The
Cortland News,
Friday, November 30, 1883.
Board
of Supervisors.
NINTH DAY—NOV. 21.
On
petition of the assessors of Virgil, 28 acres of land belonging to William Blodgett, and 63 acres to M. S. Spencer, were
added to the assessment roll of that town.
The
committee to settle with loan commissioners reported that they had examined the
books, papers, etc., of said commissioners, and found them correct. The report
shows that $19,368 remain on loan; $3,322 of principal had been received and
paid to the State Treasurer; and that they had received $1,394.13 interest.
The
committee to whom was referred the matter of designating some proper authority
to carry out the provisions of the act relative to the burial of deceased soldiers,
recommended that the town clerks of each town be appointed, and the
recommendation was adopted.
The
Supervisors of the several towns were authorized to procure all the maps and
surveys necessary to comply with the law in relation to descriptions of lands
of non-residents, etc.
Mr.
Clark was authorized to add $360 for the purchase of a book to keep accounts of
school moneys to the abstract of Taylor.
The
compensation of grand and petit jurors at $2 per day and 5 cents per mile
traveling fee.
The
Supervisors of the towns of Cortlandville and Homer were designated to superintend
all repairs on county buildings except the alms-house, and to purchase all
necessary furniture, etc. Supervisors visited the alms-house in the afternoon.
TENTH DAY—NOV. 22.
Mr.
Crane was authorized to add $3 in favor of M. Briggs and $7 for J. T. Simmons, for damages to sheep, to the abstract
of Homer.
ELEVENTH DAY—NOV. 23.
The
report of the committee on court-house and jail, giving a list of furniture
therein, was read and filed.
The
committee to settle with County Treasurer presented his report which they found
to be correct, and congratulated the county on "having so able and
efficient an officer to take charge of its finances." The report showed
that $4,681.66 remained on hand at the last annual settlement; that $135,344.82
had been received during the year; that $134,178.09 had been paid out, and that
$5,848.39 remained in the treasury, of which $3,021.49 belonged to several of
the towns, as justice's fines and license moneys, leaving $2,826.90 to the general
fund.
The
receipts and vouchers of the Treasurer were ordered sealed, countersigned by
the chairman and clerk, and deposited in the county's safe for one year and then
destroyed by the next committee.
A
resolution that the journals of previous Boards of Supervisors from 1861 down
to 1881, which have been bound, be deposited in County Clerk's office, was
lost by a vote to 3 of 11.
The
sum of $25 for religious services at the alms-house during the coming year, was
carried by a vote of 8 to 6.
The
compensation for conveying juvenile delinquents and insane to the asylums for
such was fixed at $2 per day, and for fare and maintenance actually paid.
The
Supervisors were authorized to re-assess the unpaid taxes from their assessment
rolls of last year to the respective rolls of the present year at the same
amount and against the same persons as returned to them by the County
Treasurer.
The
Clerk of the Board was authorized to distribute the proceedings when printed—one
copy to each Supervisors' clerk of the State; 500 copies to be equally divided
among all the towns and the balance to be distributed according to the grand
jury list.
The
committee on footing assessment rolls reported 311,966 1/2 acres of land assessed,
the value of which is $8,201,771; and the value of personal property to be $1,040,039.80.
The report was referred to the committee on equalization.
TWELFTH DAY--NOV. 24.
The
keys of the Supervisors' room and the book-case were ordered deposited in the
County Clerk's office when the Board is not in session.
The
Clerk was instructed not to deliver any orders to any person until after the
final adjournment of the Board.
The
collectors of the towns were allowed until the 15th of February to settle with
the County Treasurer.
The Cortland News, Friday, December 7, 1883.
Board of Supervisors.
THIRTEENTH DAY—NOV. 26.
An
invitation from Dr. Hoose to visit the Normal School was accepted and the time
of the visit set for the adjourned session of the Board.
The
Cortlandville town assessors reported that in 1879 Mr. Allen B. Smith was assessed
twice on ten acres, and they asked that the tax on the same and interest for
four years, amounting to $5.76, be paid to Mr. Smith. The Supervisor of Cortlandville
was authorized to add the same to the abstract of said town.
