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About The Bend bulletin. (Bend, Or.) 1903-1931 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 1906)
BEND BULLETIN - TITirM3, VOI. IV BEND, OREGON. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1906. NO. 39 THE THE NEW WATER LAW It Is Snhl to Contain a Few Weak Features. OTIII-RWISH IS A (1001) BILL Draft for Proposed Wntcr Code Need Certain Correction Provisions Are Ueln'jr Kept Secret. 'I lierc arc sonic obJcctloiiM being raised to the work of t lie coin mi t tec which recently met in Portland mid drew up n draft for n law to define water right in Oregon. Thli bill J111.1 not yet lccn piibli)icl aud con sequently cannot be discussed Intel Jlgciitly, but nn article in Saltir lay's Portland Telegram condemns quite severely ccrtniu features of the new 1)111. On the other hand, other writers state that it is a cone mcudnblc measure. In view of the fact that the prosperity of the whole of Oregon, und particularly of this section, dcnds 50 largely on the cnnctincnt of n just and efficient water law, any measure tending to that cud should be thoroughly un derstood und discussed by the co file before its pniwagc. Consequent' y The llullctln publishes the Tele gram's article: , A scheme on the part of the com iuittcc appointed by the State Water Laws Convention at Salem, which jnct in Portland recently nnd draft cd n water code to be introduced in the next legislature, to keep the proposal bill from the public nnd to rush it through the legislature with an emergency clause attached, has just come to light. A copy of the proposed bill has Ikjcii examined by experienced law vers, ouuide the committee, and Jha by them been pronounced weak pud even dangerous in several places Tl at it would not meet the itpproval of the people, if made public, is generally believed by tliort! who have looked into the measure drafted by the committee. . The fact that the draft of the bill contains an emergency clause, by which It evidently is intended to take it out of the hands of the pco jilc, in the event it got through the legUlaturc, by denying them the light to invoke the referendum, is regarded as a suspicious circum stance Among the objections found to the proposed clrnll arc: , That it vests almost autocratic power in the hands of the state en giuccr. That it affords unlimited oppor tunities to build up u political ma chine, through the placing of large pattouagc in the hands of the state engineer and the board of water commissioners. That it provides for the practi cally unlimited employment of men in cases of 'emergency." 1 That it leaves the bars down for Kchciucs whereby corporations or cliques of individuals mny effect an unlimited monopoly of the water jiowers of the state by n system of filing!! and relinquishments. Powers of Hoard. , The powers vested in the state engineer mid the water board are set forth in few words and unlimit ed extent, as follows, in section in "The Mute engineer shall nmkc nil .necessary ruled mid regulations to crirry Into I'lh'i't the duties devolved upon his jiffice, nnd tuny change the same from time to time in his discretion. All Mich rules mid regulations rulntlug to applica tion for perinltK to impropriate wntcr, for the inspection of works, for the Issu unco of license, nnd for the determina tion of rights to the use of water, shall he modified liy the state engineer if re quited by a vote of the hoard of water cuiiiuiibsiuticrH, heieiunfter established, at least three of tliu four water coiiituU sloners voting in favor of such modifica tion." As an indication of tlio comity of Interest that may possibly exist be tween the statu engineer nnd the wnter commissioners, it is only nec essary to note that the placing of patronage by the several commis sioners in ,thc several divisions is 'made cpntlugctif upon the approval of the engineer. The wvcrul commissioners arc vested with power to appoint water masters fur as many districts as lie in their respective divisions, and these water masters have the power to appoint assistants "in cases of emergency." Water masters nrc to be paid f 4 a day, the money to be raised by the taxpayers of the county. Liberal Piling Privileges. According to this bill, anybody can go anywhere and file upon wa ter rights "for beneficial uses," the latter phrase not being defined in the bill. All that is necessary is to file a man of the right claimed, along with the surveys. Five years arc allowed in which to complete work upon the plant, flume, ditch or whatever the work may be. At the cud of half this time, if one-fifth the work Is done (this is to be de termined