The Lawton Constitution. (Lawton, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 9, 1905 Page: 2 of 8
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Lawton Constitution MR- ray contentious.
(Successor to tho Elgin Eagle) i R.J.Ray, in a communication ol
PUBLISHED B\ THi; CONSTITUTION CO.
B. K. ilusi an1) h. M.tiltom, M
J. Kot Willi a mm, Keillor.
Offiu 411 Fifth Sired. Telephone No. 7h.
4 DIRECTORS
w. H. Anderson, Pre®. H. I. MoKlhoes,Bee.
j. D. F. Jennings Mart Cofftnan
F. P. Alexander H. K. Hush
j. H. Akers mish Nona Conway
hntered ns r«'coikI-c1hhh matter Sent. 7th,
1904, at tlie postofllce at liawton. Okfa.,
dor the Act of Congress of March :kl, linn.
TEKMH:
Weekly, per year
l>a!ly per week
I tolly, per year, hy mall
I tolly, per year, by carrier
|8.0l)
. 4.4MI
l>allv delivered In city by carrier every
evening exci>pt Sunday.
WILL THEY ACCEPT?
It is to tin hoped thai Mr Kay's
committee will accept Dr. Mead's
proposition to submit the matter of
selecting the members of the demo-
cratic central committee to the voters Thomas had himself but
of the w ard where vacancies have oc-
curred and have been tilled by ap-
pointment and tlins straighten the
unfortunate tangle in the party.
This proposition was not submitted
as a compromise or because Mr. Mead
and his adherents believed they were
wrong. It was submitted iu a spirit of
fairness and a desire togo back to tin
lirs t principles of the party, to go back
to the people, the source from which
all democratic authority eminates. and
learn of them what tin r w ishes are in
the premises.
Neither Dr. Mead or Mr. Hay is in-
falliahlc. There is nothing to be
be gained in quibbling over who is
right and who is wrong in the detail
of the committee, or as to who is reg-
ular or irregular.
An erronioui idea relative ^to the
position of the democratic emblem
the rooster, has caused some of the Ray
followers to stiffen their necks and
harden their hearts.
The election hoard to prepare the
official ballot will be composed of the
city clerk, a representative chosen by
the chairman of th ■ city democratic
committee, and one chosen by the re-
publican committee
The city clerlf is nn appointee
•of Mayor Turner aud will be
the balance of power on the election
board. If l>r. Mead's appointee is
seated instead of Mr. Ray, he would
still have the city clerk and the repub-
lican member of the board to reckon
with.
'There seems to be a disposition
among Dr. Turner's followers to think
that they will get the rooster "at tin
bead of their ballot, whether they arc
right or wrongand to expect the merits
of the bird to carry them through.
Let us examine this proposition.
In case the election board refuses
to properly label the regular
democratic ticket and attempts to in-
sert in its place a rump ticket, manda-
mus proceedings could be brought in
the district court to cotnpell the elect-
ion board to do the right thing. This
would bring before the court tho prop-
osition of the regularity of gwhat we
•hall term for convenience, the Mead
nd the Ray committees.
The court will find that Dr. Mead
was chosen and was acting chairman
of a committee of ten members. That
ten committeemen delegated certain
powers to him and it will] require at
least a majority of those ten to take
those powers away from him. Had
every one of those committeemen died
or removed from ttie^city, Dr. Mead
would still be chairman with alLof the
authority to proceed and discharge the
functions of the committee.
With the two memb -rs who are now
acting with him Dr. Mi id now possi --
gesali of the powers of the city demo-
cratic central co■ ■. uitt i-tind can go
great length, with which the Constitu-
tion has been favored, addresses Dr.
W. B. Mead, in reply to proposition of
the city democratic central committee,
to refer the differences between the
committee and the alleged committee
to the people, lie gives his side of the
question as though it were an extended
legal opinion, but does not say whether
or not he favors the proposition sub-
mitted to his committee.
As is customary with attorneys, Mr.
Kay argues only one side of the ques-
tion. In presenting his case lie fails to
state that he vaachosen "chairman"at
a meeting of J Elmer Thomas, (ieo.
I>. Key, Kick Calloway and George
Decker; that the public had no notice
of the meeting; that these gentlemt •.
did have notice that Dr. Mead would
arrive in a few days, and this fact hast-
ened their meeting; that .1. Elmer
ntly re-
ahead an i <!
