PA1A
7m
'II " i
V. : T -
h 'j Hli Uvci M H Li I n fc; i I 4yU Lrvr
-A k! LV Hi M i- til ejsm, fc!(K fcvu -V
II: T.A . i-T ' Va TJ1 M ; I k. .. 1 1. 1 S il u (la SI
II
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
IIXEXTLY K, V. Gunn, a
merchant of KlchtnonJ,
Va exploded a vertltaMe
bimihshell In tlie Old Do
minion nud sent state of
ficials, historians and nt
tonioys scurrying ti dig
In the archives ly declar
ing that he Is the real
owner of the greater rrt
ot the land upon which
stands the state canltol
end that he wants to he paid for it
on the basis of Its original valuation,
made In 1TS4, of some plus
compound Interest nt the rate of 3
for cent a year for 14(5 years. And
that has set some of the mathemati
cians to figuring Just how colossal a
sum would be a principal of $0,r00
plus compound interest for nearly a
century and a half.
The Richmond merchant says that
the state of Virginia can not produce
any records to prove that the land
condemned In 17S4 for a public square
was ever paid for and says he will
ask relief from the general assembly
at its next session if the state refuses
to consent to a suit alleging breach of
contract.
Failing In that step. Mr. Gunn has
been advised by counsel that he can
go into the federal courts on the
proundg of the violation of consti
tutional property rights and he affirms
be can prove his contention by exist
ing records.
Mr. Gunn points to a letter sent to
Thomas Jefferson, then ambassador to
France, by members of a legislative
commission, asking Mr. Jefferson to
engage an architect in Tads to pre
pare plans for a state capltol and as
suring the author of the Declaration
of Independence that "the Mil on
which Gunn's yellow house stands,
and which you favored as the best
situation (for a state capltol contin
ues to be preferred by us."
The original Jefferson letter is In
the custody of the Coll. ge of Wil'lam
and Mary. The original condemnation
order has been placed on record In
the Henry County court, after re
maining obscure for nearly K) years.
Mr. Gunn has been working on bis
claim siin'e childhood, but made no
effective headway until the original
condemnation Jury's report was un
earthed from dusty archives.
"Thirty years nzo, I met a man
who was then ninety years old." Mr.
Gunn said recently. "Ashing me If I
were a descendant of the old Gunn
family of Richmond, he told me that
bis father, who worked for the state
government, had Informed Mm that
the state of Virginia never paid for
the land condemned for u-e as a
public S'juare and the permane nt seat
of the state government. The rea
son, he said, was that the condemna
tion proceedings records had been lost
and that no claim against the state
could be proved In court.
"I wus told by rny family as a boy
that rny family never had ln-en com
pensated by the state. My i efforts
were blocked until the original con
demnation order was found. The pa
pers by mistake were gent in ITS to
the city clerk's office for recording,
instead of to the clerk of the Henry
County court. Th're papers, plus
maps uncovered and the letter to
Thomas Jefferson, which shows Mr,
Jefferson had Inspected the old Gunn
plot while governor of Virginia mid
favored It for a ttate capltol site,
speak for themselves.
"I have been informed by Auditor
C. Lee Moore lie can llnd no record
of the state having paid for Ihe prop
erty it condemned In ITS J. I took the
matter up with Governor Ryrd toward
the close of his udmlnlstratlon.
"The governor, after referring my
letter to the secretary of the coin
inonwealih for Investigation, Informed
me that the facts were as I had stsited
them to be, Insofar as the existence
cf any record of payment by the stale
was concerned,
"a the Judgment of legal advisers,
the mere condemnation proceedings
in the ubsence of payment did riot
take the title to the property from my
t7 .ira
R
1 1
ancestors, 1 feel I have a substan
tial claim to ownership of the land
on which the state capltol now stands.
I cannot sue the state for breach of
contract without the state's consent,
and the statute of limitation has ex
pired. Tut I believe the people of
Virginia would like to see the proper
settlement made."
