Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-03-29

little crippled brother, now dead and q
rest upon the mountain side.
After the arrival of the household
goods belonging to Mrs. Parsons, the
oabv was placed in the little wheeled col
that he mig hit be the more cas- ly cared for
during his mothers illness, aud scene
him there, by degl ee, there came to the
breast o! tdartha Parsons feeling hall
as If this was her own johnny made
well agan by the angels, just as he
was Wien he first came 10 her. But this
could not remove wholly the awful
sense of loneliness and loss, and the
. gray in her hair became more and more
prominent. and the STOPPING of her
form more and more noticeable as the
days went by.
When Lucy's health was finally re.
st red she again took up her round OF
household dut es known to every farm
ers wife. only permitting her mot er
to do such portion as seem, d D easure
to her, and both IN and Erastus sought
in e'eFy way possible to ill her declin-
ing years W til Comfort
Meanwhile the ontcst between the
railroad cOinpan and the settle con-
tinued. Although having not lied the
eOotiOAS ~ va ATE tuclT MONIES unless
they We're prepared to Ply their full
value, inciud ny all IN rovrmcnts, the
company made NJ immediate ATTEMPT
to orce complain with the r demands.
To do % would bring the WI oil :, matter
prom nen,ly before the country and
raise such Il storm of indignant protest
from the whole peonle as not only t.
force tie com any to relinquish their
claim to the homes of The settlers. but
to the Gu Ire grant o. many M lions of
acres.
Tho conspira' ors we'll knew that IL" "
had complied w tn no portion of the
terms re ,uired in the grant. and that
until they did so they could have no
legal or e' uitab'e ri. hts thereto. They
had dec dcd. however. 10 obtain the
lands wit ,out complying with he terms
of t. grant, and their DO lev was to
harrass the settlers by threats, and in
every way possible to incite them to
sich acts of violence as would bring
them IN conflict W III the State or 10 al
au hor ties. while tho officers of the
company stood ready to appe;lse anv
public sentiment that might be stirred
up against themselves by as ertinr their
readiness to submit to arbitration or
the decision of t! courts, and it was
in pursuance of this policy that they
made no immediate attempts to enforce
their orders to pay or vacate.
When it became evident that thew
were to be forced into long and ex-
pensive contest in defense of the r
homes, the settlers had formed them
selves into league. for the purpose of
employ ny counsel an! taking whatever
other steps were possible for the pro
lection of their rights. An appeal was
made to o. II. Browning, then Sec1e.
tary of the Interior, at Washington. for
his d, els on regarding the ella ms of the
company and of the settlers. Mr..
b owning examined matter careful
ly. listened patiently to the arguments
of the n torneys of tho railroad COM
pary and dec ded that the company
had not bull their road upon the Inc
specified in their charter. but had in
stead built on hundred and fifty miles
distant from that line, where they had
no authority for in lding, and conse-
Qucntly could l. ave no possible claim to
any portion of the grant At the same
tn t he rendered this decision Secretary
Browning ordered the Land Commis-
sioners to con ,idpr the lands in Cali
forni claimed by the railroad company
opened or sci Element, and to allow those
cl i'm ng them under the homestead
and pre-empton laws to prove up and
obtain their patents from the Gov ern-
mcnt.
III s c'sion was received BY the
settlers at the Slough with glad and
CRATE ul hearts. 1t secured them in
thc.r natural and acquired rights, and
was accepted as pr OF that the authori-
ties at Wash ngton were beyond the
power of the CORFU oni>ts. and that
t Gene al Government would contin-
ue to respect the gnts of the humblest
OF her citizens e ually with those OF the
wealthy and powerful
With their love for and pride in their
country and It's in tIutons strength
ened by the justice of this dec.s on of
one of IS officials. those who were in a
cond ton to do so at once prepared
their papers tor prov ng up, but before
they could secure the patent from the
Government. word c:,me that Mr.
Browning had Withdrawn the lands
from market and that they would not
be permi ted t. receive their patent un-
til further not ce.
The cause of this act on on the part
OF the Secretart of the Interior was the
receipt of requ st fro prominent
P0''1iS'oAs viz wa Al Wa OI-NcuCTHl
the Union army. whom the ra llv1d
company had induced to interce for
them, asking that further opportunity
of presenting evidence to show that
they Were entitled to the land in ques-
ton be given en-. hi, was but a
trick OF the con p;rators 10 obtain time,
prevent the settl Is from at on Q reeciv-
ing their dee is from the Government,
and give themse YES oppol tunity 10
learn VIII re an influence could be found
or purchased sufficiently powerful to
secure permanent rev, rsal of the de-
c.sion OF the Secretary. The Presiden-
tai campaign wa, oming on and they
hoped for change IF some kind that
" uld enable tn III to accomplish their
disho est purposes
The settlers, a. houoh anxious and
uneasy in Their minds. believed that the
government would ultimately heal just
~ with them, tended their orch ard and
~, a.xy- \