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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 3, 1911)
V- '-r 7 1 i r. . : i YOLUME X. LA GRANDE, UNION COUNTY, OREGON. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1911. STIRS SA 27 T il MEETINGS HELD AT 9:30 n TT w mn nnm REPORTS CITIM CAUSE IS PROGRESS ING IX THEIR FAYOB I L 1 TO MEN O'BRIEN GIVES MEN Claim 'o. 6 Was Late Through Faulty Engines Refute Statement That 70 or 80 Men Are at Work Assert That County Is raying for Deputies 10 Pickets Help to Protect Company Property. Statements coming directly from the La Grande strikers' headquarters were Issued today noon by the publicity committee of the strikers. The men deny that there are anything like 70 or 80 men employed about the shops and assert that the wheel of fortune Indicates It will stop in their favor. Already, they gay, traffic is feeling the loss of the machinists heavily and that No. 6 was late this morning because It blew out three times coming from Umatilla to La Grande. Three en gines went dead on a freight train Sunday, the strikers say. "We understand that Union county Is paying for officers who are protect ing the property of the company," says i the statement. "This is unnecessary as we are aa anxious to protect prop erty as the company. It Is to our own Interest as any Injury done to com pany property will be blamed to us. The company maintains 'a force of about four deputies In the daytime and ten at night, who draw a salary o $3.50 or $4 00 a day. Some of them are La Grande people. They are' posted . In the shops, at the gates, In the yards and at points where they can watch th nrnrBdinffs at close range. This is a needless expense to the county Forty Pickets Maintained. "We have a force of about 40 pick ets at work In La Grande. These men work a three hour shift each and are relieved at regular periods. They are posted at various places where .they too, can watch the company's property for we are anxious that no damage be done the company It Is the custom to blame the . strikers when any such things occur. "We are hopeful of victory and ev erything looks encouraging. "We wish also to deny the report that there ar 70 men at work. Here Is a list' of nienv.most of them non union, who are working today and (Continued on Pf Bight. I 1 unj, lii t UlttUAAU VY TO RETURN SO PREJUDICE HELD AGAINST THEM IF THEY RETURN THEX Situation, iu Local Shops Today Sl'cht- ly Improved Over Yesterday Say Officials Between 73 and SO Men, all Told, at Work Here Today- Ilti niutum Arrives In La Grande From O'Brien. - 3 THE'O'BRIEX n.TIMATI'M. Portland, Ore., Oct. 3rd, 1911. To all employes concerned: All employes who have left the serv S Ice of the company, since Septem- 3 ber 29th on account of labor trou- 3 bles are given until 4 p. m. Oc- S tober 4th, 19il, to return to work S without prejudice to their rights S and privileges. Employes not re- turning to work by the date and hour specified, are not entitled to any rights and privileges and will be re-employed only at the company's pleasure as new em- ployes. O. W. R. & N. COMPANY By J. P. O'BRIEN, vice president 3 and General Manager . belng'takeh into the'sfiops andTBtrlke Ireakers will soon arrive. No disor ders are. reported busmen are picket ing all northwest shops. Espee Is Close-Mouthed. .. , San Francisco, Oct. 3. The Espee bureau of economics today declined to give out any statement relative to the general strike situation. ' o Coaxing After Today. Oakland, Oct. 3. No effort after to day will be made to have the men re turn to work. Officials say the traf fic is running smoothly, and is exper iencing no trouble Is operating with strikebreakers. Provisions For-Strikebreakers. San Francisco, Oct. 3. The railroad Is preparing for a long siege. It is Im porting provisions for the strikebreak ers already working. Many Join Unions. Los Angeles, Oct. 3. Work at Los Angeles shops received an additional setback today when 20 "upholsterers walked out In sympathy with the strik ers. The count today shows practical ly one-fourth of those who quit Satur day were non-unionists and 400 of them have since joined the. union. ; Provision for Long; Sleg. Los Angeles, Oct. 3. Apparently taking the final steps'ln. preparation for a long strike, the Southern Pacific and Salt Lake railroads today are gathering cooks, provisions and bed ding inside the stockade at the local shops. Labor leaders declare the ac tion is a bluff and that the lines will be unable to find sufficient skilled me chanlcs