Nor is this Richmond merchant the
only one who Is Interested In this mat
ter for he declares that other old
Richmond families, among them the
Snyders, Curries, Archibald Carys,
Trices and Acrille Cootie, had half
acre lots condemned In 1TS4 and present-day
descendants of those families
are watching with interest his move
for restitution.
Nor is this Virginia case unique,
for Oklahoma has a somewhat simi
lar one, only the "No Man's Land"
there has infinitely greater potential
riches to make it worth fighting for.
It is a small triangular tract of about
two acres in the heart of the great
Oklahoma City oil fields which has
been "lost" for CO years. No "Roomer"
homesteaded it after the "run" into
Oklahoma in ls,sa The surveyors and
mapmakem seemed to have missed it
and It is still government soil.
No one seems to have dreamed that
this valuable parcel of land was avail
able to a clalmer until recently when
Forrest I'urrott of Oklahoma City,
guided by maps w hich others had seen,
no doubt, but failed to realize their
significance, began a bit of "prospect
ing" In the archives of the register
of deeds at the Oklahoma county
court bouse.
What he found was almost unbe
lievahle a plot of unclaimed land,
sandwiched right in the middle of one
of the richest oil areas of the world.
S'o Mr. I'arrott staged the "ruu of
lV.V)." With an armful of stakes he
dashed out to the little silver of river
bottom hind and drove his pegs.
Then, as la the prairie schooner and
sunhonnet days of 42 years ago, Mr.
I'arrott set about making his claim
legal. He went back to the court
bouse and filed an affidavit of his
claim, setting forth he was filing on
it as a homestead ami claiming pri
ority rights as an ex-sen lee man.
The triangular shape of the neg
lected piece of land was caused by
the unties of the North Canadian
river.
When the government surveyors
made their first survey of jT0 they
did an excellent Job f.,r working out
the river bottom Into ehopped-up lots,
but they forgot this one tract.
The tract is In the center of the
most Intense drilling activity In the
Oklahoma City oil field. Half a mile
east Is T. 15. Slick's No. 1 Ralley 17,-Ouj-harrel-a-day
well, and the same
distance south the 2'..HHMiarrel-a day
well owned by Wirt Franklin.
And yet these are only two ex
amples of queer claims which result
from surveyors' or nmpmukers' errors
or some slip-up in registering deeds or
some other title to land. A curious
case was reported from New York re
cently, tnd added another Item to the
record of high-priced real estate In
that city where some plots of ground
are literally worth more than the
number of silver dollars It would take
to cover them. In this ease a pur
chaser of re-il estate paid a total of
.1,'JW for 213 square Inches of land
$"') a square inch It came about In
this way:
One of the Mrs. Vanderbilts wanted
to buy a plot of ground In Fast Fifty,
seventh street between First avenue
and the river, on which once stood
five brownstones, built In the seven
ties by one Harvey Dennis, a consid
erable realtor of his day. Naturally
the prospective purchaser wanted to
be sure she had a clear claim to the
title, so she had experts of the Title
Guarantee & Trust company look It up.
For what if after the house were
erected somebody should boh up and
claim a strip of property, eighteen feet
by one inch, running right through
the building? .Such a demand would
form a grave crisis. In this Instance
a hunt was made for the Dennis heirs.
It was hard to find them. It took two
months, during which time more than
3(10 letters were written. Finally
they were located. There were six
heirs in all. The situation was ex
plained. The tltlo company people finally got
them to sign a quitclaim for S.ihj
each, or $l.2 In alb That Isn't
much, but then neither was the land
to which they were unintentionally
the heirs. It amounted, In fact, to
Just one and a half square feet.
