Ogden Standard-Examiner | 1920-09-03 | Page 4 | 'Cap' Will Push Ancient Claims

'CAP' WILL PUSH . ANCIENT CLAIMS Valuable Lake Shore Lands Near Chicago Are Again Subject of Dispute CHICAdO, Sept 'Streetervllle," In the "I tpestrlet of Lake Michigan, a part of Chicago' famous "Gold Coast" is about to be ths scene of the thousand nnd first battle in its history, according to UotlOC served on United States Marshal Bradley by Captain George Wellington Slreeler m-v.ii old claimant t(, n $rin.oon.noo portion of the exclusive Luke Shore Drive section "Cnp" Streets- and William H. Nlles. tne tlnf "mlUf.nry governor" and commanding general of the army oi the "deesj rlct," having notified th Fed ral authorities thnt they are about ' to again try to enforce their claim that BtrieeterVille Is not In any stntt In the union, have Invited the Amerl-I Amerl-I can Lotion to assist them and set I th date for the opening of hostilities as September C. A letter to ths Legion Le-gion posts, a copy of which was also I sent to Marshal Uradley, Invites for- i ' mer soldiers to "meet me at the foot j of Superior street in uniform, armod I and currlng a flag, ami help to end by force of arms the treasonable ,n j I Of Judge or stand pp against a will ' heforc a firing sriuad." A postscript j Invites the leglonalreB to bring their . lunch, Vi slll I) .!. l M. Captain Streeter hns hnen fighting j since 188R to establish his claim to one of the most valuable sections of Chicago's lake front In that yea) his steamer the ttttUtan, stranded on the bench during fl storm Captain Streeter built a breakwater about the stranded boat, -Jan feet off shor. ami made it his homo The rapidly shifting shift-ing sands filled In (he space between ; boat and shore and added 1!3 aeres to the city's area. To this land Captain Cap-tain Sireeter laid claim, and in the , next quarter of a century battles b) the hundreds were fought In an effort ef-fort to oust him. On one nccaslon .'no police b( II : d ' Streetervllle "Genera!" Niles pro-olaimsd pro-olaimsd himself "military governor of , the district of Lake Michigan." nfld , with SO men of hig 1 escort ' sreoted breastworks surmounted ii barbed wire and stood off the police for several sev-eral days, before desertions In the ranks so weakened the defending force that a lone policeman finally executed a flank attack and carried ; the fort. I The courts In lsl5 ruled that Streeter Street-er had no title to the property and j his hrlck castle, which whad succeeded succeed-ed the steamboat home, was wrecked by deputy sheriffs and then burned. SKYSCHAPKRS ON SIT 1. Tn 1002 Streeter and two friends i were Convicted Of manslaughter in connection with the death of .lohn S. Kirks, killed is one of the frequent assaults on the castle. All wore sen-i sen-i fenced to life imprisonment, but after I a few months were rleasert. The site of the "deestrlct" is now I covered by more than a do7.cn Sky-scrnper Sky-scrnper apartment buildings and hotels ho-tels The land is valued at mor than 150.000,000. Many of the pros-! pros-! sent owners have purchased iIiimIj i from Streeter as well as the state of 1 order that their occupancy may not he ' Interfered with b the 80 -year old flre-eatlng veteran Streeter's claim Is based on the con- ' tentlon that the act creating the state Of Illinois fixed the 'meander line" I of the lake as the boundary, and j I that therefore his ' deestrlOt" was out- ; side the stute and owed alleglam i to 1 no one except ihe United States. The courts held, however. that) Illinois extended to the center of Lake Mlchl- Igan. that all land created by natural secretaries of the lake belonged to the adjoining property owner:-: and that-all that-all land created artificially helonucd to the state. The stranding of Streeter's Street-er's steamship created land artlfically, It was held