Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1909-07-26
NEW HOTELS
FORLAs CRUCES
AT Least Two Mod.
ern Structures Are
Planned
WORK ON SANTA FE STATION
Major Van Pat.en Wins His
Long Drawn Out Land
Contest.
Special Correspondence of the Daily
New Mexican.

Special Correspondence of the Daily
New Mexican.
Las Cruces, N. NJ, July 25-Nearly
every one in New Mexico knows
Colonel Eugene Van Patten of Las
Cruces and hundreds of the citizens
of the Mesilla valley have partaken
Of his hospitality at Van Pattens
Camp" in the Organ mountains,
twelve miles east of here. The colo
mel located this place some twenty
years ago as homestead and proved
up on the same. He has improve
ments therein of the value of thou
sands of dollars including modern
hotel with bath rooms and every con.
venience. Some years ago he gave
DR.. Nathan Boyd of Elephant Butte
dam site fame, the privilege to build
summer home near the big spring.
Afterwards, the doctor had some sur
veying done and discovered that the
Colonel had patented the wrong tract
of land and that the spring and open
land to the west of the Colonel's
house were not included in the pat
ent. He thereupon filed on this tract
and from this arose very bitter con-
test which was waged for the past
four or five years. Colonel Van Pat
ten won decision in his favor be-
fore the local land Office, before the
commissioner of the general land Of
flee and before the Secretary of the
Interior. The latter, under Secretary
Garfield, permitted a review and gave
Boyd opportunity to furnish addition
al evidence If any he had The case
has now been finally decided in fa-
vor of Colonel Van Patten, thus end
ing the long contest. In his decision
the Secretary uses pretty plain Ian
guage. The entire trouble arose from
surveyor locating Van Patten on
the wrong tract of land.
The canteloupe business is now
fairly launched. The railroad people
have built an elevated platform so
that six cars can be iced at once. the
ice being put in from the top of the
platform which comes even with the
top of the cars.
The track for the new station has
been completed and large number
of cars of pressed brick are on the
ground. The new depot will be a
credit to the city of Las Cruces as
well as to the company that is build
ing it. 1t will have every modern
convenience, steam heat, electric light
and will stand just east and south of
the old one. The old station will be
used as freight depot.
There is a cessation of city i'm
provements for the present on ac-
count of the demand for workers in
cantaloupe fields and for other har-
vesting now going on. Nothing will
be done for about two months, but
then the dirt will fly again and you
want to watch Las Cruces grow. The
building of many new residences how
ever continues.
Martin Lohman and Fred Bascom
have left for the east to be gone
some time.
The deal for the block by the
Elks, on which the big new hotel is
to be built, has been consumated and
the committee is busy getting sub
scriptions for the necessary amount
Of stock to be taken by local people,
In the meantime, eastern parties are
arranging for an option on the block
owned by Attorney Bonham just
northeast Of the Catholic church, it
being understood that a large hotel
will be built there. The hotels of
Las Cruces at present are the Park
hotel, a very good two story brick,
with bath rooms and good accommo-
dations, The Don Bernado, the old re-
liable hotel of the town; the "Ama-
dor, the Monarch, a new hotel finely
fitted up. In addition to this there
are number of boarding houses and
places where meals are served to say
nothing Of the Chinese restaurant.
The New Mexican has the largest
circulation here of any of the daily
papers and is certainly appreciated
very much by our people. The work
for the Mesilla valley and for the
Agricultural College is like the work
done for other sections of New Mexi-
co by the New Mexican. It has been
one of the great factors in building
up our country.