But If New York can claim the
smallest and the highest priced pieces
of real estate, Chicago can point with
pride to the world's costliest cow
path which runs right through n mod
ern 22 story skyscraper known as the
100 West Monroe building.
The cow path dates from the early
ft' when Dr. Jared Rassett liought
the entire Clark street frontage, l.K)
feet deep, betwetMi Monroe and Madi
son streets. In the center of the
block he built his home with a cow
barn fur his cow, "Itessle." As time
went on, Ioctor Rassett sold most of
his property but always with a pro
vision for a 1)-foot easement so that
"Bessie" could make her way to the
barn.
So In 1023 when the 100 West Mon
roe Building corporation took over the
lease for the property they found the
flaw which preserved the path but too
late to do anything about It. The
deed was subjected to litigation and
It stood the test. While their solution
of the problem was a little costly, it
was rather unusual, for they usurped
the air rights and left "Bessie" her 10
foot path with an IS-foot clearance,
Just In case she should desire to bring
In a wagon load of luur some time.
Above the 1 rwt level the building
Juts out at right angles, covering the
cow path and extending upward for 20
stories. While set-back buildings are
common sights In Chicago this Is the
only "set-out" building on record. And
the space lost would bring uliout $1'.',
s) In yearly rentals.
Another cnrlous situation, cause,) by
a Haw In a title, was reported from
New York recently. The story of It,
as told In the New York World, fob
lows :
"A legal catch in the title of what
usi-d to lie known as City Hall place
a street only ubout tVn) feet long that
ran from in back of the Munlplcal
building at I mane street to l'enrl
street Is holding up plans for the
proposed civic center around the new
county court house and Foley square.
"The rlddlo which Assistant Cor
poration Counsel Joel J. Squire of the
bureau of street openings Is charged
to solve Is what can the city do with
the forty-foot roadway which bisects
one of the most valuable plots of real
estate In New York.
Tart of this riddle Is what will the
Church of St. Andrew, which stand
on the west of the old street, do about
Its parish house which stands on the
east of It. Under the plan drawn by
Joseph Johnon, City Hall place was
to be scrapped to make room for the
new federal building and the parish
house was to be torn down and re
built on plot adjacent to the church.
"This new plot was to be exchanged
by the city for the old site of the
parish house. A section of City Hall
place was Included in the new site.
Rut when the church officials a.skod
for a title deed to the land the city
was surprised to find that It could
not be given. The reason was that
the city owns only right of way ease
ments which were obtained In !((
from the original owners of the plot,
but that some unknown heir of the
original owners holds the free title.
"Had the city or federal government
actually erected a costly building on
part of the old street and had the
true owners turned up and set forth
their claims, the money loss to the city
would have been tremendous according
to real estate authorities.
"Old City Hall place Is estimated ns
worth close to $1,000,000. Mr. Squire
says he is not ready even to venturs
a guess us to what can he done abou'
it."
Ei by Wuktern Nowatr Union.)
fry Evelyn Campbell
WNU Burvlo
THE ST0HY
I.tnrin ll vet tilll't nir-t1n-woll
father dirt when f ho In k'Vii
tio'ti, Imvlnti Iit lltll txyomt
om m t 11 !( Im'k ri'i'UMVute
Tln'e h liikri to hr tattlers
fi'ieiul, SiMintcr Convr, to dli
)oi of. Aftrr whirlwind
rourtKhlp t.truta iiinrrlen fourt
my limit. Too ln( li dlnoot
rr h l nMinlliii tulveiiturer
llvlnii by hln will.
CHAPTER II Continued
-
There was one small sheaf of cer
tificates that 1. In. la had been advised
Hot to sell for two years at least.
But these went Into it broker's hands
before Mr. and Mrs. Courtney Roth
left Boston. However clever one may
bo, there are times when currency Is
absolutely necessary, ami Ib'th ex
plained that with n lovely young bride
on his hands this was one of the times,
lie passed lightly over the fact that It
was Linda's money that furnished the
means of ihelr migration, lie forgot
the unpleasantness as quickly as pos
sible, and advised her to do the same.
