LANE
Continuing tho Sprlngfiold Nowa and Lano County Star, Which Woro Consolidated February 10, 1914.
K him t f nr itrr II, lull, it Hnrluifftnll, Intuitu, Mieconil
rlim iiinllirimitir nrtol t:uiro of M ttttt, 1WU
SPRINGFIELD, LANE COUNTY, OREGON, MONDAY MARCH 20, 1916.
VOL. XV. NO. 15.
Cities That Wait to be Struck by the Lightning of Prosperity Continue on the Waiting List
-AMIAMIIKA, CAL., ADVOCATE
THE
COUNTY
NEWS
COUNTY HAS THE
RIGHT TO LEVY
CITY ROAO TAX
Tho right of the county court
to specllly a certain portion of
Hh general fund for road purpos
es was upheld by Circuit Judge
Sklpworth In u decision Friday
In the caao of L. N. Roney, n tax
payer, who appeared In court
In the Interest of Eugene, and
Incidentally Springfield to con
test the right of tho court to levy
road taxes In theso cities, which
under their charters are sep
arate road districts.
Tho court holds that while the
county court has no right to levy
a tax for road purposes against
the property of tho city, it lias,
irrespective of the charter, tho
right to Include hi Its general
levy for Its general fund, such
amount for road purposes as it
sees in. i no couiuy court, wniio
II naincu a certain amount in its
published document prior to the
making of the levy for road pur
poses, did not name a certain
amount for that purpose in the
levy, Intending to uso the 2.79
mills for road purposes out 'of
, the levy for general purposes.
"It Is the opinion of the court
that the county court in making
up, its budgot and in providing
for a general fund had tho right
to Include in such general fund
such amount ns the county
court determined necessary for
road.purposes," said Judge Skip
worth lirhls opinion.
"It Is the opinion of the court
that tho tax complained of by
the plaintiff is legal and that tho
plaintiff's property and tho tax
able property of tho city of Eu
gene Ib liable for Its proportion
ate sharo of thereof."
Taxpayers of Eugene and
Springfield will now bo compel
led to pay tho full amount asses
sed against them, unless the
ease is taken to the supreme
court and reversed.
J. M. Dovers, district attorney,
and IlehnuB W. Thompson woro
counsel for tho county and 0.
II. Foster and.S. P. Ncsb for the
dty. '
EXCESSIVE PRICE ASKED
FOR CLOVER TREATMENT
County Agriculturist Alcorn
reports to tho News that there
aro solicitors at work In Lano
county selling a preparation for
treating clover seed to Increoso
the yield, their prlco being $2
foi treatment of enough seed
for an acre. Mr. Alcorn states
that enough to treat seed for
IB acres can be secured from
tho agricultural college at a cost
of GO cents.
ISECTS INJURIOUS .
TO CLOVER
Clovor Root-Bore
Clover that has stood for two
years has, very probably boon so
bably injured that it will not pay
to leave it during another season
Thoso who have clovor that was
seeded Intho spring of' 1914, or
earlier, should examine it very
carefully to detirmlno whether
or not it will produce a paying
crop this season. Iiecont ex
amination of some fields near
Eugono that produced excellent
crops last year shows that a
largo percentage of tho plants
aro already entirely dead and
that tho others are so badly In
jured that a paying crop cannot
be produced this year.
Tho Injury is done by the
larvao, or immature Btago, of a
small dark bronze-colored
heattlo, about ono-olghth of an
Jncho long. During tho fall of
ho year the larvao chnngo to
jus whieii lituoraio ovor tno
whi
In tho old larval tunnels
i . j i
in twsaiooiB, anu emerge in uio
spring to doposlt eggs In . tho
crowns of other clovor plants.
Tho roots or first year plants ure
too small for tho larvae to work
on so tho Injury Is done largely
during tho second summer.
There seems to bo no way to
avoid Injury except by ploughing
up damaged crops during tho
fall and winter, so the adult
bcctloB may bo oxposed to tho
weather and thus reduced in
number.
Thoso who nro to produce
clover seed this year should plan
to pasture back their clover as
late as possible and still permit
the seed to mature, or should cut
it for hay at about that time and
leave tho second crop for seed.
No early blossoms should be
left In the field or In the vicinity,
since the clover flower midge
and the clover Bccd chalcids that
live over winter will uso these
flowers for breeding places and
thus produce a large number of
new Insects that mature in time
to injure the main seed crop. If
the early flowers aro kept past
ured or cut back, the winter
brood of insects will have largely
perished before the main seed
crop blossoms and thus very
little injury will be done to this
crop.
