faith the possessory right to fifteen hundred feet of any blind lodes cut, discovered, or intersected by such tunnel, which were not previously known to exist, within three thousand feet from the face or point of commencement of such tunnel, and to prohibit other parties, after the commencement of the tunnel, from prospecting for and making locations of lodes on the line thereof and within said distance of three thousand feet, unless such lodes appear upon the surface or were previously known to exist.

22. The term "face," as used in said section, is construed and held to mean the first working face formed in the tunnel, and to signify the point at which the tunnel actually enters cover, it being from this point that the three thousand feet are to be counted, upon which prospecting is prohibited as aforesaid.

23. To avail themselves of the benefits of this provision of law, the proprietors of a mining tunnel will be required, at the time they enter cover as aforesaid, to give proper notice of their tunnel location, by erecting a substantial post, board, or monument at the face or point of commencement thereof, upon which should be posted a good and sufficient notice, giving the names of the parties or company claiming the tunnel right; the actual or proposed course or direction of the tunnel; the height and width thereof, and the course and distance from such face or point of commencement to some permanent well known objects in the vicinity by which to fix and determine the locus in manner heretofore set forth applicable to locations of veins or lodes; and at the time of posting such notice they shall, in order that miners or prospectors may be enabled to determine whether or not they are within the lines of the tunnel, establish the boundary lines thereof by stakes or monuments placed along such lines, at proper intervals, to the terminus of the three thousand feet from the face or point of commencement of the tunnel, and the lines so marked will define and govern as to the specific boundaries within which prospecting for lodes not previously known to exist is prohibited while work on the tunnel is being prosecuted with reasonable diligence.

24. At the time of posting notice and marking out the lines of the tunnel as aforesaid, a full and correct copy of such notice of location defining the tunnel claim must be filed for record with the mining recorder of the district, to which notice must be attached the sworn statement or declaration of the owners, claimants, or projectors of such tunnel, setting forth the facts in the case; stating the amount expended by themselves and their predecessors in interest in prosecuting work thereon; the extent of the work performed, and that it is bona fide their intention to prosecute work on the tunnel so located and described with reasonable diligence for the development of a vein or lode, or for the discovery of mines, or both, as the case may be.

This notice of location must be duly recorded, and, with the said sworn statement attached, kept on the recorder's files for future reference.

25. By a compliance with the foregoing, much needless difficulty will be avoided, and the way for the adjustment of legal rights acquired in virtue of said section 2323 will be made much more easy and certain.

26. This office will take particular care that no improper advantage is taken of this provision of law by parties making or professing to make tunnel locations, ostensibly for the purposes named in the statute, but really for the purpose of monopolizing the lands lying in front of their tunnels, to the detriment of the mining interests and to the exclusion of bona fide prospectors or miners; but will hold such tunnel claimants to a strict compliance with the terms of the statutes, and a reasonable diligence on their part in prosecuting the work is one of the essential conditions of their implied contract. Negligence or want of due diligence will be construed as working a forfeiture of their right to all undiscovered veins on the line of such tunnel.

MANNER OF PROCEEDING TO OBTAIN GOVERNMENT TITLE TO VEIN OR LODE CLAIMS

27. By section 2325 authority is given for granting titles for mines by patent from the Government, to any person, association, or corporation having the necessary qualifications as to citizenship, and holding the right of possession to a claim in compliance with law.

28. The claimant is required, in the first place, to have a correct survey of his claim under authority of the surveyor general of the State or Territory in which the claim lies, such survey to show with accuracy the exterior surface boundaries of the claim, which boundaries are required to be distinctly marked by monuments on the ground. . Four plats and one copy of the original field notes, in each case, will be prepared by the surveyor general; one plat and the original field notes to be retained in the office of the surveyor general, one copy of the plat to be given the claimant for posting upon the claim, one plat and a copy of the field notes to be given the claimant for filing with the proper register, to be finally transmitted by that officer, with the other papers in the case, to this office, and one plat to be sent by the surveyor general to the register of the proper land district, to be retained on his files for future reference.