The Roths went around the world,
but not as rapidly as they had planned.
It took two years to go as far as they
had counted on going In nix weeks.
But they did not travel as ihe crow
lllos; they went as the fox runs from
cover to ooxer, wherever the grass una
greenest and the hares most plentiful.
Not n bad two years. If you didn't
care too much, a gay two years If
lovely frocks and brilliant restaurants
were enough; If you didn't mind ugly
seems with landlords, and delayed
luggage. If you were careful about
making friends and chose them among
people who had delightful houses and
plaved bud curds. Linda wus made
amazingly hen tit I fill and Interesting by
all this travel and change, and Court
ney Roth held his head higher than
ever. Wherever they went people re
marked about them.
"What a lucky pair. They have
everything. Good looks, popularity,
and wonderful times I Life Is per
petual play for them."
It was a desperate sort of play
that carried on rather grimly behind
the scenes.
Linda learned all her husband could
teach her In those two years, and If
she did not respect him she liked him
In a tolerent way, pitying bis boyish
ness and sometimes even admiring his
coolness In the face of overwhelming
situations.
But Roth had lived for ten years
when Linda lived one. He was burned
out wltb peculiar fires and he wanted
to rest, though never suspecting his
own tiredness. If was a game, how
ever, that had no breathing spaces.
The mad whirligig of change held both
of them relentlessly. Ho grew to do-
pend more and more upon Linda's
: Ingenuity In managing. nd when she
j fit I led or seemed to full, he became
victimized by a silly, futile rage that
blamed her for their partleulor pre
dicament. It took them two years to get to
Switzerland, but they reached there
at the proper moment The Ice was
at Its best and all the winter sports
were ns keen as If the weather had
been ordered by aerial wire.
Roth meant to enjoy every moment
of IL He liked snow and lhre were
some new stunts that year. But three
I days after their arrival he had an un
comfortable Interview with the man
ager of the hotel. He promised to
move on that night; then he went up
stairs and struck Linda across the
face with a blow that left an ugly
mark tot lime to come. He left her
lying across the bed shielding hei
shame, and swaggered out, determined
to have his play to the last. He had
It for two hours. Later they drought
him In. on a stretcher with a broken
neck, ard that was the end of a honey
moon tbu! should novel have begun.
CHAPTER III
The Wall of Pretense
The Iruln stopped with such a sud
den Jolt that the book dropped from
Linda's band. She had not been read
ing, anyway, and so she let It lie un
noticed. She. had been staring through
the thick, double glass window of the
pullnuin nl the grayness .that pressed
against the pane like (. blanket. No
sign of life was to be seen In that
void, and this suited her mood ad
mirably, for her mentality was at a
standstill without a glimmer to re
lieve Its Intense atrophy. That morn
ing she hud opened her eyes to snow
and a leaden skies, and all through
Ihe slay this had persisted until she
hud subconsciously thrown herself
upon the breast of the landscape and
become n part of Its dreariness.
But the Jolt and accompntiylng
grinding of brakes, shrill and nerve
wracking, disturbed her mood. She
glanced nil her helplessly around the
lighted car, and her eyes encountered
those of the good looking young man
across the aisle, who at that moment
chanced to he looking toward her.
Across the tall hacks of sections all
through the coach other Inquiring faces
;ioored. most of them stupid and anx
ious. The possibility of an accident
hud aroused every one from the lan
guor of dullness that belonged to such
s rfay.
"What. Is It?" Linda asked, speak
ing quite naturally to the young man,
who seemed to have absorbed all the
Intolllgonoo of all the passengers,
"Have we run luio u wall or it dliohr
He smiled, appreciating her cool
ness when the other women were Hi
read)' beginning to Duller.
