Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, February 7, 1903, Page 9

THE OMAHA DAILY BEE DIRECT PRIMARY NOMINATION Propesed Reform Moeasure Pressnted to th Wisoonsin Legislature. APPROVED BY STATE ADMINISTRATION Conventions Done Away with and All Officers, Local, State a Na- to Be Nominated by Direct Vote, After & month's consideration the elec- tlons committes of the Wisconsin assembly Das drafted and reported a bill for pri mary election reform along the lines luid down by the state administration. The bill provides for the nomination of all state officers, congressmen, county and city officers and members of the legisla- ture by the primary system, the first pri- mary to be held the first Tuesday in Sep- tember, 1904, and biennially thereafter. 1t also provides for the nomination of United States senators at the primaries, though it is recognized that the obligation imposed on the legislature would not be & binding but & moral one. The provision of the Stevens bill of two years ago regarding party platforms is adopted, the platform to be promulgated at a meeting of candidates for state offices and the legislature. A new feature is that the candidates at this meeting shall also elect the state central committee, two from euch congressional district At a recent seasion of the assembly the resolution requesting United States sen- ators to tse their best efforts to securc an amendment to the federal constitution pro- viding for the election of senators by di- rect vote was adopted, 69 to 5. The lan- changed from an instruction to Provisions of the Bl The primary bill provides that all eandi- dates for elective offices, including candi- dates for United States semator, shall be nominated at a primary election to be held the first Tuesday In September, 1904, and blennially thereafter, excepting candidates for state superintendent. of Instruction, town, village, school district and judiclary officers and justices of the peace. The secretary of state at least sixty days before the September primary shail notify each county, city and village of the offices for which candidates are to be nominated. Each clerk must within ten days publish this notice at least one time. A form is provided for the use of candidates, which must be used In order to insure the plac- | ing of a name upon the official ballot. Must Swear to Electors. Signers of mominating papers are pre- cluded from signing more than one petition for any ome office, and must attach resi- dence addresses. The affidavit of an elector 18 required to each paper setting forth that he is personally mcquainted with all the persons who have signed it and knows they are electors. There may be any number of such afdavits it hecessary to identify all signers as electors. Nomination papers for state officers must bear the signatures of 1 per cent of the totul vote of the party in the state, com- ing from six counties. Representatives to congress must sccure the signatures of 2 per cent of the voters, and papers must be circulated in at least one-tenth of the dis- triet precincts. Candidates for county offices must secure § per cent of the voters' sig- Datures. Separate Party Tickets. Provision is made for a separate part: ticket it the nominees receive 1 per cent of the total yote cast at the last general eléction. Nompartisan candidates must se- cure the signatures of 2 per cent of the total 7ote of the last general election, to be obtained in the same way as other can- didates tor the same offices. Nominatie: for city offices must be filed with the clty clerk; for county offices with the county clerk, and all others with ths secretary of state. Twenty-five days before the prifary the secretary of state is to submil the list ot candidates to county clerks who twenty days before the primary must publish it at least once lu two newspapers. Publication must contain names and addresses of all candl- dates, the date of primary and all necesgary information relative to the opening and closing of polls. Town, city and village clerks within forty-eight hours after re- celving notices from the secretary of state shall post coples In conspicuous place The Official Ballot. Provision Is made for an official ballot for each voting precinct, on which the names of all candidates for whom nominating pu- pers have been filed shall be printed. Re- garding the preparation and distribution of ballots the bil} provides that sample offi- clal ballots shall be prepared by each county clerk at least twenty days before the September primary contalning the names of all candidates arranged alphabet- ically and printed on colored paper. County