29. The claimant is then required to post a copy of the plat of such survey in a conspicuous place upon the claim, together with notice of his intention to apply for a patent therefor, which notice will give the date of posting, the name of the claimant,

the name of the claim, mine, or lode; the mining district and county; whether the location is of record, and, if so, where the record may be found; the number of feet claimed along the vein and the presumed direction thereof; the number of feet claimed on the lode in each direction from the point of discovery, or other well defined place on the claim; the name or names of adjoining claimants on the same or other lodes; if none adjoin, the names of the nearest claims, &c.

or,

30. After posting the said plat and notice upon the premises, the claimant will file with the proper register and receiver a copy of such plat, and the field notes of survey of the claim, accompanied by the affidavit of at least two credible witnesses that such plat and notice are posted conspicuously upon the claim, giving the date and place of such posting, a copy of the notice so posted to be attached to and form a part of said affidavit.

31. Attached to the field notes so filed must be the sworn statement of the claimant that he has the possessory right to the premises therein described, in virtue of a compliance by himself (and by his grantors, if he claims by purchase) with the mining rules, regulations, and customs of the mining district, State, or Territory in which the claim lies, and with the mining laws of Congress; such sworn statement to narrate briefly, but as clearly as possible, the facts constituting such compliance, the origin of his possession, and the basis of his claim to a patent.

32. This affidavit should be supported by appropriate evidence from the mining recorder's office as to his possessory right, as follows, viz: Where he claims to be a locator, a full, true, and correct copy of such location should be furnished, as the same appears upon the mining records; such copy to be attested by the seal of the recorder, or if he has no seal then he should make oath to the same being correct, as shown by his records; where the applicant claims as a locator in company with others, who have since conveyed their interests in the lode to him, a copy of the original record of location should be filed, together with an abstract of title from the proper recorder, under seal or oath as aforesaid, tracing the co-locator's possessory rights in the claim to such applicant for patent; where the applicant claims only as a purchaser for valuable consideration, a copy of the location record must be filed, under seal or upon oath as aforesaid, with an abstract of title certified as above by the proper recorder, tracing the right of possession by a continuous chain of conveyances from the original locators to the applicant.

33. In the event of the mining records in any case having been destroyed by fire or otherwise lost, affidavit of the fact should be made, and secondary evidence of possessory title will be received, which may consist of the affidavit of the claimant, supported by those of any other parties cognizant of the facts relative to his location, occupancy, possession, improvements, &c.; and in such case of lost records, any deeds, certificates of location or purchase, or other evidence which may be in the claimant's possession, and tend to establish his claim, should be filed.

34. Upon the receipt of these papers the register will, at the expense of the claimant, publish a notice of such application for the period of sixty days in a newspaper published nearest to the claim, and will post a copy of such notice in his office for the same period. In all cases sixty days must intervene between the first and the last insertion of the notice in such newspaper.

35. The notices so published and posted must be as full and complete as possible, and embrace all the data given in the notice posted upon the claim.

36. Too much care cannot be exercised in the preparation of these notices, inasmuch as upon their accuracy and completeness will depend, in a great measure, the regularity and validity of the whole proceeding.

37. The claimant, either at the time of filing these papers with the register, or at any time during the sixty days' publication, is required to file a certificate of the surveyor general that not less than five hundred dollars' worth of labor has been expended or improvements made upon the claim by the applicant or his grantors; that the plat filed by the claimant is correct; that the field notes of the survey, as filed, furnish such an accurate description of the claim as will, if incorporated into a patent, serve to fully identify the premises, and that such reference is made therein to natural objects or permanent monuments as will perpetuate and fix the locus thereof.

38. It will be the more convenient way to have this certificate indorsed by the surveyor general, both upon the plat and field notes of survey filed by the claimant as aforesaid.

