Crook : County Journal VOL. VI. PRINEVILLE, CROOK COUNTY, OREGON, JANUARY 2, 1902. NO. 3 EARLY LEGISLATURE Of Historical Interest to Entire State, HeW in Salem in 1853 Ohauncey Nye Writes an Interest ing letter About tbe Early Session. ' The following interesting remi niscent letter (rora C'haunccy Nye, wlio wiu cne of Oregon's earliest legislators, wa received by Gov ernor Geur recently, and contains so much of historical intercut to the entire state t! at the Governor has allowed it to be copied for pub lication: "Prospect, Jackson County, Or., Deo. 23kl'J01. My Dear Governor: I Hw in the newspapers last cum mer ft report of your address at Newport, giving Rome extract (rora the early laws ot Oregon, among them some made by tho legislature of 1853. You alioeaid that, ai far an known, Grovor and Koine were the only member living of tho comprising tint legislature. "I wai member of that legiala tare, from Jackaon county, and have resided here ever since, and aa I am in a reminiscent mood, will aay something about that body. "It waa a working body, and got rlttht down to business, A former legislature had authorized and elected a commission of three to make a code of laws for the terri tory. This was done, and the com mission's work was printed and re ferred to both bodies of the legis luturo at the commencement of the session, for amendment, approval or rejection. M. P. Deady and J, K. Kelly, two of that commission, had been elected to tho council, and naturally wanted their code adopted, with aa few amendment aa possible, but notwithstanding this, a grout many changes were made. "Ah in all bodies we had those members of certain peculiarities and eccentricities. There was llad- ley, of Lane. When he aroso and said, in his peculiar manner, 'I do now move thut wo now adjourn,' it was. always agreed to and adjourn ment was had. There was John F Miller, who wanted every subject referred to a soleet committee, and Tie was known as '.Select Committee.1 "There was Uncle Bill v Martin, of Douglas, who used as littlo of the King's English as possible. He was pleased to find one morning, as he took i is seat, that some one had caricatured him on the wall at the end of his seat, a-leaning for ward and holding out a bill, and underneath wag written: " 'I want to preucnt a bil for the pertection of warnic treas.' "He said he knew that some Missourian had done this, as all Missourians used the name 'warnic' iiiHtead of 'walnut.' Shuck, of Yamhill, piled up the King's Eng lish, o that it was most ludicrous. "There was two lawyers in each house. Politically, the council was composed of eight democrats and one whig Scott of Umpqua, the founder of Scottsburg, and after whom that place was named. The house had 21 democrats and four whigs. The latter were: . Goff, of Lane; Durham, of Clackamas; Dr. Thompson, of Umpqua, and Nye, of Juckson, The officers of each house were two clerks, a sergeant- ut-arms and a doorkeeper, and yet we got along about as well as a modern legislative body.' "As in all mining towns in Cali fornia, liefo'e comity organizations were perfected, au Alcalde was elected in each Southern Oregon town to administer justice in all cases, j lie same we done in jucic sonville. This ofllcers' authority e .tended over everything, from a petty offense to a trial fur life. The day 1 arrivdd in Jacksonville a murder was committed. The mur derer was immediately arrested, and the next day a jury was em paneled, a prosecuting attorney and counsel for the defense were ap- pointed, the defendant was duly convicted, and he was sentenced to bo executed in 10 days, which sen tence was duly carried out. Dur ing about one year and a half this , was the only court held in what now constitutes the counties of Jackson, Josephine, Lake and Klamath. For about one-half of this time I wan the Alcaldo, and had quite a numlier of interesting cases before me. "While in tho legislature I in troduced a bill to lugalite all the proceedings and acta of these Al caldes, but Grover objected, as the organic act of the Territory of Or egon did not give justices ot the peace such large jurisdiction, and he wished the law to conform to the organic law. My bill was thus amended and so passed, but I did not consider it of much value in that shape. However, tho acts of thesoAlcaldes were never questioned as to their legality. These Alcaldes had but about ft dozen laws or ar ticles for their guidance, and no technicalities were allowed. A trial consisted of the statements of the parties and the evidence of wit nesses, if any, and the case was decided by the court, or the jury, if either party wished one. There was but little dissatisfaction with the decisions of tho court. In fact, the whole community was ready to help enforco tho decision if it was necessary. "While I was milling in Yrcka, Cal., a case came before the Alcalde that was not