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VOL. XXV.
GRANTS PASS, JOSEPHINE COUNTY, OREGON, FKI1AV, FEBRUARY 23, 1010.
No. 48.
LIBEL SUIT IS
ALREADY FAMOUS
PUBLISHER AND EDITOR TO AP
PEAR BEFORE GRANT) JURY
JEWELL IS STAR WITNESS
The Silly Proceedings Inaugurated
May Prove a Boomerang to
the Inaugurator.
The usually quiet city of Grants
"Pass experienced a period of excite
ment Just before 2 o'clock on Mon
'day afternoon last by the arrest of
the proprietor and likewise the
-editor of the Courier on a charge of
libel sworn to by Judge Jewell. The
.'Judge, who Is of a serious turn of
"mind, ever refuses to see a Joke and
"the result was that the article pub
lished on February 2 regarding the
gravel episode was taken In earnest
and, as he explained to friends, it
was Intended to defeat his re-election
as Judge of this county. As the
paper did not know that he was a
candidate for re-election, the Intent
theory lacked foundation, but that
is a matter to be settled in the fu
ture. Sheriff Russell and Deputy Che
shire visited the office of the Courier
and read the warrants to the accused
und soon the two prisoners were on
their way to the office of Justice
James Holman. The whole ' street
seemed to have been appraised of
the coming event and Sixth street
irom the Courier office to E was a
crowded thoroughfare; the boys hav
ing their own fun at the expense of
the luckless individuals on their way
to court. Here and there a friend
shouted: "I will go on your bonds,
others said they would be up to tho
1ttl with such dainties from their
own tables as might be left," and nu
-news other "joshes" were made,
and everyone seemed to take it as
a Joke.
Arriving at the office of the Just
ice, the defendants were greeted
pleasantly by t.V .ludee, who sp'd
that every consideration would
bo
extended to the abused and It wt
soon agreed the hearing should take
nlace on Wednesday morning at 10
o'clock, and the prisoners were al
lowed to go on their own reeogntz-j
ance. The complaint is as follows:
In the Justice Court for the Grants
Pass Justice District for Josephine
County, Oregon.
State of Oregon, plaintiff, vs. A.
E. Voorhles and C. G. Coutant, de
fendants. A. E. Voorhles and C. G. Coutant,
and each of them, are accused by
Stephen Jewell, under oath and by
this information, of the crime of
libel, committed as follows, to-wlt:
The said A. E. Voorhles and C. G.
Coutant, and each of them, on the
11th day of February, A. D. 1910,
in Josephine County, Oregon, then
and there being, did then and there
wilfully and maliciously publish in
a newspaper called the "Rogue River
Courier," the following false and
scandalous matter concerning Ste
phen Jewell, towlt:
'Charged with Theft of Gravel."
"The county Judge has men at
work filling up the deepest holes in
the road south of the bridge. They
have been taking gravel from private
property for the purpose and Wed
nesday the owner chanced to run
across the men when they were going
after a load and there was an explan
ation demanded, claiming that they
were entering upon his property and
taking away gravel, without his
knowledge or consent. The men.
Bald that they were working for the
county and had been directed by
Judge Jewell to get the gravel and
assured the Indignant taxpayer that
thev had nothing to do with the theft
except as above stated. There was
some more talk and It ended by the
owner of the gravel saying that the
Judge would be made to settle and
Intimated that entering upon a man's
property and stealing gravel was very
small business for a county."
With the Intent then and there had
by the said A. E. Voorhles and C. O.
CouUnt, and each of them, to then
and there injure and defame the said
Stephen Jewell, contrary to the sta
tutes in such cases made and pro
vided and against the peace and dig
nity of the State of Oregon.
STEPHEN JEWELL.
County of Josephine)
State of Oregon, )
i ss.
I, Stephen Jewell, being first duly
sworn, depose and say that the facts
stated in the foregoing Information
are true as I verily believe.
STEPHEN JEWELL.
Subscribed and sworn to before me
this 21st day of February, 1910.
JAMES HOLMAN,
Justice of the Peace.
Wednesday Morning at Court.
