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About Lincoln County leader. (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 1908)
EIDDENG SEAS OF DERELICTS THAT MENACE OCEAN USERS. V . - . A 90O fHXMT XV A ' '' (JlMg!'?' a ! STATE CONTROL OF WATFR. Over n year ngo the Treasury Department invited bids for the coiiKt ruction of a craft specially etiuippt'd for the destruction of the many derelicts which nre a continued nieniice to vessels on the high sens. This derelict destroyer, which has lieen named the Seneca, hns a wireless equipment, which euahles her to receive and give information as to the location of dere licts. In uJJlliuii, the vcrre! Is r"v!'M with nn am munition room, stored witli high explosives, for sinking unci blowing to pieces flouting lu.lls and wreckage. As In warships, prevision Is made for flooding the magazines in case of any emergency. The destroyer is furnished with an equipment designed to assist her in salvage and life-saving work, for which her size and the 1,700-horse-power engines will render her highly elllclent. It would seem to require some vessel, specially equipped as this one Is, to clear the seas of the wrecks which now incumber them. In recent years It has been tiie custom for a rescuing ship, after taking off the crew of a etorm-beirten vessel, to set fire to the. wreck. Hut a derelict Is rarely, If ever, destroyed by this means, and for the good reason that when a wooden sailing vessel, which Is the type of craft that the majority of derelicts are made of, reaches a condition when Its crew Minis It Imperative to abandon. It, the hull, as a rule, has become waterlogged, and the ffore efforts to de stroy It by (Ire are almost always unsuccessful. Such II res as are kindled do little else except to burn away the upper works, thereby leaving the wreck still more Invisible. Through Its hydrographlo office, the Navy Department contributes much to the safety of all who travel upon the seas. It publishes charts, sailing directions and other aids to navigation; it Is constantly searching out the dangers of the ocean and putting its results into con venient form. It is truly the "track walker' of the great deep. A recent issue of its monthly chart shows live derelicts now washfug about the North Atlantic. And, with the perversity of Inanimate things, they seem ever to be where they are least wanted and where their presence is most potential of harm. Partially submerged, scarcely detectable by day, and almost If not wholly In visible by night, their very existence Is unsuspected, and the question of plumping Into them at night or In thick weather Is one of merest chance.' The sodden und sullen things make no signal, give no warning. The danger that lies in them has been frequently ex emplified. Many disasters are known to have been due to collision with these half-hidden dangers, and It is believed that many In that melancholy roll of "miss ing" have staggered away from such Impact to plunge under with bows crushed in and water roaring Into holds and Are rooms. i Most derelicts are the wrecks of lumber-laden sailing vessels, "flontlng on their cargoes," as the Lloyds phrase It. But not long ago a steamship was added to the list, and drifted about the North Atlantic as a menace tfl shipping for nearly four months. This was the Dun more, wrecked on the coast of Europe. No action, was taken for Its destruction until the British government, moved by numwous complaints, sent out a squadron of warships to search for and destroy the wreck. The search proved unavailing, the vessel probably baring foundered before the quest was begun. THE OKIGIN OF FLOWERS. There were no roses till the first child died, No violets, no balmy breath heartsease, No heliotrope, nor buds so dear to bees, The honey-hearted woodbine, no gold-eyed And white lasht daisy-flower, nbr, stretch ing wide, Clover and sowslip-cupB, like rival seas, Meeting and parting, as the young . spring breeze Runs giddy races paying seek and hide; For all flowers died when Eve left I'ara dise, And all the world was powerless awhile. Until a child was laid In earth, Then from its grave grew violets for its eyes. And from its lips rose-petals for its , smile, And so all flowers from that child's death took birth. Maurice Francis Kgan. Glockner's Scheme $ beln' lie don't need no hired man's long's he's got Malvlny. An he don't need to lack for anythln' Jim Sellers has got for the same reason an' Dave Harper will break all the colts for him that he c'n raise." "Oil, shucks r . said the storekeeper. 'Pretty as a little red wagon, ain't she?" said the storekeeper, admiringly, as he stood In the doorway and watch ed the poppy-trimmed straw hat going down the street. "She's a stlrrin' up a right smart o' trouble, too, they tell we." "It's nachel she should," observed Marvin I'arsons, his gaze also follow ing the retreating hat. "There'd orter be a law compelllu' any gal that's got niore'n her fair share o' good looks to settle down ou some one feller for bet ter or for wuss by the time she gits to her eighteenth birthday." "That mout work, an' then again It nioutn't," said Washington Hancock. "n some respec's It's right an' fair, au' ' others it 'ud work hardship." "How's that?" asked Solomon Raker. "Who was It broke old Blgley's 2-year-old for him?" asked Hancock. "Dave Harper, wasn't It?" said I'ar sons. "Dave It was," said