to carry on the repair work. Railroad officials say - 250 of - the 400 employes who were dropped from the pay rolls six weeks ago, have re turned to work. Unionists assert not over 45 including the bosses, are at work. There are no disorders. NUMBER &9 1 tered on taking mofTgag.s'on- which' hey had to pay taxes. But the Issud brought up by the La Grande Invest ment company Is not the , legality of collecting this assessment, but In 'the manner In which It was done. The complaint which Is now on file and consists of 20 closely ! typewritten pages, sets out In detail how the hold er of the mortgage may be taxed for a sum of which he may have no con trol. A mortgage may be paid but satisfaction of it may not a mat ter of record, yet the original holder can be assessed by the records. Unequal Assessment Pointed iOnt Though there Is no effort made to show the taxation In the confines of Union county is unequal under this practice, the Investment company does set forth the unequal assess ments as between counties of the violation of .the constitution which provides In effect that the assessments of various counties for funds with which to operate state affairs must be made on a fair and equitable basis. S Multnomah as an Instance. .. Multnomah county, for instance, did not assess its mortgages last year while Union county did. Union coun ty was assessed to the extent of $400,- 444 on this Item alone and is now pay ing Its state levy on that basis. The county tn which the metropolis is lo cated, does not . pay any , part of such a levy not a cent. It Is this, in part, LOCAL CONCERN WILL BRING QUESTION TO ISSUE TEMPORARY INJUNCTION' HAS BEEN GRANTED NOW Effort to Get $100,000 or More Back to Business Channels of Union Coun ty Commenced by Local Firm In a Suit In Circuit Court Calls Mort- gage Tax Double Tax and Uuconsti- Litigation that Is Intended 'to settle definitely the legal status of the so- called double taxation scheme In Ore gon and revert to the channels of bus iness in Union county a sum conserv atively estimated at -$100,000 which was shooed away to other climes when Former County Assessor T. A. Rinehart- lined up with, five other counties In Oregon and assessed mortgages, , has been commenced In the circuit court here by . the La Grande Investment company. A tern- the porary restraining order echnlcally tnat is driving the Investment com aimed at the sheriff to halt the collec tion of tax money on such mortgage assessments, has been granted by Cir cuit Judge Koowles. Final argument on the injunetlon will bring forth a heated proceeding which la bound to FEDERAL PLAN REPUDIATED STATE BIGHTS TRIUMPH AT. LAND '.'. CONGRESS. ' ' National Land Congress Adjourns Af ter Hearing; President Taft . Denver, Colo., Oct. 3. With federal control of the public domain hopeless ly rejected and the state rights tri umphant the public lands congress ad journed at noon today after' an ad- J dress, on, conservation by Taft. The congress last night repudiated the federal control proposition and adopt ed the state rights by a vote of 439 to 35. i Thus General Manager O'Brien lays down the policy of the Harrlman yes- tem to strikers who went out Satur day Copies of the above ultimatum arrived in La Grande today noon and have been posted where they can be seen and have been given to local un ion leaders. . It, is presupposed that only a few if any will heed the ulti matum, however, and as announced at Portland, the' order was issued more in the preclusion of subsequent criti cism than as a hope of enticing men to return to work. Between 75 and 80 men are report ed at wo.k In the local shops and rouncmouse today, an increase over yesterday of between five, and 10 men and conditions are said by local offi cials to be nearly normal. These men are not n l skilled laborers, of course, Including all that are at work about the shops. The division officers an nounced today that two new mea had gone to work at Huntington and that Short Line and O.