Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1885-10-22
TIMBER STEALING.

How Cnscrupu'ous Corporations Car: y On
System Of Robbery That Would Con-
sign Private Individual to thu Peniten-
tiary--Operations of the .tdontana I'm
prevement Company"
WASHINGTON, ID. c. October Ia
Commissioner Sparks. of the General
Office, has received me following report
in regard to the cutting of timber In the
Northwest:
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GENERALLY
RXrapRUM, inAao, october 8, 1885. )
To Lon Commissioner General Land Oae;
SIR: have the honor to report that have
completed the reports in the Northern "a
Improvement Company timber t-espass
cases, and herewith transmit eight reports,
making, with what 1 have ALREADY
mcnts in all, showing that these corpor
atoms have caused to be cut from tine put
lie domain 4l101,0O0 feet of lumber anS
shingles (6l,eoO bundles; S2,os5 cords o.
wood, and 2O,eIO cedar posts: To value
the lumber ut $40 per LOCO feet (Which
forty cents per tie. the wood at s. per cord,
the posts at $50 per 1909, and the shingles mt
$50 per 900 or fifty cents bundle, would
amount TO sSb, 4os . This ,,e does a nUi
wood cut by the Northern Pacific Railroad
Company by Eddy Hammond X Co, when
changed its firm name to the Montana I'M
provement Company" in July, 1888, as l
found it an absolute impossibility to get
witnesses to testify in those cases, or even
find persons of whom l could obtain any
thing like satisfactory Information where
the depredations were committed, between
Rathdrum and Bearmouth Montana, Is very
thiniy settled, and the men who were eIn-
ployed on the contracts during the
construction of the Northern Pacific
railroad. have gone to parts unknown
G o%rsr TO ons th as aHan
it otherwise should. l was also Eampered
by officers of the Montana Improvement
Company, who appeared to expect an IN
ton. The company have agents along the
line endeavoring to suppress the facts OF
the Montana Improvement Companys OPP
erntions. The company is an unscrupulous
corporation, that will leave nothing undone
to gain their point. l found that no reii-
ance whatever could be placed on state
ments made by officers of the Montana I'm
provemcnt Company.
have mailed You a copy in duplicate OF
the contract between the Northern racine
Railroad and the Montana improvement
Company. 1t was flu nished me by ii. W.
Fairweather, of Sprague, Wyoming: an ex'
Division Superintendent of the Northern Pa
cific Ra iroad Company.
Special Timber Agent,
Rathdrum, Idaho Territory.
The contract referred to by Agent
Haley in the above report is between the
Northern Pacific Railroad Company Of
the first part, and the Montana Improve
ment Company of the second part. l,
binds the railroad company to withdraw
all of it's timber lands from sale and
proposal. and gives tie Improvement
Company the exclusive right to Gu
timber from the lands. In return fol
the privilege, the Improvement Con
pany transfers to the railroad company
one thousand and one full shares
of its capital stock, of the value OF 81,
900, 100, reservins to itself shares valued
at 1899, 900. The Improvement Company
agrees also to erect at Its own expense
all mills and furnish all plants necessar.
for Its business of timber cutting.