Daily Arizona silver belt., 1908-02-13
YUMA PORT|A
 HOLDS COURT FEMALE SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN SCHOOL REFORMING
 HER CHARGES
DENIES DEFENDANTS RIGHT or COUNSEL AND ALLOWS NO
 APPEALS
HER SYSTEM IS GRADUALLY MAKING REDSKINS LIVE
 BETTER

Creating herself justice of the peace, establishing her own bench and court, Miss A. c. Eagan, the new superintendent of the Fort Yuma Indi- an schools, has taken novel means of punishing wrongdoing Yumas of the school Every morning she holds ses- sion of her self-appointed temple of justice and deals vigorously with the offenders of the day preceding.
 Miss Eagan is perhaps the only wo- man justice in the United States. Her court is further given distinction in that there is no appeal from the decis- ions of the judge. She is supreme. Her word is law. She sits as jury as well as judge.
 The statutes by which the court is governed are unwritten, instead they are framed by the fair judge as circum- stances demand. Arrays of legal talent never rage nor storm, plead nor sup plicate before the bench, The citing of former rulings is never heard. It is a "kangaroo court in all the mean ing which the term implies.
 Miss Eagan has established her tri- bunsl principally in an endeavor to stamp out the use of intoxicating li- quors among the Yumas enrolled at the school Each night she stations 1.-two policemen at the California end of the bridge, and if Yuma crosses in a condition that indicates an acquain- tance with John Barleyeorn, be is taken to jail and the next morning is ar raigned.
 Once behind the iron bars the un. lucky Indian knows that he is can Eagan has established as an adjunct to her court; the offender knows he need not look for the proverbial fem mine sympathy, He knows that for a : period of from three days to a week h;s lot will be hard work building or repairing fences, cleaning the camp, or performing odd jobs about the school ! premises.
 Though Miss Eagan has aimed her , court and work farm chiefly toward the elimination of intoxieation she has, through it's operation, stamped out many other petty offenses of the past as well as many malicious practices by members of the tribe.
 One of these later practices was the buying of whiskey by Indians from Mexieans and then telling of the tran saction that they might secure for themselves a trip to San Diego, where
 they would be called as witnesses ] against the Mexicans.
 Two Indians, who recently made such charge against Mexican, were hailed before Miss Eagan s court. After the examination of many witnesses the fair judge determined that the Mexican was innocent of the charge; that the charges of the Indians were simply framed so as to give them the trip desired. The sentence meted out to the pair of schem ing redskins will keep them on the work farm roll for some weeks to come and the object lesson has been learned by
 the others of the school.
 Not only has the hard work to which
 the sentenced offenders are subjected
 had it's effect, but the Indians are also
 beginning to learn that conviction and
 sentence leaves it's mark on them; mean
 ing, in some cases, almost ostracism
 by their fellows. They also bear in
 mind warning from the court at the
 first offenses that sentences will be com
 pounded as to length of servitude with
 each suaeeedinp appearance in court As result of the court and work farm many Indians who have for years been
 habitual drinkers have entirely fore
 sworn use of liquors.