0 of it
acne Or
Crook County Jouroail
COUNTY OFFICIAL PAPER FOR CROOK COUNTY
COUNTY OFFICIAL PAPER, $1.50 YEAR PRINEVILLE, CROOK COUNTY, OREGON THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 1913.
Famous Land Fraud
Suits Dismissed
"On motion of K.A.Jolihuon, Unit
ed States Attorney, two more of the
famoui Oregon un fraud ranci,
which Involved ninny of the promi
nent citizen of the lUte, were dis
missed in the United State district
court uy judge Wolverton, " says
Surveying to Begin
in Earnest Next Week
H. P. Kcheol of Tenlno, Wash ,
l n II
ana r. m. von I'lanU. an engineer,
arrived In I'rineviile Monday to take
look at the country between here
and Metollu. Mr. Scheel said that
there was gome other work that
needed to he finished heforn h.
Bound at Ih pnatofflm at Prlmrrlll
urvcoo, a Mound-ela ntaitr
VOL. XVII NO. 22
the Portland Journal. Iloth of the ! would transfer his surveyors to thin
cases were attaint John N. William-; country. It would only tuke a few
son, former congressman, and now ;ly. he said, and then the work of
a well known resident of I'rineviile. j loaning the lino would begin.
Hack of the case lies nn interest- j Mr. Scheel felt very much en
ifi(T history. Williamson.nlotig with 'cuurnged over the prosecU for a
Van Cexner anil Marion R, Biggs, a;r'l "d said that we would surely
prominent attorney of I'rineviile, K''t ne if the farmers and commit
were indicted uurly in l'JU'i, during ' tee would co-oerate with him: He
the regime of United States Dis- did not think there would be any
trict Attorney Francis J. lleney, ! trouble about a right-of-way as the
when the land fraud cases were , 'nhnnced value of the land would
first started which eventually in- more than offset any damage,
vulvetl Senator Mitchel. ; Just where the line will be located
In this indictment tliy were , nobody know. "The grades.curves.
charged with conspirley to suborn : expense and t innage alone will de-
lerjury, ami u grew out or effort u-rmine. said wr, Scheel. If it
of Williamson and (leaner to ubtiin costs too much in one location then
ranges for their cattle and sheep in ; e other will be chosen. Am not
Crook County, Biggs was jointly :ure yet whether it will an electric
Indicted for giving them legal ad
vice that they were within the law
in doing what they were accused of.
It took three triala in 11HI5 to con
vict them, (leaner and liiggs were
convicted early in the game, but it
was not until the third that a jury
said that Willsamson was guilty.
This was the famous alleged "hand
picked" jury of William J. Hums,
the detective.
Judge IVHaven had presided at
the former case when the juries
disagreed. Judge Hunt of Mon
tana presided the third time and
ordered that the jury be drawn di
rect from the box containing the
names of all the eligible freeholders
of the state.
It was charged that the defend
ants had caused timber and stone
cntrymen to come in and settle on
the lands they desired and to swear 1
falsely in making their allidavits as'
to their intent as to permanent res
idence and ownership after they had
proved up.
Williamson, because of being a
member of congress, had the priv
ilege of apHaling direct to the
United States supreme court under
a constitutional provision. In 1908
that body reversed the conviction
and ordered a new trial. The other
two defendant were not so for
tunate in their connections, and-had
to appeal to the circuit court of ap
peals. That body affirmed the jury
decision.
or steam road. It will depend upon
what the electricity cosU. You see
it's a little too early to give out any
dilinite information. If your farm
ers do the right thing, and I feel
they will.and the electric light people
come to terms, then you can safely
say that you will get an electric
road. We are going back to Taco
ma today, but will be back again
Monday ready to take up the work."
Remains of an Un
known Man Found
fetal ir ' gf;;.-; I . - , 1 mraf
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V. f I C1CIL MIUMD fil IBVIC MM ' fc., . I I' f W WiOICIWt OWL, TMt MtMS, tl i
v I . I wtuNo, Mji iQ Tny. r.f .'Iff nnwfc. mm nioicmi owi.c(CH,cjtgiMt - E J
f ' - -
M'wwt umtrnj BLD6X
I
I
rfKVUMl W HY AT THE WCKOUUU1.
