T
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
ECENTLY R. W. Gunn, a
merchant Richmond,
Va., exploded a rvertitable
bombshell in the Old Do-
minion and sent state of-
ficials, historians and at-
torneys scurrying to dig
in the archives by declar-
ing that the real
owner of the greater part
of the land upon
stands the state
and that he wants to be
on the basis of its orizing
made in 1784, of some
compound interest at the
per cent a year for 146
that has of
cians to figuring just 1
sum would be a principal
plus compound Interest
century and a half.
The Richmond merchant
the state of Virginia can not pi
any prove that the land
condemned in 1784 for a public gquare
was ever paid for
relief the general
at its next session if the state
to consent to a suit alleging bre:
contract.
Failing In that step, Mr. Gunn has
been advised by counsel that he
£0 into the federal courts on
grounds of the violation of consti-
tutional property rights and he
he can prove his conten
Ing records,
Mr. Gunn points to a letter
Thomas Jefferson, then ambas
France, by
commission,
engage an arc
pare plans for
suring
of
which
and
situation
of
he is
which
capitol
paid for it
years,
set some the ms
for
records to
and savs he
from
i
ask assembly
refuses
I f
ich of
A state caf
} of the
that “the
¥ ellow
the author
1
Independence
Gunn's house
which favored as ti
(for a state
you
capitol
ues to be preferred by
The original Jefferson letter is in
the custody of the College of Willian
and Mary,
order has
the Henry court,
ining obscure for neat
Mr. Gunn
us.”
The original condemnation
been placed record in
County after re.
¥ 100 years,
on
has been working on his
claim si childhood, but made no
effective headway until the original
condemnation jury's report was un-
earthed from dusty archives
“Thirty ago,
who was then ninety yen
nce
years I met a
old.”
man
Mr.
Gunn said recently, “Asking me if 1
were a descendant of the old Gunn
family of Richmond. he told me that
his father, who worked for the state
government, had informed that
the state of Virginia never paid for
the land condemned for use as a
public square and the permanent seat
of the Rovernment, The rea.
son, he sald, was that the condemna-
tion proceedings records had been lost
and that no claim against the state
cold be proved in court,
“I was told by my family as a boy
that my family never had been com.
pensated by the state, My efforts
were blocked until the original con-
demnation order was found. The pa-
pers by mistake were sent in 1784 to
the city clerk's office for recording,
instead of to the clerk of the Henry
County court, Those papers, plus
maps uncovered and the letter to
Thomas Jefferson, which shows Mr.
Jefferson had inspected the old Gunn
plot while governor of Virginia and
favored it for a state capitol site,
gpeak for themselves,
“I have been Informed by Auditor
C. Lee Moore he can find no record
of the state having paid for the prop-
erty it condemned in 1784. I took the
matter up with Governor Byrd toward
the close of his administration,
“The governor, after referring my
letter to the secretary of the com-
monwealth for investigation, Informed
me that the facts were as I had stated
them to be, insofar ans the existence
of any record of payment by the state
was concerned,
“In the judgment of legal advisers,
the mere condemnation proceedings
in the absence of payment did not
take the title to the property from my
rs
him
state
hk & id
ancestors. 1 feel I have a substan-
tial claim to ownership of the land
on which the state capitol now stands.
I cannot sue the state for breach of
contract without the state's
and the statute of limitation has ex-
pired. But 1 the
Virginia would to see
settlement made.”
Nor Is this Richmond merchant the
only one who Is interested in this mat-
ter that other old
Richmond them the
Snyders, Curri arys,
and Acri f
half-
acre lots conder
consent,
helieve people of
like the proper
for he des =
familie among
Archibald C
Prices Coches, had
pres-
1880. The surveyors and
to have missed jt
government soil,
seemed
is still
» seems to have dreamed that
eel of land was avail
abi antil recently when
Forrest it f Oklahoma Ci
guided by maps which
others had seen,
but falle« |
| $s13d 1
no doubt, rea
o
Parrott
With an
wainer and
ago, Mr
§
GAYS ©
about
he prairie sche
f 42
making his
went back to the court.
filed an affidavit of his
claim, setting forth he was filing on
it ns a homestead and claiming pri
rights an ex-service man.
The triangular shape of the neg.
lected land was by
the the North Canadian
river,
When the
years
set
He
and
Cian
house
ority nx
piece of
of
cnused
antics
government surveyors
made their first survey of 1870 they
did excellent job for working out
the river bottom into chopped up lots,
but they forgot this one tract,
The tract is in the
most intense drilling
Oklahoma City
center of the
activity in the
oil field, Half a mile
east is T. B. Slick’'s No. 1 Bailey 17.-
000-barrel-a-day well, and the
distance south the 22.000-barrel a-day
well owned by Wirt Franklin.
