Omaha daily bee., 1906-12-01
NTRIEs MADE UNDER SALE CONTRACT
Veterans Promised $500 for Homssteadu
When They Proved Up,
'IO NOT INTEND TO COMPLY WITH LAW

Comstock land trial on the tenth day was
the effort Of the defense to dlscredit one
Of the governments witnesses, Irving y. .
HUI. to offset some rather sensation evil
dence duplicating Thomas NJ. Huntington
as an agent in procuring filings for w. @.
Comstock and the consideration that was
to accrue to him for securing an unlimited
number Of filings preferably those OF old
soldiers
Hull admitted that he had been ar
rested in connection with the land matters
and had been taken before the United
States commissioner at Chadron and was
bound over to the federal grand jury. but
he said no indictment had been returned
against him.
The defense undertook to show that
Hull had been promised immunity
from indictment II he would testify for
the government and that his evidence now
being given was in pursuance of that agree
ment and that the case against him had
| been dismissed.
Huns testimony developed an agreement
between himself and Huntington to secure
soldiers filings. The soldiers were TO be
| given $500 for their land after proving up.
! Preparatory to final proof they were to
! lease the land to Comstock and Hunting
/ ton was TO get 500 for each lease, and out
OF this 800 the expenses and improvements
/ were to be paid. When final proof was
! completed the consideration for each sec-
| ton was to be 5000. Three hundred dollars
Of this was to go to the soldier and the
other $780, which included the lease money,
was to be divided between Huntington and
James HUI, a brother Of the witness.
Old Soldier Tells of Deal.
! Irving D. Hull an ex-soldler living at
Mirage and professional land locator,
was witness for the government at the
morning session. He testified to meeting
! Thomas NJ Huntington at Norfolk about
the middle of July, 1904 He said:
| 1--WE talked a little about securing old
| soldiers to file on government land. This
talk was begun on the depot platform and
was continued in the Pullman car We
talked about an hour. He asked ms-ff -
could procure number of declaratofy state
ments. said I thought l could lie
wanted me TO get all could and send
them to him and have the men on the land
the day the Kinkaid law went into effect
He said arrangements had been made
whereby he could place all the filings he
could get. He preferred soldiers who had
the longest service in the army, because
they could prove up soonest. He said he
had a talk with my brother, James Hull,
few days before and me being an old
soldier, he thought l could get old soldiers
named Comstock could place the filings
II then went back to my old home in
Iowa and got seventeen or eighteen old
soldiers to execute declaratory statements
4 and sent them to Huntington. The agree
ment that the soldiers were to go out
to the land. give a lease of 1t and when
1t was made out he would pay 800 tho
filng expenses TO be taken out Of the Lease
money and the balance OF the proceeds OF
ba ~
brother"
Lessees to Improve Land.
THE lessees were to put the improvements
on the land l was to tell our men that
when they proved up they were to get $500
FOR the land. There was a perfect under
standing that when they proved up they
were to sell the land for $780, The man who
got the lease was to pay the 800 The
ranchmen were to pay $500 for the land
after 1t proved up on. $500 to go to the
man that filed and the other $500 to those
who got the men to file, the expenses to be
taken out. Huntington said that he had
seen Comstock and made arrangements for
these filings and would take all he could
get and we would make lots Of money out
of the deal.
II then went to Iowa and got all the
declaratory statements I could at Logan.
Missouri Valley and Magnolia, twenty in
number, and sent them to Huntington by
registered letter. paid the expenses OF
the entrymen out to Gordon, but the hotel
expenses there were paid by someone else.
\ was afterward reimbursed for these ex-
penses had advanced. took a number OF
soldiers down from Gordon 10 fle. 1 do
not know whom We went before to file. but
he was the editor OF paper there" CT. ].
o'Keefe is an editor and commissioned
Business is that of Locator.
On cross-examlnation Mr. Hull said:
Yes my, business Is that OF a land To-
cater. In the year 1858 l took forty or
seventy-fve soldiers widows TO Gordon 10
locate them and turned them over to James
Reid and a Mr. Mcfarland and Charles
Edsan
THE widows were located on the lands
by these men, l guess. did not locate
them on the lands. did not take any
other parties up to Gordon during 1894 but
those for Huntington. suppose leases
were given for all the lands by the soldiers
who filed under this arrangement There
were two or three Of them on whom
, received no pay becauss leases wero not
, given by them.
Yes. l have made statement u the
government attorneys as to what I would
. testify TO. / was arrested In connection
with land matters and taken before the
United States commissioner at Chadron.
was not promised immunity from indict-
ment II would testify TO certain things.
was arrested by a secret service man
named Sides and taken to Chadron have
I not been indicted in this case"
on, redirect examination the witness snid:
Il was taken by a secre; service man
r-med Sides from Hay Springs 10 ChadI on
! He told me he was deputy United states
= marshal.
Some OF my correspondence with Hunt
/ ingtOn was owing to the fact that the SIX
. months Of some Of the men was up and
wanted 10 know II II was time fc- them
TO go back on the land again"
HuIIs Brother Goes On stand.
Q James G. Hull. brother OF Irving ID. Hull
was che hrst witness called Friday after