HITCHCOCK IS ASKED TO EXPLAIN
MATTERS IN THE OSAGE LEASES
WASHINGTON: Another chapter
In the Osage oil lease incident de-
veloped when Representative Steph-
ens of Texas introduced two resolu-
tions In the house addressing in-
quiries to the secretary of the inter-
ior regarding the Foster lease of oil
and gas lands belonging to the Osage
Indians. One resolution calls on the
secretary to furnish the house with a
copy of the Foster lease and all sub-
sequent leases under that parent
lease, giving the dates of the approval
or rejection and all correspondence on
the subject. The other resolution
asks under what act of congress the
Foster lease was made, and under
what authority of law the sub-leases
were approved. The secretary is
asked whether he did not ratify the
sub-lease tb the Almeda company, and
whether this was not the first sub-
lease so ratified, and whether he had
not previously refused to ratify sub-
leases.
The resolution asks not only for the
date of the ratification of the Almeda
sub-lease but also for a list of the of-
ficers, directors and stockholders of
the Almeda company with information
as to whether any of these persons
are "personally known or in any way
related to him (the secretary), and
if so, the name of such person and
how related."
The resolution directs the secretary
to say whether he did or not on Feb-
ruary 13, in a letter addressed to the
chairman of the committee on Indian
affairs, write that the commissioner
of Indian affairs "also shows that
there is no necessity for the proposed
legislation in order to protect the ex-
isting rights of the parties who hold
under the said Foster lease, and It is
not deemed advisable, nor Indeed,
would it be just to renew and extend
the said lease for a period of ten years
or any other period without the
knowledge and consent of the In-
dians."
The resolution continues:-
"And if you did write this letter,
please state to this house what In-,
formation you have since received
that has caused you to recommend
the adoption of the senate amendment
to the Indian appropriation bill ex-
tending said lease for ten years upon
080,000 acres of said Osage Indian
lands without first securing the con-
sent of the Indians."
The statement recently given out by
Secretary Hitchcock is cited in which
he said that "the original Foster lease
was an unheard of monopoly and noth-
ing short of a public scandal," and the
resolution asks the secretary If he
was thus correctly quoted, and if so
to state why he recommends the ex-
tension of the lease.
FOR ROBBERY
Seven Men Held on Suspicion nt
Trousdale
SHAWNEE: W. H. Dlackstore
and three sons, Sim, Ed and Harve;
Joe Freeman, Frank Simpson and
Bat Lafromboix, the latter an Indian,
are under arrest, charged with hav-
iv.g set fire to the store of McCall &
Grace at Trousdale, twenty-five miles
south of here. It is also charged
that the men stole $1,400 worth of
roods from the burning building.
A boy riding past the store at the
time of the fire saw the men drive
sway with the goods, and he followed,
l'he plunder was stored In a dugout
belonging to the Indian, where it was
found later. The store was owned
by the father and brother-in-law of
William Grace, sheriff of this county.
The Trousdale postoffice was located
in the McCall & Grace store, and it
also was robbed. The prisoners will
be turned over to United States of-
ficers.
Bat LaFromboix, who was charged
with complicity with the fire and
and burglary, was acquitted, he prov-
ing an alibi. He is childless and is
the owner of a half section of fine
land. He gave his attorney, L. G.
Pittman, a note for $26,000 for free-
ing him. The note was intended as
an expression that the lawyer shall
have the land when LaFromboix is
dead.
BIXBY CALLED TO WASHINGTON TO
ADVISE WITH SENATE COMMITTEE
MUSKOGEE: Tarns Bixby, chair-
man of the Dawes commission, has
gone to Washington, where he was
summoned by a telegram from the
secretary of the interior. It is
learned that he was called to Wash-
ington to advise with members of the
senate on legislation relative to the
removal of restrictions. «.
A strong fight Is on between Ard-
more and Tishomingo over the pro-
posed removal of the Chickasaw land
office from the latter to the former
town, and It Is understood that Mr.
