The Russellville Democrat., 1888-01-26
ARKANSAS STATE NEWS.
Arkansas State Lands.


 ARKANSAS STATE NEWS.
 Arkansas state Lands.
 There is such great demand now for cheap lands in Arkansas that corre- spondent recently visited the Public Land Office III search of facts:
 "We have plenty of land in Arkansas for the immigrants" said State Land Commissioner Cobbs "There are yet nearly l. 900, GOO acres belonging to the State that are subject to ssl eand dona- tion. There are all kinds of lands--agri- cultural, mineral and timber. But they are all going in hurry. For instance, in the fifteen months closing January l, 1888, there had been 1000 tracts donated to actual settlers, who have improved the lands. This is more than double the number for the cor responding period preceding"
 "How have your sales been?"
 i've have disposed of more lands and received more money in fifteen months ending January l than ever before in such length of time. In that tme we sold 491,919 acres, against 32S,5lS acres for the same preceding period, Our do- nations for the time stand 104, 509 acres for the period just closed, against 53,5l5 acres for it's predecessor"
 "How about the money you have re- ceived?"
 "We have received nearly three times as much money in the period mentioned as in the preceding period. The figures arc S165, 755 from September, 1886, to De- cember 31, 1887, while from July 1885, to September, 1886, they stood $63, 257. That is what l have actually paid into the Treasury"
 R. V. Yeakle, the United States Land Agent, stated that "in Little Rock dis trict alone there are about 1000, 900 acres of mighty fine lands that can be secured, and l would like to see them settled by good class of immigrants"
 During the year 54 975.9 97 acres had been taken up for actual homesteads, 39, ,431.Se acres had been sold, and the final proof ot occupancy and cultivation of 0,443.A acres had been made. Of the latter the persons making the proof had to show that they had cleared and developed the land, cultivated it, and erected habitable buildings upon it.
 Governor Hughes recently pardonsd Tom Smothers, who was sent to the peni- ten tiary from Clay County at the March term of Circuit Court in 1887 for grand
 
 that he can not recover, and accordingly the pardon was issued.
 The serious illness at Texarkana of Colonel ". P. Homan, general manager of the Cotton Belt route, causes appre- hension among his friends.
 Arkansas does business on a currency basis. Of the total expenditure of S1 ,853,. TIC made by the State last year, only S666 was in State script.
 Last years crop having been gathered and disposed of, improvidsnt mortgagors are busily engaged in making arrange ments" for the current year.
 The wife of Representative John H. Rogers, of this State, gave a luncheon at Washingto a few days since. The guests were Mrs. Senator Vest, Mrs. C. R. Breckinridge, Mrs. Maltby, Mrs. NJ. J. Durham, Mrs. Compton, Mrs. A. E. Stevenson, Mrs. S. 0. Fisher, Mrs. Ball finger, Mrs. Dunlap, Misses Churchill and Jones, of Arkansas; Miss Whit thorne, of Tennessee; Miss Welch, of Kentucky; Miss Winston, of Illinois; Miss Cabel, and Miss Chandler, of Wash ington,
 The Little Rock Electric Railway Com pany has let the contract to R. F. Wilson for the cons truction of four miles of track.
 George Hunt and William Hadley, high ly connected young men, had an en- counter few days ago at Beebe, result ing in the fatal wounding of the former Both loved Mary Wooten, who rejected Hunt and accepted Hadley. Hunt swore revenge. Hadey, when near his board ing-house, was met by young Hunt. He tried to avoid trouble, but Hunt over powered him. At last he freed his right arm draw hia revol lvar and shot HuDt several times, wounding him fatally. Hadley gave himself up.
 A colored man was frozen to death recently, near Trenton, in this State. The body was discovered by a child and the coroner being notified, made an in- vestigation. It was found that he had fall en in a fit and froze while in tho epileptic state.
 While attempting to board r freight train at Sulphur Bridge, near Taxarkana, on the Texas 6 Pacific railway, a few n ights ago, Mir. Jack Thompson, bridge watchman, fell under the wheels, getting his left leg cut off above the knee He was taken to the company's hospital.
 Sixteen families from Indiana and Iowa arrived in Sebastian County, last week, to settle in that County. W. H. English, the agent of another colony of forty-two farmers of Carroll County, Ia., has fixed upon one of the valleys in Sebastian County as a location and left a few days ago to bring his people down.
 Geo. Collins, of sherman, Tex, entered Viola Blooms house at Texarkana a few nights ago. He struck her over the head with piece of wood, breaking her skull. Coll ns robbed her of $i00 and fled to the Arkansas side, where he was captured The woman was not expected to live.
 Will Halligon, one of the most popular railroad conductors on the South western system, and for the past eight years run ming between Texarkana and Bonham, Tex, on the Trans continental, died very suddenly few days ago from pneu- monia, leaving wife and two children to mourn his death.
 The condemnation suit of the St Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railroad vs. II. B. Carnahan, and was determined last week in the Circuit Court at Little Rock, hav- ing been on trial for five days. The suit ended in a verdict for Carnahan of 5000, about what the company were willing to pay for right of way across his plauta- tion.
 Hugh De Payens Commandery Knights Templar, No. 1, of Little Rock. is the old. est in the State, it's charter dating in 1854 1t is also one of the oldest in the South west, It has numbered in it's ranks many who were eminent in all the walks of life and whose names are indissolubly con nected with the history of this State. Its present membership is about ninety, one- third of whom only are residents of Little Rock.
 New settlers are coming in rapidly.
 A reward of S200 has been offered for the arrest and delivery of John Nut to the sheriff of Franklin County. He is charged with murder in the first degree, and the crime is said to be one of the most brutal on record.
 AdnInh Pnrker nnh Mamie Mnllnrv ,vnre