The Siege of the Water Works

Two weeks ago I put my men to work cutting down the bluff at my property. My reasons were two-fold: to prevent the city from putting in water mains in such a way as to ruin the grading of the street, and to make a wagon road to the park. Last Tuesday, while I was at the election, the city sent men to dig a ditch through my property. When I returned, I found them in the ditch. I requested them to stop, which they did, but they returned later. This trick of taking possession of private property without so much as 'by your leave' had been tried as often as I cared to endure it. I decided to call out my workmen to continue the grading. We were drilling holes for blasting when the marshal and several councilmen arrived. Marshal Graham ordered us to quit, claiming he had the authority of the city of Aberdeen in his vest pocket and more in his hip pocket. My men, intimidated, quit. Later that day, I was arrested by Policeman Pearson on a warrant charging me with entering the city's 'close' and stopping their workmen with threats and firearms. I was held over in $500 bail. My reputation is suffering severe damage through the widespread publicity given to this outrage, which is grossly misstated by the public press.