only summary, but rather novel. A man from Linn county, Oregon, had employed a boy to drive a team of oxen to the mines for his board, and after ar- ri-al I hero the roan had agreed to J give the lad a certain amouiu to! help him in mining. After a couple of months' work tho fellow sold his cattle, wagons and mining claims and was ready to start for home, but being one of those men who believed that a boy had no rights a man is bound to respect, he refused to pay the lad for his work. Thii boy went to the Al calde and started his case; the de fendant was brought before the offi cer, and did not deny the boy's claim, but said he had no money, so the court ordered the constable to take and turn the defendant the other end up and shake him. The constable, being ft big, burly fellow, j:j ..I.'- it. , ounu, Auum'uuuu prize, eel vi did as he was ordered, whon a large .. .. , . ' ' , . , , j . , , , 1 silver knives and forks, was drawn purse of gold dust dropped from', ,r ' hi.nnMr.1 Tb ii.M.,.i !b.v Mrs. Jesse anccy, but up to the purse, weighed out the amount; of the. boy's claim, and a half ounce for the court's fees in the case, and the same amount for the constable, handed the purso back and wished the Orcgonian sate journey home, and the case was closed, , '. "I attended tho republican coun ty convention at Ashland four years ago, end had an introduction to you, and in the short conversa tion we had I told you . of putting up tho first bakery in Salem in 1851. It was in the northern part of town, alongside of Cook's Hotel, and act oss tho street ( jfn the home of Elijah Williams, filter of Rich ard and George, who were then boys. Yours truly, "ClJAUNCKY NYK." Sister Sittings. Thinking a few lines from this place might not be amiss I will pencil the latest happenings. Christmas has come and gone and wo have all enjoyed tho festal occasion. We had a Christmas tree, one that was a surprise to all, for the least one could say war, "Oli, how beautiful!"- Far beyond what one would expect out here. It was decorated un good style and there was hardly room for tho many presents which it held. A nice p- (gram was rendered consist ing of speeches, songs and music. Christmas night came the dance, which was one ot the events of the year at this place. It had been given out that there would be a masque ball and there were fully 100 spectators. There was a good turn out of masquers and some fine costumes. The judges were unable to decide who had won the prize of the evening. Forty num bers were, sold and tho floor was chock full from the time tho dance started until six o'clock tho next morning. Everything went smooth ly and there were no disturbing elements present. Tho supper was given by Mrs,. W. T. E. Wilson and was as fine a spread as one would wish to sit down to everything in abundance and of tho best obtain able. Most every one out here has de cided that all that is nece?sary to have a good time is to leave off that article called' by tho white man whiskey and by the Indian firewater. J. E. Dm. 27, 1901. . No More Uook Kxchnngod. On Deeemhfr 31 the exchange of school books under tho exchange lxw, ceased and they cmi now only he bought at the price established by luw. We wero informed o! this fact on Monday morning ly the distribut ors at his place, Michel & Hisotir. It is a mutter lh.it should have been brought to the attention ot the pub lic some weeks ago, hot we ihd not liHve the information Rt hand. When the agent ol the lte make a selec tion of school books they should se lect a series thut is published by sub stantial, people and those who will keep abreast of the times and then these changes would not be nccessiry so often, nor be such a nuisance to the general public, let alone the un necessary expense. Tho drawing at the Beo Hive New Years evo resulted in the fol lowing numbers being drawn from the box: 1st, 2240; 2nd, 2279; 3d, jr.u". tu i : . .... t going to press the other winning numbers hud not been presented. Austin Craig, charged with ap- nronrintinir fund from thn Runic nf tempter, was released by furnish ing 11,500 bonds. NEWS BRIEFLY TOLD Items of Interest Gath ered Here and There Some Stolen, Others Not Oulllnffs From Our Exchanges News Notes of tbe Week Timely Topics The total deposit in the four na tional banks in Portland on De cember 10, 1901, were closely in the neighboihodd of ten million dollars, The heaviest fall of snow known in 50 years has fallen in Scotland, entailing great loss of sheep in drifts from 10 to 20 feet deep. The storm appears to be general all over Europe. Attorney-General Blackburn has recently rendered an opinion at re quest of State School Superintend ent Ackerman that teachers are en titled to receive and can collect their salaries during the time their schools are closed on account of the prevalence of a contagious disease. This is the case unless contracts specify otherwise. The new town of Whitney has experienced its first disastrous fire, which occurred last week when the big livery and stage barn occupied by the Williams stage company and C. B.Comstock & Co., was laid in ashes. The barn was filled with buy and grain, all of which was burned with eleven head of horses belonging to the two companies mentioned. Alexander Meldrum, who was convicted at Baker City last week on the charge of horse stealing, was sentenced by Judge Eakin in the circuit court to serv-j three years in tlio penitentiary. Aleldrum was indicted jointly with Manny How.