shall cover an area greater than" 640 acres, and removes the limitation in regard to subsisting cases by declaring that any city or town existing on 3d March, 1865, shall not be debarred entry because of such excess of area over, or of variance from, the size of the town claim or town lots as limited by the act of 1st July, 1864; that, for the excess of square feet contained in said lots beyond the maximum named in the act to which this is amendatory, the minimum price of each lot shall be increased to such reasonable amount as the Secretary may establish.

6th. In the second section of this supplemental act it is provided that parties having a possessory right to mineral veins, "which possession is recognized by local authority," are to be protected therein; and titles to be acquired to town lots under this act are made subject to "such recognized possession and the necessary use thereof", yet with an express saving of the paramount title of the United States.

7th. The act of 1st July, 1864, relating to town property, is only modified as regards the extent of the town claim and the size of town lots, and by it you will be governed when not in conflict with this supplemental act. Hence it will be necessary for the citizens of the town or city existing at the date of the supplementary act

First. To file with the recorder of the county in which the town or city is situate a plat thereof, describing its exterior boundaries, and according to the lines of the public surveys where such surveys have been executed.

Second. Also the plat or map of such city or town must exhibit the name of the city or town, the streets, squares, blocks, lots, and alleys, the size of the same, with actual measurements and area of each municipal division, and a statement of the extent and general character of improvements.

Third. Further, the said map and statement to be verified by oath of the party acting for and on behalf of the city or town; and,

Fourth. Within one month after filing the map or plat with the recorder of the county a verified copy of said map and statement must be sent to the Commissioner of the General Land-Office, with the testimony of two witnesses that such a town is a bona fide one, established and existing at the date of this act.

Fifth. Where the city or town is within the limits of an organized land district a similar copy of the map and statement must be filed with the register and receiver thereof.

Sixth. When the city or town is founded on unsurveyed lands, the exterior lines of the same must be distinctly marked and established, so that when the lines of the public surveys shall hereafter be run they may be properly closed thereon; and yet it may be lawful to adjust the exterior limits of the premises with the lines of the public surveys, when it can be done without impairing the rights of others.

Seventh. Patents are to issue for all lots sold under the provisions of this act.

Eighth. By the second section of the act of 1st July, 1864, after the transcript and statement have been filed in the General Land-Office, the lots are to be offered at public sale to the highest bidder at a minimum of $10 per lot; but, by the supplemental act, when the area of each lot exceeds the maximum of 4,200 square feet the minimum price of each lot shall be increased to such reasonable amount as the Secretary of the Interior may establish. A privilege, however, is granted to any actual settler upon any one lot of pre-empting that, and any additional lot on which he may have "substantial improvements", at said minimum or increased price, at any time before the day fixed for the public sale.

Very respectfully,

Approved:

J. M. EDMUNDS,
Commissioner.

JAS. HARLAN, Secretary of the Interior.

Supplemental instructions under coal and town property act of July 1, 1864, and March 3, 1865.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GENERAL LAND-OFFICE,

TO REGISTERS AND RECEIVERS, UNITED STATES LAND-OFFICES:

October 20, 1865.

Referring to the circulars from this office, bearing date August 20, 1864, and April 26, 1865, in relation to the act of Congress approved July 1, 1864, and the amendatory law of March 3, 1865, relating to "coal-land and town property" on the public domain, I now herewith append, for your information and government in the matter therein specified, the ruling of the Hon. James Harlan, Secretary of the Interior, under date of October 16, 1865:

In accordance with the authority vested in me by the acts of Congress approved July 1, 1864, and March 3, 1865, I hereby prescribe the following regulations for the disposal of coal-lands and town property in the public domain:

The minimum price of each lot in a town surveyed before the above-named act of July 1, 1864, took effect, containing over 4,200 square feet and not more than 8,400 square feet, shall be $15; of each lot containing over 8,400 square feet and not more than 12,600 square feet the minimum price shall be $18; of each lot containing over 12,600 square feet and not more than 16,800 square feet the minimum price shall be $20; and for larger lots the price shall be increased $2 for every additional 4,200 square feet.