-W. trains were be Ing handled with dispatch. The fact that No. 17 was six hours late toda,' was blamed to storms about Omaha that tied up President Taft for 11 hours Sunday night At Umatilla It is pointed out that enough men to handle the Washington division trains are at work as evidenced by the fact that connections are made by the Ore gon division trains. Outside of the additional men going to work here, there has been no change over yesterday. The strikers are making no effort to be obnoxious and are allowing matters to take natural course without recourse , to anything that borders on violence, The strikers are almost Invariably men of family and home ties In La Grande who are not going to rough it to obtain the end desired. Men Picketing all Shops. Portland, Oct. 3. General Manager O'Brien, of the Harrlman lines in Ore gon issued an ultimatum to the north west striking shopmen announcing all Their rights will be forfeited unless they have returned to work by Wed nesday at four o'clock. Provisions are Boy Scouts Meet Pies. Taft. Denver, Colo., Oct 3. Three. hun dred boy scouts were at the union station this morning to greet Presi dent Taft upon his arrival from the east. The Colorado Yale club enter tained the president at breakfaBt and later he addressed the student of Den ver university. An automobile tour of the city and vicinity this afternoon and a big banquet tonight conclude the Denver program. slble for many deaths in the flood. Twice during the past fortnight Jokers blew the town fire alarm to frighten the people from their beds. The third time the alarm was blown it was In earnest, but the people thought It was a Joke and did not heed it. . Burials were started ' today. La borers are arriving to assist in clear ing up the ruins which cannot all be pany to make an issue before court of the whole question. Still another point contended Is that the sheriff has no right to arbitrarily designate a piece of real estate against which he can Issue a certl- , be finally adjusted In a decision by the flcate of delinquency to collect the j court. taxes levied against mortgages. In V 1 AA AAA 0.n.J 1 ... .. . , . . . ' ., dvc jittbj i tnis tne snerinr nas Deen temporarily Two years ago County Assessor T. Unjoined from doing right now in Un- A. Rinehart went to the records andltn1 counts- " ' ' .' assesit d the mortgages - of Union The so-called fallacy of double tax- county. Five otheaBsessora of ore- Btlon and unfair assessments are gon did similarly but the other as-1 pointed out again 4n detail. - John sessors of the state did not. From a smith, for instance, it Is argued, pays standpoint of Union county alone, the for a j1000 piece of property by mort estimated 40O,O0O circulated as loans Kage jne schema In vogue in six by local and foreign money lenders, counties of the state last year was to was reduced a sum conservatively es- j fx the man who bought the property tlmated at 1 100 .000. This was the flrsfl . a tho dMiiM nf tha mnrtrntu are made up in such a manner that it falls on the. lender, to pay the. taxes, and therefore he Is taxed for $2,000 when he really owns but $1,000 . in property. In the event that the hold er is taxed a fictitious sum of $1,000 Is brought forward and assessed. As all counties do not obey the order of the tax commission this action .. Is deemed by the cmplatnants In this case to violate the constitution In that the levy per county 1b not equal ami equitable. Attached to and made a part o. tJ'i complaint Is a long tabulated state ment from the tax commission which points out that though Multnomah county did not assess Its mortgages, which run to $301,000,000, the com mission reduced Its assessed valuation TIEN 57 B 0 ATS uFIFTY-SEVEN IN ALL TAKEN BY ITALIAN FLEET TO DATE - ' TURKEY'S APPEAL FOR HELP COMES FOR THIRD TIME Tripoli Being Gunned but Not Knpwi if Turkish Troops Had Evacuate the Fort First-News SU11 Cnsord by Italy Relief and Ammunition t Wav to Trlitnll for Tnrtmi Tnlr High Sea. :; "' . Rome. Oct. 3. Tripoli is being bom barded by the Italian fleet' but con sorshlp makes It impossible to ascer tain whether the bombardment pre ceded evacuation of the fortifications by the Turks. . Turkey Appeals for Aid. Constantinople, Oct. 3. For the third time Turkey today appealed to the powers to Intervene in the war, evidently with the Idea of saving Its territory from Latin occupation. . The porta accuses Italy of violating all in ternational laws in declaring war and says It will retaliate to the fullest ex tent unless the powers take peace steps. ; . '' ;: . , ; " Italy Remains Gref dy. , . London, Oct. s S.Absolute refusal by Italy to, consider acceptance of In tervention by the powers until Turkey relinquishes Tripoli is the burden of Rome dispatches. . Malta cables say the Turks In the Tripoli garrison are suffering little 'froroAhe bombardmenf Sixty thousand Arabs are said to be marching to Join, the Turk and des perate battles' are expected 'when the Italian landing is completed and the It Is COW CARRIED ONE MILE IN BUILDING BY AUSTIN