Past 100 years, July 2

| The New Mexican

7/2/2008 - 7/2/08

July 2, 1908: The science of agriculture will be taught in the public schools of New Mexico where by vote the patrons of the district desire it, the Territorial Board of Education decided Monday.

Official announcement has been made that W.C. Scovel has been checked in as station agent at Stanley on the New Mexico Central Ry. A.J. Richardson, the retiring agent, was acting as relief man. He has a homestead nearby and was compelled to return to it because of the federal statute. Mr. Scovel was formerly agent at Kennedy.



July 2, 1958: The State Highway Commission has decided to pay Jack Adams the final $91,000 for the Lordsburg four-lane project — an action which goes contrary to the advice of its legal adviser. The move came after the highway department testing laboratory reported that it has finally apparently found what caused the disastrous failure of the million-dollar job — a white coating on the roadbed rocks which breaks down into tiny slimy particles when submitted to soaking followed by abrasive action. The costly four-lane project began falling apart even before it was completed last winter.

Española — Celestino Vigil, a city employee for almost 15 years, was fired last night by the Española city council. Jose Montoya will henceforth direct the jail labor. Mayor Cipriano Vigil said that it was his desire 'to employ Montoya, and that a vacancy would have to be created in order for that to happen. Montoya is qualified to use the street sweeper, owned by the city, which has not been used recently because of lack of a qualified operator.



July 2, 1983: Washington — State courts were given the chance to play a major role in the Western debate over Indian water rights by a Supreme Court ruling handed down Friday. In a 6-2 decision, the court said Indian water claims could be tried in state courts in Montana and Arizona. Indians claimed that provisions in those states' constitutions barred the states from jurisdiction in water claims cases. Nine other Western states with similar provisions also could be affected by the decision. There are now 50 Indian water cases pending in state and federal courts in the West.