The newspaper people were
prompt in their attendance at Justice
Holman's court on Wednesday morn
ing and soon came Assistant Attorney
Johnston, Deputy Sheriff Cheshire,
and last of the Interested parties
came Judge Jewell, looking pale and
exhausted. He was told by the Just
ice that the gentlemen had decided to
waive an examination and before fur
ther explanation could be made he
had disappeared from the court and
Deputy Cheshire was sent after him
to verify the newspaper article and
Identify the defendants so as to make
the proceedings regular. The Judge
placed in evidence a copy of the
Courier containing the offending ar
ticle, and this move necessitated the
placing the newspaper men under
bond, accordingly their ball was
placed at the minimum of $100 each,
and they are out on ball, to appear
before the grand Jury at the next
term of circuit court.
Much has been said about the
growing coldness which, it is claimed,
has existed for some time between
Judge Jewell and the Courier. This
is all speculation on the part of the
(Continued on Page Four.)
BUY HALF INTEREST
IN NOTED ORCHARD
Elmer Shank Takes Two Partners in
His Fruit Farm Down Rogue
River.
The famous Elmer Shank orchard,
formerly known as the Elsmann
property, one of the best orchards
in the lower Rogue River valley, has
attracted the attention of two gentle
men of means and business ability
of Orpqs Vllev, this Rtato. They
pn piTi1f.i H. Bsker and "'hirlt A.
TVirMev. The former Is the cashier
of the Citizens' bank and the other
vice-president of the same lnstltu
tlon at that place. They have pur
chased from Mr. Shank a half In
terest In the property which consists
of 85 acres, 35 acres of which Is in
bearing and 20 acres more which will
be in bearing the coming season;
thus making 55 acres of choice ap
ples. The old orchard the past sea
son produced a $12,000 crop and It
was the worst year In the history of
fruit growing In this valley. The
price paid for the half interest was
$35,000, a figure seemingly below
the real value. The purchasers of
this half Interest are friends of S. E.
Williams, who formerly lived in
Grass Valley, and It was through him
they came on a visit to this section.
The sale was made by J. W. Lucas,
who has been associated with Mr.
Shank in the real estate business
since last summer. Mr. Lucas is an
energetic young business man and
has proved himself a valuable addi
tion to Grants Pass boosters.
The Military Girl a Triumph.
That the cast In the "Military
Girl" should be congratulated on
their success last night at the Opera
house Is putting It mildly. Never in
the history of local talent shows has
anything made the hit that this little
extravangza has done. There was
one loud, long laugh from the ex
cellent comedy, and the beauty of
the girls In their dainty costumes
would put professionals to shame.
Encores were very numerous and
from first to last the performers
each won especial praise.
There was a dash about the per
formance which actually bewildered
the audience not a dull moment In
either act.
The Ladles' Auxiliary had great
foresight In advertising two nights
as the house Is mire to be filled to
Its capacity tonight. Mr. Carlisle Is
to be congratulated on the manner
In which his corps of acton and ac
tresses carried out hit Instructions.
ANNUAL MEETING OF
IRRIGATION COMPANY
Official Report of Proceedings-Board of Direc
tors Is Re-elected Without a Dissenting
Voice-Resume Work at Once.
The Josephine County Irrigation
and Power company held its annual
meeting on Saturday afternoon last
at the Commercial Club. There were
over a hundred stockholders present
and practically all the stock was rep
resented. The large gathering and
the deep interest manifested in the
proceedings was evidence that Irri
gation is the one popular undertak
ing in this section. From first to
last there seemed to be an earnest
desire on the part of everybody to
help accomplish the great work that
has been undertaken by the irriga
tion company.
The proceedings were listened to
with close attention and the men
who had furnished the money to car
ry forward the ditch, construction
showed their approval of the work
done by the irrigation board of di
rectors when they unanimously re
elected the entire directorate.
During the past year there have
been many difficult problems to
solve, all of which have been given
careful attention either by the en
tire board or by a committee chosen
because of their ability to do the
work in hand.
Minutes of Meeting.