clerks are required to submit the ticket of each party to the county chairman and mall a copy to each candidate. Primaries in citles are to be open from € to 9 o'clock, and in the country from % a.m to§p m. The Australian ballot is to be used, made up of several party and non- partisan tic all fastened together at top and folded, the names of all candidates to be argnged alpbabetically under the proper party designation. In case & per- son is nominated on more than one ticket be must file a written declaration stating Matchless but Matchable ‘Though design, quality and workmanship renderit match- less, there is one particular in which Gorham Silver warrants the seeming paradox. Despite the apparently inexhausti- variety ;_af stylesany pattern of tableware can be matched at any time. A complete segv- ice, therefore, can be muired ; b{ degrees to suit the conven- ience of the individual | the camp. Say, Alice, sta; the party designation under which his name bas to be printed on the offelal dallot / Filling of Vaeane! Vacancles occuring sfter the primaries | shall be filled by the party committees. No person is entitled to vote at the pri- maries unless he is an elector of the pre- cinet and duly registered. Primary day and the Monday preceding are designated registration days. Persons registering after the primaries must appear personally be- fore the inspectors. Frovision is made for the appointment of two challengers by the party committee in each precinct The canvass of votes is to be conducted in the eame manner as at present. The person recelving the greatest number of vates at a primary shall be the chndidate of the party for the office to which he is nominated As soon as a primary shall be certified to the secretady of state he shall publish in the officis] state paper a certificd statement of the result as to can- | didates ifor state offices, United States sen- i ator, representatives in comugress and for legislative offices which include more than | one county. The secretary of state must certity to the county clerks the candidates nominated for county officer. | The returns of & city primary canvass | shall be made by the mayor, city elerk und | treasurer, who are to meet and canvass | the returns the day following the primary. | The Mob at Blufftown Short Story by KATHERINE 'DONALD. (Copyright, 1908, by Katherine McDonald.) Stephen Ballantyne was the youngest man Who had ever been elected sherift of Lewis county. He had carried on a manly and good-natured campaign and evem his op ponents were not unanimously in sympathy with the Weekly Pocket when it attacked him for going off on & week's vacation at the very beginning of his term. For the bass had begun to bite in Anderson and the governor and a party of state poll- ticlans had invited him to their camp at the “Old Stone Mill,” a favorite rendezvous for fishermen of southern Indiana. Mrs. Ballantyne did not approve of his golng, even when he urged that “the gov- ernor, auditor of state and a couple of congressmen are ot to be fished with every day.” But, knowing that her h band's ambitions only began with the shrievalty, and that acquaintance with in- fluential men would be necessary to his future, she did not oppose him. The jail was well filled with prisoners and she wa not yet used to ltving In close touch with crime, so it was arranged that she should take Baby Stephen and spend the week of her husband's absence with a dear old frie: 1 living about five miles out of town. Aunt Charlotte Pulling was the most generous and practiced hostess of the county and Mrs. Ballantyne enjoyed her hearty joviality and constant mothering quite as much as her husband his genial companions and phenomenal luck on Ander- son. Lewis is » prosperous county. In every irection telephone wires are stretched along the well kept roads and all day long gossip and messages, grave and gay, flash over them from ome farm house to another. One morning it chanced that Mrs. Ballan- tyne, being alone in the house, answered a call and received a message so horrify- ing that she paled jas she listened. Uncle Joshua Philipson, one of the best known and most respected farmers of the county, had just been discovertd lylng dead in his own house from a knife wound, and near him, her old gray bead crushed by some heavy instrument, lay his wite—everybody's “Aunt Becky,” one of the best beloved of the dear old helpful, strong-hearted Hoosler women of the ploncer generation. After the first call the telephome bell kept up a eonstant ringing, a neighbor or, perhaps, somé accommodating merchas in town, sending on every bit of news or rumor as it