The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-07-22

reserved fer this purpose IN ons group OF
tracts sdjolniRg or cOrnering upon each
other
-Fourth-No reservation shall be made
within one-half mile OF the boundaries
OF q group OF iso acres Of adpotning or
cOrnering tracts already reserved under
this act
sixth-I.ands 50 reserved shall not be
fenced, but shall be kept open to the free
use Of any person desiring 20 water AMI
| mails OF any kind II lands 30 reserved
are at any time fenced or otherwise In
closed. or Il they are not kept open to
the free use Of any person as aforesaid
desiring to water animals OF any kind.
or II the reservoir applicant attempts to
use them for any other purpose. or II
the reservoir Is not obtained for the bona
ide and exclusive PURPOSE OF constructing
and maintaining a reservoir thereon &C
cording to law, the declaratory statement,
upon any such matter being made 10 duly
appear, win be cancelled and all rights
hereunder will be declared at an end.
Eighth-AH declaratory statements fled
before this circular Is received at the local
Office must. by an amended or supple
mental statement be made to conform to
these regulations. and II after receiving
notice to that effect the applicant makes
default for sixty days his deelaratoTy
statement will be rejected. The local Of
hcers must give notice Of this require
Bent by registered mail.
Thelfifth and seventh instructions deal
only with matters OF red tape.
The announcement of those rules re-
gardIng the operations of the law has
cooled the ardor OF those who thought
they saw a good thing In the measure.
Most OF the filings have been made. it Is
true. by bona fide stockmen, but at the
same time there has been a sprinkling OF
SPECTATORS who have made entries on
land by the wholesale. and II Is believed
either to buy cattle and conduct large
ranches in opposition to the established
stcckmen or 10 get control of large graz
ing tracts and lease them TO stockmen.
From April Il to date SIZE applications
have been made for entries on land
through the Broken Bow office alone. OF
that number hardly bakers dozen have
been made since the announcement Of the
new rules. and all made prior TO that
time will have to be revised to conform
to their terms The bonanza business I'M
der the reservoir act. In the local YER
nacular, Is bust.
As an example of what was going on
before the rules came TO Broken Bow
may be cited the case of one WIllet G..
Ranney OF Cleveland. o.. who came here
on June % and made filings on sixty-five
quarter sections. On one day I'm Nav APP
plicatIons were received here for filings
on S33 quarter sections. q great share Of
these being made by persons who appar-
emily came to the state for the purpose
and who had TO established interest IN
the grazing operations OF the region. In
his declaratory statements Mr. Ranney
set forth that 1t was his intention 20 con-
struct on each quarter section a reservoir
to cover one-sIxteenth OF one acre and TO
have a capacity OF 10000 gallons. wheth-
err he will go ahead with his enterprise
now that the rules require for each quar-
ter section n reservoir with a capacity
OF not less than 1.500O0 gallons Is a mat
ter of much speculation here.
OF the 1054S. 40 acres of unoccupied land
OF the public domain remaining in Ne
braska at the end OF the fiscal year. June
20. 1896 2.67s. $50 acres are In the Broken
Bow district. and entries have been made /
on more than one-fifth OF this land under /
the reservoir act in less than four months. !
Land Office officials here state that IN
all this unoccupied land there Is not one |
quarter section in fifteen on an average /
that Is 1T for use for farming purposes !
and that these tracts. where they APP /
pear, are isolated and SO distant from ,
markets as TO be yalueless for the pUr- |
pose Consequently in their opinion. |
though the law provides that a person /
making entry on these lands under the |
reservoir act. by living up to the require
ments OF this act may prevent the sale /
OF the same for homestead uses the meas
ure is not calculated to interfere with the
settlement OF the country.
On the contrary they contend that n
the construction OF reservoirs Is carried
on TO any considerable extent. the result
will be an increase in rainfall throughout
the region, and in case the stockmen
eventually abandon these ranches will
leave the lands more At for settlement
than before and equipped with reservoirs.
many OF which will be available for use
In irrigation on a small scale in times
when drought threatens the destruction
OF crops.
Nevertheless. the agitation over the re-
seryoir law has awakened whatever re
mains Of the old feeling Of strife between
the farming class and the grazing class.
which Il was thought saw It's last gasp
in this neighborhood nearly twenty years
ago when Mitchell and Ketrhum. two
were lynched. hung 10 a
tree. and riddled with bullets and burned
10 a cinder in a canon eighteen miles
southeast OF Broken Bow
Thomas Alien. A r. Talbot ". p.
J. II. Edmlston and J. II. Rog-
ersOn. who made entry on extensive
tracts in Thomas county. are said TO be
engaged ia the stock raising
business through investments. though not
actively engaged In the conduct Of the
Whether W J. Bryan Is
Interested with them Il not
known here.
still 1Orr CSaaterfeitBRE.
The secret service has just unsartbed
another band Of counterfeIters. End Sc
cured a large quantity Of bogus bills.