by the state engineer), an extension of the time may be al lowed to complete the work There is no provision that any bond shall be deposited by the ap plicant for a water right or any forfeiture imposed as a penalty for bad faith. All he has to do is to file, nnd the right is bottled up for at least two and half years. Kight here is where the law is said to dc detective and to leave a loophole of which a cortrcration might avail itself to gobble up in valuable rights without the cost of a dollar more than is necessary fo make .surveys. A corporation might, under this bill, file on every valuable right along a, whole stream, and thus obtain the vested right of priority of filing At the end of every two and a half years those who had tiled could go be lore tlic state en gineer and relinquish and as lust as the rights were relinquished others could file upon them, and so on ad infinitum, without the cost of n dol lar and without violating a single provision of the proposed law. In this way rights by filings could be perpetuated by endless filiucs with out improving the rights, as con templated by the law. The law does not make any pro vision for such monopoly, but it fails to make ample provision to prevent it. I.lttlo Work Necessary. Another weak spot is where the bill enable a claimant to file upon wntcr right "for beneficial uses," to irrigate, for instance, 50,000 acres He may proceed to develop his plant to distribute this water, under the protection of the law, for several years, and at the expiration of the time allowed in which to complete the project, he may have completed . t an equipment capable of watering only 1 0,000 acres. Nevertheless, he may then go nlicnd and enjoy a vested right to water only that many acres, although having, for the time allowed, bottled up n right to water thtf difference, or 40,000 acres. The bill is intended to supercede the code adopted at the last session of the legislature. In so doing it recreates the office of state engineer, but ucglccttt to include the provi sion contained in the law sought to be repealed, whereby the governor may remove the state engineer from office in case of malfeasance or for other gooil and .sufficient cause. Inasmuch as the office is aptwiiitive and so important in point of power, it is claimtd that some provision should be made to protect the people against an ofiiccr who might turn out to be unsatis factory. lias Its Good Points. Aside from these various features, the bill proposed is said to be a good law. It proposes to reduce the chaotic water Jaws to a system and give some fixed nnd settled rules of title. Among the provi sions approved is that water em ployed in irrigation shall pass in. fee simple as appurtenant to the laud. With conmdernblc , fixing,, it in- asserted that the proposed water code foe Oregon would probably be all right, Owing to, fts importance, the couVmitU'e will more than likely be nse'd 'lb print the bill, nml, 'flBe the e peo- netuinc to say about it later on. amongvmier things, to cr emergency clrfuse, because, tt pie might want to have soi DECISION RENDERED MIs6 Carrie Olson Wins In Celebrated Contest. INVOLVES WATER POWER SITE Land Office Official Decide that Atlas Olson Has Prior Rlicht over North ern Pacific and L. Dillon. A decision has been reached by the officials of The Dalles land of fice in the contest case of Miss Car rie Olson vs. the Northern Pacific Railway Company, et al. The de cision is in favor of Miss Olson and declares that she cniov.s priority of right over any and all other parties to the contest. Thus Miss Olson has won the first battle in the fight for title to the valuable water power site on the Deschutes river eight miles .south of Itend, familiarly known as Dillon Falls. Whether an appeal from this decision will he taken to the interior department by the Northern Pacific people is not now Known. This case, it will be remembered, in the one in which Miss Olson built a cabin and established resi dence 011 certain land and then en deavotcd to file on it as a home stead. The filing was refused be cause the land wasuusurveyed. A few weeks later the Northern Pa cific placed Mount Rainier scrip on the laud, the law allowing such procedure with Mount Rainier scrip. Miss Olson then brought contest to oust the Northern Pacif ic from what she claimed, through a squatter's right, was lawfully her laud. During the contest a third party was brought into the case when I.candcr Dillon, a pioneer settler in this region, laid claim to the land on the grounds that he had home- steaded it during 1886-91, but had lcen refused patent to it because it was uusurvcyed