The meting was called to order by
the president and secretary request
ed to read the call. Minutes of last
stockholders' meeting were read and
approved.. The secretary then-read
his report, which will appear in next
week's issue. President Gllkey read
his report which follows. After the
president's report, C. C. PreBley
moved that the meeting show by a
rising vote its appreciation of the
work done by the officers and direc
tors. M. J. Anderson seconded the
motion and also put it to a vote
which was carried unanimously and
enthusiastically.
The auditing committee, consist
ing of H. L. Andrews and G. W. Don
nell, reported that they had exam
ined the books and found everything
correct. The report was accepted.
The meeting was then opened for
general discussion, and it was asked
whether in the opinion of the presi
dent the Golden Drift Mining Co.
would be prepared to furnish water
for the present season's Irrigation.
Mr. Gllkey stated that he.could not
answer, but as Ellas Ruud, engineer
In charge of the re-constructlon
work, was present, he was called up
on. Mr. Ruud stated that he could
Been no reason why the dam should
not be fully repaired and put in con
dition to furnish water before June
1st of this year. He dwelt at con
siderable length upon the work that
was to be done and spoke very high
ly of the work that has been done by
the Josephine County Irrigation and
Power Co.
The election being the next thing
In order it was moved and carried
that a nominating committee be ap
pointed. The president appointed
M. J. Anderson, II. L. Edwards, Roy
Lathrop, E. V. Smith and Albert
Hood as this committee. They re
ported the following names as candi
dates for directors: H. L. Gllkey, J.
O. Rlggs, R. Thomas, G. H. Carner,
E. E. Blanchard, Geo. Hamilton, H.
C. Kinney and C. O. Coutant, who
were elected unanimously.
There being no further business
the meeting was adjourned.
President's Report.
"In presenting to you the first an
nual report as president of this or
ganization, I will have to treat on
most subjects In a very general man
ner. The history of this organla
tlon Is familiar to most of you, but
for the benefit of those who have
Identified themselves with the com
pany since Its organization a brief
review of the first steps of the or
ganization might not be out of place,
"More than eighteen months ago
a few of the more determined citizens
decided that irrigation was an abso
lute necessity and that it was use
less to wait longer for outside capi
tal to bring relief. An organization
was perfected for the purpose of cm
ploying a competent engineer, who
was instructed to investigate the pos
sibilities of irrigation in this immedi
ate vicinity and report at the earliest
possible date.
"Fred N. Cummlngs, of Medford,
was employed to do this preliminary
work and after some weeks of inves
tigation he rendered his report upon
five different projects, any of which
were possible Bources of supply for
water for this district.
. "After a thorough dlscuBslon by
your directors, it was unanlmousl
decided that the most practical
source of supply was from the Golden
Drift dam. Negotiations for the con
tract were immediately begun and
after considerable delay all the dif
ferent problems were solved and a
contract finally entered into.
"The capital stock of the original
company was Increased from $10,000
to $75,000, subscription books open
ed and active work of assembing
material and the construction of
ditches was begun.
"During the period from February
to July, 1909, about twelve miles of
ditch were practically completed,
about four and one-half miles of
vhlch were UBed last year, bringing
water to several hundred acres of
land. The demonstration of the
benefits of water was far beyond our
expectations.
Work was then suspended during
the hot months, as it was not econ
omical to construct ditches during
the dry months.
In October a change in engineers
was made, the company securing the
services of Horace Hall, a man of
large experience, coming with the
best of recommendations from Colo
rado. Considerable of our work was
cnecked over and lines run on the
gravity ditch to the lower part of
the valley.
"The rainy season then came on
and brought with It an extraordin
ary high water, which' damaged the
Golden Drift dam, the source of sup
ply, very materially, taking away the
pump houBe and the large pump, be
sides carrying away the head of the
flume of our gravity ditch. In ad
dltlon to this the stockholders of
the Golden Drift Mining company
became Involved in litigation, re
suiting in a receiver being appointed
for that company.
"Since that time there has been a
great deal of uncertainty as to the
Immediate future of our project
While litigation Is going on very
little is being accomplished towards
the damages to the plant. Your of
fleers have consulted with the re
celver, as well as others who are In
terested In the Golden Drift Mining
company, and have been assured time
and again that the repairs referred
to will be complete and they will be
ready to furnish us water at the be
ginning of the Irrigation season, ac
cording to contract.