"One or both," ho answered easily,
"I'm afraid we've met tha Waterloo
of trains passing through Nebraska In
January. A snowdrift can he a wall
and a ditch as well." He bud the
pleusautest smile. It crinkled his eyes
at Ihe corners and they smiled, too,
Nice brown eyes that had n remark
ably straight look about them. "I'll go
and see," he said, and swung oft down
the aisle after the other men whe
were pushing one another In the pas
s..;o.
Linda leaned back and waited. She
wtis a seasoned traveler and knew thai
fretting got no one anywhere. Ho be
cause the delay was baleful and men
aclng shu let n pleasant thought of hoi
neighbor ripple across her mind.
A hoy a "harming boy. Men had
their place In her 1 1 f tt large place
as they must have In the life of sit)
beautiful woman, but she Irtd fortiteC
curious little fancies about them. Sin
''
So Without Knowing How It Camt
About Anttey Found Himmf Sitting
Bend th Btautlful Young Womjts
saw all men as seekers of prey slock
animals, well fed am beautiful; shag
gy, and horrible reptilian I She sn
her kind were always prey, of course
She thought of these things as nut
ural and jtiuvoldahle.
But the boy was different. He hut
made no gesture of Joining her, evei
after she hud spoken first. He hae
seemed almost afraid to look at her
.She was thrilled and a little sorry foi
It I m, knowing what must happen when
he did look.
He returned almost at once. "It It
a drift," he snld, pausing beside her
"A whopper. It's bail news, but I n
afraid we are stuck here for a few
hours."
I.lnda lifted her brows slowly. Nt
young man could be expected to guesi
what this meant to her. Ills ciimiihI
tone treated the whole occurrence hi
a light adventure. Rut If she was s
day late. If she misled the Grcgon
and Ihelr nice Invitation to Miami Il
thpy went on without her. Her mini
ner gave no bint of this perturbation
She merely sank deeper Into the com
fort of her fur coat, as If she alreadi
sensed coming discomfort from chill)
cars and Insufficient food.
I.lnda Roth had learned to look al
men. She knew already that this out
was the right sort. She could speitf
a bored half hour talking to him ami
save herself at least from tlresouu
thoughts. So without knowing how It
came about llrlan Ansiey found him
self silling hosldc the beautiful yoimi
woman, who smelted faintly of sprlns
Mowers, In spile of the snow.
(TO HE (ONHNI.'KD.)
Do. M.d. Small Town Famous
Kanisjok Is a small lown In north
em .Norway, above the sixty ninth
meridian In the center of the region
known us Lapland. It lies a few miles
west of the continence of the Karnsjok
and Tana rivers, I he latter forming
the boundary between Norway and
('Inland.
The town's population Is made up
mostly of Laplanders ami Is the home
of the Hallo family, made famous by
an Alaskan maliimute, named In honor
of one o' Ihe members of the family
Balto was Ihe lead dog of Gijnnar
Kassou's famous team Unit carried
diphtheria serum on Ihe last GOmlle
lap In Ihe (io tulle sledge race front
Nomina to Nome during the epidemic
of February. 1!I25.
Figuring Wrfre'i Coil
In the Civil war, I lie Fnlon troops
numbered 2,12S,!U8; I hen, (tie vari
ous estimates of the Confederals
forces, ranging from about lii)0,i)()0 lo
1. 4i h,, i ii i(). The total Union loss was
il.V.i.WS, Including killed, dead fron?
wo:. mis, disease, etc. Tlio Confeder
ate loss (partial statement) Is given
Is l,'l.'l,S'.'l dead from wounds or dis
ease. The cost of the civil war has
been estimated at $.'i,ikiii,ihm),(HH). The
total number of soldiers mobllbod In
the World war has been estimated nt
fi,o:!.S,N10; the total killed, 8.r l:t.r1.
wounded, 21 ,21 WW. hnfossor Ro
gait's esllmate of the direct cosls ol
the World war Is $lSi!,.'!,'i:i,(i,'l7,0!)7 and
of the V;dlruot conln, $l;l,012.r 12..KW.