laud, claiming, however, that the land office offi cials had declared when he made final proof on an adjoining So acres that he had homestead in good laitli 80 acres of the land that is now in controversy (the 80 acres on which the power site is situated), and that patent would be issued to him ns 90011 as the laud was sur veyed Attorney Myers, counsel for Miss Olson, thereupon intro duced cvidchce to prove that Dillon in reality was appearing in the in terests of the Northern Pacific, that he had abandoned residence on the land in tSjo, end that he had failed to comply with the law in other tc snects. ' The coil test aroused considerable, interest at the .time, nu interest that subsequently ..spread, to no small extent, throughout the adjoining country. Attorney Myers of raid- law Ins handled the case through out far Miss Olson, and Attorney Scotcy, df the Northern Pacific laurt dctJarttucut at .Portland, ap ixjored for the railroad). Attorneys Wickhanl of Bend and W. E. Oucrin, Jr., of Clevvlaud, Ohio, appeared in behalf of Mr. Dillon. SEES liRKMT F'UTURE. John Trlslor of Redmond Writes In teresting Letter to nn Iowa Paper. John Trisler, father of Mrs. K. C. Park of Redmond, who recently came from Iowu to spend the win ter with his daughter, writes a let ter to the Ottuhtwa (la.) Courier concerning condition in this region. After speaking of otltur sections of the West, he says: "leaving Ogden on Ute Oregon Short &JiCf we paused through .1 country that X had never before seen, trtit everything shoiMud thrift nnd prosperity. We saw rfu6 fanning country as fur as Pendleton, Or.i'lmt from there td B.lgs, Or., the rout? was along the CoH.inFjIn river mid t saw nothing hut snlftu(j Mini,. Leuv intf KKo'i the Columbia Southern for .Shs.niko, w passed through, about 60 iiiiejofas fine fnrihiiie; country ns I ewr looked nt. Vwm Shiiuikn for about 60 pilles south niut west the country docs not took to K- good for uuytlUug hut sloe); graving anl does no t, look, gcod for t,mt, rmt IsttW some vftry fuc cuttle and sheep along the way that, wer- being driven in from the rmijit. Wc arc now at Redmond, Crook cotuity. Or., in the Deschutes valley, a desert that is being reclaimed by the Deschutes Irrigation and Power Company, the land being placed on the market as fast as reclaimed. The soil is light and what li known as volcanic ash, but is ii;iy productive of alfalfa, clover, tlmoth, wheat, oats. Iwrley, sugar lcct. carrots and almost all kinds of vegetables, and I believe will be a great fruit country. The country lclng new the fruit lids not been fully icsttu yet, mil some nave nsn tlic sec ond crop of strawberries this seatou. The valley is watered from the Des chutes river and lias Sn abundance of pure, soft water. The villey has more or less junior scattered over it that makes the beat of fire wood and fence iwila, the undergrowth being principal iy ssge brush, home parts of the valley have scattered rock on the surface, but the greater portion of the land can be ummI for cultivation. The price of the laud varies from f loo to 600 for 40 acres according to the number of irrigable acres on llic.40 acres. "The climate is fine and unusually healthful. I believe there is a bright future ahead of this country. What it needs most at present are railroads, which tiicv will nave in tlic near luturc. It is 70 miles to the nearest railroad sta tion and all supplies that have to be freighted in come iiigh. "In conclusion I would say to anyone thinking of coming to this country that they should not come expecting to go out with a bushel basket and pick dollars off the trees and the sage brush, but men and women who have the courage to face the hardships and privations of a frontier life and stay with it, will surely be successful. John TriIm'.R." THIS LOOKS WELL. A Little More Evidence Favoring 12a rly Construction of Oregon Eastern. In view of the news contained in the following article, it is safe to count that a little additional evi dence has been adduced favoring early construction on the Oregon Kastern across the state cast nnd west. A crow of surveyors are suddenly recalled from running a desired survey and put onto nu old line run by them, with orders to make permanent locations. That looks as though the powers behind the throne arc anxious to ect the surveying rapidly completed on a line from Natron to Ontario. The story is told by the Lakcview Her ald as follows: The crew of railroad surveyors under George V. Hack, which was working on the preliminary survey through Lake view, was recalled and returned to Wag ontire Mountain. They went back to run over other work on the main