JoMre
VOL VI.
1'ltlNEVILLE, CROOK COUNTY, OIIEGON, FEBRUARY 20, 1902.
so. 10
Crook
Couety
al
LAND LEASING BILL
Introduced by Congress
man Stephens.
Now Before Congress.
An Interesting Letter from the Pon
of W. P- Koady on Iti
Dud Featuros,
KlXTflK Joiiknal:
Through the kindness of Senator
Mitchell I have received copy of
liill introduced by Congressman
Stephens, of Texas, providing for
'The lease of the public grazing
binds in arid ma ten and territories,"
direful reading of the hill discloses
w. inn provisions and omissions
vhich have not been noticed in the
m'w.jHi ri'1 it least I liavc not ob
served mi mo.
At present the government parti
tions tin) Cascade forest reserve
unong Hlieep owners for summer
r;itiK'i hem e tin; reserve is "graz'iig
lunds" on the Hrid fide of the Can
mdi! mountains. Forest reserves
lire not exempted from lease in the
)ill before ine. Another ornicHion,
iipparenl ly diMgncd, iti failure to
exempt mineral lands of ull ehar
lieler. One section of thn hill provides
how any person shall make appli
cation to the commissioner of Ihe
general land oll'ico dewribing the
particular lands lit' desires to lean
Hint specifying which section are
drv and which wafered Units. No
person shall he per.nitted to lease
inoie tliun two n-ciiomi of vint e I
hind und six sections of dry graz
ing land. liy watered land is
ineunt pennunent spring, rivers,
streams or lakes.
All lands containing permanent
water are to he leased for a term of
five years, at three cents per aero
per annum, and all dry lands are
to bo leai-ed for a term of ten years
nt not less than two cents per acre
per annum. At the expiration of
any lease, the lessee thereof shall
have the preference right to again
lease the lands theretofore leased
hy hi in upon the terms and at
prices fixed by law.
Tho bill carefully specifics how
any porson shall make application
to lease these lands, at the prices
stated. Anticipating what is sure
to happen should the bill become a
law, towit: Numerous conflicting
applications covering the same
lands the smooth gentleman from
Texas, always loyal to his clients,
the large cuttle companies of his
state, adroitly slipB into the bill, in
section 4,thispurkling gem: "And
ull leases under the provisions of
this act shall be advertised by the
commissioner in such manner as
ho may think best, and let to the
highest responsible bidder under
such regulations as ho may think
to the best interest of the United
Mates."
Section 10 of the hill makes it
unluwful for any person to fence,
exclusively use, occupy, or appro
, priute by herdingor line riding any
portion of such lands without first
having obtained a lease thereof.
Any und each of such acts is made
a misdemeanor punishable by a
fine of not less than one hundred
nor more than one thousand dol
lars. To go upon any of the pub
lic lands would be expensive tres
pass under this proposed law, It
woidd cause rapid reconstruction!
offences. It is a well known fact
that settlers must often guess at
land lines in running fences, hence
often enclosing mure hind than tho!
claim calls for; when adjoining
lunds ure churned by another, sur
vey is had and lines adjusted; no
one suffers, not even Uncle Sum.
Hut under the Stephens hill, the
owner of uny fence, enclosing pas
ture land is liable to he hazed into
the Federal courts and fined, unless
he has a lease of the ground in
fringed upon.
I hold that all the public land
belongs to all the people, and that
, B'"""U" UW"K" lu chutes and Squaw creek comprises
tho same into the lunds of a few is ttU ar(,a of a)j()llt gQ IllilfcH 10rtl
un-American. The present laws.ij b 4Q -,, caHt aml
providing for acquisition by each, nm, M of M
person of a homestead, d.scrl und , from th(J H
t,mb-r chum, are ample and the cresk Bnil tbe remain,k.r 1r0(I1 tl,e
I....: .1...:. .1....: l . '
lanU.isl.ouUM reserved lor -h 1
use nione. ia'i ui nope our uur-i
dens will not be increased by a!
land trust.
Thd government of tho United
States, through the depurtment of
agriculture and the various experi
ment stations, is and has been for
somo years securing and propagat
ing cereal, forage plants and
grasses adapted to arid lands.
These experiment in come cases
have been suceesiiilly conducted,
and the people Will noon begin to
reap the benelits thereof. W here
the soil is suilicieiitly deep to re
tain a reasonable amount of moist
ure, and the ruin und snow fall ag
gregates a total of nine inches,
which is about ihu ndttimufij oven
the major portion of Oregon's arid
regions, the sage brush bilk and
plains will be converted into prof
itable fields und pastures. 'ihis
means more population, more and
better school houses, better rouds
and less taxes. The conditions now
controling cast of the Missouri river
with reference to funning and stock
raising will in a few yeurs prevail
west of the Rocky mountains.
