section one of this act, under a contract or agreement, express or implied, between the owner or owners thereof, or his or their agent, whether such work shall be performed or material furnished as miner, laborer, subcontractor, or otherwise, whose demand for work so done or material so furnished has not been paid, may deliver to the owner or owners of such mine, or his or their agent, an attested account of the amount and value of the work and labor thus performed or the material thus furnished, and remaining unpaid, and thereupon such owner or owners, or his or their agent, shall retain, out of his subsequent payments to the contractors, the amount of such work and labor or material furnished, for the benefit of the person so performing or furnishing the same. SEC. 3. Whenever any account of labor performed or material furnished, as referred to in the preceding section, shall be placed in the hands of the owner or owners of any mine, or his or their agent, as above stated, it shall be the duty of such owner or owners, or his or their agent, to furnish his or their contractor with a copy of such papers, so that, if there be any disagreement between such contractor and his creditor, they may, by amicable adjustment or by arbitration, ascertain the true sum due, and if the contractor shall not, within ten days after the receipt of such papers, give the owner or owners, or his or their agent, written notice that he intends to dispute the claim, or if ten days after giving notice he shall refuse or neglect to have the matter adjusted, as aforesaid, he shall be considered as assenting to the demand, and the owner or owners, or his or their agent, shall be justified in paying the same when it becomes due. SEC. 4. The amount which may be due from any contractor to his creditor may be recovered from said owner or owners, or his or their agent, by the creditor of said contractor, in an action at law, to the extent in value of any balance due by the owner or owners, or his or their agent, to his or their contractor, under the contract with him at the time of the notice first given as aforesaid, or subsequently, according to such contract [or] under the same. SEC. 5. Any person entitled to a lien under this act shall make an account in writing of the items of labor, skill, machinery, and material furnished, or either of them, as the case may be; and, after making oath thereto, shall, within sixty days from the time of completing such labor and skill, or furnishing the last item of such machinery and material, file the same in the office of the register of deeds of the county in which the ledge, lead, or lode or bank may be situated for which such labor, skill, machinery, or materials shall have been furnished, and shall also file, at the same time, a correct description of the property to be charged with said lien, which account and description of said property, so made and filed, shall be recorded in a separate book, to be provided for that purpose, and shall, for the time of the completion of the work or furnishing material, and for one year thereafter, operate as a lien on the several descriptions of ledges, leads, lodes, mines, or banks in the first section of this act named; when any labor has been done or labor furnished on a written contract, the same, or a copy thereof, shall be filed with the account herein required to be filed: Provided, That all lien-claims for labor performed or material furnished shall be concurrent liens upon the same, and shall be paid pro rata out of the proceeds arising from the sale thereof, if the same shall be sold. SEC. 6. Every person holding such lien may proceed to obtain a judgment for the amount of his account thereon by civil action, and when any suit or suits shall be commenced on such accounts within the time of such lien, the lien shall continue until such suit or suits be finally determined and satisfied; and, in all actions instituted under this act, all persons claiming liens upon the property sought to be affected shall be made parties to such action or proceeding, and the rights of all parties to such action shall be determined by the court, and such order made therein as shall preserve and protect the rights of all such parties under the provisions of this act. SEC. 7. The county register of deeds, for filing and recording all papers under this act, shall be paid the same fees as are or hereafter may be allowed by law for filing and recording deeds. SEC. S. When any person who shall have filed his account and perfected his lien, pursuant to the provisions of this act, shall have received satisfaction for his claim and the legal costs of his proceedings therein, he shall, upon the request of any person interested, and within six days, enter satisfaction of his lien in the office where such account and lien is of record, which shall forever thereafter discharge, defeat, and release the same. SEC. 9. If any person having received satisfaction, as specified in the preceding section, or having been tendered the amount due on his claim with legal costs, shall not, within six days after request, enter satisfaction as aforesaid, he shall forfeit and pay to the person aggrieved double the amount of damages which may have been sustained in consequence of such refusal or neglect. SEC. 10. The provisions of this act shall apply to oil wells or springs and iron mines, so far as the same may be applicable, and to all mines not herein specified within this territory. SEC. 11. All acts and parts of acts conflicting with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. CHAP. XLVIII.-EXEMPTION. AN ACT exempting certain property from sale upon execution or other process. (Approved December 1, 1871; Comp. Laws, p. 340.) SECTION 4. The tools, team, and implements, or stock in trade of any mechanic, miner, or other person, used and kept for the purpose of carrying on his trade or business, not exceeding in value three hundred dollars, * shall be exempt from levy or sale upon execution, writ of attachment, or any process issuing out of any court in this territory. The value of any property claimed to be exempt under this section shall be determined in all respects and the fees shall be the same as specified in section two of this act: Provided, That no article of property in this and the preceding sections of this act mentioned shall be exempt from attachment or sale upon execution for the purchase money of said article of property: And provided further, That the person or persons claiming such exemption shall be a bona fide resident of this territory. In section two "the value of the property selected by any debtor to be ascertained by the appraisement of three disinterested householders, to be selected and summoned by the officer claiming to levy upon, attach, or sell such property; the appraisers shall be sworn by the officer to make a true appraisement of the value of such property, and shall be entitled to receive one dollar each for their services, and the officer levying upon or attaching such property shall receive two dollars for all services in determining the property exempt