The
committee to settle with County Treasurer reported that the vouchers of a year
ago had been destroyed, and of this year sealed and deposited.
The
offer made by the Homer Republican to print 2,000 copies of the journal
of proceedings in the same style as that of last year for $1.72 1/2
per page being the only one presented, was accepted and the Clerk
authorized to contract for the same.
FOURTEENTH DAY—NOV. 27.
The
committee on public printing reported the following list of claims, and recommended
their payment at the amounts allowed:
Cortland NEWS claimed $359.50; allowed $359.50.
Homer Republican claimed $110.40;
allowed $92.75
Marathon Independent claimed $41.50; allowed
$37.50
Cortland Standard claimed $304.85;
allowed $291.22.
Cortland Democrat claimed $500.50;
allowed $484.35
The
report was adopted.
The
committee on jurisprudence to whom was referred the question of omitting from
the assessment roll of Harford the tax on dogs for the year 1883, reported that
an examination showed that the law gives such power and they recommended that
the Supervisor of said town be authorized to deduct said tax from the
assessment roll. So ordered.
Freetown
was also included in the above action.
Mr.
Baldwin was appointed to inquire and report what towns are in need of blank
assessment rolls for the ensuing year.
The
time for choosing papers to print the session laws for 1884 having arrived, the
price per folio was fixed at 10 cents, and a ballot for papers was had with the
following result:
Cortland Democrat received...8
Homer Republican " 4
Cortland NEWS " 2
Cortland Standard " 1
The
Cortland Democrat having misunderstood the time when sealed proposals for
printing the journal were to be presented, the vote awarding the printing to
the Homer Republican was rescinded and the clerk instructed to notify the
papers that the bids would be again received and the same opened Friday
morning.
FIFTEENTH DAY—NOV. 28.
A
petition by the assessors of Virgil stating that a tax of $5.73 on personal property
was erroneously assessed against Levi V. Terpenning in 1882 and asking that the
same with interest thereon be returned to him was granted. Also that an
erroneous assessment of $11.03 and interest on Jay Terpenning in 1882 be refunded
to him was granted.
Mr.
Franklin Hatch was permitted to make a statement in regard to a return of an unworked
road tax against him, and consideration of the same was set down for Friday
morning.
The
time of holding sessions was fixed from 9 to11 A. M. and from 2 to 4 P. M.
SIXTEENTH DAY—NOV. 29.
The
committee on jurisprudence, to whom was referred the report of the railroad commissioners
of Cortlandville, presented the following facts: That the railroad indebtedness
of the town was incurred pursuant to chapter 907 of the laws of 1869, the
provisions of which act, in regard to the manner of raising the interest on the
debt and providing a sinking fund for its redemption, have not been repealed,
and are in effect as follows: (1) The R. R. commissioners are to apply the
income from the town's investment in R. R. stock to the payment of interest on
the bonds of the town, and to use the surplus, if any remains, as a sinking
fund for the redemption of the bonds; and they are required to provide a
sinking fund, their acts being subject in law to two limitations, which are,
that the sinking fund shall not be less than one per cent per year, and be
large enough to extinguish the debt in twenty-five years. (2) In case the town
fails to receive an income from its railroad investment, it then becomes the
duty of the commissioners to estimate the amount of the deficiency, both for
the interest and the sinking fund, and report the same to the Board of Supervisors,
who are required by the same law to levy a tax for the payment of the interest
and the sinking fund.
The
Board has no discretion in the matter; the law is mandatory upon them in both
cases. The acts of the commissioners are entirely legal, and their request is
really for the best interests of the town as they are this year able to retire
an amount of bonds equal to the amount raised as sinking fund immediately upon
its receipt, which might not be the case in subsequent years. The committee
therefore recommended that there be levied a tax of 5 per cent for 13 months on
$242,400 (the amount of bonded indebtedness) or $13,130, as interest, and of 2
per cent, $4,848, as a sinking fund; a total of $17,978. The committee also considered
the question whether the levy of said tax will be burdensome on the town. A
comparison of its tax levy last year for bonded purposes, shows that the amount
herein named exceeds that of 1882 by less than $800, and this increase is more
than created by the change in the fiscal year on the funding bonds, the coupon
dates on the new bonds being one month later than those on the old bonds, thus
necessitating the raising this year of 13 months' interest instead of 12, the
extra month's interest alone being $1,010.