In the case of out-lots in any such village, town, or city, the minimum price of such out-lots shall be $10; of such out-lots containing more than one acre the minimum price shall be $10 for the first acre, and $5 for each additional acre in such lot,

J. M. EDMUNDS,

Commissioner.

AN ACT granting to A. Sutro the right of way, and granting other privileges to aid in the construction of a draining and exploring tunnol to the Comstock lode, in the state of Nevada. (Approved July 25, 1866. U. S. Stats., v. 14, p. 242.)

SECTION 1. That, for the purpose of the construction of a deep draining and exploring tunnel to and beyond the "Comstock lode", so-called, in the state of Nevada, the right of way is hereby granted to A. Sutro, his heirs and assigns, to run, construct, and excavate a mining, draining, and exploring tunnel; also to sink mining, working, or air shafts along the line or course of said tunnel, and connecting with the same at any point which may hereafter be selected by the grantee herein, his heirs or assigns. The said tunnel shall be at least eight feet high and eight feet wide, and shall commence at some point to be selected by the grantee herein, his heirs or assigns, at the hills near Carson river, and within the boundaries of Lyon county, and extending from said initial point in a westerly direction seven miles, more or less, to and beyond said Comstock lode, and the said right of way shall extend northerly and southerly on the course of said lode, either within the same or east or west of the same, and also on or along any other lode which may be discovered or developed by the said tunnel.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the right is hereby granted to the said A. Sutro, his heirs and assigns, to purchase, at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, a sufficient amount of public land near the mouth of said tunnel for the use of the same, not exceeding two sections, and such land shall not be mineral land or in the bona fide possession of other persons who claim under any law of Congress at the time of the passage of this act, and all minerals existing or which shall be discovered therein are excepted from this grant; that upon filing a plat of said land the Secretary of the Interior shall withdraw the same from sale, and upon payment for the same a patent shall issue; and the said A. Sutro, his heirs and assigns, are hereby granted the right to purchase, at five dollars per acre, such mineral veins and lodes within two thousand feet on each side of said tunnel as shall be cut, discovered, or developed by running and constructing the same through its entire extent, with all the dips, spurs, and angles of such lodes, subject, however, to the provisions of this act and to such legislation as Congress may hereafter provide: Provided, That the Comstock lode, with its dips, spurs, and angles, is excepted from this grant, and all other lodes, with their dips, spurs, and angles, located within the said two thousand feet, and which are or may be, at the passage of this act, in the actual bona fide possession of other persons, are hereby excepted from such grant; and the lodes herein excepted, other than the Comstock lode, shall be withheld from sale by the United States, and if such lodes shall be abandoned or not worked, possessed, and held in conformity to existing mining rules, or such regulations as have been or may be prescribed by the legislature of Nevada, they shall become subject to such right of purchase by the grantee herein, his heirs or assigns.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That all persons, companies, or corporations owning claims or mines on said Comstock lode, or any other lode drained, benefited, or developed by said tunnel, shall hold their claims subject to the condition (which shall be expressed in any grant they may hereafter obtain from the United States) that they shall contribute and pay to the owners of said tunnel the same rate of charges for drainage, or other benefits derived from said tunnel or its branches, as have been or may hereafter be named in agreement between such owners and the companies representing a majority of the estimated value of said Comstock lode at the time of the passage of this act.

CHAP. CCLXII.

AN ACT granting the right of way to ditch and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes. (Approved July 26, 1866. U. S. Stats., v. 14, p. 251.)

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the mineral lands of the public domain, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared to be free and open to exploration and occupation by all citizens of the United States, and those who have declared their intention to become citizens, subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by law, and subject also to the local customs or rules of miners in the several mining districts, so far as the same may not be in conflict with the laws of the United States.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That whenever any person, or association of persons, claim a vein or lode of quartz, or other rock in place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, or copper, having previously occupied and improved the same according to the local custom or rules of miners in the district where the same is situated, and having expended in actual labor and improvements thereon an amount of not less than one thousand dollars, and in regard to whose possession there is no controversy or opposing claim, it shall and may be lawful for said claimant, or association of claimants, to file in the local land-office a diagram of the same, so extended, laterally or otherwise, as to conform to the local laws, customs, and rules of miners, and to enter such tract and receive a patent therefor, granting such mine, together with the right to follow such vein or lode, with its dips, angles, and variations, to any depth, although it may enter the land adjoining, which land adjoining shall be sold subject to this condition.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That upon the filing of the diagram as provided in the second section of this act, and posting the same in a conspicuous place on the claim, together with a notice of intention to apply for a patent, the register of the land-office shall publish a notice of the same in a newspaper published nearest to the