Bixby wll! ^e called on for a state-
ment of the commission's reasons for
recommending the removal.
A strong effort Is being made by
powerful business interests aril over
Indian Territory to secure the re-
moval of restrictions upon the sale of
surplus land of all the Indians except
fullbloods. One banking and realty
firm in this city is said to have paid
two professional lobbyists $5,000
each to secure their influence for
the desired legislation during the
present term of congress. It Is re-
ported that more than $5,000,000 is
lying in Muskogee banks ready to bo
used in buying Indian Territory lands
as soon as the restrictions are re-
moved. Some of this money belongs
to the banks, and a large part of it to
•land companies and individuals.
Numerous companies have been or-
ganized and are ready for incorpor-
ation on the hour that legislation
providing for the removal of the re-
strictions becomes effective. Land
corporations have engaged the ser-
vices of agents, educated Indians
when they can get them, to travel
through the country and buy land as
rapidly as possible when it Is re-
leased. Among the number are a
few of the grafters who are e\ner
ready to pounce upon ignorant and
defenseless Indians and get their land
for nothing if possible. These will
no doubt be checked by the rule now
provided in the appropriation bill re-
quiring that land shall be sold at an
appraised value fixed by the govern-
ment. It is believed by the large
number of land buyers, if restrictions
are removed, will be honest specu-
lators or farmers. The eyes of the
people of the eastern and northern
states are fixed upon the territory,
and many of them propose to come
here and buy homes when the bands
that hold Indian lands are released.
The fact that so many people are
interested in the immediate removal
of restrictions, including nearly all
classes of Indian Territory citizens,
causing a powerful Influence to be
brought to bear at Washington for
such legislation.
Mr. Bixby has not stated his posi-
tion upon the restriction question, but
it is understood that he, with most
other government officials in the ter-
ritory, is in favor of allowing mixed
bloods to sell their land without re-
strictions. His presence in Wash-
ington has encouraged some to be-
lieve that the senate may be consider-
ing an amendment to the appropri-
ation bill to strike out the present
clause providing for the continuance
of restrictions for twenty-one years
and substitute one removing them at
once.
TO PIPE GAS
Tulsa Has Granted a Franchise to a
Local Company
TULSA: The city council has
granted a franchise to the People's
Gas company of Tulsa to lay .pipe in
the streets of the town, for the pur-
pose of furnishing gas for industrial
purposes. The company is making
contracts to furnish gas at three
cents per thousand cubic feat. Two
of the largest wells in the Tulsa oil
district, having a flow of 15,000,000
cubic feet of natural gas per day, are
nwned by this company. Natural gas,
it is estimated at three cents per
thousand feet, is equal to the best
steam coal delivered to the boiler at
about twenty-three cents per ton.
CITY FIRE SWEPT
HOT SPRINGS VISITED BY A FIRE
AMD THE LOSS WILL RUN
FAR INTO THE MILLIONS
THREE BOOTES FOUND AMONG THE RUINS
Embezzled Miners' Funds
WILBURTON: George Alexander
was arrested here, charged with the
embezzlement of $291 belonging to
the Miners' union. A warrant is
also out for the arrest of J. T. Brown,
who was the treasurer of the union,
and who is said to be the real culprit.
Alexander, who is secretary of the or-
ganization, claims to have turned all
money over to Brown, who his dlsao-
peared.
Set Fire to Jail
TULSA: Bert Russell and John
Walker, coal miners from Dawson,
were arrested one day last week for
being intoxicated. During the night
they set fire to the jail, in an attempt
to secure their liberty. They are
now, charged with arson, and are In
the hands of the federal authorities.
J. R. Eckles, the first treasurer of
Comanche county, has been appointed
postmaster at Waurika.
The Big Fee Will be Paid
SOUTH MCALESTER: A dispatch
from Washington states that the su-
preme court of the District of
Columbia has denied the application
for an injunction preventing the^ sec-
retary of the treasury from paying
the claim of $750,000 to Mansfield,
Murray & Cornish of this city. This
amount was awarded the firm by the
citizenship court as compensation for
six years' legal work performed in
weeding out fraudulent claims of In-
dians. A warrant for the sum was
Irawn recently by the secretary of
the interior, and the suit just decided
was to prevent its payment.