Whi-n a band of rtlnckfiTt Imlinns from
C.liirirr NntumaJ Park mtalilinhi-d th.-ir
Upce villagn upon ho roof of the McAlpin
hiit el, HUh Ht. and Proatlway, New York
City, Manager lioonit-r of amine had to
have lliom n-Kwtor. The braves were
unable to write their names only in the
picture IniiKiince of the reriinan. This
they did after James Shoe-maker, who had
the Indiana in charge, explained to them
that they could not pitch their topees
uHin the roof top until they signed their
names.
This unique village of tepees was the
Knit ever pitehed upon the rout tops of
New York City. They were in faet the
first tepees pitched on Manhattan Island
in 140 years, according to the records of
the American Historical society.
The Indians spent two weeks in New
Arrested for Violating
the State Game Law
Charles A. Sherman, justice
of tbe peace at Fife, this county.
wa arrested vesterdpv hv
Deputy Game Warden Clvde M.
McKay on charge of violating the
game laws, the specific offense
being, it is alleged, harine Dart
of a deer in bis possession. His
trial will take place next week at
Camp Creek precinct, about 12
miles from Fife, arrangements
for which will be made later
Meanwhile, Deputy District
Attorney Wirtz, acting upon in
structions from the eovernor.
sent the following letter to Mr.
Sherman requesting his resigna
tion; "Dear Sir: Positive evidence
of the violation by you of the
game laws has come to the
knowledge of this office from
different sources. Aside from
the prosecution started against
York as the (rucrta of Louis W. Hill I you ln tbe natural course as yoa
cnairman ol the board of directors of the , nave Violated the oath VOU took
(Iron K l,.,-.. 1.. I. . i .1 . . I -
. "u" mem 10 vkpn
ew Vnrlr " 1 . l. rl' 1 1 ! WUtU
Vacation show, as representatives of
Glacier Nationul Park, which was repre
sented in this show with a minature
reproduction of Uncle Sam's newest playground.
The remains of an unknown man
were found five miles south of Red-
i mnd Saturday. The sheriff, cor
oner and health officer were notified
and Sunday morning Dr. Belknap,
District Attorney Wirtz and Cor
oner Poimlexter left for the place
designated.
The man had evidently been dead
a long time. His remains were
scattered in all directions within a
radius of 100 yards. The coyotes
had gnawed off the feet and hands
and carried them away. There was
not very much left to identify the
man. What there was were placed in
a sack and taken to Redmond and a
coroner's jury summoned. Some of
the witnesses thought the man to
be one Robert Boyd, but could not
say anything definitely. The re
mains were those of a tall man. who
had red hair and was 35 or 88 years
r.- . I
- '" " i or age. ine man's c othos wro
to apply for a pardon, o n the
strength of the charge that the jury
hnd not been square. Biggs refused
to do this, aaying that he had never
clone wrong, and at time made some
sonsationully bitter statements of his
attitude toward the government.
He and Gesner each served long jail
sentences and paid heavy fines.
No fourth trial of Williamson has
ever been had and this case was one
of the two dismissed this morning.
The other case was one in which
Williamson was indicted along with
Senator Mitchell, Binger Hermann,
commissioner of the United States
land office; Franklin P. Mavs. Wil-
lard Jones and others.for conspiracy
to defraud the United States of pub
lic lands. Mitchell died of a broken
heart it is said. Jones, Sorenson
and Mays were convicted, and Her
mann's case, after the jury had dis
agreed, was dismissed by- Heney.
As the same reasons applied in Wil
liamson's case that had obtained in
that of Hermann's, he was never
brought to trial.