Hancock, with l grin. "Who was It loaned Blgley his ivagon an' worked half a day flttln' a ood new reach to It, an never charged the old man a cent for the use of It for over a year?" "I guess that was Jim Sellers," said tto storekeeper. "Who's Blgley's hired man?" Han cock Inquired. "He ain't got none," answered Par sons. "I don't call to mind that he's had one for four or Ave years. WhyT" -Yes, why?" repeated Hancock. That s what I'm asking you fellers. If you don't know I c'n tell you. It's "There was old man Glockner," said Hancock. "He had a gal, that was Jest seen another as Malvlny Blgley. She was red headed as Malvlny's dark com plected, but they was both alike In one way. All the boys was plumb crazy over Joanna, Glockner an' all the gals Jest nachelly doesplsed her. She was the plumpest, peachlest,' sassiest little gal I ever laid my two eyes on. I reckon the Lord Almighty never turn ed out a prettier Job lu the woman line liefore or sence. If He did there was a lot of young feller's that got -the wrong Idee about It. They was swarm In' around the Glockner place thieker'n llles, and It went on that-n-way for nigh to four years. "Flu'ly Caleb Wells got Joanna off by herself one day an' says he. 'I ain't comln' 'round here no more.'" "'Why not? asks Joanna, smilln' up at him. 'Don't you like us?' " 'I like you too blame well to stand around an' watch a hull passle 6' coots makln sheeps' eyes at you,' says Caleb. 'I've tried my derndest to get you to say whether or no you'll take me, an' beln' as you can't make up yo"ur mind I'm goln' to sell the place an' move out to Utah.' " 'How do you know I can't make up my mind?' she says. 'P'raps I've niade it up. But o' course If you're goln' to Utah It ain't no use my tellln' you. How many wives do you allow you'll take out there? "Caleb ketches holt of her ani. she didn't squirm none particular. " 'I reckon I won't go to Utah,' says Caleb. 'Mlzzoura's good ' ernuff for me.' inn mere b tnis aoout it.' says Joanna, after a while. 'Things has got to go on Jest the snme ns they has been goln'. Paw's goln' to be mad er nuff as 'tis. "'What do you mean?' asks Caleb. " 'You go see paw an' ask him,' says Joanna. 'He's over by the corn crib watchln' Lee Robinson shuck. Paw's hands has got the rheumatlz an' Lee said he'd come over an help him out. Meblie Jack Ritchie's there, too. " 'I'll see to Lee and Jnck later on,' says Caleb. . 'Here goes for the old man.' "He goes over to the corn crib an' there's the boys up on a wagon shuck In' away for dear life. Old man Glock- uer, fat's settln' down smokln' bis pipe an' eucouragln' 'em. 'I never see bet ter, quicker, cleaner shuckln'.' he says, as Caleb walked up. 'I must have Jo anna come out this afternoon an see you all shuck. Why, here's Caleb I Howdy, Caleb? Do you reckln you'll ever git so's you enn shuck corn as lively as that? Try it wunst. "'I hain't got time, now,' says Ca leb. 'I want to speak to you on some private an' particular business right away.' 'The old man got up an' after tell In' the boys to keep right at It, he fol lers Caleb around to the back o' the bnrn. " 'I want to tell you that me an Jo anna's goln to get married, an' I thought I'd see If you didn't want to give me your hlessln',' says Caleb. "The ol' man looked at him steady for a minut'. Then he says very slow : 'I don't want to give you a cussln' on less you drive me to It, Caleb, but you ain't goln' to do no sech a thlilg. You're welcome to come here with the rest of the boys an' be neighborly -like they all are, but I don't want Joanna to decide on nothin' yet awhile. '"Why not?', says Caleb. " 'I've got my prlvlt reasons,' says the old man, strokln' hls billy-goat heard. 'An' I've also got a shotgun. '"It's In the house, ain't it?' says Caleb. " 'Yes, It's In the house right handy,' says the old man. '"Onless you're a better foot-racer than I take you for I can beat you to It,' says Caleb. 'Joanna's In my buggy right now an' If I can't make Squire reterson'B with her by the time you're out to the front gate with your shotgun I'll farm this place five years an' not charge you a cent.' "Old man Glockner looked over to the house, an' there by the gate, shore 'nuff was Joanna In Caleb's buggy. " 'Caleb,' says the old man, .'why not let things go on the way they are for a few years an' not say nothin' to no body? Then, if you want her yo can have her. ' "Caleb shook his head. "'Will you wait till after harvest then?' , '"No, slree,' says Caleb. Til wait long enough for you to get on a b'lled shirt an' go with us to the squire's.' " 'See here, Caleb, says the old man. Thar's no use beln' mulish about this thing. I'll compromise with you. You wait till eveuln' until after Lee an' Jack has got that corn shucked an' In the crib an' I'll go with you to the squire's. But I'm bound to get that much done. It's the last free help I'll get "Kenneth Harris In Chicago Dally Newa Paper Presented at Recent Meeting of Oregon State Grange. By John H. Lewis, Stmt Engineer. When we see the miracles wrought by irrigation and think of the potential energy of our streams as representing thousands of acres of the most valuable coal lands, it is no "wonder that we hesitate to challenge the statement that the water resources of Oregon are to day its most valuable asset. Yet our , legislators have persistently Tefused to enact laws governing the use and distri- ; bution