Wednesday, April n, 1900
4
THE SUMPTER MINER.
RAILROAD RUMOR.
Columbia Southern Will Con
nect With C. B. & Q.
Last week Till: MINI:!' mentioned the
(act that l.oii Cleaver, one of the pro
moters of the Prairie City proposition,
was hi town accompanied hy Christian
Anderson, the locating engineer of the;
Columbia Seuthern: that they left for the,
hills, refusing to (ell UHr destination rr
purpo-e. Mr. Anderson returned a few
days later, unwell. Saturday Mr. Cleaver
mine' In and went on to ..Maker .City.
Monday he passed through town again,
slill as silent as the Sphynx. I le left the
same day (or the west. In thiswiuec
lion, the following stifrv from the Port
loud telegram is of interest:
I he news has just leaked out that
Clulstlait Anderson, chief engineer of the
Columbia Southern railway, and who Is
now lying ill In Sninpter, is in that teni
lory for the piupose of catrylng out the
plans ol that company relative to the
building n( a hue ol railroad to irauite
Irom Shaulko. He has a lorce of men
with him and will go over the unite from
t irnrlte via Prairie Citv to the junction
with the main liueol the Columbia South
ern, establishing grades, elc. I his in
formation is obtained from one who Is on
the inside ol the deal and who vouches
for the authenticity of the leport.
As has been previously stated lu these
dispatches, the Columbia Southern has,
through various sub-corporations, tiled
the necessary papers with Ihe secretaiy
of Mate lor extending its line Irom Mlggs
to Canyon City, Irom thence to Ontario,
via Prahlo Citv, Including brandies from
Praiile CUV to Hums, and Prnlfie City In
(Jiaulle. It is generally reported that
the O. It. A N. compary Is behind the
Columbia Southern. It 'is also reported hi
railroad circles that the O. I. V N. and
the Chicago, Hurliiiglou and (Juincy
people aie on mote than tilendly terms.
It Is stated that the Columbia Southern
will lonueit at' Ontario, the slate line on
the Snake liver, with the projected Pa
tllii coast extension ol the Murliiigtou
load, wlikh it is said will be made either
Irom Hillings, Mnnt.iii i, or its Mlack Hills
line. I he possibilities and elfectiv euess
olsiuha line can readily be seen bv a
glameat the map. It will be 125 miles
shorter to Poillaud than the present
mute. The grades and curses will be
easy in hut, it will be almost a water
level couise from the Snake liver into
Portland, there being only one small
l.inge ol mountains to cross, Instead of
tluee as at present,
Whatever mav or mav not be the trans
continental connections of the Columbia
Southern, the extensions of that road to
C.iuvon Citv, (irauite, Hums and On
tario will open a al empiie Ivlng in the
counties ol ( iraut, Malhuer and Harney,
lUher In all the agricultural products,
Units, stock, tlnibei, grains and game
than any ol the othei portions of Oregon
noted (or their abundance and variety of
Natuie's gilts. Willi all this, till
wonderful region, which Is larger than
most Wastem states, Is literally lined with
gold. In the Utility ol Prairie City,
John Day and C.iuiou City have recent
ly been opened placer and quait mines
which sutpass in richness anything yet
touched hi this great gold belt.
Straw beir Hutte unquestionably will
be the ceutet ol such a rush of prospectors
and investors this season as will pale In
to Insignificance the days ol '41; in Cal
ifornia. Prairie City lies near Strawberry
Hutte and has just been incorporated as a
town, already having 5o people and no
Utile bUsh.ess. With the advent of the
railroad it will become a larger center and
junctioirpoint. Huyersnte already pur
chasing town lots on the strength of I
Engineer Anderson's visit. A point of
note about the Prairie City district Is that
the richest gold ores are smelting ores,
and the mountains are full of limestone.
Owners of these properties declare their
I Intention, upon the completion of the
Columbia Southern, of forcing the estab
lishment in Portland of a large smelter
with siillicieut capacity to handle all the
ores of Eastern Oregon upon a paying
basis to both miners and the smelter.
