Wichita Farmers Win Siege of Dynamite
Title
Wichita Farmers Win Siege of Dynamite
Subject
Harvey Pitman and James Somers fight Midland Valley railway over land
Creator
Douglass Tribune
Source
Douglass Tribune
Douglass, KS
Jul. 14, 1911
Page 5
Accessed at Newspapers.com
Douglass, KS
Jul. 14, 1911
Page 5
Accessed at Newspapers.com
Rights
Public Domain
Format
image/jpeg
Text
Wichita Farmers Win Siege of Dynamite
Midland Valley Road Settles For Right-of-Way.
Peace Declared After Strenuous Times---Farmers Take the Dynatime Mines Up---No Criminal Prosecutions.
Wichita, Kan.---Harvey Pitman and James P. Somers, farmers, have capituated and their fight with the Midland Valley railway over a right of way through their farms near Derby came to a bloodless end. Pitman and Somers had their farms protected with dynamite mines and were patrolling them with guns in hand. Each farmer is to receive $4,000 from the railway company for damages. Pitman was awarded $2,775 and Somers $1,775 by a board of appraisers. By agreement Pitman and Somers are to remove all their mines and go ahead of the graders to insure that here are no explosives in the ground. Pitman said he would ride on a rake over every inch of the right-of-way. They planted over 100 charges of dynamite on their farms.
J.W. McLoud, general attorney for the railroad, carrying a flag of truce, visited Pitman while graders and newspaper men looked on from a distance. The two men talked for six hours; Somers joined Pitman and the talk continued. It broke up with the men shaking hands. Pitman and Somers threw down their guns and came to Wichita and signed a peace compact.
Midland Valley Road Settles For Right-of-Way.
Peace Declared After Strenuous Times---Farmers Take the Dynatime Mines Up---No Criminal Prosecutions.
Wichita, Kan.---Harvey Pitman and James P. Somers, farmers, have capituated and their fight with the Midland Valley railway over a right of way through their farms near Derby came to a bloodless end. Pitman and Somers had their farms protected with dynamite mines and were patrolling them with guns in hand. Each farmer is to receive $4,000 from the railway company for damages. Pitman was awarded $2,775 and Somers $1,775 by a board of appraisers. By agreement Pitman and Somers are to remove all their mines and go ahead of the graders to insure that here are no explosives in the ground. Pitman said he would ride on a rake over every inch of the right-of-way. They planted over 100 charges of dynamite on their farms.
J.W. McLoud, general attorney for the railroad, carrying a flag of truce, visited Pitman while graders and newspaper men looked on from a distance. The two men talked for six hours; Somers joined Pitman and the talk continued. It broke up with the men shaking hands. Pitman and Somers threw down their guns and came to Wichita and signed a peace compact.
Collection
Citation
Douglass Tribune, “Wichita Farmers Win Siege of Dynamite,” Derbykshistory, accessed April 26, 2024, https://derbykshistory.com/items/show/52.