Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-09-07


number Of titled HOllanders, and confined
| all Overtures Of a sale TO them. Finally
! Waddingham and his English friends
! formed a company and sold the securities
/ mortgage bonds and shares TO thes.
| Dutchmen. The aggregate capitalize
ton, bonds and shares together was E10,
Z 100000. The Englishmen were made
even, and they at once lost all interest il
the matter. Waddingham is said t
have gained 100000 by the trans
I action, but Bliss, the newspaper
( man, was left penniless in London
! When the Dutch company discovered
] that the grant was Of uncertain title and
/ OF unknown dimensions, and that the
/ property had been saddled with large
/ floating debt, the stockholders were in
/ despair. SQuatters held high carnival, and
I the company lost all control over the
/ property. A majority OF the settler:
/ claimed squatters' rights, and refused tC
4 paw rent. They were ordered OFF the grant
/ but they refused to move. Then followed
l an era Of terror and blOOdshed. Men were
/ waylaid and killed, and others were found
! dead in their cabins with bullets in theil
I brains. Life and property were unsafe
/ everywhere. Scores of men were killed
I by invisible assassins who were never
Z brought to justice. All these murders
/ are as great mysteries to-day as they
| were at the time they were committed
I For four or five years no rent was collect
| ed. and no attention was paid to the set
/ tiers. The Dutchmen had no authority
! TO collect, because they could not fore
I close until the time specified in the bond
I had expired, and the Englishmen did not
care to do anything in the matter. Even
I the taxes were not paid, and all improve.
ments were permitted to 20 to ruin.
At this time Frank SherWin took hold
/ OF the matter, and believing that he could
obtain patent for the land and reclaim
the property from the difficulties in which
1t was placed, he entered into a contract
with the Dutch bOndhOlders by which he
undertook, at his own cost and risk, to
/ obtain patent from the government and
f -eclOse the mortgage, which then (1S77
amounted, with accrued interest, to about
So,OOO,OOO, wipe out the floating debt, and
form new company. He succeeded in
his undertaking, and for time the af
fairs of the company appeared to be go.
ing on sWimmingly, but il was finally dis.
covered that he had been swindling his
/ associates and destroying the property BY
indiscriminate leases and privileges, and
/ he was, after much trouble, arrested and
| sent to prison for term Of wears,
At about the same time that the peni
| Tertiary doors closed on him Attorney
| General Brewster brought an action il
/ the United States Court at Denver for the
/ cancellation of the patent granted througf
I Sherwin and others to the Maxwell LAND
/ Grant Company, alleging fraud and con
/ spiracy, by means Of which the limits Of
I the grant had been unlawfully extended
/ beyond the original boundaries.
/ The bill sets forth that in 1857 the Sur
/ veyOr General of New Mexico handed il
/ a report TO the Secretary Of the Interior
/ showing that the grant was a valid one
! and that it contained approximately
I OBS, 100 acres, wholly within the county
/ of COlfax IN that Territory. The bill theI
! alleges that after the organization of the
| Dutch company an effort, and a success
/ ful one, was made to extend the bounda
/ ries of the grant. The company applied
to the United States Government FOL
I an official survey Of the grant, anC
I III. NJ. Atkinson, then SurveyOr-Gen
eral Of the Territory, entered into a con
| tract with John I. Elkins and Robert G
MarmOn, Deputy United States Survey
! Ors, to survey the Out-bOundaries of tn,
tract and report truthfully and faithfully
I its extent. In 1877 the surveyors named
Z reported to the Land Office the result o
/ the survey, and the bill alleges that thi
I report was intended to deceive and de
1 fraud the United States; that the out
I boundaries were extended so as to in
I clude a portion of the county of La
I Animas, in Colorado, and that 265. OO
I
1 were thus traudulently included in tn,
I original grant. The President, havIn.
/ full faith in the accuracy of the survey
/ bad Issued the patent, but subsequent in
I formation had shown its dishonest char
1 acter.
The bill assigned as a motive for tn,
[ fraudulent survey the fact that the Presi
/ dent Of the reOrganized Maxwell Com
/ pany was Stephen b. Elkins, a brother o.
1 John t. Elkins, the surveyor, and that al
/ agreement was entered into between the
I two to extend the boundaries Of the gram
I by changing the geography Of the cOun
\ try; and il was further alleged that thu
| stockholders and agents of the cOmpan
| We're aware of the fraud at the time i
/ was perpetrated. The bill shows further
| that most of the lands which the com
| pany seeks fraudulently to obtain are now
/ held by actual settlers, and that it is the
I cOmpany's aim to force these people K
move or pay rent. In conclusion, tn,
/ complaint asks that the patent be de
I clared null and void, and that a new sur
I vey Of the grant as made by the Mexican
\ Government be ordered. Several Othel
/ suits growing out Of the matter are alsC
I pending.
Two or three Hollanders are now her,
] watching the progress of events. They
] are confident that the grant is good prop
I erty, although it has been IMPOVERISHED
| BY the leases and contracts made by Sher
| win. They are anxious 10 have the bOun
. Diary lines finally fixed, and say that
while they hope to get all the land that i
was represented to them belonged to tht
! tract, they will give up gracefully if they
I find they have been swindled, and say M
/ more about it. The grant is rich in min
/ eral, timber, and pasture lands, and some
/ day it will probably yield good revenue
That gold has been found in the tract il
abundance is proved by the numerous
/ stories told Of Matt Lynch, of this town
! who gained possession of some rich placer
I diggings and secured great wealth. Hi
! mines were far from civilization, and mucl
I danger was encountered in wOrkins
I them. Robbers were more to be feared
/ than Indians, and many fights occurred
resulting in loss Of life. Lynch never
/ told how much money he was taking out
| of the ground, fearing that he would be
| attacked by the robbers. He kept his own
/ secrets, and every sixty DAYS placed hi.
/ gold in the Trinidad bank. Az the mine
/ he kept the gold in hiding place in his
I cabin. When he thought he had enough
I he placed it in large sack, threw it across
I his horse, and at the dead of night made
/ his way across the mountains to Trinidad
I He did not dare travel during the day
/ Although his mines were often attacked
] he never was mOlested during his lonely
I trips.
Other equally valuable mines exis
/ within the grant, and will be developed
when the Dutch company begins work
| 1t is believed that the days of murder
I fraud and conspiracy In connection with
/ the great Maxwell estate are over with.
/ The speculative lemon has been squeezed
/ Millions have been made out Of it fraudu'
/ lentlv. Millions still can be taken from
I il honestly. The result Of the trials il
] afF NJ no wit
| interest by the manager Of the Blaine
I campaign.
| ENGLISH MANNERS AT TABLE
A Hint to Ill Bred American Dudes.