And yet these are only two ex-
amples of queer claims which result
from surveyors’ or mapmakers' errors
or some slip-up In registering deeds or
some other title to land. A curious
case was reported from New York re
cently, and 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 case a pur.
chaser of real estate paid a total of
$1,200 for 218 square Inches of land
$5.50 a square inch It came about in
this way:
One of the Mrs. Vanderblits wanted
to buy a plot of ground In Kast 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 bok it up.
For what if after the house were
erected somebody should bob up and
claim a strip of property, eighteen feet
by ome inch, running right through
the bullding? Such a demand would
form a grave crisis. In this instance
a hunt was made for the Dennis heirs.
game
It was hard to find them. It took two
more than
Finally
BiX
which time
written,
1 here were
situation was
months, during
300 Jetters were
located,
The
they
heirs In
plained.
The title Com
to sign
or 219
were
all,
* people finally got
them uitelaim
That
the
isn’t
ther withe was land
i onally
it to
in Ch
building
the space lost would br
rentals,
ing
(XX) in yearly
Another curious situation. cause ad by
a flaw in a title,
New York recently,
told in the New York World,
lows :
“A legal in of
used to be known as City Hall place—
a street only about 300 feet long that
ran in back of the Munipical
building at Duane street to Pearl
street—is holding up plans for
proposed civic center around the new
county court house and Faley square,
“The riddle which Assistant Cor.
poration Counsel Joel J, Squire of the
bureau of street openings is charged
to scive 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,
was reported
‘he story
ns
catch
the title what
from
“Part of this riddle is what will the
Church of St. Andrew. which stands
on the west of the old street, do als wt
east of It. Under the plan drawn by
Joseph Johnson, 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.
But when the church officials asked
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 w ay ease.
ments which were obtained in 1800
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 eity
would have been tremendous according
to real estate authorities,
“Old City Hall place Is estimated as
worth close to $1,000,000, Mr, Squire
says he Is not ready even to venture
n guess as to what ean be done abour
it."
(@ by Westerns Newspaper Union.)
— oi
ing
Maintenance Big Point
in Real Estate Value
The owner that
maintenance of property is a
usset us to the sale or rental of
property does not have be told
the ccessity of keeping property
rood condition, Unfortunate iy.
vho realizes the
real
the
of
in
how.
{to
ever, there are many property owners,
especially owners of unoccupied prop
erty, who do not nnd
then wonder why the property cannot
be rented. old
saying, "A stiteh in
This applies
ness, bur in regard to the
of real estate it f
which can be measured In dollars and
realize this fact
gold or There is an
time
busi
to many phases of
cents to an exceptional degree,
A small repair neglected can ha
much the same effect on an individ.
unl property as a decaying npple ean
have in a barrel of sound apples. The
small repair develops into a
one which affects other parts of the
property, causing a decay, so to spenl:,
and a depreciation in value that really
in end makes the property unat-
tractive and undesirable, It also af-
fects in a detrimental way every near-
ve
the
by plece of real estate and deters per.
be interested In near
by property to the point that the: iil
neither buy nor rent in a particuln
street or section, —i'l delphia Ledger
sons who ght
Pennsylvania in Move
to Beautify Highways
organizations
ity and civie
throughout Pennsylvania have been
called upon to carry out plans of road
side development and landscaping to
supplement construction
The appeal was {
viinia Motor federation,
“Pennsylvanis
spendis
construction of fine road
president of
sald. “In
should be In
gram of tree
the proper
worked out wit
expense
Good Citizen Defined
ities of good elt
negulive,
because
NY Ane hrift; he keeps posted
irs and candid
may
imary
public
that
tl >
ihe in
vole intel
ids
tions and votes,
His greatest contribution
welfare I8 perhaps unfaltering
in the ultimate triumph of good in
affairs of men —Grit,
Garage as Investment
embark
are
on the idea no improvement
the home place will add more to the
appearance of the property a help
more on the case of sale, than an
attractive garage building.
Ag 8 source of revenue,
amount expended or
there are few hetter revenue produce
ers than a garage built on the rear
part of a home lot as there is, In most
residence neighborhoods, n continuous
Most Lone owners who on
sold
that on
nd
for the
invested,
Erecting a garage and venting fit
will in many cases pay the taxes on
the property.
Brick Veneering Pays
Many old houses have sturdy frames
despite the shabby and old appearance
of the exterior. Given a veneer of
face brick, these houses will put on
an appearance of newness and will
give service that compares well with
an entirely new home, The brick ex-
terior provides protection against the
elements and takes on added beauty
with the years
Supervision Important
Many architects believe that super.
vision is more Important to the house
than good plans, for good plans alone
do not insure good building, It Is the
least expensive part of the architect's
service. He charges less for this than
for .naking the plans and specifica-
tins, because it takes less time to
do it.