39. After the sixty days' period of newspaper publication has expired, the claimant will file his affidavit, showing that the plat and notice aforesaid remained conspicuously posted upon the claim sought to be patented during said sixty days' publication. 40. Upon the filing of this affidavit the register will, if no adverse claim was filed in his office during the period of publication, permit the claimant to pay for the land according to the area given in the plat and field notes of survey aforesaid, at the rate of five dollars for each acre and five dollars for each fractional part of an acre, the receiver issuing the usual duplicate receipt therefor; after which the whole matter will be for

warded to the Commissioner of th. General Land Office and a patent issued thereon if found regular.

41. In sending up the papers in the case, the register must not omit certifying to the fact that the notice was posted in his office for the full period of sixty days, such certificate to state distinctly when such posting was done and how long continued.

42. The consecutive series of numbers of mineral entries must be continued, whether the same are of lode or placer claims.

43. The surveyor general must continue to designate all surveyed mineral claims as heretofore by a progressive series of numbers, beginning with lot No. 37 in each township; the claim to be so designated at date of filing the plat, field notes, &c., in addition to the local designation of the claim; it being required in all cases that the plat and field notes of the survey of a claim must, in addition to the reference to permanent objects in the neighborhood, describe the locus of the claim with reference to the lines of public surveys by a line connecting a corner of the claim with the nearest public corner of the United States surveys, unless such claim be on unsurveyed lands at a remote distance from such public corner; in which latter case the reference by course and distance to permanent objects in the neighborhood will be a sufficient designation by which to fix the locus until the public surveys shall have been closed upon its boundaries.

ADVERSE CLAIMS.

44. Section 2326 provides for adverse claims, fixes the time within which they shall be filed to have legal effect, and prescribes the manner of their adjustment.

45. Said section requires that the adverse claim shall be filed during the period of publication of notice; that it must be on the oath of the adverse claimant; and that it must show the "nature," the "boundaries," and the "extent" of the adverse claim.

46. In order that this section of law may be properly carried into effect, the following is communicated for the information of all concerned:

47. An adverse mining claim must be filed with the register of the same land office with whom the application for patent was filed, or, in his absence, with the receiver, and within the sixty days' period of newspaper publication of notice.

48. The adverse notice must be duly sworn to by the person or persons making the same before an officer authorized to administer oaths within the land district, or before the register or receiver; it will fully set forth the nature and extent of the interference or conflict; whether the adverse party claims as a purchaser for valuable consideration or as a locator; if the former, a certified, copy of the original location, the original conveyance, a duly certified copy thereof, or an abstract of title from the office of the proper recorder should be furnished, or if the transaction was a mere verbal one he will narrate the circumstances attending the purchase, the date thereof, and the amount paid, which facts should be supported by the affidavit of one or more witnesses, if any were present at the time, and if he claims as a locator he must file a duly certified copy of the location from the office of the proper recorder.

49. In order that the "boundaries " and "extent" of the claim may be shown, it will be incumbent upon the adverse claimant to file a plat showing his claim, its relative situation or position with the one against which he claims, and the extent of the conflict. This plat must be made from an actual survey by a United States deputy surveyor, who will officially certify thereon to its correctness; and in addition there must be attached to such plat of survey a certificate or sworn statement by the surveyor as to the approximate value of the labor performed or improvements made upon the claim by the adverse party or his predecessors in interest, and the plat must indicate the position of any shafts, tunnels, or other improvements, if any such exist, upon the claim of the party opposing the application, and by which party said improvements were made.

50. Upon the foregoing being filed within the sixty days as aforesaid, the register, or in his absence the receiver, will give notice in writing to both parties to the contest that such adverse claim has been filed, informing them that the party who filed the adverse claim will be required within thirty days from the date of such filing to commence proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction to determine the question of right of possession, and to prosecute the same with reasonable diligence to final judgment, and that should such adverse claimant fail to do so his adverse claim will be considered waived, and the application for patent be allowed to proceed upon its merits.

51. When an adverse claim is filed as aforesaid, the register or receiver will indorse upon the same the precise date of filing, and preserve a record of the date of notifications issued thereon; and thereafter all proceedings on the application for patent will be suspended, with the exception of the completion of the publication and posting of notices and plat, and the filing of the necessary proof thereof until the controversy shall have been adjudicated in court, or the adverse claim waived or withdrawn. 52. The proceedings after rendition of judgment by the court in such case are so clearly defined by the act itself as to render it unnecessary to enlarge thereon in this place.

