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