and the value thereof, the fees of the officer and appraisers to be paid by the party for whose benefit the process may have [been] issued, and to be taxed as costs in the cause in which such process issued". SESSION LAWS OF 1877, 1879. ASSAY. AN ACT to establish an assay office in Wyoming territory. (Approved December 12, 1877; Sess. Laws, 1877, p. 8.) SECTION 1. There shall be established a territorial assay office in the territory of Wyoming, at Rawlins, in the county of Carbon. SEC. 2. There is hereby appropriated by the territory of Wyoming the sum of six hundred dollars per annum, payable quarterly out of the territorial treasury, each quarterly payment to be made at the end of the quarter for which it is due, and the territorial auditor is hereby authorized to draw a warrant upon the treasurer of the territory for the said payments, in favor of the assayer, upon the application of the assayer, accompanied by a certificate from the secretary of the territory that his bond has been approved, and upon satisfactory proof to the auditor that such payment is due; and the territorial treasurer is hereby authorized to pay such warrants out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. SEC. 3. The territoral assayer shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the consent of the council, and shall hold his office during good behavior and until removed for misconduct or neglect of duty; and he shall give a bond to the territory, with two or more sufficient sureties, in the sum of two thousand dollars, to be approved by the secretary of the territory, conditioned for the faithful discharge of his duties; and in case said territorial assayer shall fail to perform his duties, as hereinafter provided, he may be removed by the governor of the territory, and his successor shall be appointed by the governor. SEC. 4. The territorial assayer shall provide a seal, bearing the name of "Wyoming Assay Office", and the name of the town in which said office is located, which seal shall be kept in the office and used by him expressly for the use of such office. SEC. 5. It shall be the duty of said assayer to make assays of all minerals, from any portion of the territory of Wyoming, presented to him for assay, provided such specimens of ore be accompanied by the proper certificate. Any person presenting ore for assay shall have said ore, when presented, accompanied by an affidavit, taken before such assayer, who is hereby authorized to take such affidavit, or before some person authorized by law to take affidavits, stating the location of the lode and depth of shaft, which certificates or affidavits shall be kept and preserved by the assayer and turned over by him to his successor. The assayer making such assays shall be entitled to receive the sum of one dollar for each and every assay for gold and silver, and three dollars each for each and every assay made for any other metal, giving a certificate for each assay so made bearing the seal of his office, signed by himself, said fees to be paid by the person for whom such assay shall be made. The territorial assayer shall charge three dollars for all assays not accompanied with the required certificate and affidavits. NOTE.-Sec. 5 amended by act approved December 13, 1879 (Sess. Laws, 1879, p. 12). SEC. 6. It shall be the duty of the territorial assayer to keep a book, with proper index, alphabetically arranged, in which he shall record all assays made by him, giving the name of the person presenting, name of the lode and where situated from which the ore was taken, the kind of mineral, gold, silver, copper, etc., whether sulphuret, etc., and the amount such ore assays to the ton; access to said books to be had by the public during business hours; and any mutilation or changing of the records on said book shall be punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not less than three months in the county jail, or both. SEC. 7. It shall be the duty of said assayer to furnish any owner of any mine within the territory of Wyoming, which has been developed so far as to show the existence of gold, silver, copper, or lead-bearing ores therein, under his hand and seal of his office, any information touching the richness of the ore in said mine, provided ore from said mine has been assayed by him; and for the same he shall be entitled to receive from the applicant the sum of five dollars for each abstract of assay so made. SEC. 8. It shall be the duty of said assayer to make a report annually, under his hand and seal of his office, of all assays and examinations made during the year to the governor of the territory, who shall report the same to the legislature of the territory. SEC. 9. There is hereby appropriated out of the territorial treasury the sum of one thousand dollars, which sum shall be expended by the said assayer, under the direction of the governor of the territory, for procuring and fitting up a suitable room, and in the purchase of furnaces, apparatus, permanent fixtures, books, papers, seal, and records, which shall thereafter be the property of the territory, and shall be turned over by each assayer to his successor in office, and the successor in office shall give his predecessor a receipt for the same, and also report immediately to the governor, stating what he has received. SEC. 10. This act shall take effect and be in force on and after its passage and approval. CHAP. V.-ASSAY OFFICF. AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act to establish an assay office in Wyoming territory". (Approved December 13, 1879; Sess. Laws, 1879, p. 12.) SECTION 1. That section five of the above-entitled act be amended by striking out the words "three dollars" where they appear in the fourteenth and nineteenth lines of said section, and insert the words "one dollar" in lieu thereof. SEC. 2. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. CHAP. LVII.-MINING DISTRICTS; LAWS RELATING THERETO. AN ACT to provide for the preservation of the records, laws, and proceedings of mining districts, and their use as evidence. (Approvea November 26, 1879; Sess. Laws, 1879, p. 115.) SECTION 1. That a copy of all the records, laws, and proceedings of each mining district, so far as they relate to lode-claims, shall be filed in the office of the register of deeds of the county in which the district is situated, within the boundaries attached to the same, which shall be taken as evidence in any court having jurisdiction in the matters concerned in such record or proceeding; and all such records of deeds and conveyances, laws and proceedings of any mining district heretofore filed in the register's office of the proper county, and transcripts thereof duly certified, whether such record relate to gulch-claims, lode-claims, building-lots, or other real estate, shall have the like effect in evidence. SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of the recorder of each mining district to file copies as above provided, and reasonable fees therefor may be provided by the several mining districts. SEC. 3. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. |