Houses Hard to Jell
Houses may have sound timbers and
built into them the best of workman.
ship, but If the exterior lines are old,
the siding weather-beaten and un
painted, the interior lacking In all of
those modern contrivances that make
for the comfort and convenience of
the housewife, they are avoided,
| Mementoes of American |
Generosity Still Stand |
The Md 1008, |
which 90,000 people lost their lives,
to those |
sinn of
earthquake
ix probably a hi
Americans
food, clothing and medicine, ag well
us
memory
who donated shiploads of
large sums of money,
It may therefore he
news to them that thelr philanthropy
decades. A new
up the ruins
interesting
lives on after two
Messing has
of the old,
There
and
grown on
numerous costly public
fine apart-
ment and privie residences |
in the Messing, third |
largest city and a thriving port and |
are
private buildings,
houses ie
new Siclly's
rallroad center,
how
excln
One whole quarter
ever, of Messina Is still made up
wooden houses donated
for temporary sl
Train Night-Flying Birds
A race of night
heing developed
of the War
the World
‘ ¢
fiving pigeons is
iyi JHE n i
under supervision
partment, Soon after
ited States
army sglgnal pe started to devel Dn
these
be
birds
or
| the signal
school at Fort nouth, N. J, there
Is now a loft containing nigl
flying bir
careful
cyclones
army
cel
tory upon
riders
ged to
Mirrors on Golf Club
Br ’
sh =e
trou
and
cessful
1 the market
ar Me
rs reflect
eside the
correct
position reflected
fron
Mobs With Water
been
To Disperse
Berlin's police d artment has
equipped with umber of
hil lispel unruly
} armored water
autome
tank on
of shooting water at
The car Is ;
wheels capal
tremendous
AR capac
ret, resembii a mn
is 80 arranged that water
in any
ow
car
tanks,
be
war
can
thrown dire
tion
Simple Matter
“Docs a dentist have much trouble
in collecting his bills?
“No,” answered the expert In teeth.
“A man that his last
HUSunily sees
He takes no chances on
“
work done.
an unfriendly
disposition,
Different Matter
Hushand-—And what did
for that hat?
Wife—Nothing.
Husband-—Waell,
How did yon
Wife—I told
you the bill.
you pay
that is
manage it?
the milliner to send
Dorfbarbier (Berlin),
cheap!
Frank
“To what do you attribute your
the cub reporter of the great capl-
talist,
cagy marks and suckers,” he snapped.
Odd Civil War Currency
During the Civil war unused
stamps inclosed in metal disks were
used for money.
Near the
3S minutes from the Bright
~NEW ENGLAND and
Rooms
with Bath
{
Prevent
SummerUpsets
Warm weather and changes of food
and water bring frequent summer
upsets unless healthy elimination is
assured. You will find Feen-a-mint
effective in milder doses and espe-
cially convenient and pleasant for
summertime use,
INSIST ON
THE GENUINE
FOR CONSTIPATIO
STENOGRAVHEF
A pair silk hose i hours work on
Nothing to
for your
type Vriter rite
today for
i
catior
Fonderful and sure. Make your skin besutifel, siso
cures eczema. Price §2 20. Freckle Ointment resnoves
frocklos, Used over 0 youre £1.20 and Ge. AL AL
Desiers. Besuty booklet sent free. Write
DR. C. H. BERRY CO.
2930 Michigan Ave. + « Chicago
A single dose of Dr. Peery's “Dead Ehot”
expels worms. Tones up the stomach and
bowels. No after purga.ive necessary.
All druggists. Be,
DrPeery’'s
C Dead MLE 1A
vermifuge
AL druggists or B72 Pearl Bireet. New York City
is all
you need
ne Soap
for
Toilet
Bath
Shampoo
Keep your complexion
free of blemishes, your
skin clear, soft, smooth
and white, your hair silky
send glistening, your
entire body refreshed.
Use
Glenn’s
Sulphur Soap
Contains 33%; 7% Pare Selghur, MA druggists
Robland's Styptic Cotton, 26¢ 4
Liere gid {
Pleasant Job
Futility of Anger
£8 not « e nr
Endorsed by
NTs
*Just a few wordsof praise of
your medicine. Nothing gave
me relief and health as Lydia
E. Pinkham's Vegetable Com-
pound did. I am a practical
nurse and was so rundown
that I was unable to work. 1
used to suffer agonies at times
and would have to lie down the
biggest part of the day. After
two bottles of Venta Com-
pound I felt better. Now | have
used ten bottles and feel fine. 1
recommend it to many of my
patients.” —Mrs. Florence John-
Lydia E. Pinkham's
CCE ER HTT
ISLAND —A
ao