation was
filed in district court here where
by purchase of the property, not
including the house, was agreed
upon at $4,000
The proceedings were instituted
by S. B. Duea, H. G. Werder and
A. j. White, all of Redwood Falls,
whose attorneys are A. c. Dolliff,
of Redwood Falls and Arthur En-
glish of Tracy. They are brought
against Harry H. Peterson, attor-
ney general; N. w. Elsberg, COM
missioner of highways; Rex Green,
in charge of right-of-ways for the
highway department; Auditor
King and Mrs. Appleton and At
torney Murphy.
Statewide Attention
The complaint and order TO
show cause are signed by District
Judge Albert H. Emerson. The
case has attracted more statewide
attention than any to be tried
here since the game warden suit
several years ago and will bring
an equal number of state officials.
The order alleges that Mrs Ap-
pleton, who recently disposed of
her auto supply business and with
Mr.. Appleton moved south, is
holding the residence for sale at
$4,000 and consequently her re-
muneration would aggregate $11,-
900. They contend that the orig
inal appraisal of $4,000 was suffi-
cient remuneration for all dam
ages.
King in declining to issue war
rants said that he will refuse 60
authorize payment until Commits
sioner Elsberg and his department
associates satisfactorily explain
why they agreed to the higher set
tlement after appealing the dam
age appraisal.
King was quoted as saying, "It
is interesting to note the apparent
haste with which the highway de-
partment has attempted to secure
payment and this, with the $4,000
increase over the appraisal, GER
tainly warrants the demand for
proper showing which I will In
sist on from the highway depart
ment".
at is also interesting to note"
the state auditor added, shat the
demand for payment came only q
few hours after we received in
Continued on Page Five)