Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1897-02-25
\ AukDAX All AFniNaMN


SPRINGER, N. M, February 2lst,
1897 The old saying, ',the better the
day, the better the decd" may be in
vokod as IN excuse for u Sunday
letter.
just now, Springer is the center Of
attraction, tho Mecca to which all
transgressors Of the law travel. Courl
opened with about sixty criminal cases
on the docket, nine persons in Jail,
two on charge OF murder, and about
twenty more under bonds to keep the
peace. You may imagine tho CHIEF
justice will be kept very busy winnow.
ing out tho true from tho false and 10
giving to 'saint and sinner'' each his
fair share Of justice. Add to the bur-
dens which so many criminal charges
impose, about 100 civil causes Of varl-
GUS kinds, with the labors OF the su-
preme court, and 1t is evident that tho
legal lights OF New Mexico, who as;
pire to the Judicial ermlne In this dis
trio, arc seeking to embark upon o
'ssea Of trouble" II may also serve as
a reminder to the people that when, in
the course Of human events, o change
is to be made in the bench, the choice
should fall on some resident OF New
Mexico who Ia u good lawyer and q
prodigious worker.
On Friday, an elegantly-dressed,
m~iddle-aged, diguii4d gentleman,
with q clerical air aud white cravat,
quietly took his seat inside the bar
the court bar. On close inspection, 1t
proved to be Nj. w. Mills, just returned
from the east, where he had been me-
gotiating a big scheme. His disguise
was conceded TO be almost perfect. 1t
was, ''suro enough" the M. w. who
runs at least twenty ranches, carries Oh
a big law practice, and has an adver-
tisement on his letters which should
make him famous. No mention OF
Springer is complete that does not in
clude him and his rustling otio amigo,
Hugo Seaberg.
County seat removal and what to do
With the Eae Springer court house, are
the questions OF the hour here. Men
ton Of the recent act of the legislature
providing that q majority Of the voters
may change the county saat, produces
a sweet smilc on the face Of a Ratoner
and a ffown OF anger on the physiog.
omy CT the old stagers about SPRING
or. Il is not exactly the war Of the
roses, and it Is far from q "mid sum-
mer nights dream" IL is a stern
reality, and there is melancholy in the
that soon the fine court
house here, a great credit to the county,
may be turned over to the bats and the
owls. Recently, a sidewalk has been
made to the court house from the main
town, and the excellent care which
Sheriff Littrell, who, by the way, is in
all respects a splendid officer, has taken
care Of the ground, and has made the
place attractive, is a topic Ct comment.
The boys have a great tims rustling
for grub, and somo of them long for
the o.d-time cook at tho Springer
house, when fine light biscuit, tender
and juicy steak, the odor of the best
Mocha and Java, tickled tie appetite OF
the sojourners. Bill Holman, of Ia
you remember, became famous
the great obi sctor. Billy Bunker,
in "a local way, bids fair TO achieve
notoriety. His everlasting and eternal
demand Tor hot biscuit, red hot, is SO
well recognized that when no enters
the dining room, The exclamation
shot biscuit' is on every
The laugh turned on Jerry
a bright climb of the
at Ration, the other day. r.
bccca Frey was on trial for stealing
ifty-six chickens. Mr.. Wrigley, nttor-
ney. for the defendant, called Jerry as
d witness on some point and turned
him over to Judge Long for examina-
tlon. Leahy nerved himself for a
The judge, deemipg "wisdom
the better part of valor," asked but a
question and very modestly said
ssMr. Leahy, were you present when
The chickens were stolenPn This
brought down the house. Jerry blush
ed, the house roared, and even the
dignifed chief Justice let himself out
and joined in the uproar, and added to
his w~ell-known reputation as a wit by
remarking when the prosecutor dis
the case, that, "After all. it
seemed only to be a small Frey" So
you see, life st Springer has its sun
shine as well as its shadows.
Billy Gortner, court stenogr apher,
whp has only recently been married to
4 most worthy and estimable young
was on Saturday afternoon the
of general sympathy. He was
to 60 homo on the Saturday |
evening train and a case on trial was
likely to last beyond train time. Billy
into a conspiracy with the law
yers in the case and got excused. This
arrangement left Malaquiss Baca, court
interpreter, in the cold, who also want
I'd to spend Sunday in the best town in
New Mexico, SO he schemfd with the
lawyers, and the result was an Ameri-
ian jury, the first one for years. NAL
was then Ike q certain famous
his occupation was gone, and
ne broke for the train at 2:40 speed.
/ recently examined the report OF
he Territorial auditor, and found
hat every c unity in New Mexico had
behind on the tax collections Of
500, as compared with previ US years.
working a general deficit in the pro
iuct Of the tax levy CT abou: so per
cent. as against a product of rs per
,ent. IN former years, and knowing
low New Mexico has suffered from the