Negotiations for both dismissals
have been going on for 3 years, but
final action has been held up pend
ing efforts of the interior depart
ment to regain some of the claims
that were alleged to have been
granted through fraud.
scattered around. He was evident
ly a laboring man. His undershirt
had two holes in it that looked like
bullet holes, but there was nothing
sure about it. Nothing was found
in the man's pockets of any value
or that would help to identify him.
The pury brought in a verdict that
"the man is unknown to us and that
the cause of his death is unknown."
Holton Released
on Good Behavior
Art Holton, who was sentenced
to 60 days in lull a little over a
month ago on pleading guilty to a
charge of petty larceny, had his
sentence reduced to a parole
Tuesday. Jack Curtis, who was
the victim in the case, wanted to
take Holton back in his employ,
and as he wa9 the only sufferer
the district attorney was willing
that Holton be released Dendinsr
good behavior. Holton is now at
work in the restaurant where his
offense was committed.
Lost.
Auto top boot on road between
Sluuilko hikI Haycreek on April 22.
Finder leave at this olllee or (J, V.
lilklus' store uud receive reward, lp
Prineville Stuff Gets
Highest Price
M Slayton returned from Port
land the last of the week feeling
good. He took six carloads of beef
cattle to that market and as usual
got the best prices paid for beef
during the week. He received J8.30
for two carloads and 18 for the rest
of his shipment. The t8.30 stuff
was a strictly fancy grade, bought
for the Alaska trade.
The cattle receipts for the week
were very heavy with prices from
10c to 15c lower on all grades of
steers except fancy stuff. The Slay-
ton cattle brought the extreme price
for the week ending April 18. The
principal demand was for choice
1000 to 1200 pound stock.
The demand for cows and heifers
was good with prices ruling strong.
The receipts were light. Good bulls
were also in demand t with prices
correspondingly firm." The veal
market was steady to firm at f 9.
New School Laws
Recently Enacted
The State Superintendent of
Public Instruction summarizes
the more important educational
bills passed by the last legis
lature as follows:
Districts may, by a majority
vote, at a regularly called meet
ing, authorize the school board to
purchase books and furnish
them free of charge to all pupils
attending school in the district.
After September 1. 1915. all
persons applying for teachers'
certfficates must have completed
two years' work in an accredited
h;gh school and attended a teach
ers training class at least six
weeks. This act will not apply
to teachers who have had six
months' experience prior to Sep
tember, 1415.
Provision is made for substi
tuting a three weeks' summer
school for the annual county
institute. The County Superin
tendent shall, upon the petition
of ten teachers, submit to Dm
teachers of this county the
question of whether or not such
school shall be held. All teach
ers in the countv must t.t.onii
unless they have had at least
twenty-seven months teaching
experience, eight of which snail
have been in Oreeon. or ftrn
graduates of an accredited nor
mal school, or the teachers train
ing class in an accredited high
school. When tbe teachers have
once voted for the summer
school thereafter such school
shall be held in lieu of the annual
institute. v
Provision was made whereby
graduates of nonstandard col
leges can take an examination
for high school certificate.
Provide penalty for persons
refusing to give the name and
age of all their children to tbe
census taker.
Hereafter all schools must
have regular fi re drills and suit
able instruction relative to the
danger from fires.
Hereafter all school districts
may provide for night schools.
There were several other laws
of minor importance passed dur
ing the session of the legislature,
but they will be printed in the
new school laws, which will be
distributed before they go into
effect. None of the laws will go
into effect before June 3rd, and
any action taken by any district,
or by the teachers of any county,
will not be legal and any action
before that time will have to be
taken again.
Judge Springer on
County Taxation
Mr. Editor: The matter of
taxation is not in the least poeti
cal, and yet it is a matter of
acute interest to every one about
once a year. To one who has
given the matter solid consider
ation it becomes a matter of sur
prise that states and counties
shonld vote to spend money to
advertise their resources and
yet spend more money, or lose it,
by systematically hiding their
resources. The state of Oregon
is ready to spend thousands of
dollars to show the world our
immense wealth, and yet the
counties have vied with each
other in hiding their wealth. A
list of the percentages of the
legal (the cash) valuation of the
property of the various counties
furnished by Mr. Eaton of the
State Board of Tax Commission
ers, shows that the countifis.
with the exception of two or
three, are determined to hide
their resources, some giving to
the State Board as little as
thirty-one per cent of the legal
value. How much business is
there iu appropriating thousands
of dollars for exhibiting, adver
tising and showing, and at .he
same time vastly more than off
setting the same by lying to tbe
assessor? Why do we destroy
our credit by hiding our re
sources? There are only two
answers, we are either ignorant
or dishonest.