PEACH CROP WILL BE SHORT
Horticulturists Believe 10 Per Cent
Will be the Output
ENID: Interviews with the lead-
ing horticulturists of this county and
northern Oklahoma reveals the fact
that the peach buds have nearly all
been killed by the hard freezes of
January and February. It is not be
lleved there will be over 10 per cent
af a crop. Other fruits have not
been damaged.
An Area of One Square Mile Burned
—Two Hundred Buildings are Con-
sumed—A Number of Hotels ar 
Among the Number
HOT SPRINGS, ARK.: Fire swept
the southern portion of this city on
Saturday, doing immense damage
and causing the death of three per-
sons. The loss is variously estimated
at from one to two million dollars.
Three charred corpses have been
found among the ruins, and as several
persons are reported missing, the
death list may be increased. The
identity of the victims whose bodies
have been found has not been estab-
lished. One of the bodies is sup-
posed to have been that of a womaa
guest of the Grand Central hotel.
The fire, which started at 3:30
o'clock in the morning, was the worst
this state has ever known, and
within five hours had burned over an
area of one square miie. Block after
block of business houses, hotels and
other buildings were swept away, and
the entire town was panic-stricken,
although the fire was confined to the
southern part of the city. Trolley
wires and telegraph and telephone
poles were destroyed and business is
demoralized temporarily. The fire-
swept area includes every house on
Chapel street, all of Market street,
from Central avenue west; Orange
street to Grand avenue, and a portion
of Oak street.
Among the buildings destroyed are
the Grand Central hotel, the Lee
house, Moody hotel, Plateau hotel,
Columbia hotel, the court house,
Methodist church, the Jewish syna-
eMthodist church, the Jewish syna-
gogue and a large number of resi-
dences and stores, conservatively es-
timated to number 200.
The fire started in the Grand Cen-
tral hotel, and its origin Is a mystery.
All of the guests of the house had
who had lost their belongings, and
watchman were on duty when the
flames were discovered.
Mayor Belding isstled a proclama-
tion calling for people to open their
houses to the destitute, nnd the ap-
peal was responded to on every side.
The large hotels took in hundreds
whoh ad lost their belongings, and
fed hundreds more.
Mayor Belding asked for contribu-
tions to assist the destitute and geni
erous donations were made. Many
turfmen subscribed liberally to the
fund. The mayor gafe it as his opin-
ion that the city would be able to
take care of the needy without out-,
side assistance.
Enticed a Girl From Her Home
OKLAHOMA CITY: A1 Waggoner
i noted gambler and "sport," was ar
rested by the police here upon the
charge of having enticed a young gir'
by the name of Ennis from her home
In Perry and accomplishing her ruin.
The girl admitted to the police ma
tron that Waggoner had promised to
take her to Colorado and marry her.
The father of the girl was sent for
and when he arrived he caused Wag-
goner to be arrested. The girl is
under eighteen years of age, which
makes Waggoner's ofTence a serious
one.
. ANTI-GAMBLING BILL STOLEN
Missouri Legislature Offers $1,000 for
the Conviction of the Thief
JEFFERSON CITY, MO.: A re-
ward of $1,000 has been offered for
the arrest and conviction of the per-
son or persons who stole from the of-
fice of the house the bill to prohibit
gambling in Missouri, and substitut-
ing therefor another less drastic
measure. A committee has been ap-
pointed to investigate the theft of the
bill, and Governor Folk has Instruct-
ed the attorney general to assist, and
to spare no money or effort to secure
the arrest of the guilty one.
ELK CITY: Officers took Frank
tVilliRiriK, ""bo has been living near
Poach, In this county, to Jail in Chey-
Dnne in default of bond. He Is ac-
cused of having stolen a horse and
buggy. The theft is alleged to have
been committed at Vernon, Texas.