of this valuable commodity. Tar-sighted corporations are rapidly ac quiring perpetual franchises to the use of water for power development, with out present or possible future compen sation to the public, from whom the privilege is acquired. Through the lack of a reliable record of vested rights to the use of water, ths public has no means of ascertain ing the location and amount of unap propriated water which is available for new uses. Large quantities of water are being held without use through actual or threatened litigation, and the intending investor or settler moves on to mors progressive states, where water rights can be secured by application to the state officers, and when granted are protected, the same as other property rights. The holder of these question able vested rights joins with the power interests in opposing the enactment of any law providing for public control and making beneficial use the basis of "ights to ths use of water. How Water Is Appropriated. Any person ean acquire i water right by simply posting a notice at the proposed point of diversion, stating the amount of water claimed, the intended nie, and recording a copy of the notice at the eounty court house. If the water is to be used for irrigation purposes, a certified eopy of the notice must be filed with the state engineer within 30 days thereafter. It makes no differ ence if the waters of the stream are already fully utilized at points below. The notice can specify any amount, even though such, amount exceed the regular flow ef the stream. It may be impossible to use the water beneficially for the purpose as claimed, but that makes no difference so long as Construc tion 4 commenced within six months. Your title is then complete, but the reeord is not completed by the filing of proof that work has commenced. By refiling every six months, a water right ean be held without the performance of any work until some legitimate Investor trys to secure control of the same water right. Then work must be commenced and prosecuted with due diligence. Un der this law one of our leading attor- l sere has stated that a one-armed man with a shovel, employed at. tht intake, I ean hold a water right indefinitely. ) Thus the legitimate investor must first bay off the notice man, who has eoa- tributed nothing to the public welfare. Even the payment of this blackmail ' j i i. .... . .. uuc uui. give aim clear line to Ice necessary water, for the apparent sup ply may, perhaps, all be fully utilized in the adjoining counties below, through which the stream runs. In the absence of state control, the only way for this investor to even guess at the amount of unappropriated water is to first measure the stream, and then travel down the same, meas uring the maximum capacity of each ditch, to ascertain how much of this water has already been appropriated. . If the stream is a hundred or more miles in length, this task alone would j discourage the most enthusiastic in jvestor or settler. Then the records of water filings, under our present laws, 'must also be examined to ascertain how j many rights have been initiated which imay ultimately become vested" and , prove prior in time to his right. No- tlces claiming water, posted in thick- -io muiiK wie uHiiKj or a stream, can not be found and are, therefore, of no value to him. The county records are of but little, If any more value, as the recorded claims to water invariably ex ceed many times the regular flow of the stream. For example, the records of Baker county show claims to the waters of Powder river for irrigation purposes amounting to over eighty times the flood flow of this stream at Baker City during 1905, and the 1,145 reeorded claims for all pnmoses amounted to over one hundred and eighty times this flood flow. These claims, therefore, cannot all be vested rights, and it is impossible to ascertain from the record which, if any, are valid, or ultimately may become vested. Be sides, many ditches have been built and water diverted without any public reeord whatever. In a separate record will be found court decrees affecting titles to the water of this same stream. These decrees may divide the water among a minority of claimants, without any consideration whatever of the rights of the public in the unappro priated waters. The eounty record thus serves enly to cloud title to unappro priated water and discourage invest ments. The stream under consideration by the investor may flow through or bor der on two or more counties where wa ter titles are equally as complicated as described for Baker eounty. To ab stract the water records of the Deschutes river would require a jour ney of practically 1,000 miles, and the examination of ths worthless records of five counties. Under the 1908 aet, all filings for irrigation purposes were to be recorded In the state engineer's office at Salem, but no penalty was provided to en force this provision. Out of 138 filings la Baker eounty under this act, only five were reeorded at Salem. . Thus what -was intended for a complete ree ord is, therefore, of no value to the public. Resulting Litigation. The conditions in California are identical with those in Oregon. Tne Commonwealth club has labored for years to secure the enactment of mod1 em water laws, and in the proceedings of this club we find the statement that the. bar of California was delighted to find in their