The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1917-01-13
WOULD HELP THE LITIGANTS
Judge RuppenthaI of Russell County
Urges More Flexible System
of Court Procedure.

]. c. Ruppenthal, judge of the dis
trict court of Russell county, would
abolish all the probate courts and JUS
tees of the peace, giving all of this
work to the district courts and then
would change the district courts so
judges could be transferred from one
to the other and equalize the work.
He also would permit court to be held
any place in county where it would
save time and expense to Iitigants in
the county.
''It should be sufficient if every liti-
CANT could find one court. of general
jurisdiction open always for the pro-
lection and enforcement of rights, the
prevention and redress of wrongs and
the punishment of public offenses,
wrote Judge Ruppenthal. Instead,
we have one supreme court with seven
justices, "a district courts with SO
judges, los probate and juvenile
courts, 5000 or more justices of the
peace, hundreds of police courts, and
also quite a number of city courts
with one judge each. The supreme
court unquestionably is needed in it's
present size and form for appeals.
But no one can contemplate seri-
ously without dismay if he wants JUS
tice-speedy, cheap and sure-the ar
ray of thousands of judicial officers
to whom is committed trials of cases
in the first instance.
"One court of general jurisdiction in
each county should be provided, with
an appeal to the supreme court The
trial court should have sole and COM
plete jurisdiction of all cases, except
for a few original proceedings in the
supreme court in habeas corpus, man
damus and special proceedings"
x X
Baby Smothered in Bed.-The g.
month-old child of Mr. and Mrs. Slant
Bressler of near Sterling was smoth-
cred to death while sleeping with the
parents the other night
x x
Grange Leader Dead-E. W. West
gate, former state legislator and a
leader in state and national grange
work, is dead at Manhattan.
X x x
Dr.. EIderkin to Leave Lawrence
DR.. Noble Strong Elderkin, pastor of
the Plymouth Congregational Church
at Lawrence, has received a call to
the pastorate of the Second Congrega-
tional Church of Oak Park, a suburb
of Chicago, he announced recently 1t
is probable he will accept.
x
Land Bank at Peabody Joint
stock land bank is being organized un-
der the Federal Farm Loan Act pro-
visions at Peabody by J. G. Johnson,
DR.. H NJ. Mayer, Guy Tucker and
Charles NJ. Nusbaum, business men
of the town. It is the first corpora
ton of the kind known of in this sec
ton. Of the 4 million dollars re-
quired by the act, $4,000 has been
subscribed.
Oil Near st. PauI.-The discovery
of oil and gas on a 700-acre tract, be
longing to the R. N Allen estate, six
revive the boom days OF St. Paul.
Twenty-Five thousand acres have been
put under options for leases. 1t is ex-
pected a dozen more test wells viii
be put down in the next month
Atchison Veteran Dead.-Jonathan
fought in fifty battles, died at his
home in Atchison the other night He
was rs years old
Three Boys and a RifIe.@Three
small boys went hunting with a 22-
caliber rifle near Hutchinson. John
C. Heevers. Is years old. attempted
to take a shell out with a screw
driver. He was shot through the
breast and instantly killed
Hunters Hand Shot Off.-Frank
Armstrong, an Atehison business man.
shot off his right hand with shot
gun while hunting rabbits near Mus
cotah He was returning TO his auto
mobile when he slipped and the gun
was discharged.