J.-M. ALCORN,
Acting County Agriculturist.
Local Railroad,
Yards Congested
The local yards of the S. P.
company aro greatly crowded
by tho traffic in and through
Springfield. With the many log
trains, tho gravel trains, and
tho weighing of the loaded cars
from .'the Yendling ami Oak
Irldgo branches, the tracks are
kept full tho greater part of the
.time. This morning the train
from Wondllng was delayed for
jflvo minutes cast of the station
until freight 245 could be coup
led up nml moved out onto the
,V.-P. gravel siding which hap
pened to bo empty at tho time.
! Night before last two engines
had to bo left on the main line,
marked with warning lights, for
there was no room on the sid
ings. ' CAMP CREEK ITEMS
Special to tho Lano County News
A number of tho people from
hero attended tho sale at Ny
han's Thursday.
I F. W. Brown wn8 n Walter
vilio on business Tuesday.
Mrs. Walter Stephens and
Mrs. Charlie Jack were visitors
at Upper Camp Creek Wednes
day. I Mrs. Masterson was a Spring
field visitor Sunday,
j J. K. Platts Is shearing sheep
for Mr. Bream.
INDUSTRIAL NOTES
Salem, March 13. Port of
Unipqua Commission votes $200
'000 bonds to construct jetty.
I Coos County Commissioners
-plan $25,000 addition to Court
House.
25 out of 30 sawmills located
on Columbia and Willamette riv
ers in operation.
Bakor Gold running $500 to
tho ton uncovered In Carroll B.
!miue.
I Portland Union stock yards
to havo a new building, to cost
$150,000.
I Plans aro being drawn for a
$100,000 hotel at Gearheart.
S. P. Co., bogins electrification
of West side lino from Whlteson
to Corvallls, cost $800,000.
Nort Bend Oregon Wood
Products Co., grows from G men
,to an men payroll in a month.
Iloppner is to havo a now
creamery.
spnnguew uaiston steel uar
Co., of Ohio lets oontract to
Booth-Kelly mill for 0,000,000
feet of lumber with which to
build 2,000 freight cars for S, P.
company.
Bend Lang & Co., of Port
land buys Btto for wholeBalo
grocery warohouso.
Modford now expects to got a
beet sugar factory.
Portland estimated' popula
tion at present 281,000.
SPRQULE EXPLAINS
0. a C. LAND
T CASE
President William Sproule, of
the Southern Pacific railroad, In
a letter to the San Francisco
Chronicle sets forth the com
pany's view on the Oregon-California
land grant. The letter
follows:
"Will you allow me to express
regret that in the Chronicle,
whose editorials are usually so
well Informed, your editorial of
this date on tho Oregon railroad
lands should be an exception to
the rule, ns it assumes that this
company Is making an illegal
effort to retain the lands under
the grant. The facts of the case
will dispel this assumption, and
as I know you wish the facts,
will you allow me tho privilege
of stilting the main points
briefly?
"The supreme court cf the
United States held that the com
pany Is the owner of tho lands
under the grant, with absolute
tltlo, subject only to the restric
tion that when it chooses to sell
these lands It shall sell them
only to actual settlers in parcels
not exceeding 1G0 acres and at
a price not exceeding $2.50 an
acre. It reversed Judge Wolver
ton, who held that because the
company had sold these lands,
with the timber on them, in
larger parcels than 1G0 acres,
and to perosng not ,actual setr.
tiers and for prices exceeding
$2.50 an acre, the company had
forfeited its title to all lands un
sold. Shortly after the company
received this grant of lands it
offered them for sale in accord
ance with tho restrictions, and
in early times sold substantially
all of the lands that were suit
able to settlement at prices not
exceeding $2.50 an acre; but it
could not, under tho restriction
to sell only to actual settlers,
sell the lands which were not
suitable for actual settlement,
as some of them were timber
lands.
"Thereafter, because the pro
visions or the grant did not and
could not apply to the character
of the lands remaining unsold,
the company did make sales of
these timber lands in larger
tracts than 1G0 acres to persons
others than actual settlers and
for prices exceeding $2.50 an
acre. It wfls these sales which
were made the foundation of the
claim on the part of the govern
ment that the company had for
feited its title to all the lands
unsold, which claim was reject
ed by tho United States supremo
court.