primitive water laws such a fruitful source of income, and did nothing to remedy conditions. "The statutes in question have been the foundation of some of the larjre for tunes of California, but these fortunes are he'd exclusively by "the attorneys of record of the misguided individuals who availed themselves of the privilege granted by these statutes." A ense-is reported where ditch "A" sued ditch "B" and upon the sworn evidence introduced obtained a decreo giving it a priority of twenty cubic feet of water per second. Ditch "B" sued ditch "C" with the same result, and ditch "C" thereafter sued ditch "A" with the same result, and there were still 25 ditches diverting water from the same stream whose rights were not determined. Along the Walla Walla river in Ore gon, litigation to secure a proper di vision of the stream has been in prog ress for about 30 years, without settling a single issue. This experience is typi cal of many other communities and should serve to demonstrate the failure of the present system of distributing water by the courts, through injunction proceedings. There are approximately 200 ditches diverting, water from this stream in a distance of 10 miles, for the irrigation of some 5,000 acres. Nearly 500 per sons or -corporations have been made parties to the latest suit, and 25 law yers retained to protect the various rights. When the decree is rendered, the relative rights of the various ditches will be known, but how will the water be divided among them? The pioneer irrigator knows that the court cannot deny him his usual water sup ply, and though his right has been de termined for perhaps the second or third time, the question is still, how to get this water at the time when needed. How will he determine which of the many ditches above is diverting water without right, in order to bring an Injunction suit against itt The decree is binding only on thf parties to the suit. New appropriations ean and will be made, thus forcing new litigation. The same conditions which broupht on the present suit still exist and this decree, without additional leg islation, will be of no jnore value in settling conditions than former decrees. The supreme court, by consistent de crees, has enacted practically all the water law of this slate. To expect the court to provide In their decrees for the complicated administrative machinery to make water decrees effective looks like a complete shifting of the burden from the legislature to the eourts. This, in the opinion of leading water right lawyers, is not possible. One of the leading attorneys In the Walla Walla river case estimates that the presont suit will ultimately cost be tween $20,000 and $25,000. This enor mous drain upon the agricultural re sources of this small valley, for a nega tive result, cannot help but retard set tlement and discourage capital. The purchase of a water right in Oregon means the purchase of a law suit. No litigation over water rights in this state has ever settled any issue so that it cannot again be raised. Th'e decrees are binding upon only the parties to the litigation. These decrees often serve to cumber title to the un used waters, as the state, interested in preserving the unappropriated waters for future users, has not been repre sented in court at trials of these cases. Conserving Our Waters. ' In the arid portion of this state th area of irrigable land far exceeds the regular water supply. The summer flow of these streams can be increased many fold by the storage of water in the mountains, and using the natural channel to convey such water' to the place of intended use. This class of . development, which is encouraged and protected in Wyoming, Idaho and other states, is absolutely impossible in Ore gon, except under the most favorable conditions. Capital will not invest in such storage works until the state pro vides the necessary administrative ma chinery for protecting stored water as it passes down the stream past numer ous diteh diversions to the plats of in tended vuse. No Bute Protection. It is not a crime In Oregon to steal water. In fact, the law encourages it. As stated above, any person can ac quire a water right by posting a notice ' or digging a ditch and diverting water, regardless as to the area of crops de stroyed at the lower end of the valley by such wrongful diversion. Without the necessary administrative machin ery, and a reliable record of vested rights to the use of water, if would bs impossible to enforce any criminal law covering water, even if enacted. Theft of water in an arid region is as serious a crime as destroying the crop of another, since It amounts to the same thing in the end, ytet this state maintains no department "having control of diversions from publie streams. There is no department to which the homeseoker or investor ean write to ascertain if the water rights claimed for constructed works are as represented, or whether any unappro priated water remains in a certain stream. Even if unappropriated water exists, there is no method provided by law for acquiring clear and undisputed title to this water from the public, to whom It belongs. It requires constant litigation on ths part of early appropria tors to seeure their rights. Where the price of justice exeeeds the value of the water right the plaee must be abandoned. ' (CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK.)