The
town will therefore be able to extinguish almost $5,000 of its debt the coming
year with an increase of taxation over last year of less than $800, which can
hardly be considered burdensome on any town. The committee believed the commissioners
to be acting for the best interests of the town in thus endeavoring to reduce
its indebtedness, and should be sustained by the Board. The consideration of
the report was deferred until to-morrow morning.
The
town and county abstracts were authorized to be published in the Cortland Democrat,
Cortland NEWS, and Marathon Independent, for the sum of $15 each.
SEVENTEENTH DAY—NOV. 30.
The
alleged erroneous highway tax against Mr. Franklin Hatch coming up for
consideration, Mr. Arnold Allen, overseer, who made the return, made a statement
at some length, and the proofs heretofore submitted were read, and further
consideration of the case was deferred until to-morrow morning and referred to
Mr. Carley for examination in the interim.
Sealed proposals for printing journal of proceedings being the next
special order, only one was found to have been received, that of Mr. B. B.
Jones, who agreed to print 2,000 copies similar to that of last year for $1.69
per page. And the Clerk was authorized to make a written contract with Mr.
Jones for the same.
Consideration
of the report of the committee on jurisprudence relative to the report of the
Cortlandville R. R. commissioners was had, when Mr. R. B. Smith moved to amend
the motion to adopt the report by causing to be raised the amount of interest
payable in 1884, and only one per cent on said indebtedness as a sinking fund,
and called the yeas and nays, and it was decided in the negative by a vote of 5
to 10. The vote was then adopted by a vote of 14 to 1, and referred to the
committee on appropriations with the remaining reports of R. R. commissioners.
District-Attorney
Palmer appeared before the Board and read a telegram giving notice of the
arrest at Atlanta, Georgia, of James H. Fox, a fugitive from Cortland county
justice. Mr. Palmer was authorized to offer a reward in his discretion for the
apprehension of the said Fox.
The
committee on miscellaneous bills asked that bills Nos. 36, 69, 78, 84 and 85 be referred to the committee of the whole,
who took immediate action with Mr. Nelson in the chair, and reported No. 36 at
$50, No. 69 at $20, No. 78 rejected, No. 84 at $30, and No. 85 rejected. The
report of the committee of the whole was adopted.
Scientific Miscellany.
A
Vienna scientist has perfected a remarkable modification of the microscope, to
which the name of gastroscope has been given. It is to be used for looking into
the interior of the human stomach. It consists of a tube about 26 inches long
and half an inch thick, bent at an angle of 150 degrees at about one-fourth of
its length from the lower end. At the lower extremity is an incandescent
electric lamp for lighting up the stomach, and a microscope objective. Prisms
are arranged to reflect the image-bearing pencil of light along the tube and
past the bend to the eye-piece. Provision is made for a circulation of water
about the lamp to prevent inconvenient heating.
Photography
of the stars now forms an important part of the work done at the Harvard
Observatory. A region of the heavens fifteen degrees square is photographed at
a single exposure and 18 of these pictures may be taken on a single plate. A
map is thus made of a section of the
stellar vault 90 degrees long by 45 wide, showing stars down to the fifth and
sixth magnitudes. Smaller stars, down to the eighth magnitude, are shown in photographs
of smaller areas. The magnitudes indicated by the photographs do not always
correspond to those recorded as the determinations of eye observations. This is
due to the effects of different colors among the stars. A red star, which may
appear very brilliant to the eye, produces only a faint impression on the
photographer's plate.
Prof.
Edward Hall considers that throughout the early geological epochs known as
archalan, Silurian and carboniferous the sea covered North America, the British
Isles and Western Europe, while a large part of the Atlantic area existed as
dry land. He urges that if his conclusions prove to be well grounded the
doctrine of the permanency of oceans and continents as tested by the case of
the North Atlantic, must be discarded.
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