"The position of the company
is, that being the owner of these
timber lands and under no obli
gation to sell them, and in fact
it being impossible to sell them
under the restrictions of tho
grant, it has the right of any
other owner to dispose of the
timber on these lands just as it
would dispose of any other crop
on tho land; at tho same time
admitting that when it comes to
sell tho lands themselves it must
do so under the terms of tho
grant. The cutting of the tim
ber from theso lands is, in fact.
GRAN
MB-
' penses,
BeaveMieradpiiIIardwareCompany
a step toward making them fit
for settlement, so that they may
bo disposed of under the terms
of the grant.
"Here, then, is the exact ques
tion between the company and
the government. The govern
ment, on one hand, claims that
the company shall not he allow
ed to realize more than $2.50 an
acre for any of these lands, even
though they may be worth many
times that amount, because of
the timber thereon. Tho com
pany, on the other hand, says
that its title to these lands has
been established by the supreme
cpurt of the United States, that
the grant puts it under no obli
gation to sell these lands at any
time; that it may exercise the
ordinary right of an owner to
sell the timber on these lands,
and that it will have fully com
plied with the ternis of the grant
if, after the timber is removed,
It sells these lands only to actual
settlers in IGO-acre parcels for
prices not exceeding $2.50 an
acre.
"The facts show that the po
sition of the government, If car
ried out, will force upon the
company a large financial loss;
ih'iother words, while this grant
was one to aid the construction
of the railroad, it would turn out
to,be, If the position of the gov
ernment is correct, the means
only of producing a deflct for the
grantee, and this appears from
the following facts:
Expense to the company
of administering this
prnnt ?1,371,995.20
It has paid taxes on these
lands aggregating ?2,757,647.84
Making total expense and
taxes ?4,129,643.04
The company's total cash
JwwelptB from nil sources
Sunder this grantrfnclml- ""' - -
ing the sales of lands,
amount to $5,345,468.93
This leaves tho company
a net revenue from past
transactions of 1,215,825.89
Tho lands of this grant
heretofore sold aggre
gate (acres) 804.637.75
Which have yielded tho
company therefore an
average not revenue for
tho lands Bold per aero
of - - $1-51
"And, further, this grant re
milrpfl the coninanv to carry
I free for the United States gov
ernment its mails, troops, muni
tions of war anu puunc stores
over this railroad without limit
as to time. The value of tins
true trnnsnnrtntion at regular
rates which has been furnished
the government equals $2,064,-
407.10, WHICH amount exceeus
the receipts of the company un
der the grant by $808,641.21. It
pnihrnpfis the service between
'Portland and Roseville Junction,
G64 miles.
"From the experience of the
past we may be certain that the
company will be called upon to
furnish the government free
transportation of the value of
$75,000 per annum, and this is
a perpetual obligation. Now if
we could sell every acre of the
land at upresent unsold, viz., 2,
400,000 acres, at the price of
$2.50 per acre, this would yield
$6,000,000, which would be used
up in 80 years by the free trans
portation which we are bound to
furniRh the covernment. leaving
the company thereafter for all
time to furnisn transporuiuuu
to the government without com
pensation. "Rut there is a considerable
quantity of this land, at least
400,000 acres, wmcu caunut u
cniri nt nnv nrice. hence the
amount that could be realized by
m
nnnn TOOLS MAKE
GOOD WORK
Good workmen get gVod
results from good tools.
Good hardwaro stands up
ind shows up good hard
waro costs -a trifle more
than the indifferent kind
on the day you buy, but by
standing up against the
wear and tear longer the
quality product shows a
Vast saving on general ex-
M
'sales would be something likn
;$3,000,OOQ or $4,000,00 at the
i utmost, from which expenses of
i administration and taxes must
i be deducted.
. "The company, therefore, In
sists upon its legal rights as the
owner of these lands to dispose
of the timber thereon, and any
fair adjustment of this matter
'with the government, consider
ing all the facts, would not deny
to the company this right, a
right which in a similar trans
action between private individ
uals would not be questioned for
a moment."
HOSPITAL NOTES
i Mrs. Bean of Halsey will be
able to leave the Springfield
: hospital tomorrow for her home,
j Mrs. B. C. Stevens of Walter
:ville was taken to her home to
'day after an operation at the
hospital.
1 Mrs. Barber of WendUng who
has been in the Springefild hos
pital for some time was taken
'to her home last night.
I Mrs. J. W. Freeman of Mabel
who has been , at the hospital
'since an injury some time ago
jwill be able to be taken to her
jhome Tuesday.
i Mrs. O. B, Smitli after a suc
cessful operation at the Spring
field hospital will be taken home
Wednesday.