FLOODS Austin, Oct. 3. It was learned to- searched for several days.! day, that practical Jokers are respon-i Famine prices prevail despite the fact that food Is being served free to the homeless. Stranded on the floor of a four story lumber company building, today was a live cow which had been carried a mile in the flood. She was rescued. Searchers began today hunting for bodies ten miles beloy the town. Only $1,000,000 while Union county's valu a few of the bodies are manaled as t,ca went up $400,000 because of the most were drowned. TAFT VISITS DENVER AND IS FACED WITH SEATTLE tssessed mortgages and as the -state levy Is the same it does not require a mathematician to figure out what hap pened. This Is all reelted In the com plaint, i The outcome of this action will be watched with keen Interest both lo cally and throughout the state. conquest of the interior starts. now certain the Turkish fleet is aafie at isnchor off Magar. : j" -rj ; - . London; Oct. 3. It is. reported th Italians sank the Turkish transport Darna, before beginning the bombard ment on Tripoli. ; ;. Italy Aiding Balkans. v Vlennai Oct. 3. It Is reported here ; , that Italy is sending guns and ammu nition across the, Adriatic sea. ' It: is ' unknown whether It is intended for the use of the Montenegro or the 'Al- banians who are planning .to revolt ae-alnst the Turks. : V': .rV. . ' .j. -Many Vessels Captured. ; , 4 , Rome, Oct. 3. It was officially an nounced tonight that ' Italy-has thus ."ar captured 57 Turkish vessels of all , Linda Including warships, transports J ;nd m;rchantment.: Turkey has cap-: tared three Italian vessels. ' 'Ammunition Is Captured. v' 4;'. Berlln.'bct. 3 Attempts to rush am munition to the beleaguered-Ttfrklsh troops in , Tripoli was ' frustrated off the Trlpolltan coast today when the Italian cruiser Marco Polo captured the Turkish transport Savah. ,r Washington, Oct. 3. Italy's scout cruiser 'Chester left Gibraltar today for Malta where she will keep In touch, with the situation, at Tripoli. " Dominion Architects in Session. Denver, Oct 3. Opportunity for President Taft to make good on the statement that "words are good only when backed by deeds," was given him on his arrival here today when the Denver Dally Express presented blm with an open letter demanding he take action In the cases of the Seattle citizens recently arrested as a result of a mass meeting in which Judge Hanford was denounced and the move ment for his Impeachment started. Taft arrived this forenoon, and breakfasted at the Country club, a guest of the Yale association. When be returned he delivered a speech be fore the University of Denver stu dents. At 11 o'clock he addressed the public lands convention. This after noon he visited the ball park and then Montreal, Oct. 3.- A hundred or I mora of the foremost architects or tht dominion were present today . at the opening of the annual convention rf the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. ' The convention will spend autoed. Tonight he attends a ban quet at the chamber of commerce, Tacoma Colony Suspected. Tacoraa, Oct. 3. Members of the home colony, an- alleged anarchistic two days in the discussion of city colony 20 miles from this city will planning, municipal architecture and be carefully watched during Taft's ! kindred topics visit here next week, although the col onists declare they oppose all violence. Land Congress ig Opposed. x-ieuiueni i ait aroused much en thusiasm when he took the public lands congress to task in his speech. He told them their condemnation of the leasing system was wrong and ad vised them to be ready to make con cessions If they appeared before con gress with any recommendations he opposed. Taft Opposed by Aldrich. Lincoln, Oct. 3. In a lettre pub lished today Governor Aldrich comes out strongly ror La Foiiette and an nounces he does not believe that Taft shuld be renominated. Aldrich charg ed that Taft did not redeem the par ty pledges, and concludes by saying: "If Taft-does not do better in the future he will not be nominated, but If nominated, he will be defeated." NORTH SEA IS TURBULENT FORTY-FIVE VESSELS REPORTED LOST SO DAT. Twenty-Five Bodies Have Been Washed Ashore at One PtacV : Amsterdam, Oct. 8. Advices today indicate a heavy loss of life as the re sult of a storm over the North sea" Sunday. Forty-five large vessels were wrecked and many crews perished It Is known that 120 Mussel fishing boats had been destroyed or badly damaged and at Steenbergen 23 bodies, were washed ashore.