COLORADO. 



177 



Tin' u'"ld deposits at the Denver mint in .July 

 :<<! l>v if (i(),0( K) the deposits in any previous 

 tin mill in tlie liist<iry of the mint. 



The total product of coal in 1H92 amounted to 

 :>.?70.(MM) tons; the number of men employed 

 was about ?,."><!>. About one third of the coal 

 mined is M-iii to other States. The annual in- 

 crease in the amount mined is about 20 percent. 



The -nt ire value of the mineral products of 

 tin- State has increased since 1876 from $ 0,000,- 

 OiNMo $33,000,000. 



Navigation of the Colorado. The first at- 

 tempt to navigate the upper river by steamboat 

 was made in 181)1, and failed on account of an 

 accident to the boat. Another attempt, in 1893, 

 was more successful, proving that the river is 

 navigable for 130 miles between Green river and 

 Cataract cafion. It is proposed to run a passen- 

 ger boat regularly for the accommodation of tour- 

 ists. Should the navigation of the river be 

 found entirely feasible, it will be of great assist- 

 ance in opening communication with distant 

 mining districts inaccessible by railroad. 



Land-Claims. An important suit, involving 

 the title to 113,000 acres of land near Denver, 

 was settled by decision of the Supreme Court in 

 April. The decision confirms the title of the 

 present holders, who had bought of the Kansas 

 Pacific Railroad Company, the land having been 

 granted originally to that corporation by the 

 United States Government. 



Much excitement was caused in the San Luis 

 valley, in April, by the filing of a claim to nearly 

 all the land in the valley. What is known as 

 the Conejos grant was made in 1833 by Francisco 

 Serracino, political chief or governor of New 

 Mexico, to Geledon Valdez et al., for land on the 

 Conejos river. Owing to the Indian war, which 

 lasted until 1841, the grantees were prevented 

 from taking possession. On Oct. 12, 1842, pos- 

 session was given to 83 heads of families. The 

 land is bounded on the north by the Garita hill, 

 on the south by the San Antonio mountain, on 

 the east by the Rio Grande, and on the west by 

 the Sierra Montosa. 



A colony was brought from Holland not long 

 since by the Netherlands-American Land and 

 Immigration Company, and settled in the San 

 Luis valley, at A larnosa, Conejos County. Com- 



Slaints having been made that the colonists were 

 efrauded by the company, the district attor- 

 ney of the county was directed to make an in- 

 vestigation into the facts. The report sustained 

 the charges, finding that the articles of incorpo- 

 ration of the company were defective and not in 

 conformity with the law of the land, so that it 

 had no authority to do business in the State. 



The report was sent to the minister for the 

 Netherlands at Washington. Meantime 30,000 

 acres of land had been purchased near Sterling 

 for another colony, which was prepared to set 

 out from Holland to take possession of it. 



The Utes. In a letter to the President, in 

 May. the Governor attributes the trouble with 

 the Indians to the fact that they are allowed to 

 hunt, off the reservations. The letter says: 

 "The Indians take their vacation in an annual 

 hunt and, contrary to their custom before they 

 were restricted to reservations, they destroy all 

 gjimo in these excursions. They also frequently 

 destroy the cattle of the settlers. Of course 

 VOL. xxxin. 12 A 



they can not consume the meat they kill, and 

 they make no such pretense. 



Sinking of a Town. Portions of the town 

 of Louisville, a large coal-mining camp in Boul- 

 der County, were reported to have sunk two 

 feet in October, in consequence, it is supposed, 

 of the giving way of timbers in the mines be- 

 neath the town. The same thing occurred a 

 few years ago, embracing a large tract of land. 

 East of the town where it happened there was 

 nothing but a railroad to be disturbed, and that 

 kept going down until the company was com- 

 pelled to raise the track several feet. In the 

 present case the situation is more serious, since 

 the houses are partially ruined and the occu- 

 pants feel unsafe, as there is probability that the 

 ground will settle several feet before the collapse 

 underneath has ended. One of the serious fea- 

 tures of the situation is the condition of the wells. 

 By the cracking of the earth the water runs out 

 of the bottom of the wells into the old workings 

 of the mine. 



Legislative Session. The ninth General 

 Assembly numbered in the Senate 15 Repub- 

 licans, 8 Democrats, 4 Populists, 7 People's- Party 

 Democrats, and 1 Independent; and in the 

 House 33 Republicans, 5 Democrats, and 27 

 Populists. It met on Jan. 4, and adjourned on 

 April 6 two days after the ninety-day limit 

 fixed by law. A large number of measures, 

 mostly appropriation bills, were passed during 

 the two days preceding adjournment, but the 

 Lieutenant-Governor and the president pro tern 

 of the Senate refused to sign them, and the At- 

 torney-General decided that they could not be 

 regarded as legally passed. 



The Governor vetoed a bill changing the law 

 of 1891 in regard to incorporation and regu- 

 lation of trust companies, limiting their liability 

 to the amount of their shares of stock at the 

 par value thereof, on the ground that he was 

 opposed to either enlarging or diminishing the 

 liability of corporations except for good cause 

 shown. He also refused to sign a bill relating 

 to the issuance of bonds by cities and towns, be- 

 cause it provided that they might bond for the 

 purchase of water works or supply or refund 

 such bonded indebtedness by a submission of 

 the question of issuing such bonds to a vote of 

 the qualified electors, either at a regular or spe- 

 cial election, thus making the question of incur- 

 ring bonded indebtedness of any city or town 

 depend upon the result of a special election. 



The Legislature passed a law entitled 



An Act to repeal an act concerning railroads and 

 railroad corporations, prescribing the duties thereof; 

 providing for the appointment of a railroad commission 

 and prescribing the powers and duties of the same. 



This, too, was vetoed by the Governor, on the 

 ground that though the act sought to be re- 

 pealed is admittedly defective, it is better than 

 no law at all for State regulation of railroads. 



The Legislature passed the repealing act over 

 the veto of the Governor. 



Another bill was passed " providing that com- 

 panies, firms, or persons issuing policies against 

 fires must, before receiving authority to trans- 

 act business in the State, deposit $20'.000 securi- 

 ties with the Secretary of State ; providing a 

 similar precaution where life-insurance policies 