Mrs. It. W. Baker, manager of
the Springfield hospital leaves
tonight for Portland ion busi
ness. Much interest was taken Sat
urday night in the closing of the
graphonola contest at the Bea-ver-Herndon
store. Those. Yjin-nin-prizeaswere-sii-
A
(115)Mis3 Eunice Parker, 14,
677,195, Graphonola.
(104) Miss May Hills, Fall
Creek, 10,334,195, 15 Jewel
Wrist Watch.
(107) Nell Nixon, 6,634,005 7
Jewel Wrist Watch.
(4) Gladys Lee, 4,372,375, Sil
ver Toilet Set.
Lightning Plays in
the Nearby Hills
A thunder storm of consid
erable intensity passed to the
south and eastward of Spring
field Sunday afternoon, making
;a brilliant display for half an
i hour or more. One bolt struck
not far east of town, and a
transformer on the line on East
Main street was burned out. The
power was cut off for three
quarters of an hour in the af
ternoon, by the blowing of a
lightning arrester at the power
i plant, and the juice was cut off
for a few minutes again at 7
in the evening while tbje trans
former was being cut out.
The church at Leaburg is re
ported to have been shifted on
its foundation, and much dam
age is said to have been done in
the vicinity of Portland and Ore
gon City.
INDUSTRIAL NOTES
Brickettes may bo manufac
tured from waste at Florence
mills.
flnrload of nennermlnt roots
! shipped from surrounding coun
try to Albany last week.
TT. S. National Bank nlans to
; build $250,000 structure in Port
land.
Cold storage plant for handl
ing deep sea fish proposed for
Coos Bay,
Refining plant to haudle Silica
deposits, discovered near Ore
gon City, to bo built.
Jitneys ask for franchise to
run between Oregon Citv and
Portland "when weather is good
again."
Plans are being drawn for
many Oregon bridges.
Astoria is onenintr bids for
much street improvement Avork.
AHiwauiceo council votes 10
buy out local water company.
A or.oainery is plannqd for
Stanfield. .
0
III PIANO CONTEST
ON APRIL 4TH
$5 In Cold to Candidates Mak
ing Largest Cains in Votes
Since First Count. This Should
Make Candidates Hustle.
The time for the second count
is fast approaching and with It
interest in the result Is growing
more keen with friendly rivalry
among the contestants for first,
place. The remaining days will
witness an active campaign for
more votes. New subscriptions
are coming In and the mer
chants' coupons.
There will be another prize in
gold at the next count April 4:
I Five dollars goes to the con
testant who makes the greatest
'gain in votes between now and
ithe next count April 4. This
gives all the contestants a
I chance to win one of the special
prizes no matter where they
i stand now.
I If you are not a subschiber for
(the News now is the time to
start, or if you owe, now is the
1 time to pay. You have no doubt
ia friend among the contestants
jwho' would be delighted to have
your votes.
j Five dollars iri gold is worth
considerable effort 'and the, en-,
ergy put forth to secure this
fiaearer su ccees' atthe -fisfek --when
the piano will be awarded! "
There is nothing worth while
obtained in this world without
energetic and thoughtful effort
and to become the victor in this
contest and receive the reward,
that goes with it is worth while.
If your efforts heretofore have
been spasmodic, from now on
make it continuous and deter
mined. Enlist the men as well
as the women folks in your be
half. They will enjoy the News
and will be glad to help you
along to victory. Speak to your
friends and neighbors and see
how quickly they will respond.
One of the beauties of this con
test is that few are disappointed
there are many prizes. It is
a time when you ask your
friends to show their friendship
in a substantial way by assisting
iyou.
The count on April 4 will be
'decisive as to the $5 but its im
iportance must not be overlook
ed for your standing on that oc
Icasion is a sort of barameter
j to your following of friends and,
if you win it will be the result
of the efforts of yourself and
friends.
The News has the laudable
ambition to improve right along
and to go regularly to every
home in Springfield and vicinity,
to stand for and promote those
things hich will be for the good
of the community and to yield
as great an hiuence as i psjble
(Continued on Page 4.)
Springfield Bakery
Changes Hands
A deal was completed late
this afternon whereby Herman
Shrader of Oregon City pur
chased the Springfield Bakery
from S. Young. The new own
er will take possession tomor
row morning.
Mr. Shrader has had many
years experience in the bakery
business, and is highly recom
monde. The Youngs have conducted
tho bakery hero for the past
seven years, and have made a
host of friends in a business1
way as well as socially. They
will remain in Springfield for a,
few days, and will then go to
Portland. '
SCO
GO T