hue. Two or tnree rtinereiit routes, running east and west acrowt the state from Vale, hail ttecu run out, and it teems that one. run hv Mr. Iluek, was found to be alwut IS miles shorter than Uk others, aud his crew lias gone back to 1I0 closer work than a preliminary survey renders pos sible, and to make permanent locations. His mail came here marked "Oregon Short Line," and that line is identified with the Harrimaii people. It isgeuerally understood among those people that a branch line of that system rotu some point norm, tliat will pass through this vallcv nnd connect with the main Hue at some'polnt south, such as Reno, it an assured f.ict. NEW SAGEBRUSH "RAKE. Mndroa Alan Invents One That Does Oood Work. "Fred Fisher of Madras states'tlmt he has made, alter his own idea, a heavy rake for the purpose of rak ing sagebrush and that the imple ment is giving excellent results. It is mounted on two wagon wheels, the teeth being made of heavy steel bars, "shaped like ordinary hayrake teeth, set about 3 inches apart, aud the rake covers about eight 'iect in width. It is dumped by a hand lever. Mr. Fisher plows the laud first with n heavy breaking "plow and follows with this rukennd dumps the brush m wmrows like liny is harvested. The brush is then piled and burued. Four horses pull the machine, and besides pick ing trp the brush it turns tip loose rocks and tears the sod apart, going a long way toward preparing the seed bed for the first crop on the laud. Pioneer. 'Cougars Are Numerous. If a, bounty were placed on cou- i:;ir skius n wuniu uu mure iu pro tect "the deer than any measure that has heretofore been taken. Tim ber cruisers 'comiug im0 Silver Lake report that the coucars nre in such large number that in many places, they round beaten paths in the sub w. 'audit is a wety known fact thatW cougar" fs flie 'deer's most'deadly enemy. Silver Lake Oregcuiau. STEIDL TELLS STORY Portland Men Would Buy Drake Interests. OPPOSITION FROM THE EAST John Steldl ReiUrns to Bend and Tells Inside Story of the Deal for Sale of P. H. D. Co. Holdings. John Stcidl arrived in Bend last Wednesday evening from Portland, where he, in company with W. E. Gucrin, Jr., had gone to dispose of an option which they had secured on the Pilot Butte Development Co. and Drake holdings in this section. The reasons for the failure to dis pose of the option in the 30-day limit are now told by Mr. Steidl, and in view of the keen interest the public has taken in this transaction, it is proper that the story be told. ' Messrs. Stcidl and Guerin met with a very favorable reception Irom tbe Portland men with whom, they opened negotiations, namely( F. S. Stanley, Jesse I. Stearns and E. A. Baldwin. They were perfect ly satisfied with the price stated in' the option and Mr Stcidl says the deal could have been closed within eight hours after negotiations were opened as far as these men were personally concerned. A good in dication of how they regarded the! deal is shown by the fact that tbey: took an itemized list of tbe P. B. D Co. and Drake holdings, placed an price on cacti item and then com A puled the total. The sum total 0 their figures was one-third higher than the option price. Difficulties, however, were en countered when Mr. Gucrin went Hast and attempted to deal with the Eastern members of the company He held a conference with H. D. Turucy and others of the company, but was uuablc to -see J. O. John ston during his stay East. These men were not inch ned to accept the offer made by Mr. Guerin. They were sattstied with the price but tor persom reasons did -not -care td take oyer the holdings. Ileticc the failure of Messrs.: Steidl aud Gucrin to dispose of the: option. Mr. Meicll implies vcry strongly, however, that something favorable may yet develop in regard to this transaction. ANOTHER PRIVATE DITC1L WIH Water Many Acres In Cllne FalM Country. J. B. Reynolds, a prosperous farmer near Cline 'Falls, is con structing a private irrigating ditch from the Deschutes river onto his laud. The intake of this ditch is about two miles below the head gate of the White Rock ditch - ' Mr. Reynolds has vx acres of laud of his own that will be wa tered by this enterprise, but it is stated that the ditch is" being built witl a capacity sufficient to water inn ch more than his own land. A roug h estimate by men living in tha t neighborhood stntes that this ditch will ultimately irrigate considerably more than 2,000 acres of fertile land. Dorrancc Holdings Will BerSoM. J. G. Dorrance of the firm of Dorrance Bros., brother of the mur dered man, has announced that lie will dispose of the sawmill and other holdings on the