"The Irrigation company has on
hand twelve head of horses, two road
gradera and smaller tools, ready for
the spring work on the ditches. At
the recent meeting of the board of
directors It was decided the best
policy for the company to pursue
would be to proceed with the con
struction of the gravity ditch, be
ginning, however, below the city
limits of Grants Pass, and thus
avoid some expensive work which
would have to be done on the street
to pass through the city. This lower
section of the ditch would be supplied
with water from the 200-foot level,
that ditch being extended to Inter
sect Gilbert crock, which would con
vey the water to the lower level,
where a dam would be constructed to
divert the water Into said gravity
ditch.
"As an alternative, In the event
that repairs should not be made on
the Golden Drift dam in time to
furnish water for the coming season,
we believe arrangements can be made
with some other concern to pump
the water into our ditches. This is
the present policy of your officers
and will be carried out providing
they have your financial and moral
support. 1
"During the past year and a halt
your officers have served without
salary or other compensation, some
of them having been to very great
expense In addition to the actual
time and energy given to the enterprise."
"A full detailed report as to fin
ances, etc., will be rendered by your
secretary.
"H. L. GILKEY, President."
. C. E. Whlsler to Speak Here.
It has been arranged to hold a big
fruit growers meeting In this city
on February 26, at 10:30 a. m., at
which the noted fruit grower, Charles
E. Whisler, of Jackson county, will
make an address on fruit growing
generally and the opportunity in
Rogue River valley in particular. Mr.
Whlsler is a pleaslr.g and eloquent
speaker and knows tho fruit business
from the very beginning to the end
It is thought the anouncement that
Mr. Whlsler will speak h-re on this
occasion will draw a large crowd
from all parts of the county.
Caught with the Goods.
Two hobos were arrested in this
city Thursday afternoon at the "hobo
camp" near Gilbert creek. The men
had broken into a store at Glendale
last week and purloined quite a vari
ety of goods, some of which were in
their possession when arrested. They
had also disposed of some of the ar
tides at second hand stores here and
were trying to sell others. They
said they came from the south but
the sack in which they had their
wares was labeled Glendale, with the
name of the store from which the
articles were taken. The men are
being held here until the arrival of
the Douglas county sheriff.
INSTITUTE I. 0. 0. F.
LODGE AT WOODYILLE
Grants Pass Degree Team Assists In
the Ceremonies -250 In the
Clialngang.
Probably the greatest event in
the history of our neighboring town
of Woodvllle occurred on last Sat
urday night, the occasion being the
Institution of a lodge of Odd Fellows
there. Golden Rule Lodge No. 78
of Grants Pass, Bent a representation
of about 35, including a degree team
of 20, which put on the third de
gree.
It was a merry crowd of three
linkers that got off the train there
about 3 o'clock in the afternoon
and when the special arrived from
the south about 6 o'clock with an
additional crowd of 160, there was
a hilarious demonstration on the
station campus. At different parts
of the little town a brilliant welcome
was manifested In the shape of sky
rockets and Roman candles.
The "old. boys" from Gold Hill
Medford, Ashland, Jacksonville
Grants Pass and from the by-ways
between Jericho and the Jordan, vied
with the dashing young goat busters
In showing how such an occasion
should be celebrated In true "Odd'
Fellow style.
The Woodvllle members had
commissary department that had
doubtless learned the art of provld
Ing In a queen's cnstle, for the tables
were kept weighted from supper to
breakfast with everything that th
hungry vlnltors could wish.
Deputy Grand Master Vawter was
the Instituting officer, who, after th
completion of his part of the work
turned the floor over to the degre
team of the Jacksonville lodge, who
put the fifteen rnndldates over the
barrel for a touchdown, making the
score In tho Initiatory In one hour
and 35 minutes.
Following thin the Gold Hill de
gree team showed their splendid
ability to handle the first degree,
while Medford In the second degree
and Grants I'hhs In the third degree
created repented npiilause from all.