location of said claim, and shall also post such notice in his office for the period of ninety days; and after the expiration of said period, if no adverse claim shall have been filed, it shall be the duty of the surveyor-general, upon application of the party, to survey the premises and make a plat thereof, indorsed with his approval, designating the number and description of the location, the value of the labor and improvements, and the character of the vein exposed; and upon the payment to the proper officer of five dollars per acre, together with the cost of such survey, plat, and notice, and giving satisfactory evidence that said diagram and notice have been posted on the claim during said period of ninety days, the register of the land-office shall transmit to the General Land-Office said plat, survey, and description, and a patent shall issue for the same thereupon. But said plat, survey, or description shall in no case cover more than one vein or lode, and no patent shall issue for more than one vein or lode, which shall be expressed in the patent issued.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That when such location and entry of a mine shall be upon unsurveyed lands, it shall and may be lawful, after the extension thereto of the public surveys, to adjust the surveys to the limits of the premises according to the location and possession and plat aforesaid; and the surveyor-general may, in extending the surveys, vary the same from a rectangular form to suit the circumstances of the country and the local rules, laws, and customs of miners: Provided, That no location hereafter made shall exceed two hundred feet in length along the vein for each locator, with an additional claim for discovery to the discoverer of the lode, with the right to follow such vein to any depth, with all its dips, variations, and angles, together with a reasonable quantity of surface for the convenient working of the same, as fixed by local rules: And provided further, That no person may make more than one location on the same lode, and not more than three thousand feet shall be taken in any one claim by any association of persons.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That, as a further condition of sale, in the absence of necessary legislation by Congress, the local legislature of any state or territory may provide rules for working mines involving easements, drainage, and other necessary means to their complete development; and those conditions shall be fully expressed in the patent.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That whenever any adverse claimants to any mine, located and claimed as aforesaid, shall appear before the approval of the survey, as provided in the third section of this act, all proceedings shall be stayed until final settlement and adjudication, in the courts of competent jurisdiction, of the rights of possession to such claim, when a patent may issue as in other cases.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and is hereby, authorized to establish additional land districts, and to appoint the necessary officers under existing laws, wherever he may deem the same necessary for the public convenience in executing the provisions of this act.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the right of way for the construction of highways over public lands, not reserved for public uses, is hereby granted.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That whenever, by priority of possession, rights to the use of water for mining, agricultural, manufacturing, or other purposes, have vested and accrued and the same are recognized and acknowledged by the local customs, laws, and the decisions of courts, the possessors and owners of such vested rights shall be maintained and protected in the same; and the right of way for the construction of ditches and canals for the purposes aforesaid is hereby acknowledged and confirmed: Provided, however, That whenever, after the passage of this act, any person or persons shall, in the construction of any ditch or canal, injure or damage the possession of any settler on the public domain, the party committing such injury or damage shall be liable to the party injured for such injury or damage.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That wherever, prior to the passage of this act, upon the lands heretofore designated as mineral lands, which have been excluded from survey and sale, there have been homesteads made by citizens of the United States, or persons who have declared their intention to become citizens, which homesteads have been made, improved, and used for agricultural purposes, and upon which there have been no valuable mines of gold, silver, cinnabar, or copper discovered, and which are properly agricultural lands, the said settlers or owners of such homesteads shall have a right of pre-emption thereto, and shall be entitled to purchase the same at the price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and in quantity not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres; or said parties may avail themselves of the provisions of the act of Congress, approved May twenty, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, entitled "An act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain", and acts amendatory thereof.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That, upon the survey of the lands aforesaid, the Secretary of the Interior may designate and set apart such portions of the said lands as are clearly agricultural lands, which lands shall thereafter be subject to pre-emption and sale as other public lands of the United States, and subject to all the laws and regulations applicable to the same.