.MR K ?.P JT?
If
i v ' saw v. jt . .. - aa'
i
mil ifrnj'-"
MakesLife
Sweeter
Too much to eat too rich a diet
-or too much smoking. Lots of
things oatiso sour stomach, but oui
thing ran onrreet It quickly. Phil
lips Milk of Magnesia wlUalkallntr.o
the acid. Take n spoonful of this
pleasant preparation, and the sys
tem Is soon sweetened.
I'hllllps Is nlwnys ready to relievo
distress from overeating; to check
nil acidity; or neutralize nicotine.
Remember this for your own com
fort ; for the sake of those around
you. Kudorsci! by physicians, but
they always say J'Mh'fn. Don't
buy something else und expect tha
iniiio resul!
'PHILUPS
r. Milk .
of Magnesia
Challenge Old Ideas
About Lightning Rods
In a rommuiilciitioii to the Acad
emy of Sciences In I'nrls. sii I'ut Ii
Under Magazine, M. V. SclmfTers de
nies the f.itnllliir notion Hint light
nl nl! seeks wet ground nnd that
lightning rods should always have
their ends earthed In tnoUi soil, or
better still, In the wet ground nt tlx)
bottom of mone nearby creek or
pond. Thing n generator of electric
sparks long nnd powerful enough to
be considered veritable art;lbl-i
lightning. Sch. liters found thai the
1 1 jinnee from which a opark would
Strike it it the pain which the spark
took ns nfTecteil but Utile by the
Wotticx or drym- of the " under
neath ntt earthed I'ghinlng rod or
Similar conductor.
Dr. I'.. I". Free. In reporting the in
Vestlgntor's tiln It. pnliilt mil Hint It
Is well known that the paths Hill
rhurticicr of natural lightning
flashes frequent1)' lire erratic, Sih-iii-Ing
to obey done of the e-slabllnbed
laws of electric oiiidiieiloii. The
really effective matters In lightning
danger or proieciinii, f Schnnrs Is
correct, are the presence of laetsl ob
Joels or other substances which
might be highly conducting for the
electricity ati-l the numbers of the
eleciriCcil gn atoms called Ions In
the air.
Storks Avoid Crist Britain
Storks ure rare blrd.i In Great Brit
ain, and have always been so. but an
ancient chronicler writes that In Hid
storks came and built their iictson
the roof of St. Giles' chinch In IMIti
burgh, und, after Maying a year, left
lo return no more. "And whither
they Hew." he writes quaintly, "no
man kiiowcth."
IU' Sucker
rjoraee What makes yon think
that girl you've been taking out taxi
cab riding is playing you for a fish?
Herbert I Just found out she was
married to the driver. London An
fwers. HEADACHE?
Why suffer when relief is
prompt and harmless:
Millions of people have lcsmn! to
depend on Haver Aspirin to relieve a
Sin Men hcailaclie. They know It eases
the pain so quickly. And that it Is so
harmless. Genuine Rnyer Aspirin never
tiarms the heart I-ook (or the Bayer
Cross stamped on every tablet
MINIMUM
PROOF RESTS WITH PATIENTS
letters and mmei and adilrcuet of hundred! of
grateful paUcnt contained In nur I' ld'.li HOOK
on Hci tnl and Colon allmrnttt
alto detail of lir. C J. Dean
non-iurglcal method of hnu
mcnt, which we uia ciclunlvely.
cienil fur It tmlay and li-arn of
our wuii ii-;n ASSUkANCK
TO KI.IMINATK PILK3 UK
nFAMV1 K " 'liNDi ii
II CAPf nuiMrytww7'iT,t:ii.. ibswii
LOION CLINIC
rnnyu n b
( (! titUMf Jyii ii?
r. A t T i. r.
n wiivii wnis-iMrl
VI WTtON Tun MMn
0B
i
M
Ml
0