The Searchlight (Guthrie, Okla.), No. 513, Ed. 1 Friday, February 21, 1908 Page: 2 of 16
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THE 8EARCHUCHT
k Delft'
*7msVf. «t|
^>Ur l» *ad
4®w> rajrfd
the paM fear
*ASu+**f. *4 Trtmk Ti
■ are hktuuL t:-.
ior tmM "*-*>■*
•has not had W#a
*u4 if**i aeMt ace tor
4qv
TkJW^-r CMK to Xwau with •
<.1**vk*« nan*4 kj*per*, mum c€ i
iJ<>»- sa Xovata, t&4 they
***v here *er*vaJ <***. tiwr grata of
- .-. £,vi '• ; Wn&jsma, at Tv±
at, sari »t oil •>s>~nAtn -sas eoftsefeea
*A UMr fan* Tuwrr vac UMK 21
j<ar* «ftl »«d he a!v> tvek band hi
»k# *iay
If T /e^reseaung Jim
<;««*?. i »/> g*/ *e-it v/ the a£air, aad
fcorered near the tcxae, and sdHf*
overtwe* tor exposittoa of hi* Iu»ii
*good fellow" prograa.
Mr. Tano«r vac taken to Oklahoma
City, fro» ii«c b«rri*d v> Enid,
arber* >A\ tt***u grew rbiek for * <fc*y,
aad *»al)y the lea*e wsu tipH, Bert
TUJoCson, A'turut^f u*mi#r of the
legislature a«t<J *J»o oil promoter,
tigitriuK a* one </f U^fe triumvirate
Detectives, irrMtff aad what follow-
ed the sensation trip* of the three
oaring operator*, a&d they meant the
spending of money like water. The
l/elaware g"t* a bonus of fWfitft and
lb* thrw- oil men km each a third of
lb# lease.
The nntuumry read* Ilk* a fairy
story:
The Oklahoma putty *a* not Jon*
in spotting lt<* Sinclair detective. Un-
able to elude him Wrightsman bad
him arreted for an Imaginary offense
kwI wlill«- the officer wan In the police
nation <'*itedly explaining I he affair
Ihn party drove Mt of town.
They w«*re lost ax completely as
though the earth had swallowed thorn
Sinclair w ax frantic.
He had th»' police of every town in
northern Oklahoma looking for the au-
tomobile In *plte of Ih^ dragnet
nothing wax 1'<-ar«l Irom the fuKltlvitB
until Thursday night at 10, when
I If (wllce ehli*f of Kni<l notified Sin-
Hair at Guthrie that he had the party
uiwkr nurvelllance.
It wan only two hour* until Tanner
would Ix-eorn ; <.t age. There wan not
ev<*n a freight for Knld.
The lndep«mdetK'e promoter ordered
a fp'-elal Thrn he discovered be had
only \W), He needed $300 more. Af
LOAM'HO THAT fe/XX) 000
Om of tie ant vitally i*u***v*g
fkmm'.i of alat* cwinitat la OUa
boaaa u*0ay la tbc Mine of tie ft«e
afatika doOar actooi tmaA to the tana-
en of tfce state. This ta'ere* lies la
the fact that the wht i» cKftaiaable
fr.r Ave ycr «cat aad for a k*« term
of jreut, aa<2 that it » ipnw; direct to
•le fansert of the rlaie, ami they
xkm&tomrtlu of the pvpala-
tioa Farther iaterest attaches be-
ea«Mr of the fierce opftosidon to the
ptaa of aaeh 4i»posbloB of the school
The wetho4 of aecorin?
tr aimfie. direct aad eff^-tire. Their
pwslzri'j is attested by the fact that
while the baaiseaa Is hardly started,
applications are poorlacr <■ at the rate
of «fty per 4ay u, the^loaa depart-
a"nt at Gothile. A tanner writes la
to th> isopenrhsor of loans aad asks
for a loan. He is sent a blank appll-
ca'.ion which he most till oat in fall,
and the question* asked are numerous
»L4 to the point, covering the loca-
tion, valuation, quality of land, des-
cription of improvements and other
information desirable in determining
the ktabHity of the applicant. When
this application is filled oat properly
it Is returned to the supervisor of
loans, together with an abstract to
date made by some bonded abstract
crtnpany. It mast also be accompan-
ied by a certified check or other nego-
tiable "paper as a guarantee that the
application is made In good faith. The
abstract is examined by the legal de-
pertmeut of the loan division and if
It is (satisfactory an Inspector is sent
out to make a personal inspection. He
reports in full on all questions con-
tained in the application, but he more
particularly inquire* into the stand-
ing and business ability of the appli-
cant for the loan, for the state is
lending money, not buying land, and
It is bis business to find out whether
the applicant will pay off the loan. He
ulso fixes the amount of money which
he thinks should be loaned on the
Itnd. It Is usually a good deal less
than the amount applied for and bis
The Joaa <gpmtmtmt has its trewb-
*f Already achcaaes of grafters and
sviatfiere have bees detected where-
to the perj^tratwr* hoped to be able
to (M lout which wcrnH have been
seethleas to the s**te and which they
did not fwtead to pay. One of these
attempt* was rsn down and it <was
discovered that bearij half a dozen
apptteatioa* had beea made by one
aaa and that he had nuide false rep-
resentation; fa each one ot them and
lad the lxi t*ea made not a cent of
it eornUt ever hare been collected.
