Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-05-16
LAND sHARPs AND LAND snARPS.
A Senator From q new stateTells How H,
Once Utilized q Locomotive.

AA"E> CAA ~ AAAN ~ ~
A Senator From q New stateTells How He
Once Utilized q Locomotive.
"You never heard how I made use of
. locomotive to secure a valuable piece
of property, did you?" said q Senator
from n Of the new States. "Well, it's
rather q curious sort of q story, and
dates back about thirteen years, to a
time when things out on the frontier
were comparatively primitive. I had
invested all the money / had in the
world in a half section of land on which
the city of Sioux Falls now stands, only
to find subsequently that my title to the
property vas weak, owing to q deed
recorded after 1 had made the purchase,
the person who made the sale to me
having meanwhile died. On the strength
Of this deed suit was brought against
me to recover three-fourths of the land,
and it looked as though I was going to
lose it.
But there was a mystery about the
case somehow. 1 could not find out for
some time in whose behalf it was that
the suit was instituted, but finally dis
covered that it was o man named Jones,
living four miles out of Minneapolis on
a farm. Without delay 1 took a train
for Minneapolis and went to see Jones,
who said that he could not be the man
I sought, for the reason that he had
never owned'any land in Dakota. Never
theless / made up my mind that he was
the person who actually had the title,
although he was not aware of the fact.
The lawyers in Sioux Falls through
whose firm the suit had been instituted,
were simply attempting a swindle with
a view to getting hold Of the land with
out notifying the holder of the title to
the property that he had any such
ownership. That was all clear enough
to me when 1 learned the fact that M
of the firm of lawyers in Sioux Falls
was Jones' uncle. So I made up my
mind that I must obtain from Jones a
title.
II got ex-Judge Sanders, of Mime
apolis, an old friend of JONES', to go
with me to see Jones, and 1 explained
to Jones the matter in detail-the pre-
else value of the land, the manner in
which 1 came into possession Of it, the
validity Of his own title and all the de-
tails. Even had 1 so desired, it would
not have done for me to disguise any
thing, because any misrepresentation on
my part would render my title invalid.
1 merely urged that, on the strength of
certain circumstances which gave ME a
moral right to the land, he ought to
give me a title and so place me in pos
session of my own again. His own
friend, the Judge, urged a like argu-
ment, and Jones finally agreed to give
me a title for the nominal payment Of
$40. The papers were drawn and !
went on my way rejoicing, with my full
and clear title to the property, which
was then worth $4,000 Unluckily
Jones had communicated with his uncle,
the lawyer in Sioux Falls, during the
interval between our two interviews,
and I didn't have time to get out Of Min
neapolis before Jones turned up at the
hotel and demanded the deed back.
This meant that he had received word
from his uncle to hold on to the land al
all hazards, because it rightfully he
= longed to him. OF course I would no
: give up the deed, and then ensued
most extraordinary contest.
although I had q deed my title t.
: = the property was not made until tina
8 deed was recorded at Sioux Falls
: Jones might make the transaction
= naught by simply executing anothe,
\ deed and placing it on record first. Th'
only thing for me to do was to antici
pate any such action on his part BY
!. getting to Sioux Falls myself as quickly
as possible. So 1 took the first train
for Sioux Falls, and after I got or
board kept q sharp lookout. The only
person who excited any suspicion in my
mind was a deformed little man whom ]
knew to be a lawyer, and who ap'
preached me before we got very far on
our 25O-mile journey. Conversation fol.
lowed, during which l allayed his suspi,
cion that I was wide awake and con-
frmed my own notion that he was an
agent of the enemy. Indeed, l became
satisfied that he actually had a deed in
his pocket which it was his purpose to
have recorded before mine. Several
times he got off at stations and tele.
graphed ahead to Sioux Falls, rs l man,
aged to learn, for a team of fast horses
and a carriage to meet him at the depot
on his arrival. I saw that at that rate ]
was likely to be beaten unless 1 devised
some scheme. I set my wits to work,
and an idea occurred to me.
Il left the deformed man and went tc
have a little talk with the conductor,
the result Of which did not appear until
we had got within three miles of Sioux
Falls. At that point the train came tc
a full stop, and the locomotive, from
. which it had been detached, went on tc
the depot. 1 was on the locomotive:
which the other passengers all, supposed
had gone for water, including the de
formed lawyer, who thought that I was
in q rear car and was chuckling already
over his anticipated victory. When
had been landed in the city the locomo
tive went back for the train, and the de
formed man upon reaching the depot
jumped into acarriage andwas driven a.
quickly US possible to the Court House
where he threw down his deed, saying
he wanted it recorded at once. But thu
, clerk said that he was just finishing th'
record OF another deed handed to hin
half an hour before for a certain hal
section of land. The lawyer took a lool
~ 4lo rooorl onI cow thot ho vvo