The Instituting officer was W. I.
Vawter, Past Grand Muster, and act
ing Deputy (Irnnd Master, assisted
by the following npnolntees: Deputy
O. 8 , J. E. Day. P. G : Deputy Grand
Warden, Jos. Moss, P. O.j Deputy
Grand Treasurer, Geo. Lyman, P. O.;
DEBATING TEAM
IS AGA N
VICTOR
HIGH SCHOOL TEAM DEFEATS
ROSEBURG HIGH
JUDGES ARE UNANIMOUS
Now Cliamplon ot Southern Oregon
District Debate Bandon
Next
The efforts of the Grants Pass
high school debating team have again
been crowned with victory, they hav
ing defeated, in this city, last Friday
night, the Roseburg high school de
bating team, the vote of the Judges
being unanimously in favor ot the
local team. The question under dis
cussion was: "Resolved, That a sys
tem of postal savings banks should
be established by the federal govern
ment," Grants Pass taking the af
firmative, the team being composed
of Miss Ierne Ahern, Errol Gllkey
and Roubalx Ritchie, the Bame mem
bers who defeated Klamath Falls
earlier in the month. The Roseburg
team was composed of Miss Grace
Clayton, Alvin Tlppon and Ervin
Street. The judges were Superin
tendent U. G. Smith, of Medford,
Judge F. M. Calkins, of Ashland,
and Nelson McDuff, of this city, act
ing in the absence of District At
torney B. F. Mulkey, who was unable
to reach Grants Pass the night ot
the debate.
The winning on this occasion gives
our team the championship of South
ern Oregon for 1910.
The next debate will occur in
Grants Pass within five or six weeks,
between the local team and a team
from the Bandon high school and,
the subject will be the "Guarantee
of Bank Deposits." The winner of
this debate will meet with the win
ner of the Willamette Valley district
and the victor at that time will meet
the victor of the Eastern Oregon dis
trict, thus it will be seen that it will
be necessary for Grants Pass to win
three more dobates in order to be
declared the winner of the state
for 1910, which will carry with it
the ownership of the silver cup which
was won last year.
We have confidence that the team
will win on each occasion.
Bogus Checks Pawted. '
On last Sunday evening a man
giving the name of J. W. Rowland
was in this city with two checks, each
for the amount of $25, to which it
Is alleged, he had forged the name
of Merchant J. P. Kenny, of Hugo.
One of these checks was cashed by
F. W. Russell, of the Russell Con
fectionery, and the other by Hull &
Sargeant. After passing the checks
the man has made himself scarce in
these parts. Immediately upon find
ing that the checks were bogus, F.
W. RiisbcII swore out a warrant for
his arrest. Sheriff Joe RubsoII fol
lowed him to Eugeno and other
northern points, but the man had a
good start and had succeeded in get
ting Into Washington and up to' the
present time he has not been appre
hended. Deputy Grand Conductor, G. W. Tre
frcn, P. O.; Deputy Grand O. G.
Chris I'lrlch. P. O.; Deputy Grand I.
O., Joshua Patterson, P. G; Deputy
Grand Marshal, J, T. Burke, P. G.
The charter members of the new
lodge are Geo. M. Starr, 8yd F. Pot
ter, E. V. O'Hara, H. D. Sanborn,
John Thrnsher, W. C. Horton, Geo.
l)iid, and the following were, Initi
ated Saturday night as members:
Martin Burkhart, H. C. Breeding, C.
E. Tnlmer, H. E. Bedford, Grant F.
Wertz, Ilobt. E. Breeding. Frank E.
Hall, L. .!. I lees, J. E. Bobbins, Win.
Moxley. W. M. Hlatt, Bobt. Burk
hart, James M. Whipple and M. M.
Beott.
The officers Installed In what was
termed Oregon's baby lodge were:
Noble Cirn rid. Geo. N. Starr; Vlee
Grand, Geo. Loud; Herretary, Sidney
F. Potter; Treasurer, W. C. Horton.
Officers appointed were: Warden, II.
I). Sanborn; Inside Guardian, J.
Thresher.
. if