(a additfcm to this the loan depart
■eat to annoyed by represenrativee
aad secatrs-f drc^ping in and reqaest-
ii4t that a loan be made to a constitu-
ent of theirs who has asked their a&-
tr»staaee in th« aaatter. Usually in
sacfa cases the Vian is a doabtfnl one,
otherwise the applicant would not
liave asked bis representative to use
his influence to get it through.
While all this detail must be car-
ried out. It is d»me hy the state. The
applicant has nothing to do but apply
and await the investigation If he
asks for a reasonable loan and has
**c*3rity, he will get the money. The
arsistance' of real estate agents and
lawyer* in getting loans has so far
proven more of a binderance than
otherwise. Whenever an application
needs boosting to get it through the
loan department be omes convinced
that It needs rigid scrutiny, and it
Sit* it.
...... valuation of the land is also pretty
ler an hour of pleading and threaten- apt to In- below that given by the
ing a "pot" containing the necessary
balance was raised and the special
train started for Knbl with Blnclalr,
Ms private »«.'r<»tary and Tlllotson on
board.
While Che abbreviated train was
eating up the miles a friend of
Wrlghtsman over the telephone
warned him of the hot pursuit, but
there was nothing for the OkUhomans
to do but to wall. No trains were due
out of Bold and the roads were Im-
passable fur the automobile.
It was a race against time arid time
wiitt.
A riiinut" after midnight Tanner
sIku<"I Hi" b ane which conveyed to
the Tulsa and Nowata promoters
rights to the coveted allotment.
Then the party went to bed.
When Hlncliiin and his secretary ar-
tlveil In the woe small hours It was a
weary Wrlglitmiiiiti who crawled from
bed to answer t'.ie peremptory sum
Dions at his door. He quietly threw
flown his hand and the deal wan off.
The details of the compromise that
followed are business secrets of Hln-
elulr, WrlghisniHti <'t al. The agree-
ment was reached amicably and the
you rig Delaware's land will be worked
by the rivals.
The route of the aw-to traversed the
counties of Oklnhoma, U>gun, Cana-
dian, Kingfisher, (lanfield, Nowata,
Koger* and Tulsa. The extreme north-
•rn point touched waa Coffeyvllle,
orn-T, though the valuation placed
upon the land mest l>e attested by
two men who are residents of the
same county.
If the Inspector makes a favorable
report, a mortgage is made out in fa-
vor of the state and this Is sent to the
county sent and recorded and then
the applicant gets his money. He
cannot fret It until the state mortgage
h. recorded, as the state Is taking no
<han'es on another mortgage being
slipped In ahead of its security. When
the loan is completed the $15 sent in
by the farmer Ih returned to him with
the exception of about $G.75 which is
used to cover the expenses of making
the iiiMpeetlon and recording the mort-
KUg«\
The loan department has made a
iuIIiik that no more than one loan
(thrill be made to one person, and that
not more than $2,50ft shall be loaned
on one piece of land, unless there is a
special session of the land commission
to pass ti|wn It, and that means de-
la).
It Ik already apparent that the state
loan department Is playing havoc with
the faim loan companies operating in
the Htate. Farmers are coming In and
making applications for loans and
they frankly state that they want the
money to pay off mortgages held hy
some loan company or bank for which
they are paying a higher rate of in-
terest than Is charged by the state.
0ECLARE PORTER ISN'T DEAD
Kufauia. Okla., Feb. 14.—Declaring
that Pleasant Porter, ex-chief of th^
Creeks, is not dead, but that his re-
ported death and burial is a hoax an<i
that the chief is now somewhere
"across th^ water" the Snake Indians
refuse to recognize Moty Tiger as the
chief of the Creek Nation and main-
tain a separate organization of their
own and ignoring the regular delega-
tion selected by the Creek council to
represent the nation in Washington,
have sent another delegation neaded
by f'razy Snake himself, to Washing-
ton to look after their interests.
The Snakes claim that Chief Porter
became involved in sorn - townsite
matters and, burdened with more
debts than he could pay, quietly dis-
appeared. They nay that instead of
j his body being sent to Wealaka, the
old chiefs country home, for burial an
effigy was sent, and that the chief
"went south to the great water"' and
crossed over to some other land.