PLACER CLAIMS.

53. The proceedings to obtain patents for claims usually called placers, including all forms of deposit, are similar to the proceedings prescribed for obtaining patents for vein or lode claims; but where said placer claim shall be upon surveyed lands, and conform to legal subdivisions, no further survey or plat will be required, and all placer mining claims located after May 10, 1872, shall conform as nearly as practicable with the United States system of public land surveys and the rectangular subdivisions of such surveys, and no such location shall include more than twenty acres for each individual claimant; but where placer claims cannot be conformed to legal subdivisions, survey and plat shall be made as on unsurveyed lands. But where such claims are located previous to the public surveys, and do not conform to legal subdivisions, survey, plat, and entry thereof may be made according to the boundaries fixed by local laws.

54. The proceedings for obtaining patents for veins or lodes having already been fully given, it will not be necessary to repeat them here; it being thought that careful attention thereto by applicants and the local officers will enable them to act understandingly in the matter and make such slight modifications in the notice, or otherwise, as may be necessary in view of the different nature of the two classes of claims, placer claims being fixed, however, at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, or fractional part of an acre.

55. By section 2330, authority is given for the subdivision of forty-acre legal subdivisions into ten-acre lots, which is intended for the greater convenience of miners in segregating their claims both from one another and from intervening agricultural lands.

56. It is held, therefore, that under a proper construction of the law these ten-acre lots in mining districts should be considered and dealt with, to all intents and purposes, as legal subdivisions, and that an applicant having a legal claim which conforms to one or more of these ten-acre lots, either adjoining or cornering, may make entry thereof, after the usual proceedings, without further survey or plat.

57. In cases of this kind, however, the notice given of the application must be very specific and accurate in description, and as the forty-acre tracts may be subdivided into ten-acre lots, either in the form of squares of ten by ten chains, or of parallelograms five by twenty chains, so long as the lines are parallel and at right angles with the lines of the public surveys, it will be necessary that the notice and application state specifically what ten-acre lots are sought to be patented, in addition to the other data required in the notice.

58. Where the ten-acre subdivision is in the form of a sqare it may be described, for instance, as the "S. E. of the S. W. 4 of the N. W. 1," or, if in the form of a parallelogram as aforesaid, it may be described as the "W. of the W. of the S. W. of the N. W. (or the N. of the S. of the N. E. of the S. E. 1) of section- --, township -, range as the case may be; but, in addition to this description of the land, the notice must give all the other data that is required in a mineral application, by which parties may be put on inquiry as to the premises sought to be patented. The proof submitted with applications for claims of this kind must show clearly the character and the extent of the improvements upon the premises.

59. The proceedings necessary for the adjustment of rights where a known vein or lode is embraced by a placer claim are so clearly defined by section 2333 as to render any particular instructions upon that point at this time unnecessary.

60. When an adverse claim is filed to a placer application, the proceedings are the same as in the case of vein or lode claims, already described.

QUANTITY OF PLACER GROUND SUBJECT TO LOCATION.

61. By section 2330 it is declared that no location of a placer claim, made after July 9, 1870, shall exceed one hundred and sixty acres for any one person or association of persons, which location shall conform to the United States surveys.

62. Section 2331 provides that all placer mining claims located after May 10, 1872, shall conform as nearly as practicable with the United States system of public surveys and the subdivisions of such surveys, and no such locations shall include more than twenty acres for each individual claimant.

63. The foregoing provisions of law are construed to mean that after the 9th day of July, 1870, no location of a placer claim can be made to exceed one hundred and sixty acres, whatever may be the number of locators associated together, or whatever the local regulations of the district may allow; and that from and after May 10, 1872, no location made by an individual can exceed twenty acres, and no location made by an association of individuals can exceed one hundred and sixty acres, which location of one hundred and sixty acres cannot be made by a less number than eight bona fide locators, but that whether as much as twenty acres can be located by an individual, or one hundred and sixty acres by an association, depends entirely upon the mining regu

lations in force in the respective districts at the date of the location; it being held that such mining regulations are in no way enlarged by the statutes, but remain intact and in full force with regard to to the size of locations, in so far as they do not permit locations in excess of the limits fixed by Congress; but that where such regulations permit locations in excess of the maximums fixed by Congress, as aforesaid, they are restricted accordingly.