came out. By 10 o'clock it was known that the murder bad been committed by two farm hands who had lived upon the Philipson place. By 2 in the afternoon one of them had been found hiding in an empty corn bin in the “bot- toms” near town. At 4 he was safe in jail at Blufftown, and there was hope of getting a confessibn which would lead to the arrest of his accomplice. About 4:30 o'clock Rose Rawdon, Mre. Ballantyne's sister, called her from the telephione ex- change, where she was “I am so glad you ar sald. “The tdwn is awful! They say there are fifty men here from Kentucky, and more crossing the river all the time. And ever so many down from Riverbend, and in from Athems, and the “Fair Fight" neighborhood. 1 guess every farmer for ten miles round has come to town. The 1:30 traln from Spring Grove was crowded. They aay when the packet gets in and the evening: train there’ll be 2,000 strangers on the streets. And, say, Alice”—dropping her volce—“Truman Wallace is trying to swear in a lot of men to help xuard the jail—a mob, you know. 1 am o glad you aren't here! Yes, I'll keep you posted. Goodbye.” After supper that evening the Pullings snd their guest sat the front poreh. Mr. Pulling dozed; Mrs. Pulling jow little Stephen back and forth In a rocker less chair and sang the old camp-meeting tumes that had soothed eight lusty sonms of her own. Some onme called from whe sitting room: “Mrs, Ballaniyne, there's a long distance call for youi" She took up the recelver in trembling anxiety, and exclaimed at once: Ob, Stephen! where are you?" “At Boone,” he sald; “just got here after the hardest riding I ever did. “How did you know about it? “One of the boys brought the mews to right where you are. I'll send for you tomorrow.” “You are not coming home, Stephen?’ “Hush; no one must know—by midnight, I think." *“How can you? It is impossible!” “But 1 will; only promise to stay where you are. Get word to Truman, that he | must hold out if there is trouble 'ull I come. Goodby, dear, I haven't & moment. Goodby!" Mrs. Ballantyne went back to the porch and sat quiet, though her heart was torn | The birds were twittering among the cedars in the front yard. The first fire- flles were darting over the meadows, the sweet-breathed quiet of the country even- ing enfolded them. Suddenly it was torn away like gauze by a long. low. blood- curdling sound. Mr. Pulling sprang to his feel. “Good Lord!"” he gasped, they've got the bloodhounds after that fellow!™ The telephone bell rang. Simon Martin, living pear town, called up the Pullings to say: “They're trailing him with hounds. Com- ing right out the big road. Aln't in sight, but you can hear ‘em. Coming right your way!" George John Mason, a still nearer bor, called a little later “The hounds are in sight over Bacon's hill, coming lickety-split! Must be twenty, igh- men follering In buggies and herseback Golng myse't. Be by your way pretty soon Another ring and Jake Dowdy, wheezing with asthma and excitment, managed to say “Them hounds jest passed here. Wush't Nervy would a let me gone! But night alr aia’t the best in the world for me. It | J tarm, | emerged now and then from the black gulf Coples of the returns are to be delivered to the respective city chairmen. Precinct party committees are to be nominated at the primaries, each nlector writing the name of three electors on h's ticket. The three recelving the highest number f votes shall constitute such com- mittee, the number receiving the largest vote to mct as chairmen. City and county party committees are to be made up of the party chairmen of each precinct In the eity, county or district, the state senatorial committee of the chairmen of the assembly district committees in such senatorial dis- trict, the congressional committees of the party chairmen of the sematorial district committees The Party Platf Party platforms are to be made up at & meeting of the candidates for state offices and for senate and ass>mbly, to be held at the capitol on the fourth Tuesday of September after the primaries. The candidates are to elect a te central committee consisting of members from each congressional distriet, together with a chairman, and to ,perform ‘such other business as may properly be brought before said meeting. The platform of each party shall be formed at such time that it shall be made public rot later than 6 o'clock of the fol- lowing day. makes your flesh creep to see them durned dogs!"