The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1889-05-24
GETTING READY FOR THE HEATED TERM.
HRS. Harrison Preparing 10 Leare the TEtfte
House-Pension and Other Matters.

GETTING READY FOR THE HEATED TERM.
HRS. Harrison Preparing 10 Leare the Jhfhe
characterization and Other Matters.
Washington special to the Omaha Bee:
II is said that Commissioner Tanner in
tends to establish an entirely new divis-
ion in his office. At the present time
the claims of soldiers go to different ex-
aminers, according to the state to which
the soldier was assigned when he en-
tered the service of the government. 1t
has been the custom for all examiners
to hasten what are called original cases
Cat the expense of the a%pplicant) for an
increase of pension. The result is that
while the original cases are well up, the
claims for increase are far behind. Com
missioner Tanner proposes to have one
division in his office devoted entirely to
increase claims, no matter what may
have been the original residence of the
applicant. It is believed that this course
will have a decided effect in fastening
to final action cases which, in some in
stance, have been delayed as long as
three or four years.
THE SUMMER sOJoURN.
Mrs. Harrison has spent the past week
in busy preparation for leaving the
white house for the heated season. The
executive mansion has been thoroughly
o~verhauled, the wooden carpets and cur
tains have everywhere been replaced by
mating, oil cloth and linen shades. Mr..
j. Mckee, the presidents s~oT-in-law,
will arrive from indianapolis mkt week
to assist in removing his family to Deer
park and in establishing them there
comfortably for the summer. The jaunt
down the Potomac that was postponed
on account of the death of Mr.. Allan
Thorndyke Rice, who was a personal
friend of the president and of the secre-
tary of state, will probably occur next
week. Secretary Blaine had invited the
members of the diplomatic corps to
meet Sir Julian P%auncefote, the new
British minister and it was to be, and
will be, the event of the week in which
it occurs.
APPEALS AND DECISIONS.
No mar in the last administration re-
ceived SO much merited abuse as William
A. j. Sparks, commissioner of the gen.
eral land office. Every settler in the
northwest who had anything to do with
Sparks administration knows how ex-
ceedingly difficult it was to secure the
signature of that gentleman on his pa
pers, which was q necessary preliminary
to securing a patent for the public land
which he had taken up in good faith. A
great of the decisions of Commissioner
Sparks are now coming up for review on
appeal by the homesteaders and pre-
emptioners, who failed to secure the
consideration to which they think them
selves entitled. Assistant Secretary
Chandler has general charge of all these
appeal cases in the interior department,
and Mr.. Chandler shows not only marked
legal ability. but what is so much more
to be desired, common sense in handling
these cases. There was an instance of
this to-day when an appeal from the de-
cision of the commissioner of the general
land Office made on the 2Sth of October,
1887, in the case of George L. Ward,
was decided. Commissioner Sparks re-
iected the final proof of Ward on his
presumption declaratOry statement for
the southeast quarter of section 30, town
ship 81 n, range 4S in the Chadron dis
trict of Nebraska. Ward proved that he
had complied with all the requirements
of the law. He had taken up the land,
and resided upon it continuously, had
spent several hundred dollars upon I'M
provements, had broken up the required
number of acres of land, and had earned
the money to make these improvements
by working at his trade, in the town OF
Chadron. Sparks rejected his final proof
solely upon the ground that his wife and
six children did not live on the place.
Ward proved that his wife had declined
to follow him from Iowa simply because
she desired to educate her children,
and found the facilities in her old home
in the Hawkeye state greater than were
offered in the comparatively new settle
ment in the vicinity of her husbands
home. Sparks held that because Wards
wife continued to reside in Iowa that
therefore his entry was fraudulent. AS
sistant Secretary Chandler takes an en-
t1rely different view. He finds that the
man has complied with all the require
ments of the law and that he pre-empt-
ed the claim in perfect good faith. He,
therefore, holds that the final proof
should be accepted, and that Wards
title to his quarter section should be
perfected.
There was another Nebraska land case
decided by Assistant Secretary Chand-
Ter to-day, which was the appeal of Isa-
iah F. Folsom from the decision Of the
commissioner of the general land office
refusing his application to amend his
timber culture entry of June 80, 1886,
from the southeast half of the north
east quarter, and the northeast half of
the southeast quarter of section 6. town
ship "a north, range 81 west, of the Val
entine district of Nebraska. This was
q case wherein the claimant, in point
ing ont the land which he had selected
got mixed on the map, and unconscious
ly filed upon land which he did not de-
sire to enter. Assistant Secretary
Chandler holds that inasmuch as the
error was natural for a man who was
not familiar with maps, the decision is
modified so far as to permit a new entry
upon the lands which Folsom intended
to enter, provided they are subject to
timber culture entry.
Inter- State Commerce Circular.
Washington dispatch: The Interstate