, 1908-03-24
TIMELY TOPICS.

After l~oafing around for ten years
blockading private enterprise and shut
ting out a number of Colorado reser-
voir companies the wrecklamation ser
vice has actually begun construction
on the Elephant Butte dam on the Rio
Grande in southern New Mexico. The
dam itse f will not be the largest in
the world, but the storage capacity Of
the reservoir is to be twice as large
as the next largest in the world, which
is the Assuan dam on the Nile having
a storage capacity of a little over
/, OOO, 900 acre feet.
The Teddy panic seems not to have
cut much of a swathe as yet in ouc
Colorado land values and dickering is
as active as usual this spring. One of
the largest land deals in years is the
sa e this week of 1000 0 acres of Baca
land grant in the San Luis valley to
the publishing house of ]. B. Lippin-
colt & Co. of Philadelphia for $500, goo.
This acreage will be used for a com
prehensive colonization scheme aud
some irrigation is contemplated as
much of the land can be watered ~
the storage process. This property
was the ranch at Crestone, Saguache
county, of the late George H. Adams
of this city and is now sold by mis-
estate.
The land thinkers at Washington
have finally gotten together on their
expanded homestead bill and have
agreed upon a draft. 1t enlarges the
homestead init from 100 to 800 acres
of non-irrigable, non-timbered land,
provides that the homestead entryman
under the present homestead act may
enter additional lands TO bring his
holdings to 800 acres requires cult
walton of one-eighth of the entry after
the third year, continuously for the re-
mainder of the five years required for
perfection OF the entry. The secretary
of interior is given discretion to ac.
cept proof if the entryman shows good
faith by cultivation of sufficient area.
A claim of ownership of 5000, 900
acres of land in Texas, comprising the
counties of Rush, Cherokee, Smith and
Angela has been filed by representa-
tives of the Snake tribe of Cherokee
Indians. The claim is based upon a
treaty made in 1882 between the Re
public of Texas and the C~herokees who
then resided in Texas. General Sam
Houston, it is said, was chiefly re
sponsible for the treaty The Texas
senate later repudiated the compact,
but the Indians assert that it had no
right to do so and are now asking the
government to reimburse them for the
land. They have probably forgotten
that they were removed to the Indian
nation and given new land instead and
that the admission of Texas to the
union abrogated all former treaties.
SomeN New York, st. Louis and Kansas
City capitalists have formed a syndi-
cate to build a 81, 500, 900 beet sugar
factory at Delta on the western slope,
providing the people OF the town donat
a suitable site and water privileges and
subscribe 100000 for stock in the com
pany. The syndicate proposes TO
operate under the name of the Purity
Sugar Land and Irrigation company,
which is incorporated for $2,5OO, 900,
divided into $4,000 shares of 800 a
share. The company has put up \
100000 bond as a guarantee that the
project will be carried out. The far
mers of Delta county have pledged
themselves to grow 5000 acres of
beets for the factory for the mex three
years, for which they will receive IS
a ton fiat. The enterprise would look
better to us if the company would
squeeze about half the water out of its
stock and ask for less bounty.-Den-
yer Field and Farm.