But the lootor
this" he wants
s functions.
1 1
seven vacate' i i ur on the co n-
mittee of tun. Dr. Mead has appointed
some splendid democrat* to fill ti es,,
vacancies and they are now acting
with all of th" po \ era, authority and
regularity of com nit. iien elected
by the people. But they are willing to
hand in their resignations and sti
down and out in ord ': that there may
be harmony,and that no democrat may
find a shadow of excuse for not giving
his full support to the regular demo-
cratic ticket to be nominated for the
April election.
turned from Bom teel, South Dakota,
and might have been considered anon-
resident had his enemies desired to put
him out of the way; that Geo. D. Key
and Dick Calloway had both filed on
homesteads and had no busine-s on the
committee, and that (ieo. Decker is an
appointee of 1 ir. Mead's, and has never
been confirmed by the committee
Mr. Kay has issued a call for a moot-
ing of his commit tee on Saturday even-
ing and it is presumed that lie will
take the matter up with his appointees
at that time, though he is not courteous
enough to the regular committee to
to say so.
t hairman Mead and his committee
have submitted a fair proposition, and
if Mr. Ray and his appointees are not
willing to accept it, they will find.that
their following will not number a cor-
poral's guard
The National Cotton Association
with headquarters at Fort Worth, Tex-
as, has issued a circular to the people
generally from which the annexed ex-
tracts are taken. "Unless there is a
uniform reduction in every school dis-
trict throughout the south it will not
avail you to hold the surplus now on
hand—The man who thinks be can
slip in a few acres more because his
neighbor is decreasing deceives no one
but himself- llis acreage will becount-
ed—Another biir crop with the sur-
plus carried over will see much lower
pricos next fall, when each farmer has
agreed to reduce his cotton 25 per cent
and plant more feed crop; plant more
to eat at home, plant so as to have
"something to sell every day.'' Cotton
is a great crop bu' don't let it be mas-
ter the south is short on food and
fura.'o crops and long on cotton; bring
about a parity. Raise more to eat and
feed for your sto-k.
Ten aeres in cotton at ten cents D
more money that twenty acres at ffve
cents
Oklahoma Big Trees.
As far back as frontier history in the
southwest is recorded, tho big timbers
of the Eagle Chief, in Woods county,
was the favorite camp ground for the
Indians, trappers, hunters aud military
expeditions. In summer or winter
there was always excellent protection
from the elements. Eagle Chief creek
is fed by hundreds of clear, soft springs
bursting from every hillside aud can-
yon, and the great grove of forest
trees, the tallest and biggest in Okla-
homa, are barriers against the winds
of winter and spread a canopy of shade
in the heat of summer. Every old-
timer who has followed the cattle trail
of the southwest, knows the "big tim-
ber" of the Eagle Chief.
Tho town of Aline has asked the
Oklahoma legislature to memorialize
congress to set aside 320 acres of land,
embracing the most beautiful of the
"big timber of the Eagle Chief" for
park purposes.
About 2(i0 acres of the hall section
is covered with a heavy giowth of big
Wrc warn those fellows at Washing-i timber, mostly walnut and burr oak,
tou,that unless Oklahoma is admitted with an occa-ional mulberry, cotton-
before another campaign year, the ter- wood anil elm. It is said that in this
ritory will be democratic for the next neighborhood are the only piwpaws in
ti n years. V u can't fool all the peo- W stern Oklahoma. \ big tree known
pie all the time. There are th usands all over O .lahoma as "the big trei
of loyal republicans who will have no is here. It is a cotton wood, and meas-
heart and no will to go out and work ure- thirty-three feet in circumfer-
for success again on the statehood is- j once. A walnut log, twenty feet in
sue. Dispatches say our delegate will length cut here, scaled thirty-six
I in: secretary of the Interior has
summarily ordered Lewis P. Dodson
removed from the Osage reservation
because of the allegation that the lat-
ter has been practising the art of hyp-i
notism on the Indians. Marshal W. I!. |
Jackson was detailed to notify Dodson
of the secretary's orders. The hyi
tist refused to be transported on the
grounds that such a course could not
be.tukcn,without a trial in which suffi-
cient cans -diowiiand was therefore
placed under arrest. About a year^ago
Dodson took up his residence in Paw-
huska and secured a license to'trade
among the Osage Indians. In the
meantime itjs alleged ,lie . stablished
himself in an oflice^for the purpose of
practising magnetic healing and hyp-
notism. The ease was reported to'tlu
Interior department with the result as
previously stated. This is the first
case, it is believed, , in the history; of
the territory wherein a man's magnetic
powers and the practicejthereof^has
been the cause of his removaljf'rom an
Indian reservation.