* Later still mother “Say, ma, let pa be ready to get in the buggy with me. I'll see to him all right. We'll neither of us ever get a chance to see anything ke this again—please, mammy!" Mre. Pulling chuckled. “Lijah,” she 14, “you get your sack coat. You ain't going out in the night alr with Jasper in your shirt sleaves.” For some time they sat in silence on the porch. Now and then, ever nearer, the deep and horrid bay of the hounds came to them. Presently the thud of hooves and roll of wheels could be heard in the Inter- vals. The Pullings and Mrs. Ballagtyne joined the other members of the household at the front gate and stood waiting with them in silence. Suddenly two long, dark, gliding figures appeared in the moon-lit road. Steadily they came on, one slightly in advance of the other, neither swift nor slow, but moving with a horrid rhythm. Nearer the beastly outlinés defined them- selves and as they swept past the gate thelr panting breaths, their low-hung | heads, thelr hanging tongues, the gleam | of their white fangs and flery cyes sent .i strange terror to the hearts of the on- lookers. “God help the poor creature!™ Charlotte whispered. A few paces behind the dogs came the deputy sherift and his posse, followed at a distance by a long procession of men, in buggles or wagons, on horseback or on bicycles. Behind these struggled a lot of hot, dusty and excited boys from town and country. Truman Wallace, the deputy stopped to talk with Mrs. Ballantyn, “I wish to goodness Steve was here!" he sald. “The town's full of toughs, and it we get the other ‘un tomight they'll be a mob sure!” He mopped his brow. look at them devilish dogs; they're on t scent all right, ain’t mever changed that | trot since we left Philipson’s.” Jaeper Pulling took his father into his buggy. The two hired men came out of the barnyard on horseback in time to join the procession, the young peqple strolled over to o peighbor's. When Mrs. Ballantyne was alone with Auct Charlotte, she an- nounced her intention of going to Blufttown | and begged for & horse and buggy. Finally her hostess said: “Well, I guess the road s as safe tonight as it will ever be in this world, enly, I wish you'd let me go with you. We'll have | to hitch up old Joe ourselves, I gue With lttle Stephen lying asleep on her | Jap Mrs. Ballantyne drove along to Bluf- town. Arriving at the sherift's residence she had no difficulty in entering, although | the place ‘was clearly in a state of slege. In the hall which separated the dwelling from the jail she came upon & man with a | gun, and was surprised to recognize Bar- | nett Crame, a handsome, reckless young | scamp, whose reputation was built upon lawlessness. He understood her surprise at seeing him there and explained humbly: “Truman had trouble getting help. Seems Itke most of the boys would rather see this thing from the outside.” “But I should have thought,” Mrs. Bal- lantyne began. “Yes, 1 guess most anybody would think I'd be more likely to help & mob than to guard prisopers—unless it was your hus- band; be always thinks the best of a fellow and T guess he'd trust me.” ° “And so do 1" she answered simply. “I wish I weren't here, Mrs. Baliantyne, or that Steve was—not that anybody will hurt you, but you may see a sight you will never forget.” “But there must be no such sight! My husband's honor is at st We must hold the jail until he comes at midnight! They Bave the first man here safe?” “Yes, and are trying to get him to con- fess before they get here with the other.” ‘They haven't caught him?" Yes, aslecp in a cabin on Noseworthy's The door wasn't fastened and the dogs went straight to the bed where he lay! Truman telephoned from Long's."” ‘Tell Mr. Wallace that he must hold the jail until Mr. Ballantyne comes. She carrfed little Stephen to her own rooms. When she had put him to bed she stood for a moment at the front window of the parlor, which was in the second story. The summer night brooded as peacefully here as in the country. The streets were deserted save for shadowy figures that Jasper Pulling called his Aunt sheriff, of the street which dips between the bluffs to the river. Men were sitting about the doors of the hotel opposite in that sociable quiet which always characterized the | groups to be found there of summer even- ings. But presently she became consclous of an ominous stir outside. From the river and the side streets groups of men appeared and joined others who must have been waiting uoder the trees in the court house yard. In & few moments the street was filled with them. She eptung the shades to the top of the windows, turned on all the lights, and, drawing & small table to the center of the room, sat down beside it to sew. The sound of wheels told her fhat the deputy sherift was bringing the second murderer. She could mot know that he really came