parallel. But they converge as they approach the poles. On this account corrections have to be made in the north and south lines, and some irregular pieces of land are formed, which are called fractional townships. These lines fixed by the government are not only of use in locating land, but they serve quite an important purpose in dividing the State into uniform districts for purposes of administration. People of the country districts MINOR are familiar with the section, made by SIONS still further dividing the township by lines one mile apart, and with the minor divisions called "quarter section", "eighty", and "forty”. DIVI In each county may be found an office where books are kept in which to record ownership of land. The officer who has charge of this is generally the Register of Deeds. In order to speak of a piece of land, the location of that particular piece must be stated. In every office where pieces of land have to be spoken of, such as the office of treasurer of city or county, of register of deeds, or the United States land offices, use is made of the number of range, township, and section, and of the part of the section in which the land lies. Most large maps of Nebraska have the ranges and townships marked. If they are not numbered, that can easily be done by beginning at the proper place. In describing a piece of land in Surprise or Utica, R. 1, E. shows that the land is in the first range east of the 6th principal meridian. Seward and Schuyler are in R. 3, E., while Falls City is in R. 16, E. Ohiowa, Exeter, Shelby, Madison, and Norfolk are in R. 1, W.; Central City, Aurora, Fullerton, Albion, Neligh, and Niobrara, in R 6, W.; North Platte, in R. 30, W.; and Harrisburg, in R. 56, W. Beatrice, Lincoln, West Point, Pender, and Ponca are in the same range, but in very different townships. Lincoln is described as in T. 10, N. . The 'N' is for North of the base line', and is true of all places in Nebraska. West Point is in T. 22; Pender in T. 25; and Ponca in T. 30. The land in a city, besides being described by range, township, section, and part of the section, is also described as a certain numbered lot or lots, in a certain numbered block. In Omaha, the County Court House block is block 741, and as to location in the section, etc., it is in S.E. of the N. W., Sec. 22, T. 15, R. 13, E. Stones are usually half-mile and quarA section is divided way the land is pur As indicated on page 74, the section of land may be subdivided variously. placed by surveyors to mark ter-mile points on each side. into farms according to the chased or "taken up", and each piece of land must be described by itself. The common sized farm of 160 acres is spoken of as N. W. 1, S. W. 1, N. E. 1, or S.E. 1, if it is all in the same quartersection. An "eighty" is spoken of as N. 1, S. 1, E., or W. of the particular quarter in which it is. REVIEW. How were the boundaries of farms marked in the colonies? Think of any reason why the colonial system was a good one. When did our present plan of surveys begin? What is meant by principal meridian? Which principal meridian runs through Nebraska? What is its longitude west of Greenwich? West of Describe: (1) guide meridians, (2) ranges, (3) base lines, (4) guide parallels, (5) geographical townships, (6) fractional townships, and (7) section. Why are congressional townships so called? Tell how a township is divided into sections and how the sections are numbered. Are all principal meridians numbered? See an encyclopedia at the words principal meridian. Find out how the piece of land on which your school house stands is described. If you have a map of the State showing the ranges and townships, locate the following townships: Sec. 19, T. 1, R. 4, E. CHAPTER II.-THE SCHOOL DISTRICT. FOR The kind of organization with which students generally are best acquainted, except in cities and villages, is the school district. It is formed by the county superintendent, upon a petition from one-third of the legal voters in each district, when the new district is formed from two old districts. In case two new districts are MATION made from one old one, there must be a petition from each of the proposed new districts, signed by a majority of the legal voters. The law says also that new districts shall not be formed between the first Tuesday in April and the first day of October. Unless there is some special reason for it, a district contains not less than four square miles of land, and extends not more than six miles in any one direction. district, indeed, need not all be in one county, if the residents have presented the necessary petitions to the superintendents of the two counties. There were, in 1897, 6,741 school districts in the State. This is an average of seventy-five to each county, but the actual number in a county varies. greatly. Custer county, with 256, had the largest number in 1898, and Hooker, with three, had the smallest number. They are very irregular, each being formed according to the desire of the people concerned, or according to the situation with regard to rivers and streams. SHAPE A school A COR All the people of the district are taken together as one body, of which the name is "The School District No....of........ County". ..... County". Like the county and the state, it is treated in law as one person, and is distinguished from an individual by being called a legal person. When a number of persons are so organized into one body TION OR as to be able to hold property which bePERSON longs to all alike, and to sue in the courts, it is then called a corporation. Just as a bank corporation elects officers to represent it and to carry on the work for which it is organized, so the school district has its officers to represent it and to do the work connected with the schools.' PORA LEGAL The district acts as one body at its annual meeting. It is not essential to its character as a corporation that all the individual members meet in one place. The county and the state are corporations, but a meeting of all the members of either would seldom be possible. In re ANNUAL spect to its coming together to do business, the school district reminds the student of the cities of Greece and Rome, in which all the citizens met in an open air assembly to make laws for the community. The annual meeting of each school district is held at the schoolhouse on the last Monday of June. Here the legal voters transact the business of the district. Who are 1 The Supreme Court has decided that a school district is only a sort of corporation. |