The time was when by making
a low assessment we escaped
paying our just proportion of
state taxes. Not so now, for the
reason that the State Tax Com
mission inquires into our methods
and determines for itself just
what percentage of our real
values are represented on the
roll; and regulates our state tax
accordingly. If the county
board gives only one third of the
valve, the state will assess the
railroad and telephone lines at
one-third their value, so there is
little chance to cheat the state or
the railroads. Why then should
we not tell tbe truth? There
possibly may be some advantage
in SUCh a SVStfm for t.ha rrn.
fessional tax dodger. When no
one tells the truth it furnishes a
fruitful field for the professional
liar. Ifohe small owner tells a
small lie and saves a dollar, the
professional can tell a larger and
save a thousand. And if I were
permitted to make a guess as to
the principal reason for continu
ing such a benighted system.
that would be mv first-, crimes
V 0vw.
I am going to ask the tax
payers of Crook county, and
especially the wideawake, pro
gressive, home-booming fellows,
if it would not be better for our
county and all of us to avail our
selves to the credit which right
fully belongs to us by telling the
truth and showing the full cash
value, the legal value, of our
property. If we are worth one
hundred thousand dollars and
represent that we are worth only
twenty-five thousand, we cut our
financial rating by just that
much. Better than trying to
make the outside world believe
fishy yarns as to our possibilities
would be to tell the truth, and
show that we have not ten
millions of assessable property
in this county, but thirty mil
lions; and that our rate for stale,
county, school and road tax is
not twenty-four mills, but eight
mills. Such a truthful showing
would be more valuable than any
appointed justice of the
peace to obey and abide by the
constitution and laws of tbe state
of Oregon, your resignation as
such justice is hereby requested
and the county court will be
pleased to accept same at its
regular May term."
Mr. Sherman is also United
States Commissioner at Fife.
Jake Hillard Has
Serious Runaway
Jake Hillard, who was driving M.
R. Biggs' mule team Saturday, had
a serious runaway on Main street.
The mules took fright while turn
ing around and started to run. In
some way the wagon pole got loose
and fell to the ground. It broke
in two and the part remaining got
caught under the street crossing at
the Prineville Hotel. This threw
Mr. and Mrs. Hillard and child
violently to the ground where all
were more or less badly shaken up.
Mrs. Hillard received a cut over
the eye but otherwise escaped with
severe bruises.
Prineville Public School
Won the Debate
The Prineville public school won
the debate from the Crook County
High School freshmen last Friday
evening. Both sides put up some
good strong arguments. The pub
lic school yells were very amusing.
The primaries under the leader
ship of Welden Hyde and Elwin
Reinke, brought down the house.
Zoe Cornett, the leader for the up
per grades, was right on the job all
the time. Her charges were well
drilled.
Have vnur even ATntninwi i..n.
duplicated or glasses made by Du.
Ida Behrendt, Hotel Oregon, Prlue-
advertising we. can do.
Here, we may as well state
that the county judge is com.
mitted body and boots to that
system. If this article is faith
fully delivered we will coma
again and turn the search light
of publicity on some of the bould-
ers that he in the nath f o
complishing just such a glorious
advertisement at the next session,
of the board of equalization.
G. Springer,
County Judge of Crook County.
For Sale Cheap.
New 5-room Bungalow; modern ln
every way. In East Prineville.
4 24 E L. Coe.
Moved
..R,f:s' whoe ?hpP 18 nw located In
the City Meat Market Building K
moved from the old Bank building!
4.10-lmp p. G, R S-