through back streets and alleys while the citizens and tarmers who had followed the man- hunt came directly down Main street to distract attention. But she heard the angry murmurs of disappointment from the crowd in front and realized that they were bent on some awful deed The sheriff's wife was a delicate, sensl- tive girl. As she bent over her work the hot blood surged into her face and her blue eyes brimmed with tears of shame. “What might not these men think or say of her?" She held herself in her chair by sheer will force. The voice of someohe speaking,from the court hotses steps fioated into ibe room. Sbe could bear that both prisoners wcre Syrup. hy ..?f Figs the best family laxative It is pure. It is gentle. It is pleasant. It is efficacious. It is not expensive. It is good for children. It is excellent for ladies. It is convenient for business men. It is perfectly safe under all circumstances. It is used by mil lions of families the world over. It stands highest, as a laxative, with physicians. If you use it you have the best laxative the world produces, A RPN MR SO H DU ICRE I TR Y Y Because Its component parts are all wholesome. It acts gently without unpleasant after-effects. It is wholly free from objectionable substances. Tt contains the laxative principles of plants 1t contains the carminative principles of plants It contains wholesome aromatic liquids which are agreeable and refreshing to the taste. All are pure. All are delicately blended. All are skillfully and scientifically compounded. Its value is due to our method of manufacture and to the orginality and simplicity of To get its beneficial cfiects — buy the genuine Manufactured by @o&flm fis Syrur San Francisco, Cal. New York, N. Y. Louisville, Ky. the combination. - == FOR SALE BY ALL LEADING DRUGGISTS. now In jail, and that the point of mak'ng a confession, and the county auditor, who was with them, had sent out to ask that the crowd make no demonstration which m, defeat that end. An hour passed more or less quietly. Then began a clamor for ‘‘Deacons.” This gentleman, who was the auditor, mounted the steps and appealed to the crowd to respect the law, but, divining that there had been mo confession, they yelled bim down. He made his way to the hotel and dropped into a chalr, spent and trem- bling. When he saw the lighted parlor and the sherifi's wife sitting calmly at her sewing, he sprang up with mow cour- age. “Look at that woman!" he cried. “She's never doing that for fun! She's heard trom Steve, and is trying to hold them back. Boys, we've got to get out and help her! A number of law-loving citizens who had been dejectedly watching events, fol- were on the | lowed him out to mingle in the crowd. Little Stephen awoke and cried. The mother ran to him eagerly, finding fresh courage in the companionship of her baby son. She carried him into the parlor and stood at the window with him in her artme. He was a fine boy, and lcoked bravely out upon the strange scene. An admirer under the window whistled at him, he understood the friendly overture and began to kick and crow, holding out his chubby arms and laughing merrily. The pretty domestic picture hung above the muttering crowd appealed to many. “They won't do much long's that woman is there,” one farmer remarked to anoth: But there were desperate men in that crowd, and blood-thirsty encugh to turn it into & mob. This “softening influence might delay the lynching, bat could not prevent it i Mrs. Ballantyhe saw small parties of men slip furtively through the yard and knew they were sent to guard the back exits. She heard the blows of axes and guessed that the big telepbone pole at the cormer was being cut down to be used a ram. She saw it waver, and turned trembling from the window. The clock struck the half hour. “Half-past eleven!" she sighed. “Oh, boy, what can we do next Stephen signified his eagerness to play “peek-a-boo,” and they began the gam Meantime the pole had fallen and twenty men were carrying it toward the jall. As they passed the window & burly Kentuck- fan, who led them, looked up. ‘Stop heah, boys” he sald good- naturedly; “less rest ouhse'ves. Let the _Hoosie’hs finish this job." Laying it down they crowded close to the window and watched the mother and child. The delay in forming another squad to carry the pole was considerable gain. “Peck-a-boo” had given way to ““This little pig went to market” whea Mrs. Ballantyne heard the orders: Clear a space there! Further back, boys! Further vet!” “O, get back, can't you, out of their way?" “Give them room for a rum!” “Now! Come with a rush— cne, two, three, four!"” There was a splintering