The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1909-05-21


! Dallas, s. d.. across Trip county"
said a prominent Rosebud real estate
man in Norfolk Saturday, discussing
the Trip county railroad situation
THE railroad men who know are not
telling. would give few thousand
to know and If did know wouldn't
tell. The presence of Northwestern
surveyors working on preliminary SUR
veys Is exciting all kinds of rumors.
You hear of them being almost every
where. Then on the other hand you
can hear 1t declared that certain
townsite boomers are having stakes
set out running through their towns
to initiate right of way in order to
boom the lot sale. The Rosebud Is
running over with enterprise. The
course of the railroad will mean thou
sands of dollars to those who are SO
situated as to be benefited by the di-
rection taken by the railroad"
Representative Burke, in Washing
ton. has introduced bill for the open.
ing of half million acres of land in
the Rosebud reservation and Senator
Gamble offered bill for opening Pine
Ridge reservation. The Burke bill in
cludes all the Rosebud reservation in
Meyer and Washabaugh counties
north of the tenth parallel and south
of the Big White river, except Indian
alotments. Mr.. Burke has included
as new feature of his bill the pro-
vision that townsites shall be chosen
by the government before the state
makes its selection of lands, and that
ten acres of each townsite shall be re-
served for school, park and public pur.
poses. He also provides that 20 per
cent of the net proceeds from the sale
of lands shall be set apart for school.
houses and other public buildings or
in the improvement of townsites. An
other new provision of the Burke bill
requires the state to select two other
selections in the same township II the
original selections are lost by allot.
ment. The Burke bill has the ap
prevail of the Indians, and it Is be,
lieved the interior department will IA
vor it, as it is acceptable to Major
Mclaughlin.
The secretary of the interior has an
nounced a decision reversing the com
missioner of public lands and the for
mer policy of the department in re
gard to homestead entries that is OF
vital interest and good news to thous
ands of South Dakota settlers who
have been compelled to absent them
selves part of the time from theil
: claims. The case decided is that Of
: Platt, of Mitchell against Clarence e
. Moon over a Lyman county home
stead. Mitchell contested Moons en-
try, alleging failure to comply will
the law and abandonment. The evi
. dence showed Moon had no othel
home except his claim; that he was
there at least once or twice each weel
and had five acres broken. Chamber
lain land officers decided for the con
testant and the commissioner of pub
lie lands sustained the decision, hold
ing the entry for cancellation. The
, secretary of the interior now reverse.
the commissioner and dismisses the
contest, holding the claimant had dem
onstrated good faith, and that the con
test, having been filed within fourteen
months after the entry and within
eight months after the time claiman
was required to begin residence, Their,
was sufficient compliance with tn,
, law to hold the entry, but the secre
tary of the interior says he does no
necessarily decide by this that tn,
: claimant has made sufficient compli
ances to allow final proof.