Thrf Snakes never liked Chief Por
ter. Neither do they like his succes-
sor Moty Tiger. Th<*y have always
bitterly opposed any chief or party
representing progress along the line
of a division of lands, or any measure
prof>osing a change from their old cus-
toms. They look upon the crafty
Crazy Snake as the embodiment of
wisdom and follow his teachings blind-
ly and implicitly, regardless of the re-
peated failures and promises that have
been made by him and his henchmen
who are undoubtedly misled and mis-
informed by certain grafters in Wash-
ington, D_ C'., who for years have mulc-
ted these Indians out of large sums of
money by representing to them that
they have influence in Washington
which they are using in behalf of the
full-blood Indian. Every year sees a
delegation of these Indians in Wash-
ington, and it costs money to send and
keep them there. This money is made
possible by the blind confidence In the
ignorant Indians and the socialistic
tendencies of their lives.
The Indian Is the original socialist.
Every Snake community in the Creek
Nation has its common patch. There
are between fifteen and twenty of
these common plots in cultivation by
the Snakes every year. The mejnbers
of a community meet In the spring and
plow and plant the cotton or corn of
the communal sofky patch, and dur-
ing the season it is cultivated in com-
mon. In the fall the crop is gathered
and sold, and all of the money 1b tur-
ned over to the fund which the Snakes
draw upon to keep lobbyists and law-
yers paid for alleged services at Wash-
ington trying to get the Indians back
to the old tribal basis. The Snakes
are loyal, and even though they may
be alxuo*t starved, they will «*trJh«te
their last mite to eocb a cause.
For year* thi* grafting ha* been go
ing on, bat the faith of the ignorant
Indian* i« not t-baken By keeping
tb<m constantly agitate j and the fires
of hatred burning against the govern-
ment and ft* plans of individualizing
the Indian and hi* possessions, these
-walking delegates'* manage to ex-
tract money from wbat would an
abw>3utelr Kteri!** source to anyone
elM.
Another theory that has been taught
these Indians is that old Oklahoma
wa* never really purchased from them,
but that it was simply leased by the
white men for 75 years, and that
time expires all of the land turned
over to the wfiites will be turned back
to the Inoians to do with as they
please.
FIGHTING THE BOLL WORM.
Muskogee Okla., Feb. 14.—A deter-
mined fight is being made by the cot-
ton growers of Oklahoma to prevent
the advance of the boll weevil in its
march north, and in this fight the Uni-
ted States government is lending valu-
able aid.
Two years ago the boll weevil cross-
ed the Red river and invaded the
southern counties of Oklahoma, havoc
to the cotton crop marking its pro-
gress each year l.ast year the ad-
vance guard of the weevil reached as
far north as Atoka. The present de-
termined effort is to prevent its get-
, ting farther north in the s tate.
The United States government after
making an exhaustive study of the
subject has found that under certain
crop conditions the boll weevil can be
rendered almost harmless and to
spread the knowledge of such condi-
tions sent a special agent to the in-
fested country to give instruction to
the farmers. This man is William H.
Bamberg. He arrived in Oklahoma
last November. Since that time he
has made 91 addresses to gatherings
of farmers and has secured the signa-
tures of 2,504 fanners who agr<?e to
cultivate their cotton crops along the
plans laid down by the department of
agriculture this year. It is probable
that before the cotton is planted as
many more farmers will join the move-
ment.
In sections where the weevil has ap-
peared Mr. Bramberg recommends the
following method of cultivation. Rake
the cott (i stalks into windrows and
burn them. Plow the land immediate-
ly and two inches deeper than the pre-
vious plowing. Get the earliest ma-
turing cotton se-M that can be found
and plant it just as soon as the ground
warms up and not before. The plant-
ing should be done by hand. Com-
mence cultivating just as soon as the
■ first characteristic leaves appear and
keep it up, but always make the con-
dition of dust as possible. Do not
stir the soil at a depth of more than
two inches When the bolls begin to
open stop cultivating, but do not lay
the cotton by with a turning plow. As
soon as the cotton commences to open,
commence picking, and when there
are no blooms seen in the field, a sure
sign the weevil has got the crop, pick
what cotton there is, then run a stalk
cutter over the rows and plow up the
i field running the plow two inches
i deeper than before, and plant the field
| in fall oats. Follow the oats crop with
corn, thus making ttiree crops in two
! years. This method of cultivation and
1 diversification in a great measure
j checks the ravages of the weevil and
I gives the farmer a chance to get out
j whole and improve ins land at the
I same time.
WOODWARD WINS F<GHT
Consolidated Western District Land
Office is Finally Located There.
Washington, Feb. 17.—Woodward,
Okla., has won out in her fight with
Alva and gets the land office for the
Western district of Oklahoma.
Secretary Garfield on Saturday re-
voked his former order establishing
the consolidated office at Alva and is-
sued a new order, locating it at Wood-
ward. One of the present officials at
Woodward will be displaced by an of-
ficial from the Alva office.
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The Searchlight (Guthrie, Okla.), No. 513, Ed. 1 Friday, February 21, 1908, newspaper, February 21, 1908; Guthrie, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc286150/m1/2/?q=wichita+falls: accessed June 4, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.