craeh, a shout from the mob, one long, terrified shriek from inside the jail—the door, was down! The sheriffe wife buried her face on the shoulder of her child—she had failed to protect her husband's trust. The tumult inside the jail drowned the ASK YOUR GROCER FOR Walter Bakers BREAKFAST e ST & AR S - So.0) noise without. Above the voices of ex cited men and the din of trampling feet came the cries of prisoners locked in their cells and uncertein what was happening. Some shrieked “fire” in mortal terror, all pounded the cell doors and begged to be let out to die like men. To the horror of all this footsteps in the private hall added for Mre. Ballantyne the thrill of personal fear, but it was only Barnett Crane, come, he explained, 1o “stay with her and the baby." A fierce, wild animal cry went up from the walting crowd outside. The murderers were being brought out—one sbrieking like a maniac, one silent and bbedient They were dragged across the yard to a maple tree which shaded the side windows of the sheriff's parlor. It wi electric light, and, gently shaken by t! | night breeze, all its tender new leaves twinkled and shone. It was a beautiful tree—a little peculiar in form because of the great size of two Jateral branches which spread its shadow widely and recom- mended it tonight as a natural gallows. The leaders of the mob halted under it, and a boy climbed it with a rope in his hand. Bargett Crane watched them from a little balcony which hung under the side window. Then he went In to Mrs. Ballan- tyne. “Can‘t you st he asked. “It might put them off a moment or two." “It is too late,” she whispered in de- spair. ‘Twouldn't be if Steve could get he he answered confidently. His faith in her husband gave her cour- age. She stood against the iron railing of the balcony with little Stephen in Jer arms, while Barnett Crane called out over the heads of the crowd: “Boys, stop a moment! You've got those fellows and can do what you please with them; give them a minute or two to repent in, for Mrs. Ballantyne's sake.” From the street came a voice. “Don’t give them an instant! want them to repent.” But there were others who wers faith- ful to the mother and child. “Five minutes, boys! Give 'em that Tong!" But it might not have been done had not Alice begun to sing. Her volce was the | pride of the county. Many in that crowd | had heard it before at public meeting and entertainment, from the church cholr or at funerals, and tonight its glorious notes were more thrilling than ever before. Th sheriff, riding breathlessly toward his duty, heard it swelling on the soft night air and recognized it. The boy who had taken the rope up the tree with such a lively sense of the honor slid down the dark side of the trunk and disappeared. The masked desperados lis We don't tened to the heart-searching melody— Jesus, lover of my soul, Let 'me to Thy bosom fly— and more than ome of them brushed away the tears. By some occult power the singer knew that she was melting them and sang oa as by angelic inspiration. And, thrilling wi triumph, she saw, already inside the yard and making his way impetuously to hie prisoners, Stephen. By the time her song was finshed he had taken his place. His back was against the tree; his right band extended over the murderers, who grovelled at his feet, held a revolver. The leaders saw in his blue eyes that startling fire which shows the man at white heat, the point beyond which death may lle—but never surrender. He faced the seething mob without a doubt of bis power to control it. “Those are my prisoners,” he sald, qui- | etly. “I command you in the name of the law 16 disperse.” Already many had slipped awsy, and | the mob was every moment diminishing. But the desperate and the criminal' re- mained, and they rallied the wavering leacers. “Don’t be cowed by one man!" they cried. “Get out of the way, sheriff; you're too late “Don't act like a fool, Steve; you're one against a thousand,” and some one shouted, “He can’t bold out more'n & minute any- | how." “I'll be sheriff of this county for that minute, all right,” he answered, grimly. | “Whoever lays his hand on onme of these prisoners dies right here!" Perkiaps it was the sherif's reputation for marksmanship, perhaps it was his per- fect confidence in his own mastery of the situation; at any rate, no jnan approached the prisoners. On the contrary, the circle round them quietly widened. The burly Kentuckian broke the silence. “Boys,” he cried, jovially. “Reckon we aln't needed heah. This county's pretty well fixed to get along—the sheriff can shoot neahly as well's his wife con sing. Less be gettin' ovah