Jasper County Democrat, Volume 7, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 June 1904 — Page 1 Advertisements Column 3 [ADVERTISEMENT]

COURT HOUSE NEWS. Items of Interest Gathered In the Offices of the County Capitol. The county commissioners were in session Wednesday, Thursday and yesterday on the Iroquois ditch. Thursday they were out all day looking over a part of the proposed ditch. Nothing more has been done in the matter at this writing than was repotted last week. —o — The supreme court has decided the act of 1903, known as the* county officers law, unconstitutional. This law extended the term of nearly all county officers to January first succeeding their electiou. Just what effect this will have on election of county officers in this county we are unable to say at this time, but it is probable that it effects the treasurer, assessor, and all the commissioners, at least, who will have to be elected this fall. —o — The Board of Review will close! its annual session to-day. Aftijde from the changing of some individual assessments, little haa hpen done at this year’s session. The average value of borses was changed in several of the townships, as follows:. Hamming Grove, reduced from '568.23 to $45.29; Gillam, raised from $35.72 to $42.86; Barkley, raised from $37.74 to $41.51; Newton, reduced from $52.80 to $49.16, Kankakee, reduced from $42.45 to $38.20; Carpenter, raised from $39 to $52; Milroy. reduced from $36.72 to $33.05; Union, raised from $28.38 to $34.05. The following townships were left as they were: Walker, $37.86; Marion, $49.30; Jordan, $40.57; Keener, $30.53; Wheatfield, $34.67.

- —o — W. J. Stewart, G. D. Clymer, and H. T. Griggs of Goodland, and Judge Darroch of Kentland were here Saturday and had Judge Hanley appoint J. W. Oswald, a Goodland attorney, receiver of the defunct Home Bank at that place. We are told that the failure was caused from heavy over drafts, bad loans and speculation in oil stocks. Patton Bros., the big poultry dealers, were over-drawn *34,000, we are told, and have notr gone to the wall themselves. Bert Patton of Bloomington, 111., the junior member of the firm, married banker Gilman’s sister. Thomas Barnett, a recently failed Goodland contractor, was also over-drawn $13,000, we are told, while W. D. Foresman, the Foresman grain dealer who failed last fall, was overdrawn SO,OOO. Not a trace has been discovered of Gilman since Monday night, June 13, when he drove to Fowler with Bert Hartley, the Goodland grain dealer, to take the Big Four, train to Indianapolis. Hartley, took a train to Chicago the same night, on business. Gilman is alleged to have borrowed about S2OO from two Goodland saloon-keepers the day he left, telling them that he was in need of currency, and it is not thought that he had very much money on his person when he left.

—o — The appellate court on Wednesday reversed every case it decided, and among those reversed was the case of the commissioners of Jasper county vs. F. E. Babcock, wherein the latter secured a judgment in the Newton circuit court a little more than a year ago before Frank A Comparet, special judge, and a jury, for $111.20 for printing ballots used in the election of 1902; The commissioners contended that an appropriation made by the county council of SBO for “printing and stationary” meant ballots, and that this was all that could he recovered regardless of what it was actually worth to do the work, and although other claims were allowed far in excess of existing appropriations at the same session, cut the bill to SBO. A jury in the Newton circuit court gave judgment for the full amount of the claim. In reversing this judgment the appellate court held: (1) A complaint against a county for the coat of-printing ballots ordered by the board of election commissioners must allege an existing appropriation by the County Council to pay such cost It it not enough merely to allege that the election commissioners ordered the work done, that it was worth the stated sum, and that the the board of commissioners allowed plaintiff's claim for that amount, bat it was not paid. (*) The power of the election commissionionera is subject to the provisions of the county reform law. (Sj The