The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1939-09-14
SWANTON MAN DEFENDS
SAVAGE RIVER VALLEY


! NSOliIlIIuCu 4lOili etSC OllOJ
Swanton man goes on to score the
dam-sponsoring commission for re-
! putedly refusing to pay reasonable
prices for the land it seeks.
/ His letter, in the nature of a bill
of particulars, as the lawyers call it,
Mr.. Murphy first takes the statements
he disputes and lists his objections to
them.
Called Misrepresentation
Said the article: Some of it (the
/ land), so far as the records 60, nobody
/ owns.
" For instance, there is st. Clair's
Glory So far, efforts to trace the
owner have been fruitless. And more
than 100 feet of water is due to back
up over it as soon as the dam is built"
'To which Mr.. Murphy has this to
say: This is a Misrepresentation in
the first magnitude, as all the land
that will be covered 100 feet deep
with water is two tracts of land, name
ly Montevue and Alexander. ,"
'He lists the present owners of Mon
tevue and states that it was formerly
| owned by the late Goveror Thomas.
Alexander, he continues, is at present
owned by the State or Federal Gov
eminent"
Discusses Soldiers Lots
another statement with which the
indignant Landowner and taxpayer
takes issue is this: But the main
headache for surveyors running the
old lines have been the soldiers allot-
ments. -"
"Says Mr.. Murphy: 4 have good
authority that these soldiers allot
ments are all numbered and the lines
marked, and is not at all difficult for
surveyor to find them. But why
worry about soldiers allotments?'
"They are principally located on
! top of the Backbone and Savage Noun
tains and will be several hundred feet
above the high water mark in the dam.
Is it possible that land records will
have to be looked up back to the time
of Washington, and numerous square
miles of Garrett county surveyed be-
fore this project can be started p"
"Mr Murphy expresses particular
indignation over this statement: Most
of the tracts are on hillsides so steep
the soldier might roll over it, but
couldn' twalk across it. And some of
them have as much as a peck Of top
soil in the cracks of the bare rocks :"
Challenges Writer
"To this the letter-writer comments
Now l challenge the writer Of this ar
ticle to come to my home in the Saw
age River Valley, five miles west O.
Bloomington, and if he isn't one Of
| the type of modern gentlemen who
prefers to see the country in a high
powered automobile, l will show him
more topsoil on any Military Lot in
| Garrett county than he ever saw, and
we will walk over it, not roll as he
states. And if he can show me any
such lot as he writes about, then ! am
ready to admit that l have travelled
this terrain for thirty-nine years and
really missed something.
"'Now I do admit that in the vicin-
ity of this proposed dam site, we have
some very rough mountainous terrain,
and in the valley some very attractive
land, very much similar to Allegany
county in topography.
''But your valleys are not spoken
of as lonely mountain valleys dotted
with Military Lots with only peck of
topsoil on them
Flags Propaganda
"'Now this sort of propaganda is
not going to help the Upper Potomac
River Commission to secure the de-
sired property for this project at the
prices they are offering.
"'The property owners are not try
ing to hold up construction on the
Savage River dam. They are willing
to sell and are asking a reasonable
price for their homes and properties,
which the Commission is refusing to
pay
90 When their offers are rejected,
then they resort to threatening con-
demnation proceedings
"'A certain member of the Commits
sion, when he was asked a certain
price for a property, made this re-
mark: If I was buying this property
for my own use and paying for it with
my own money, the price is reasonable.
|