There will be but little vacant laud.
Each person engaged in these in
dustries must prepare for restric
tion to hi" own lino fences. But in
Texas settlers are not wanted, and
the little holders now there must
bo crowded out and off if Mr. Ste
phens has his way.
W. P. Ready.
Howard, Feb. 12, 1902.
New Telephone Hjntem.
Ashland, Or., Fob. 12. Ash
land is to be the wostern terminus
of a new telephone system which
is to reach into Eastern Oregon
through Klamath and Lake
Counties, and into Modoc Coun
ty, California. Work is to be com
menced on its construction and
equipment as soon as possible, and
it is to be in operation by August
1. The line is to extend from Ash
land eastwurd across the Cascade",
via Klamath Falls to Lakeview, tity as it was thought until lately j hundred feet of grade and one!
taking in the line already con-: that it would not do well here, but bri,lge of something like seventy '
structcd trom the latter point to experiments have proven that on I W!t jn length would be all that is
Silver Lake, anl also to Alturus,! soil where there is no hard pun , necessary to put this can von in
C'll., which will bo the eastern ter-j that alfalf i does7 well and conse-j shape for travel at all times of the
niinus, making over 300 miles ofjquently a large acreage will be'vear. As this c.uivo'n is not in'
line altogether. The promoter of j sown this spring. But u few yeurs i Crook countv we cannot ive the!
the enterprise is H. V. Gates, of j w ill elapse until what is now a wil
Hillsboro, who was in Ashland to-j derness, a mere sage brush flat,
day making arrangements for un will be transformed into a bucocs
dertaking the work from here. A i sion of beautiful green fields.
contract has been made with the
Hell Telephone Company for its in
struments for vise upon the new
line, upon which it is also under
stood the Bell Company has an op'
tion to purchase after a given time,
ABOUT SQUAW CREEK
The Future Prospects of
Western Crook.
A Fine, Rich Country
It Comprises an Area of 80 by 40
Mile Nearly all of Which Can
Bo Irrigated.
The future prospects of the west
ern part of Crook county, known
as the Squaw creek country are
good. The desert between the Dcs
Tllmti(w and iW)lU,
rivers.
That from the latter river will be
mostly hy means of. pumping, a
plant of that kind being aheudy in
operation at Cline Falls.
The Tuniiilow ditch company
will complete theii ditch next
spring mid be able to furnif-li water
for a large number of settlers on
the dem rt und be the means of giv
ing homes to ii lar(c number of
people. Under this ditch is one of
the finest bodies of alfalfa hind in
Eastern Oregon, which wiil furnish
from two to three crops oi hay ev
ery year.
'lhere is ttho unotber feature of
I this part of the ccunty that is in
j valuable und that is the outside
range for summer in theniounuin.-
a Ijacent to this place. Tins is a
very handy range as it only re
quaes u duy or two to drive from
the summer to the winter n.ngo.
It has been said that with the
advent of settlers this country
would he ruined for stockruising,
hut we believe that on thecontia;)'
that with irrigat on this country
will keep five times as mnch stock
as it does now and more than it
ever kept. Domestic grasses will
be sown to take the place of the
natural grass and this country will
then bo like the older settled places,
produce much more abundantly of
everything than formerly.
e have great advantages over
Western Oregon in that we have a
much better climate for winter
feeding of beef.
We have not as yet mentioned
tho territory on the banks of Squaw
creek which is a natural clover Hnd
timothy belt and is about 35 miles
in length. Already there are some
fine fields of clover and timothy,
but they are small yet, being scarce
ly out of the experimental stage.
A great deal of land is being
cleared of sage brush preparatory
to sowing to clover and alfalfa,
Alfalfa ha not heretofore been
sown in this district in any quan -
J. E.
Ashwood Gleanings.
"
Mr. Milo Wood's new house is
almost completed. The family is
moving iu.
Max Ltiddcman, Newt Eurgeg
and Charley Durban, of Antelope, J
were in town yesterday and today.
.lame Robinson and Ed Harriett
returned Sunday evening from a
visit to Mr. Harriett's uncle in Fos
sil. ,Mr. Dan Evans has contracted to
build 50 feet of tunnel in Gypsy
Hill for Mr. Merchant, of Walla
Walla.
School is poorly attended on ac
count of colds and inability of
small pupils to come long distances
turough the storms.
The Woodmen initiated six new
members last Saturday night. The
camp here is flourishing, there be
ing about 30 members.
Dr. Coffene has had three calls
during the past week. A man at
the Company ranch on upper Trout
is reported to be ill with pneumo
nia. Dr. Coffene and family arrived
in town Thursday. He has pur
chased the Henry Huston house
and.Mr. Smith has it almost moved
onto the lot next the new store.
