Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 115, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 May 1911 — Woman Who Endured Hardships In Idaho Visited Rensselaer. [ARTICLE]

Woman Who Endured Hardships In Idaho Visited Rensselaer.

Mrs. Walter Osborne and little daughter left this morning for a visit with relatives at Crawfordsville after a short visit here with her sister, Mrs. J. D. Allman. Mrs. Osborne’s present home is in Baketsville, Cal., where her husband is engaged in the practice of law. . , Last year they were living on a government claim near Lane, Idaho, and were forced to leave their home by the forest fires. They went for some distance the first night and slept on the bank of a small lake. The following morning Mr. Osborne returned to their home, thinking that perhaps he could save their household effects by dumping them into a cave, but he found everything destroyed by fire. Mrs. Osborne was forced to leave the lake before he returned and she followed a gulley some twelve miles, carrying her little two-year-old daughter all the way, and fighting her way through tangled brush. There were thirteen in the retreating party that she was with and all were saved but only after the most intense hardships. After they reached the end of the long gulch and arrived at a place of safety they watched the ravaging flames and in less than an hour and a half the fire had burned over all the territory they had traveled in making their retreat. Mr. Osborne had taken a slightly different route in makihg his escape, but they came out at about the same pla e and were reunited after each had thought the other might have been consumed by the flames. They have given up their claim there but are net barred from taking another and this they expect to do after Mr. Osborne makes some money at law practice. Mrs. Osborne and little daughter expect to spend most of the summer in Indiana and will return here for a longer visit later.

All real estate owners in Jasper county, both town and farm lands, will find their land is being assessed at a higher basis this year than heretofore. They will find this especially true in the country, and they should know that the man behind the scheme of raising the land valuation is none other than Governor Thomas R. Marshall. He was profuse in his charges of extravagance when a candidate for office and he pointed out many ways of cutting down expenses, but now he has cut the kite strings'and expenses are running sky high and there will be no relief from high taxes until there is a real honest reform along that line. There are working in the state of Indiana about 100 expert field examiners. That means SBOO a day. The number of bank examiners, without any need whatever, has been increased from four to eight and the salaries increased; the number of oil inspectors has been increased from 26 to 42. These are only a few of the many things that have added to the burden of the taxpayer and that is the reason your land is being assessed higher. Are you aware that about half the time since the first of January, 1910, there have been two or more of these expert accountants working in Jasper county? Do you know that at this time there are two of them and that they havS been drawing sl6 per day for five or six weeks and that your land is being assessed higher to help pay this expense? - The Starke County Republican advises every farmer whose land has been assessed at a higher figure than heretofore to go before the county board of tax review and protest against the burden. The township assessors and the county assessor cannot help raising the assessment, but the county board of review can remedy your troubles.