- ard last spring, but demanded a separate trial. The first trial re suited in a hung jury and the sec ond in conviction. Charles Emory Smith, of Phila delphia, has tendered to tho Presi dent his formal resignation as post-master-generul to take effect early this month, and Henry C. Payne, of Wisconsin, vice chairman of tbe republican national committee has accepted a ten ier of the olliee to which he will bo nominated after the holiday recess. The north and south bound Southern Pacific coast limited trains running beiweon San Fran cisco and Los Angeles, came togeth er early last Thursday morning in a ( head-on collision at Uplands. The fireman, express messenger andl,, ,,miey wag by imngcuiitu nejo nuitu aim iwcu- ty-tive passengers more or less in jured, probably none fatally. From Lamonta. 7 FrnM Mir 1 1 1 i- nniMiiMM'ldii 1 William Sands and John Cole-! man are making some improve - menu by way J building another j room to Coleman's residence and' an addition to Sands' barn. Grandma Newbill is home again. She has been visiting with friends ana relatives on mow ereex Iorjlar0 snJ lltvv lu,P) ajditionBi tho past three week. She hus,h,lp WM rt.quirwl t0 it mit. reached the ripe old age of eighty- j Mon uch hdp rould m.nni fivo and still enjoys fairly good, tLe h()1, -.. ,.ookeJ dl!..r tiiro,,,,u ! health. She is of a kind and iren- tie disposition, loved by all whojlleoI cocking the pork by piece know her. meai ;g dispensed with. Klamath. J. C. Rush met with ft very pain- Republican. ful accident last Monday. He got his right toot caught in a wagon wheel and badly bruised: - Our school is under the able management of J C. Banks. Am glad to say that due to the teach' ers unremitting attention the pupils have made very satisfactory pro gress in all their studies. Wednesday night a light fall of snow covered the ground, barely giving it ft white appearance. Since it has been quite cold, the ground freezing at night and thawing out during the day,. which makes slow progress in farm work. The opin ion prevails that the present weath- . er conditions may1 continue for sev eral weeks. On Christmas day the home of J. C. Rush was open to a company of relatives and friends who ac cepted an invitation issued by a member of the family to share in their hospitality in celebrating Mother Rush's sixty-third birth day. At 12 m. the guest were in vited to the dining room where a table was spread with a dainty luncheon. The evening was spent in the usual manner, while the guests vied with each other in as sisting their hostess to make tbe evening one of pleasure. It if needless to say that their efforts were successful. It seems to me that ' beekeeping; should receive some attention in this county. It is one of the pleas antest and surest ways of realizing on ft small investment that is to be fonnd. Any farmer who raises al falfa, or any one who lives in a re gion where alfalfa is cultivated, ciu keep bees at a small expense capital and labor and a large prof it. The bee and the alfalfa blos som aro an ideal combination. Experiments made by the entomo logical department of the Univer sity of Kansas have' shown that the seed crop in alfalfa upon which the bees work is 66 per cent greater than the crop taken from alfalfa which was dependent for polinalion on other agents. Tho greatest of English bee raisers. Mr. Chesire. describing an ideal honey, he said a sample with a delicate, but char acteristic aroma, a rich flavor and leaving a distinct impression un the back part of the palate, pule straw or amber in color, with per- i feet clea mess and a density amount ling almost to toughness. At the j meeting of the National Beekeerers Association at Umaha two years agoatet was made to determine the qualities of honey made from the principal honey producing plants of Kansas and Nebraska. Six samples were tested and the a competent judge to be the one most nearly approaching the standard. Jennik B. Lamonta, Or., Dec. 28, 1901. One dav last week, so we are in-. fl)rn)tdi a"citizen hiKl 4 hog killeJ or wintcr s,lppVi Tll0 nuill)al , taken to one of the hot spring i, ti11( ;inrniK1, i1!1V - r i--, ....... - scalded and the hair removed. It was lowered into the seething water easily enough, but being a very rnln tnil. , ,;i Th. !., (r...