Mr. James Wood has filled his
ice house with some very good ice,
some be'ug 8 inches thick. Benton
it Grater nlao have put up their
ice, about 40 Urns.
Asbwood has four inches of snow
and still Miim.ng. Last Saturday
the thermometer registered 6 below
zero here and 8 below at some
places on Trout creek.
Mrs. Leeman, an elocutionist
from Salem, will lecture on tem
perance Monday evening. Mrs.
Ix'emati is a very well trained elo
cutionist and an enjoyable evening
is anticipated.
Sunday evening a number of the
leading people of thiB place met
and formed a Christian Endeavo
society. The society meets every
Sunday afiernoon. Topic for the
following Sundav, "Obedience."
G. Sutherland, leader.
Thursday evening tho friends
and relatives of Mrs. "Perkins gath
ered in the new residence of Mr.
Milo Wood, and united in wishing
her many happy returns of the
duy. A fine lunch was served.
guests amused themselves in va
rious ways, by dancing, cards and
games. At a late hour next morn
ing tho party broke up.
February 12, 1902.
According to those posted in
Wasco county there is a place
known as Antelope canyon that
drains a large area of hilly coun1
try. During the rainy season and
when the snow is melting the water
ruches down the hillsides into the
canyon and then it becomes im-
passable to travel. At such times
the mail from Snaniko is delaved
lum ifwlhinntni l:iv iun
l We are also infnrnu.l that W'said to hare i. rm r,re
commissioners "Hail Columbia,"
but we would suggest to those of
our sister county that they take
the matter up Hnd see if this piece
of road cannot be made passable.
,Vv . . . .
I Mr. O Neill, the actor, who Ftart-
:ed in to become an Elk became
' donkey before he ;;ot through, and'
I:
is the laughing stock of everybody.
NEWS BRIEFLY TOLft
Items of Interest Gath
ered Here and There
Some Stolen, Others Not
Cullinsrs From Our Exchange
News Notes of the Week
Timely Topics
Thc English are red-hot after
Dewet, but they have been after
him the same way for some three
years, go there is nothing startling
in the fact.
Edwin Stone, manager of the C.
& E. R. R., is making an effort k
secure some wild turkeys for the
Willamette valley, a great game
bird worth hunting.
Addison Kidd, the train wrecker,
was arraigned before Judge Lrad
shaw at The Dalles on last Satur
day morning. Kidd pleaded guilty
and the judge sentenced him to the
penitentiary for life.
Senator Mitchell has succeeded
n having an amendment adopted
to the deficiency bill which provides
for the investigation by the secre
tary of the treasury ar.d the pav
ment of the whole of the Oregon,
California and Nevada claims. If
this ii held in conference, it will
mean, when the matter is adjusted,
about $31,000 for the state of Ore
gon. .
Mrs. Nancy Jan Roberts has
just died at Sherwood, in this state,
at the age ef 109 years and was
undoubtedly the oldest person in
the state. She was born in Mis
souri, and came to Oregon in 152.
....v.. civ. no tvill ? ilSUiimtOII
was serving the first year of hi
second term as pressdent, and the
great French revolution wan in
progress.
A big sheep deal was made in
Umatilla county the other day, tho
J. E. Smith Livestock Co. buying
15,000 sheep and 80,000 acres of
land from C. B. Wade, cashier of
the First National bank at "endle
ton for $170,000. The company
now owns 2S.000 sheep and -10,000
acres of land, indicating that sheep
raiting in Eastern Oregon is a
mighty big industry. .
Several young people were eon-
tHSt:infR it. n clt-ntr.!.! .if ll.n ....
! house, Saturday night, for a silver.
medal offered by the W. C. T, U.
organization for the best recitation.
They were Sophia Hartley, Mamie
Starr, Mary Sutherland, IVurl Al
len, Guy E. Mwe, Mr. Hall ami
Mr. Allen. Each is a student at
the Agr. cultural College. The
medal was won by Guy E. Moore.
Mr. Moore recited, "Patriotic Sins
ni inivmnpninw" u;u .ir,.,... ;..
The prize awarded is a handsome
silver medal. Corvallis Times.'
.
1'UhoIuiUhi n.iiUc.
Notice i Iweiiy xiven that the c
l r t.nM ti ip hoitiufoie existing
'ank hlkitid und .1. H. Wigle,
umler Hie menu of Kr.iiik Klkins
' Co., i. tliis (! iy Jije!.el ly nmn ul
C'iiient, .1. H Wi-le iviirin. All ,
c. imt-- i.wui)! il firm w.l o illei t.
led liy Kmnk Kikim mikI nil imlelite.'.
nfi-M (,( siiiil firm u ill hesnttM hy siuit
Frank i.Uins.
Fkaxk F.r.Kix A (.'o.
I PuiSKvaiB, Or., Feh. H, 1U02.
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