Civil Engineer Phllbrick, who has just
completed the surveys for the townslle,
says that Is the richest mineral and agri
cultural country he ever saw. He took
si.x assistants with him, all of whom have
remained in the hills and have gone pros
pecting. A well-known railroad man who has
just returned Irom New York and has
gone 011 to Portland, is authority for the
statement that the C. H. & Q. Is going
to make a transcontinental connection
with the Columbia Southern. Should
this prove to b- true, It fs stated that the
(0. R. cv N. will hold .1 full hand of trump
.cards in tile Western railroad world. As
the North Padtic Coast terminal of the
( iteat Northern, Union Pacific, Rio
(iraiideaiid C. H. & (v. its position will
be impregnable. '
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Four Will Be Voted On at the Election
In June.
hour amendments to the state constitu
tion will be voted 011 at the coming June
election a larger number than was even
submitted to the people at any one time.
lirst of these is the proposed alteration :
of qualilicatlons for exercising the elective !
franchise, popularly understood as woman !
sulferage. '
'I o facilitate the construction of greater 1
irrigation systems an amendment to the
constitution Is submitted to the people pro
viding lor the necessary use of lands for
the construction of reservoirs, etc.
An increase in the supreme judges from 1
three to live Is a third proposition of con-'
siderable Importance that will be decided
by ballot.
I he fourth Is an effort to incorporate in
the constitution a provision tiiat 110 city
or town of the state shall be permitted to
Incur an indebtedness exceeding s per
cent of its taxable property, and In com
puting the total Indebtedness that already !
incurred must be included.
Woman suffrage is the only amendment I
proposed that previously has been sub
mitted to the choice of electois, this being j
before the people in the election of 1884, j
w hen It was defeated by a large majority.
Increase of the number of supreme judges
Is a question of comparatively recent ori
gin, since the work ot that tribunal has,
become so heavy that its members are ap
proximately two years behind in passing
on cases submitted for adjudication.
I hat part of the constitution relating to
amendments, paragraph 1, article 17,
leads as follews: "And If a majority of 1
said electors shall ratify the same, such
amendment or amendments shall become
.1 part of this constitution." Ilr. Hingham
isauthoiltv for the statement that every!
lawyer to whom he has presented the mat
ter agrees that this means a majority of
the votes cast must be in the aflirmative,
else the amendment is lost. The Import
ant feature of this interpretation of the
law is that a man not voting on the
amendment is counted as voting against
it. Each voter who leaves- the space op-t
posite the amendment blank is virtually ,
saying "no." This demonstrates the ne-1
cessity of studying up on the amendments I
and qualifying oneself iutelligently.to de-1
termlne one way or the other, and for this ,
teason the committee of lawyers .was ap-
pointed to agitate the questions ot increas
ing Ihe number of the supreme judges.
Several state exchanges.
Superior job printing at this oflice.
mmmmmmrc?mmmmmmmfl
2 O. C. McLeod R. C. Pentland m
1 0. C. McLeod & Co. I
Real Estate
and Mines...
Our real estate business is transacted
on a strict commission basis and we
seek the best bargains in the market
for our customers.
5 ALL MINING PROPERTIES handled
: by is- are subject to EXPERT EXAM-
r I NATION. We have propositions of
unusual merit to offer.
For information as to the city or district, call
g- on or write -
O. C. McLEOD & CO., 2
: Sunpter, Oregon 3
Capital Hotel
THOS. KILPATRICK
Proprietor
Centrally Located.
Electric Lights.
Newly Refurnished.
Pree 'Rus and Hag
gage Service.
Headquarters for
Commercial and
Alining Men.
Passengers Waybllled
To all Points on Stages.
SUMPTER,
OREGON.
Bousum & Spalding
CRYSTAL JQ Company
Pree delivefy of-Pure Ice.' 'Leave, orders at office of Columbia Brewing and
... ..Malting Co., next door to MlNI-R office.