The Saint Paul globe., 1901-07-29
THOUSANDS OF EAGER HOME
SEEKERS AT Ell RENO AWAIT
TODAY'S DRAWING
IS THIRTEEN TO ONE SHOT
Everyone Is Confident of Being
Numbered Among the FOrtn-
nate and Rest of Feel
ing Prevails.
WILL BE ANIMATED SCENE.

Ell RENO, o. T., July 28-All is eX-
pectancy tonight among the thousands Of
homeseeKers here over the grand lottery
that begins tomorrow morning. There
are $4,000 claims to be distributed, and so
each o. the 165, $50 persons who have reg.
istered during the past fifteen days has
about one chance in thirteen of winning
1t is a long shot, but everyone apparent
ly feels confident of being numbered
among the lucky, and in consequence the
best good nature prevails. While the
scene lacks the great excitement of the
run, which has heretofore been part
or other land openings in this part of
the country, the last act of throwing open
to settlement the kiowa-Comanche reser-
vations will not be without life and am
nation
The drawing will take place in the cen
ter of the city and will be Witnessed 10y
thousands of people. 1t will be accom-
plished on a large platform in the open,
around which the sloping hillsides form
natural amphitheater. A commission
appointed last week by Secretary Hitch
cock, and composed of W. A. Richards,
assistant commissioner of the general
land Office, who has had charge OF the
registration; D. p. Dyer, of st. LoIis,
former United States district attorney,
and Frank Dale, eX-chief justice of Okla
homa.
The actual drawing will be both novel
and extremely interesting. On the plat
form will be two obong box wheels, each
fifteen feet in length, one to hold the
names of the applicants for homesteads
in the Ell Reno district and the other for
those of the Lawton district In these
wheels will be placed envelopes con-
tanning the names of all the registered
applicants. The envelopes will have first
hrnnOhf fn y,1a In,
ages consecutively numbered A corra-
spending series of numbers upon slips
Will be placed in another receptacle, from
which they will be drawn out at random
The packages of envelopes bearing the
first number will be the first to be placed
in the drawing box, and we'll distribu-
ted, when another number will be drawn
and another package of envelopes dis
tributed, and this course will be con-
tinued until all of the envelopes shall
have been placed in the box wheels, after
which the wheels will be revolved for
sufficient length of time, to insure
thorough mixing of the envelopes In
each wheel there are five apertures, from
which the envelopes will finally be drawn.
Ten men, one for each aperture will
perform the actual drawing The order
in which they will begin will be deter
mined by lot.
PLAN OF THE DRAWING.
The first envelope drawn will be No
1, which will be at once opened and the
identification slip which it contains will
be given a corresponding number, and
the name and residence which appears
upon the slip will be publicly announced
This course will be pursued, numbering
each envelope and it's contents conseeu-
lively, until twenty-five numbers have
been drawn from one box, when an equal
number will be drawn from the box in a
similar manner. This course will be pur-
sued until 500 names have been drawn
from each box, when, if the committee
shall deem it best to do so, arrangements
will be made for drawing simultaneously
from each box.
After the names have been drawn and
announced, they will be recorded and a
notice mailed to the one whose name is
drawn The drawing will proceed in this
manner until every envelope in the boxes
is drawn out
Only 1000 envelopes, 500 for each dis
trict, will be drawn Monday. After the
first day the drawing will proceed WIN
greater Tapidity, and it is expected that
the last envelope will have been drawn
by Thursday night. The lucky ones will
be permitted to file on a claim in the
order that their numbers have been
drawn from the wheel All applicants
for homesteads have been permitted to
inspect the land before hand to select a
claim in case they shall be lucky enough
TO draw q number
Besides the three commissioners ap-
pointed to superintend the drawing and
the ten men who will draw the envelopes
from the wheel, space on the platform
will be provided for newspaper report
ers. Commissioner Richards declined to-
night to disclose the names of the ten
men who will draw the numbers from the
wheel, and said that the selection would
not be made until just before the draw
ing shall begin.