Jake Hamon'i man Friday, who
rattles around in the editorial chair at
the News-Republican office, is doing
what he can to assist the*"grafters^or-
gan in its fight against] the Constitu-
tion. There is a tie that binds these
grafters together that ie stronger than
party ties with them. The grafter'B
organ is in the service of the republi-
can party, and Mr. Hanton would be
ungrateful did he not order his bull
terrier to charge. Tae Constitution
likes to hear all of the whelps howl, its
music to its ears.
oppose the proposition to drop New
Mexico and Arizona from the Hamil-
ton hill. I'erh ips we are too far away
or too dense to s*e clearly, but we be-
lii ve Oklahoma's chances would be
better if considered separately. Mr.
McGuire was not sent to Washington
to represent the other territori s. He
can't be elected again on the statehood
racket, and ho will do w. 11 to pull Ok-
lahoma on to the statehood wharf.—
Binger (Rep.) Journal.
No one objects to Dr. Turner going
before the democrats for their suffer-
ago. He will only be butting his head
against a stone wall. The democrats
must either turn the doctor down, or
j turn down the platform of principles
| upon which lie was elected. Dr. Tur-
ner is not overly burdened with mod-
esty but he hasn't the gall to stand
before an intelligent people and pre-
tend that he litis carried out the pro-
visions of the platform he ran on two
years ago.
Hon- W.J. Bryan will again take his
place at the head of the democratic
i arty. It is not improbable that he
will be the nominee for the presidency
gain in 10OK. Mr. Bryan makes his
light for principle and he is growing
stronger with the people every year.
inches at the top.
In an address made by Representa-
tive Prank Comeford of Chicago to'tlio
students of tlie Illinois College'of Law
a few days ago, he charged "that the
Illinois legislature is a great public
auction, where special privileges are
sold to the highest corporation bidders
aud that w ithout respect to part) af
titations . rafters seem to be in the ma-
The Illinois legislature is ri
n politics.
.lorlty."
publican
The Weekly Constitution is essen-
tially a Comanche county newspaper.
It has eighteen correspondents* in va-
rious parts of this great county and
they are all creditable representatives.
The weekly subscription list is growing
by meets and bounds.
Tub democrats of this city who are
in favor of reform should unite upon a
clean concientious man for mayor, and
vote for him to a man. There will be
no trouble about electing the right
kind of man.
There will be no more ring polities
in Comanche county democratic cir-
cles for some time. The people dealt
he ring a body blow when they elected
an honest board of county com-
missioners.
S. J. SMITH.
S. J. Smith of Brown township, is
one of tin* Constitution's stauuch-
• ••4 friends and he pays another year
for
lit? moral weekly
ling democrat
oonly ce itral ci
Mr
and i
Negroes Can't Go.
Atlanta, Ga , Peb. 2. Gov. Terrell
has decided that no negro troops shall
be allowed to leave that state f r tho
purpose of'attending the inauguration
of President Roosevelt. The Lincoln
g'i'ird, a negro company of Macon,
ua., caiman led by Sandy Lsckhart,
captain, have been making prepara-
tions for some days to go to Washing-
ton to attend the inauguration and
take part in the inaugural parade.
The governor bases his refusal ^on
the ground that he does not propose to
have Georgia iepresenteil in the in-
augural parade by a negro company.
None of the white troops of the state
will make tho trip. It is reported that
the Lincoln guards are h mo what put
out over i-he governor's attitude and
are thinking of carrying out their
intentions despite his refusal.
Gorman Goes to Asylum.
Wichita, K::n., Feb. 2.—W. G. Gor-
m in, formerly county clerk of Coman-
che county, Okl i., at.d for years con
nected with the United States land of-
fice in Woods county, was adj idged
insane in the probate couit here today.
