The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1915-07-22
JUDGE TABfR WILL
VISIT Quinn RIVER

Judge +. J. l.. Taber has planned ia
make trip in company with the at
torneys to Quinn river to look over the
ground in the case of the Pacific Live
stock company versus the Ellison
kaneh company and others, says the
Elko Independent.
This is the famous suit over water
rights on Quinn river Before begin.
ming the consideration of the written
testimony both the Judge and the at
torneys desire that the court shall be-
come familiar with the many natural
OBJECTS referred to in the evidence.
The trip is planned for this purpose.
ana lawyers representing both sides
wlli De present to point out ground
trey wish the Judge especially to bear
in mind.
Judge Taber expects to make the
trip before the close of July. Ii will
occupy three days at least and perbans
longer As the end Of the month il
near ne may start any day. He is wait
ihg now for the attorneys to agree
upon the time for the inspection.
rms rs tremendous task that
Judge Taber has undertaken at the re-
quest Of his fellow jurist, Judge Duck.
er of Humboldt county. The latter Is
disqualified by the fact that he was Al.
torney for certain parties to the sn;ts
II required six weeks TO take down
the evidence before a referee. This
ms ten volumes, each Of about 500
pages Altogether, to be exact, there
are o,ls2 pages of typewritten copy.
Ihese pages average 30 lines and 10
words to the line, or 800 words to
page. This makes a grand total of
l,360000 words. That is equal to fifteen
or the ordinary best seller novels. And
this is only part of the work.
The Jduge last January listened to
five full days Of oral argument. Tn ad
dition the attorneys have fled briefs
covering hundreds Of pages Some of
these are handsomely printed in book
forms, with photographs and elaborate
maps.
The judge must not only read this
testimony and brief, but he must prac.
tieallv memorize the main points and
Keep constantly referring from one part
Of the evidence to another to deter.
nine the conflicts and arrive at the
true state of affairs.
and arguments, there are MANY other
eNhibits IN the way of government re-
ports, maps and SURVEYS and nhoto.
praphs. And then there are also the
many court orders and papers filed in
the case covering period of eight
years
This suit was begun October o6th.
isV'' ana has been constantly before
the courts ever since that time. The
plaintiff was organized as a CORPORA
tion in 1888. IT was the successor of
the old Miller & Lux holdings at Quinn
river crossing. II claims the use of the
water of Quinn river since 1872 when
it's first filings were made.
There are thirty defendants to the
suit. Most If not all Of these defend
ants have taken mp land on the Quinn
river above the irrigated land of the
Pacific Livestock company, and some
Of the ranches extend up into idaho
and Oregon. Some of the water rights
il is alleged date back to 1888.
The claim of the plaintiff is that the
settlers on the river have gradually
absorbed more and more of the flow of
the river until there is not water
enough left to irrigate the plaintiff :
land for which it has prior water ap-
preparation,
The plaintiff some years ago built a
storage reservoir above Quinn river
crossing, and this also cuts consider
able figure in the consideration of the
case. The defendants claim that this
reservoir in itself is source of much
of the trouble.
This suit has been brought under the /
old Nevada water laws Judge Taber
has been hoping that the several par |
tues might get together and effect a
compromise He has urged them to try
to find solution in this way, but the /
prospect of such settlement seems
slight.
The judge therefore has commenced
the reading of the testimony and yes
terday in his chambers had the exhib- +
its spread before him and had com I
menced their examination in his leis- /
ue moments.
He also has other important suits in |
his own district that must soon be de- /
cided. Among these Is a water case at
Ely, the suit against the bondsmen
of the defaulting sheriff at Ely, an I'M
poftaht inning SUIT over a rich prop
erty at Phoebe. The title of this latter
is Scott versus Day Bristol
The judge says he has not had a va
cation in eleven years. After five years
on the bench there is little prospect
Of an outing this summer. The eonsid-
GRAFTON of this Quinn river suit is a
years work in itself. but the Judge
hopes to arrive at decision within
six months.
And then there viii perhaps be an
appeal. There are more than half a
score of attorneys in the ease. The
plaintiff is represented by Edward f
freadwell of San Francisco. j. L. 1
Skeen of Salt Lake is attorney for the
Ellison Ranch company.
j. w. Dorsey partner of Chas. b
Henderson, is attorney for the Ander
son Land company, another of the de-
PENDANTS.