Adams County news. [volume] (Ritzville, Wash.) 1898-1906, 1898-03-09

county in case testing the validity of
the countys bonded indebtedness, District
Judge Mayhem sustains the appellants,
holding that the commissioners can not
employ a special counsel unless the dis
trict attorney fails OF refuses to act, he
being the attorney for the county under
the state law.
The work of tearing up the old narrow
gauge track has begun at Old Mission, a
work train with crew of IL or 10 men
coming down from Wallace to do the
work. 1t is officially announced that the
track will be taken up to Wardner, the
rails from there to Wallace being left in
place. Outside talk is that it is not un-
likely that the gauge between Wardner
and Wallace will be widened to stand
ard gauge, so that if at any time it may
be desired to resume business there it can
be done without any trouble. At present
the Oregon Railroad 4 Navigation Com
pany takes all the ore at Wardner, turn
ing the Last Chance over to the Northern
Pacific at Wallace and that from the
Bunker Hill and Sullivan being turned
over at Spokane, it being sent to Tacoma
at present.
Superintendent Clark of the soldiers
home has made his report to the governor
for the month of February. 1t shows
there were 81 members on January 81, of
whom II were present, and 90 on Febru
ary 2S, of whom 81 were present. 1t has
been necessary to postpone receiving two
applicants entitled to admission because
the beds are all occupied. The average
attendance during February was 7s. The
$974.O4, of which the United States gov
ernment contributed $3.50 and the state
$324.04. The cost of support of members
of the home during February was $3.50
each, against 1898 in February, 1897,
and $23.4l in February, 1896. The cost
for maintaining each for the first two
months of the year was $23.s4, against
$26.97 in 1897 and $46.S2 in 1896.
Montana.
Thomas Dunn, engineer on the Montana
railroad, shot and killed a large lynx
from his seat in the cab as his train was
passing through Box canyon the other
morning.
The friends of Henry f. Clark, as he
is known in the state pcnitentiary, where
he is serving a 40-year sentence for the
crime of highway robbery in Lewis and
Clarke county in 1891, are continuing
their efforts to secure pardon for him.
The Foster Sheep Company has purchas-
ed the fine ranch of Robert +. Couts of
Sixteen Mile creek, paying $4,000 there
for. This property embraces 800 acres
and yields several hundred tons of hay
annually.
John d. Losecamp of Billings has re-
ceived from Oregon a consignment of Chi
nese pheasants and will place them in
pairs with ranchers in the valley. They
are very handsome birds, and if they are
only allowed fair show they will soon
stock the valley with. choice game birds.
Mr.. Losecamp turned out few some
years ago, and never heard of them after
wards until this winter, when some were
reported as having been seen about 40
miles northwest of this place.
Eugene r. Wilson, receiver of the Mer.
chants National bank at Helena, has
been authorized by the comptroller of the
treasury to declare a dividend Of per
cent, following that of 25 per cent hereto
fore declared and distributed. Since au.
thorizing the second dividend Receiver
Wilson has collected and remitted enough
money to Washington for third dividend
of per cent, and the probability is the
second will hardly be out of the way be-
fore the third is authorized and made
available for the creditors.
The last report of Commissioner j. II.
Calderhead of the Montana state bureau
of labor, agriculture and statistics, con-
tains some observations upon the Russian
thistle, an exceedingly Doxious and per-
sistent weed that it is believed came into
the state from Dakota by being conveyed
by the railroad cars, which received the
seed in passing through the state east Of
this one. The commissioner devotes
valuable chapter to the Russian thistle,
which he finds to have been seen this year
in Is counties in the state, whereas at
the time the report for the preceding year
was formulated it was known in only
nine.