It will bo his second commitment to a
Kansas hospital for insane. He men-
tioned that fact himself while on the
witness stand. When asked how he
liked it in a state institution, he said
that the attendants were paid but $20
per month and "no man who is fit to
take care of insane persons can be
hired for ®20a month in Kansas."
A CHALLENGE.
The public is not interested in the controversy as to
whether or not the editor of the Constitution skinned the
hand of grafters who huddle around the "organ 01
whether they skinned him.
What the public desires to know, is who has been
looting the city and county treasuries?
The Constitution has shown by specific information,
giving the number of the claims, the dates and amounts
where the "organ" crowd has robbed the city and county.
The editor of the Conktitition challenges the"organ
or any political thug who desires to take tt|> its fight
againt honesty, decency and democracy to show one in-
stance where he or any newspaper that he has been con-
nected with has drawn one dollar from lite public treasury
t'lpt Wits not honestly earned. For every dollar thus
shown he will contribute one hundred dollars to any
charitable purpose that may lie d^iguated.
It is not enough for the "organ crowd to lleece tin;
public and attempt to bankrupt the county and the city.
They cry out that their efforts and money are expended for
the "salvation of the democratic party, while they
traduce the character of honest men and attempt to brow
beat and intimidate every man who does not bow to the
will of their inlamous ring, or who (litres to suggest that
the public has any right.-that must be respected.
The public treasuries will be protected, however, and
the men of democracy w ho enlist in this fight will cover
their party with glory. The time will come in Comanche
county when no democrat w ill have to apologize for any
representative of hi,- party in office being recreant to a
public trust.
rv Receipts and Expenses.
V/ULL/ Washington, Feb. 2.—The monthly
comparative statement of tnegovern-
. ment receipts and expenditures shows
Temperature Lower Than it that for the month of Jaimaryj 1905j
, the receipts were $43,410,-385, anil the
| expenditures $49,628,299, leaving a de-
ficit for the month of :$«,218,014. The
; deficit for January, 1904, was |B,784,183.
The thermometer registered six de- The receipts fr, u,e 86Veral sources
grees above zero this morning at ' i 0f revenue are given as follows:
o'clock in this southland city of Law- Cugtom8 S2 .i0;))860. jncreaS(. oyer
ton. People from both the i,orth and January) 19M) $ii413)620.
south express themselves at greatly | xMternational
surprised at this not realizing that this increase gs31 03(;
weather is an extreme exception for
Has Been In Many
Years.
revenue, :!7,*00^672;
The people h**ve had
I ortunity to vote on city officials - tic
truer and iiis council, rnd they mad'
;i pretty thorough cleaning I holt. Ni .
me councilman who voted for the grei
wag re-nominated last spring, and not
one of them now remains upon the
■' lUficil to tell til,; tale of ti is dupliety
tn the party and the people. Those
vlio were not turned out of office by
popular sufTerage.havc either left the
town or resigned.
Subscribe for the Constitution
(
He is tor
lower taxes, reform in the administra-
tion of counly adair# and believes in
the demoerai -parly cleaning its own
house when it is necessary.
To Investigate.
Representatives NofTsingerof King-
fisher county, has introduced a resolu-
tion, providing for the appointment
of a committee of three members by
tho speaker, for the purpose of Investi-
gating the conditions of the defunct
Guthrie Capital National bank seeing
what the chances are for the recovery
of the two hundred and fourteen thous-
and dollars, territorial funds,deposited
in that bank, The resolution provides,
too, that copies be forwarded to Presi-
dent lto scvelt, Congressman McGuire,
I'ump roller of ibe Currency liidgley.
a similar reso ution was introduced in
the sen:, e hy Mr. Menefee and im-
mediately adopted.
R /. Barnes Appointed.
Rev. (' M Barnes of this city, has
ea up, ' d territ' ri 1 t vangelist
•r i ,• i .. it- lauohttich. iie. will mab
lii i is in Lawton, and will
devote l.i- i rises; illy to building
up new congregations and erecting
Rev. Barnes recently
chureh at Faxon, in
church edifices,
i di ..ted a in w
tlii- eoutitv.
t llis part of the sunny south.
