The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-12-25


no clear title nov. - there is provision IN
she esu that where such abandoned tracts
Of land are claimed hy purchasers in good
/ iAl'h ir3m the orig nal claimant; or a-s
+ a. the date OF this aef AMI for tweasy
yeSrs prior thereto actually occapled hy
any persons, thai they shall have prior
( rieht 20 purchase said land from the gov
5 eminent st Sl.e5 an acre. The bill has
+ heen iavoTaaly reported from the commit
! tee on public lands and is now awaitinSits
turn on the calendar. lis passage il rec
commended by the commissioners of the
/ general land Office and by the secretary Of
the iaierior.
The bill introduced hv Senator Scuire
| fov the promotion Of Lieut. A. r. Wvesoff
| TO the rank of lieutenant commander does
an act Of justice 70 very able and aistin-
( guishei naval officer, who is well known
/ on Paget sound from his long .tav there.
/ Lseus. Wyckof has record of which snv
one might we'll be proud He graduated
/ from The naval academy in ISIS, ranking
| twelfth in a class of over 40. He first
| csme 20 the Pacific coast in 1877. and for
| three years was engaged in survey of
/ Puget sound. In iSSo he was sent 10
China, where he Was stationed for three
+ years. When the Ashuelot was wrecked
he was largely instrumental in saving ths
! lives OF the officers an d crew. While with
| the Monocaey in 1854 "a navigator he dis
covered the errors in the English method
of determining the turning circle or tacti-
cal diameter of vessels, and worked out a
substitute method. which Is now printed in
"Lunee's Seamanship." text book now in
use at the naval academy. The error in
the English method which Lieut.. Wyckoff
discovered and corrected is believed by
naval officers here to have been the CAUSE
of The los, Of the English hattleship Vic
toria. with several hundred lives. In No
vemeer, isS4. Lieut.. wyckof proposed and
urged the use of OIL in storms. At first he
was ridicuied, but now all nautical author
ities commend the idea. From isS6 To
1855 he was secretary 10 Rear Admiral ID.
L. Brain. commanding the South Atlantic
squadron. and was thereafter sent to Puget
sound to take charge of the naval estah-
iishment and dry dock At Port Orchard.
While experimenting the work there he
was compelled TO live for nearly year in
little old rotten schooner borrowed from
the coast survey, in consequence OF which
he contracted rheumatism and neuralgia
OF the stomach. These were the causes of
his being retired for permanent disability
when he came up for his examination for
promotion in June Of the present year,
without the rank of commander, TO which
his abilities and long service Justly en-
titled him.
Dr. L. T. Mullinix, of Astoria, has been
a resident OF Washington City for several
days. and has become familiar figure in
the halls of the interior department build
ing. The receivership OF the land Office
, at Oregon City, which has jurisdiction
over the most valuable government land
remaining in Western Oregon, is the par
ticulsr juicy plum for which he is holding
his hat. Next TO the office of register at
the same place, which was given TO Col.
Robert A. Miller. defeated candidate for
congress and turned down from ths
Turkish mission, as a 'salvo to his disRp-
pointment. this reeeivership is the most
desirable land Office appointment in that
state. DIR. Mullinix's most formidable ad-
versary vas John c. Weich, of Portland,
bat the latter. when the Oregon National
bank of Portland was recently closed,
made change OF base and had his in
dorsements transferred from the interior
department to the comptroller's Office.
asking 70 be appointed 10 the receivership.
After the appointment of Lionel sIagge hs
returned to his first love.
Oregon Democrats who have sought ap-
pointments rs Indian agents in their own
state and have been made sore by the lack
of recognition accorded 90 their claims
may derive some comfort from the knogl
edge that similar experiences have been
had by applicants in other states. Secre-
tary Hoka Smith evidently believes In re-
taliation, and as the South was oserrun by
earpetbaggers from the North after tho
war, SO now the North il getting as-
quainted with small army of carpetbag-
gers from the South. This accounts for
the recent appointment OF Georgia man
as Indian agent on the Umatiila reserva-
ton. The advanced theory of the seere-
tary is that the poor Indians will be better
cared for by stranger. Details of this
theory have not yet been evolved. Never
theless J. J. Kelly. OF Portland, has friends
here who are working hard 10 get him APP
pointed agent of the Klamath Indians,
and who think his chances are good.
Judge Henry Davis, of Corvallis, Or,
has been making frequent trips TO the de-
partment of justice during the past two
weeks. He Is an aspirant for the district
judgeship of Aiaska, and is very confident
that If any change ut all is made ne Will
be the successful man. The present in
cumbent is Hon. Warren Truitt, of Ore
gon, who was appointed by President Har-
rison about two years ago 10 iill out an un-
expired term. Attorney General olney IS
quite inclined TO follow out the policy Of
the president and TO make no changes in
his department until the incumbcnts have
each served q full term Of four years But
in the case of the Alaska ludgeship IL is
claimed that Judge Truitt is only entitled
TO that unexpired part Of the term to
which his predecessor vas appointed. Ths
attorney general has not yet made mp his
mind upon this point
The four most prominent applicants for
the Portland postofice are ex-Postpa paster
c. W. Roby. ex-Assistant Postmaster j. +.
Burkhardt, Charles y. Waite. who served
four years a. chief OF the money order
Office under Mr.. Roby. and Eugene Proir-
man. an old-ine Democrat. who has never
been very popular with the boys in that
city. All have good strong Endorsements.
Roby il the only one who has appeared
person ally on the scene here. lie Is q
quiet yorker and Is said TO have a strong
pull among influential Democrats OF other
states as well as Oregon. Protzman de-
psnds q good deal upon the fact that he
sss q strong supporter OF Mr.. Cleveland
in Oregon at a time when his reform
policy had male him disgised by all ths