Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-11-18
GRADERS LEI 7.
A Race to Record Papers in
Court and the Causes.
SOLDIER SHOT A WOMAN
"A Much Comic lnned Crime Commit ed
"Wednesday Night. Debating C ub's
Initial Meeting. Pho.lus
Rioters on Trial.

| Initial Meeting Phosius
| Rioters Trial. 4
Under the statute provided by the last
Legislature in the matter of the dispo
: sal OF lands on which taxes are. in ar
/ rears. 1T is possible to make quite a
prontable speculation which, while le-
climate. incidentally imposes a hard
, ,m upon those who. through msfor-
/ tune Or poverty. are unable to pay the
uelifiuuent taxes on their real estate
| ne statute is long one. full of legal
/ repetition and precautionary verbiaee
! intended to make its proper construc-
| ton inevitable. Such deiinuuent lands
are sold for taxes. the auditor purchas-
| ing them i'll most cases in the name
or the State, which is the creditor In
me case. After certain time the law
p.onloes that persons desiring to pur-
| chase such properties may make a for
MAJ application to the Clerk of the
| county or Corporation Court. in the
jurisdiction of which such property IS
located. ana copies of these applications
a.e 'equired to be made by the Clerk
ana served upon the owners OF such
| property. NN''
After a certain time. stipulated in
the statute the realty for the purchase
i "i when such application is made, pc
comes the property of such applicant
after all proper surveys are made I'M.
less the original owners shall within a
| Specilled time pay not only the taxes
| due and the costs accumulated i'm th,.
iIo.eedinsS but also bonus. or pre-
MUM OF s.. to the applicant for pur-
chase. who has complied with the, nre
! Scrlbed conditions
shrewd man. familiar with the in
tIlcacles of this law. who desires to
pro,lt thereby, may go to the county
ana city courthouses. and. after Sc
i curing list of all the properties in
Such counties or corporations delin-
quent for taxation. file his application
ana guarantee to himself IS on each
piece of land thus applied for or in
lieu thereof. a title to the pronertv
/ '"hicn. IN many cases, is valuable and
ON winch sometimes the amount due
IS mere basatelle) by merely paying
| the taxes.
An interesting case has lust deve,-
oped here wherein such seekers of n
e..sn thlng. commonly known as Land
AZ tho sacoon We're, foiled by prompt and
chi-neldenj' faction on sc par; CT :..,99yeral
Suse lastl-3wn gentlemen. who, at great
~ :, is!'enience to themselves forestaTs
Ted the intending applicant. For sav-
eral days gentleman. whether renre-
sehtlns himself alone. or a syndicate is
lmamterlal. has been quietly at work
securing list of such delinquent prop
81 s.,a .,es ~ Eiizabeth City county, With
view I" acquiring them, or the IS guar
anteed him under the provisions Of the
| law IN each case. These gentlemen. all
OF whom are we'll known members Of
ne cfder OF Elks. divining the strang-
ers intentions and being themselves
Well posted on the terms Of the law de-
lefmined, If possible, to thwart his
plans and thus save to the owners of
deilnquent lands in this town and
county the amount of the bonus which
! Without intervention in time they would
have been required to pay.
| Accordingly, these gentlemen. realiz-
ing mat there was an important con-
slderation in the matter. on "Wednesday
.,isht quietly set to work to forestail
the intending applicant. Blank appli-
catlons We're huriredly printed and the
quintette of gentlemen laboriously made
them out for l3S pieces OF real estate
mat number in the county being de-
| linquent. These applications wha,,
completed, We're presented TO the CLERK
OF the Court, the last of them between
ana 4 O'Clock this morning The law
provides that the first applicant com
nylns with the law shall secure the
~ e,9ie 81, 70 me property, and this burning
or the midnight oil was done in order
TO get IN the applications ahead of the
gentleman who hoped to profit by doing
precisely the same thing. OF course.
.he coterle OF gentlemen had no desire
to secure the lands themselves. hnt
merely wished to prevent others from
aolnS So 1t being their desire and OBJ
Ject 10 save distressed property owners
the added expense that they would
otherWlSc incur.
| There We're filed applica tions on 12e
pieces of property. some of which are
valuable real estate, and in some cases
the amount due for taxes is but dol
lar or two. Long before sunrise the
work was done and the gentlemen who
hau fooled the land grabbing scheme
and succored widows, orphans and dis
dressed persons We're sWeetly sleeDine
Then came the sequel. EARLY this
morning, the stranger. who had been
|1ndustrlous'y hunting up delinquent
lands. walked into the Clerks office and
rendered Clerk Harry Booker a big
bundle of applications. To his sur
PRISE ana CONSERVATION he was told that
ne was to late and that the applications
could not be received. others having all
ready been made, accepted and ordered
served. The stranger was naturally
nonplussed at this surprise, which
meant that all his laborious work of
the past few days had been for nauyht
re recovered himself sufficiently to in
aulre tor details and insisted that his
Applications be received, announcing
that he would contest the matter If they
were not received. The Clerk was
suave and polite as ever. but was OBJ
durate. sustaining himself with the
law. to the language of which he re-
ferred the applicant.
The proceeding was clearly a legal
one, and contest can avail nothing
but additional cost to the contestant
m the opinion of competent lawyers.
An aggregate sum of 1921. at the low
est estimate, is thus saved to the prop
crty owners of Elizabeth City county.
many Of whom could i'll afford to bear
the extra burden their share Of it would
impose In one case a widow. aged and
nfirm and without means, would have
been the victim of q legal hardship
or course. the shrewd stranger fails
o secure that amount, which but the
lay before seemed almost within his
grasp.
RIOTERS NOW ON TRIAL.
Four Soldiers Arraigned on a Serious