In order that such people may ap-
preciate our happy situation here
more thoroughly, we will simply show
that while our thermometers are reg-
istering in the neignb irhood of six
abnve, other places are not neatly so
fortunate. In proof of this just read
the following:
Kansas City, Feb. 2.—The intense
cold continues in the southwest with
nineteen below at Trenton, Mo., the
coldest in the history of that station.
Fourteen below at Kansas ( ity, Mar-
shall, Mo., and Concordia, kansas, the
lowest temperature experienced at
these points since '88. The weather
bureau promises no moderation before
Saturday. Cther temperatures:
Wichita. 8 below; Dodge City, Kas.,
6 below; Springfield, Mo., 6 below;
Gklahoma City, four above; Fort
Smith, 18 above; St. Louis, 9 below.
1 les Moines, Iowa. 25 below, the
coldest in ten years; Peoria, 111, 22 be-
low; LaCrosse, Wis., 30 below. All
outside work impossible.
Lincoln, Neb , 22 below, the lowest
February temperature in five years;
Chicago, 14 below; Trenton, Mo., 19
below, the coldest in the history of the
local station; Omaha, 25 below; Nor-
fork, Neb., 112 below. Today marks
the coldest day of the wi iter in the
northwest. St.Paul24 balow; Medicine
Hat, Matiit iba, 40 below; Havre,
Mont, 40 below.
R- fu IP ■ i'.road Court.es i e 3.
a Friitiy's Duly Constitution.
While it would not be. fair to the
Miscellaneous, $11,807,622; decrease
#122,741.
The total receipt for January, 1905,
exceed those for January, 1904, by
§1,821,015.
Ground Hog Day.
From Thursday s Daily Constitution.
If Mr. Ground ilog poked his nose
out of his den today he surely jerked
it back again without waiting to find
out whether he could see his shadow
or not. However, If he was courageous
enough to venture out, he looked in
vain. Now the question arises, what
kind of weather does his hogship pro-
pose to give us? Some claim that hi*
shadow is a sure sign of an early
spring and others claim just the con-
trary. Now who is right?
Simpson's Incorporated.
The t, i i-itcrial secretary has issued
a char er to the Lawton Mercantile
company, of this city, with a capital
stock of £15,t)00. The incorporators are
! M. Iralsen of Chicago, M. P. Simpson
Bx-Congri ssmanCallahan has lately
i ivested in Comaneho county real
estate by trading for a good fami of Lawton and William Frank of Paris,
near the north side. Texas.
Mother Dead.
Oklahoma City,. Feb. 2.—Senator
Menefee of the Oklahoma legislature,
passed through here enroute to Fort
Cobb, summoned jthere by the unex-
pected death of his mother. The Fris-
co run a special train from here to
Chickasha for the senator. The time
from here to Chickasha was made in
52 minutes, the distance being forty-
two miles.
More Than Satisfied.
i rum Thill'; 1 ly'a Daily Censtitution.
G. o. Blair, of MuJvaii ■, Kansas, was
in the c y yesterday. Mr. Blair
staked some min -al claims iu the
nountaiiis b fori t ii i eoun ry was *
ji-ned ir •"!!' ; , came
icU a few .i iys ag i to th 'i-ou.^hly in -
. it the . ■ , ..- :j , tig in th, m . . ,1 sprota In the
that Mr. K, it singer of Kingfisher,' was I Wichitas. He reports thai he is more
the on y member of lie legislature to convinced than ever; that he is so pos-
return to tho various nulla ad com - -tiv of the great possibilities of tin so
panics tho passes sent him by them, grand old lulls that he will begin ao-
yet it is due h m to record the f et tive developm nts just us so .n as he
that he did send his fiack, and in this can make neccessary arrangements,
he was consistent in that he is making ——
such a strenuous fight for railroad
legislation, governing rates, providing
safer train service and regulating traf-
fic in general. He has three bills in-
troduced regulating railroad matters.
William Hasenbeck, of Elgin, re-
cently visited his old friend Sclinebar-
ger, at Apache, 'l'hey enjoyed talking
over old times. They whipped the
Russians, swam across the Rhine, and
once again captured Paris.
f V
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Williams, J. Roy. The Lawton Constitution. (Lawton, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 9, 1905, newspaper, February 9, 1905; Lawton, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc117851/m1/2/: accessed April 26, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.