The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1918-05-24
LONG DRAWN OUT LITIGATION

| The principals in the EPSON salts
lake controversy, that has been bit
terly fought out in the courts for some
time, had another inning last week in
an effort to clear up the puzzle as to
which one of the numerous claimants
has legal right to the property. AS
an industry Of vast Importance to
Oroville in the mind of the general
public it is deplorable that the opera
| ton of extracting the salts has been
| retarded through process of litigation.
The existence Of the deposit has been
known for years, and until the enter
prise of men who were willing to put
up capital to develop the merit of the
salts as commercial commodity
made the lake property of value, the
ownership was not question to
bother the courts A complicated
case Of priority of rights as to loca-
ton and relocation has sprung up
after outsiders have made the deposit
worth fighting for and the ingenuity
of attorneys and the wisdom of the
bench is now endeavoring to straight
en- out the tangled mess. What and
where the end will be is beyond all
prediction, for the law moves in de-
vious ways and circumlocution is a
discouraging feature of the courts.
No man can safely judge between
the conflicting claims set up by the
several persons party to this contro-
versy' Each Of the various persons
claiming interest in the lake at this
time and heretofore, may be honest
in their contentious, and may have
intended to give testimony that was
the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth, yet the conflict of evil
dence would suggest that memory can
be at fault in little matters of this
kind. However, all this comment is
neither here nor there in it's bearing
upon the case. Other trials have pre-
ceded the one heard by the court at
Okanogan last week and are still in
the process of dragging their weary
way through judicial review to ulti-
mate and final decision. The particu-
lars of the last case, which is of so
much local Importance as to be
worthy of reproducing, are taken from
the Okanogan Independent:
Before Judge w. A. Grimshaw of
Chelan county, who was called into the
case by reason of the fact that Judge
c. II. Neal had been attorney for inter-
ested parties while in private practice
third trial involving title to the Orovile
and Thursday. the suit being emitted
the Stewart Calvert Company VS. Ray
burn and his associates.
The controversy was before the court
from two angles last August and the
idecision in both cases is pending on ap-
peal at this time
'Rayburn claims title through re-
location. after what has been termed tn
McCammon faction had endeavored to
locate him out of one fourth interest
in the original discovery and location
Since the previous trials the Stewart
Calvert company. who had previously
from both the McCammon and Rayburn
claimants, purchased all the claimed title
of McCammon and his associates.
"Throughout the controversy claims of
irregular actions and double dealing be-
tween claimants have been frequent. The
property is now shut down as result of
the litigation. and the Stewart Calver.
company. who have expended something
like $40. 600 I'm treatment plant will he
kept out of possession, in all probability.
until the question of title is finally ad-
Indicated by the supreme court No de-
cision will be rendered in the case Just
parties submit written arguments to the
court"