the rivaa." Sherift Ballantyne's face brightened and his boyish laugh rang out. “Tra-la, gentlemen!” he sald. Kentuckians are the best judges of in the world, and I'm flattered.” “We know a fine woman, too, sah. We ou 0oting surrendsh 1o the song, sab, Dot to the gun.” And with gallant lifting of slouch bats toward the balcony he and his com- rades—twenty or more—turned into the black throat of Main street, where it de- scends between the blufts of the Ohfo. After this the mob ted rapidly away. Twenty minutes later the streets were de- serted, and the summer night so still that Mrs. Ballantyne heard Kentuckians singing “Jesus, Lover of My SoJl” as | they rowes homeward across the river. (OLORADO IRRIGATION LAWS State Engineer at Head of Public Ad- | minietratian of Ditohes. DISTRIBUTION OF WATER A BIG TASK State Divided Inte Districts with a ‘Water Co: ssfoner in Charge— Diteh Riders ate S ply te Ceo H. A. Crafts of Fort Collins, Célo., in an article on “Irrigation Administration in tieth Cen- tury Farmer, says: There are two functions to irrigation ad- ministration in Colorado—public and pri- vate. At the head of the public functiony ands the state engineer. The state engineer {s appointed by the governor. The ditches, of course, are owned by either individuals or corporation, but still are under state control. There is one ditch In the atate, however, that is owned by the state. It was bullt to irrigate state lands. Then the general government has already begun to act under the law recently passed providing for the construction of storage reservolrs. The first government reservoir will probably be in the northeast corner of the state and will be filled by the flood waters of the South Platte river. When that is complete and in operation another element will be added to irrigation admin- istration in the state. The state of Colorado is divided into grand. divisions, known as irrigation di tricts. Each division is under the super- vision of a superintendent of irrigation. This functionary is also appointed by th governor. Then each irrigation district is subdivided into commissioners districts, according to the extent to which Irrigation is carried on in the district. There 1is somewhere between fifty and sixty commis sioners’ districts in the state. A commis- sioner s called a water commissioner. He is appointed by the governor upon recom- mendation of a majority of the county com- missioners within whose jurisdiction the water Cistrict lles. A water commissioner has charge of the distribution of the irrigation water within his distret. He has a printed record of the nding of each irrigating ditch and stor- age reservoir in his district, the dates of construction, the priority of rights asd the number of cubic feet of water per second each ditch s entitled to hv law. These are points that have been settled by the courts! A ditch owner, in order to have a standing in law, must make proof before a duly appointed referee of the facts con- nected with the date of comstruction, of enlargements, the ize of t catipn, the grade upon which it Is buil: and the number of cubic feet of water it will carry per second of time. The report of the Teferee is submitted to the judge of the district court in the district in which the ditch is located. When the referee’ report has been examined and approved the court issues a deeree, which is entered of record in the archives of the court, and stands inviolate, unless overruled by some reopening of the case, or an appeal o some higher court. This decree ser ses as 2 gulde #nd basis in the public adminstration of the affairs of the ditch in question. Questions of administration that canmot be settled en- tirely by the water commissioner, the sup- erintendent of irrigatien or the state engi- neer are brought into court, where they are fought out until finally settled. Con- tests in some cases are carried to the United States supreme court. The amount of irrigation litigation in the state is some- thing emormous, and fs exceeded only by the minipg litigation. These two branches of litigation make & perfect harvest for the lawyers. The private administration of irrigating ditchep is anotber affair. Each irrigation company holds one regular meeting each year at which it elects a board of directors and a set of officers—president, secretary, treasurer and superintezdemt. The last named is the executive officer of the com pany. He looks after the care and repair of his ditch and the distribution of water during the irrigating season. When nec- essary the superintendent appoints an as- stant vr & deputy. Under the superin- tendent are the ditch