Omaha daily bee., 1909-01-29
WATER LITIGATION LONG
Attorney for Nash Company Says Evil
dence Will Be Taken for Months.
JUDGE GETS ELECTION NEWS
Federal Jurist Receives the OmciaI
word that raft and sherman
Carried Iowa I'm NO


Judge smith Mcpherson held a short
session of United States court yesterday
morning. at which he made in accordance
with the terms of the stipulation agreed
upon by City Solicitor Kimball and coun-
sci for the c. B. Nash company of Omaha
relative to the taking of testimony in the
suit to restrain the city from further pro-
ceeding to issue the $500, 900 bonds for the
construction of the proposed municipal
water plant
]. J. Ferguson, one of the district court
reporters, was decided upon as referee TO
take the evidences in shorthand and extend
IT. The selection OF Reporter Ferguson
was approved by the court.
In the opinion of L. F. Crofoot, attor-
ney for the c. B. Nash company, It will
be several months before the injunction
suit will be ready TO submit to Judge
Smith Mcpherson. City Solicitor KIM
ball had expressed the opinion that the
taking of testimony and other prelim-
insries should be completed so that the
case might be submitted to the court some
time in April. but Mr.. Crofoot said yes
terdav he believed that It would be tn e
latter part of May and possibly Tune be-
fore matters would be in readiness for
the court. He said he based his estimate
on experience in preparing similar cases.
Judge Receives Election News.
Almor Stern of Logan appeared before
Judge MCPHERSON yesterday in the capac-
ity of a special messenger and presented
to the court the official report of the
electoral vote cast in Iowa at the general
election last November.
The law requires that when the electoral
votes are counted in each state and the
official report is made up there shall be
three copies made. One is sent to the
president of the senate at Washington by
mail, a second is sent to the same person
by a special messenger and a third is car
ried by special messenger to the judge
of tho United States district court in
whose district the capital of the state
is situated In Iowa 1t falls to Judge
Smith Mcpherson.
Discussing this practice Judge McPher-
son. in conversation with attorneys and
others grouped in the court room yester-
day. said:
During my experience as district Judge
7 have received three of these notices.
When the first one came, I must confess
/ did not know what to do with It. I
looked up the law and found the condition
just stated, but could find no provision as
to what was to be done with the docu-
ment after the president had been in
augurated. / wrote to the late Senator w.
b. Allison about it and he said in a letter
that he supposed the judge kept the notice
as a memento.
The two notices before the present one
/ sent to the State Historical library at
Des Moines and after Mr.. Taft has been
inaugurated I shall send this last one"
Jurymen Are Chosen.
The grand and petit jurors for the March
term of the United States court in this city
were drawn yesterday afternoon, but the
names will not be made public until some
time in February. Twenty-Five grand Jurors
and thirty petit jurors were drawn.
The list of Jurors will not be made
public at this time said w. c. Macarthur,
clerk of the United States district court,
because it has been found that as soon
as the names are published in the news
papers the court is deluged with letters and
calls from the jurors who wish to be ex-
cused from serving. In order to eliminate
this condition as nearly as possible and to
save the judge from such annoyance, the
names will be withheld until later"