Tttmalo, and will move elsewhere, taking with him his brother's two children. Ap praisers were at the mill the first of the week myestiga,ting the plant. Trouble for the C. S. I. Co, The action of V. D. Clark vs. Columbia Southern Irrigating Com pany was tried beforOj'Ustice Nich olinid a jury on last Saturday and resulted in a verdict ' for $joo in favor of Mr. Clark, p'ays the Laid lavV Chronicle. Mr. J?lark sueil for flatiAages becanseof "failure of the cumpuuy 10 luriusu. uim water uur inc 1005 and iqo6. Tlib conioanv ft&iiileil'urwas rjt" compelled to funmh wnter Until all bad; Xuaitf tcnance fees Had been paid. The case was fought Very stubbornly and will Drobably be appealed. Settlers living do the cOrripany's segregation repdrt that there will probably be many similar cases brought against llie" company in the near future. A NEW POSTAL UULINa. Pofltofflce Box Rent Must Now Be Paid In AdVaticc. ,. Postmaster Grant has received instructions from the postal depart ment notifying him that all box rent must be paid in advance on or before the last day of each quar ter. The instructions state em phatically that if the rent is not thus paid, the box must be consid ered unoccupied and the person's mail put in tbe general delivery. The ruling is as follows: Hox rents must be collected at the be ginning of each ouarter for the entire ?uarter, but no longer. Ten days be ore the last day of each quarter post masters are Acquired to place a bill bear ing the slate of the last day of the quar ter in each rented box. It a boxholder fails to Tenets his right to his box on or before the lkft day of a quarter the box shall then Ik closed and offered for rent and the mail will he placed in the gener al delivery ' F. II. HITCHCOCK, Acting Fosuaastor-Gejaeral, TRAPPINcfcOYOTES, Redmond Man Catches Eleven of the Wary Animals Other Notes. Rkdmond, Dec. 10 Lyle Terry Is verv busy trapping coyotes these days. He had trapped eleven when last heard from and still was after them. I have nothing new in regard to the well except that they are still at work. J. C. Dorrancc passed through Red mcuid on Sunday. He says he expects to sell of! everything at the milt and lo cate elsewhere. Work begins this inorn!nglou thereat? between Redmond' and O'Ncil The road was petitioucd for and is to follow lateral D down as asked for in tbe peti tion. Mr. Park writes me from McLallan's camp that they rested most of Thanks giving week on account of so .much frort in the ground, but were able to yrqrk, aP of last week. Mr. Whited of Utdlsw U .out on In ranch near Itedmond. working with a force of men and a tree puller. Jtc ex pects to ehsuge the appearand c of hi' farm considerably by spring. Rev.'Tavenor, a Mcthddist minister c Ilend. preached at "Redmond Suuds) afternoon. ' We-undcrstand he is to hold services rcfculkrly every second and fourth Sunday of each month. Active preparation are being made for an entertainment and Christmas tree for the Sunday achool 'at Redmond Christtiuukevc. The committee report very liberal contributions foV the tree They 'had about.$i4 on Saturday. JUS. K C. I'AKK iTumalo Heats. Ti'mai.0, Dec 11. A light .s,now felt hew .today, which makes p very vuitcry scene. T& snow,isrrepprteil tp-hcabcuvt thrc feet ueep on the SaiitW.rpafl over the tuouulalus. William Vryeor passed through here toil ay on bis way up the Uoscluites river after cattle. - Mr. Spiuksof Culvty, kas.Iii jTuinal last night. He reports grain high n. that vicinity. ' Mr. I'uett of Bend was iu Tuiualo to day after hay wi.Jch scc;us to be a scare, article, as most everyone jg boldivg for the spring. Geo. V. Wiuier & Sons received a shipment of fruit tree last week from rlie Dalles nursery, which they will st out in the spring. A nctitiou will soon ' be forwarded U I the postal department asking an ecten ston i me uenu-umuio man route i ,C. I.. Cist's ranch seven miles nortii of here. The petition bears aboui im- in mes of parties who will be dirMl bev efited oy such au extension aut 1 1 hop d that the department will gniifs then. wishes. We are very sorry to hear thai the Descht'tes Telephonts company Lave abaudot'ed the project of buildiug . line toTunuu'o. There seems to bo ma difficulty in getting subscriptior fo phones, wh.'ch every farmer need f -the company ' offered such libcrul ,K 1 in . it seems very strange qurtbriftv u triers would let sucL' newfed improv. luent slide by. Chlckft ns for Sale, I hayc for sale some pure-bred BamdPlymouth Rock hen ilso some'Bpriug chickens, fiue tot 1 ible use. i:an .deliver at iienu ue sired. Mrs. C. B. At,U'.- sired, Mrs. ?tf - ... Bond, Or- n. Tbjere'a NEWSlu The I .ettu