riders. A ditch rider is the man who rides up and down an ap- pointed part of the ditch, regulating the amount of water turned out to esch com- sumer. The headgate of each farm lateral is now under lock and key, and the key is beld by the ditch rider. Each stream of any considerable o size diteh, 1ts lo- | | trom whien er {s taken for irrigation 18 rated by the state engineer and provided with a measuring weir. Bach morniog during the irrigation season the reading of this weir is taken by the water commis- sloner, who in turn notifies each ditch su- perintendent in his district, or npon & given stream, just how much water his ditch is entitled to for the ensuing twenty |tours. This information fs handed along | to the ditch riders, who then figure out the amount of water each consumer within his division fs entitled to. In times of violent fuctdations in the flow of etreams the rating is taken twice in the twenmty-four hours. But as a general thing one rating | per day is sufficlent. The number of ditch riders employed upon a single ditch depends upon the size of the ditch. The larger ditches in Lari- mer and Weld counties employ from four to six each. A ditch is divided into sec- tions and each section is in charge of a ditch rider. One ditch rider is usually able to attend to about ten miles of ditch There 1s a pathway constructed along one bank of every main irrigating ditch for tho use of the ditch riders, and such other offi- clals as are called upon to occasionally in- spect the works. The ditch, rider usually makes his rounds with a horse and cart, but sometimes he goes horseback. There is another life connected with ditch administration that is much more arduous—the life of the overseer of the high line ditches that are built away up on the divides of the Rocky mountains to bring water from one watershed to another. Some of these cross the Continental divide itself, bringing water from the Pacific to the Atlantic slope. These are at an alti-" tude of some 10,000 feet above sea level, where it is winter about two-thirds of the yeur. Of course there are no individbal consumers to deal this water out to, but the ditches being bullt in such precarious altffudes need constant watching to pre- vent breaks and washouts. These ditches are from seventy-five to 100 miles’ from the ditches on the plains, and the over- seers are obliged to establish thelr homes in these mountain helghts for several months each year, taking their familics with them and living in rude log cabins near the scene of their duties. The life, however, is not devoid of its pleasant fea- tures as the air is delightfully pure and cool in those high altitudes during the en- tire summer, and mountain trout and wild game are feund in great cbundance. The water commissioner is also caled upon to send deputies to superintend theso | high-line ditches. The deputy must keep |an exact record of the amount of water | measured ino the main stream from these ditches, so that it may be known by the commissioner just how much to measure out of the stream to the maln frrigating ditch down below on the plains. And again there are numerous small irrigating ditches found all through the lower moun- tain altitudes that are used for the jrriga- tion of hay lands upop the mountain ranches, and these have to be watched to see that they take mo more water than they are entitled to. So the water com- missioner appoints deputies to look after these as well as the bigh-line and the plains ditches. The filling of storage reservolrs can be supervised as a general thing by the water commissioner himself, as this work is done outside of the busier part of the irrigating season. The larger ditches and, in fact, many of the emaller ditches, have con- pected with them separate systems of <elephone communication, 8o *hat the labor of supervision has been greatly eimplified i The News from Home. The following brief but expressive note, reports the Atlanta Constitution, was re- ceived by a Billville parent from his son in New York “Dear Dad: Iam here, in New York, an’ the doctor says I've got the appendicitis.” The old man was equally brief and ex- pressive in his reply: “Dear Bill: You orter be Down here we ain't got nuthin’ | measules an’ the long-sufferin’ tism thanktul. but the rheuma-~ A Parting &I Good rorning,” said the old man. “I'd lke to look over some epectacles.’ “Yes, sir”" replied the clerk, who had been given motice to lrave, “that’s what most of our customers do. It's just as good as looking through them.'—Philadelphia Press. gentle- of your Tell This to Your Wife. 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