64. The regulations herein before given as to the manner of marking locations on the ground, and placing the same on record, must be observed in the case of placer locations, so far as the same are applicable; the law requiring, however, that where placer claims are upon surveyed public lands the locations must hereafter be made to conform to legal subdivisions thereof as near as practicable.

65. With regard to the proofs necessary to establish the possessory right to a placer claim, section 2332 provides that "where such person or association, they and their grantors, have held and worked their claims for a period equal to the time prescribed by the statute of limitations for mining claims of the State or Territory where the same may be situated, evidence of such possession and working of the claims for such period shall be sufficient to establish a right to a patent thereto under this chapter in the absence of any adverse claim."

66. This provision of law will greatly lessen the burden of proof, more especially in the case of old claims located many years since, the records of which, in many cases, have been destroyed by fire, or lost in other ways during the lapse of time, but concerning the possessory right to which all controversy or litigation has long been settled.

67. When an applicant desires to make his proof of possessory right in accordance with this provision of law, you will not require him to produce evidence of location, copies of conveyances, or abstracts of title, as in other cases, but will require him to furnish a duly certified copy of the statute of limitations of mining claims for the State or Territory, together with his sworn statement giving a clear and succinct narration of the facts as to the origin of his title, and likewise as to the continuation of his possession of the mining ground covered by his application; the area thereof; the nature and extent of the mining that has been done thereon; whether there has been opposition to his possession or litigation with regard to his claim, and, if so, when the same ceased; whether such cessation was caused by compromise or by judicial decree; and any additional facts within the claimant's knowledge having a direct bearing upon his possession and bona fides which he may desire to submit in support of his claim.

68. There should likewise be filed a certificate, under seal of the court having jurisdiction of mining ceases within the judicial district embracing the claim, that no suit or action of any character whatever involving the right of possession to any portion of the claim applied for is pending, and that here has been no litigation before said court affecting the title to said claim or any part thereof for a period equal to the time fixed by the statute of limitations for mining claims in the State or Territory, as aforesaid, other than that which has been finally decided in favor of the claimant.

69. The claimant should support his narrative of facts relative to his possession, occupancy, and improvements by corroborative testimony of any disinterested person or persons of credibility who may be cognizant of the facts in the case and are capable of testifying understandingly in the premises.

70. It will be to the advantage of claimants to make their proofs as full and complete as practicable.

MILL SITES.

71. Section 2337 provides that, "where non-mineral land not contiguous to the vein or lode is used or occupied by the proprietor of such vein or lode for mining or milling purposes, such non-adjacent surface ground may be embraced and included in an application for a patent for such vein or lode, and the same may be patented therewith, subject to the same preliminary requirements as to survey and notice as are applicable to veins or lodes; but no location hereafter made of such non-adjacent land shall exceed five acres, and payment for the same must be made at the same rate as fixed by this chapter for the superficies of the lode. The owner of a quartz mill or reduction works, not owning a mine in connection therewith, may also receive a patent for his mill site, as provided in this section."

72. To avail themselves of this provision of law, parties holding the possessory right to a vein or lode, and to a piece of non-mineral land not contiguous thereto, for mining or milling purposes, not exceeding the quantity allowed for such purpose by the local rules, regulations, or customs, the proprietors of such vein or lode may file in the proper land office their application for a patent, under oath, in manner already set forth herein, which application, together with the plat and field notes, may include, embrace, and describe, in addition to the vein or lode, such non-contiguous mill site, and after due proceedings as to notice, &c., a patent will be issued conveying the same as one claim. 73. In making the survey in a case of this kind, the lode claim should be described in the plat and field notes as "Lot No. 37, A," and the mill site as "Lot No. 37, B," or