CHAP. CCXXXV.

AN ACT to amend "An act granting the right of way to ditch and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes." (Approved July 9, 1870. U. S. Stats., v. 16, p. 217.)

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act granting the right of way to ditch and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes, approved July twenty-six, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, be, and the same is hereby, amended by adding thereto the following additional sections, numbered twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen, respectively, which shall hereafter constitute and form a part of the aforesaid act:

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That claims, usually called "placers", including all forms of deposit, excepting veins of quartz, or other rock in place, shall be subject to entry and patent under this act, under like circumstances and conditions, and upon similar proceedings, as are provided for vein or lode-claims: Provided, That, where the lands have been previously surveyed by the United States, the entry in its exterior limits shall conform to the legal subdivisions of the public lands, no further survey or plat in such case being required, and the lands may be paid for at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per acre: Provided further, That legal subdivisions of forty acres may be subdivided into ten-acre tracts; and that two or more persons, or associations of persons, having contiguous claims of any size, although such claims may be less than ten acres each, may make joint entry thereof: And provided urther, That no location of a placer-claim, hereafter made, shall exceed one hundred and sixty acres for any one person or association of persons, which location shall conform to the United States surveys; and nothing in this section contained shall defeat or impair any bona-fide pre-emption or homestead claim upon agricultural lands, or authorize the sale of the improvements of any bona-fide settler to any purchaser.

SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That where said person or association, they and their grantors, shall have held and worked their said claims for a period equal to the time prescribed by the statute of limitations for miningclaims 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 act, in the absence of any adverse claim: Provided, however, That nothing in this act shall be deemed to impair any lien which may have attached in any way whatever to any mining-claim or property thereto attached prior to the issuance of a patent. SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That all ex-parte affidavits required to be made under this act, or the act of which it is amendatory, may be verified before any officer authorized to administer oaths within the land district where the claims may be situated.

SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That registers and receivers shall receive the same fees for services under this act as are provided by law for like services under other acts of Congress; and that effect shall be given to the foregoing act according to such regulations as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of the General Land-Office.

SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That so much of the act of March third, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, entitled "An act to provide for the survey of the public lands in California, the granting of pre-emption rights, and for other purposes", as provides that none other than township lines shall be surveyed where the lands are mineral, is hereby repealed. And the public surveys are hereby extended over all such lands: Provided, That all subdividing of surveyed lands into lots less than one hundred and sixty acres may be done by county and local surveyors at the expense of the claimants: And provided further, That nothing herein contained shall require the survey of waste or useless lands.

SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That none of the rights conferred by sections five, eight, and nine of the act to which this act is amendatory shall be abrogated by this act, and the same are hereby extended to all public lands affected by this act; and all patents granted, or pre-emption or homesteads allowed, shall be subject to any vested and accrued water rights, or rights to ditches and reservoirs used in connection with such water rights as may have been acquired under or recognized by the ninth section of the act of which this act is amendatory. But nothing in this act shall be construed to repeal, impair, or in any way affect the provisions of the "Act granting to A. Sutro the right of way and other privileges to aid in the construction of a draining and exploring tunnel to the Comstock lode, in the state of Nevada", approved July twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six.

AN ACT to promote the development of the mining resources of the United States. (Approved May 10, 1872. U. S. Stats., v. 17, p. 91.) Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all valuable mineral deposits in lands belonging to the United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared to be free and open to exploration and purchase, and the lands in which they are found to occupation and purchase, by citizens of the United States and those who have declared their intention to become such, under regulations prescribed by law, and according to the local customs or rules of miners in the several mining districts, so far as the same are applicable and not inconsistent with the laws of the United States.

SEC. 2. That mining-claims upon veins or lodes of quartz or other rock in place bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other valuable deposits heretofore located, shall be governed as to length along the vein or

lode by the customs, regulations, and laws in force at the date of their location. A mining-claim located after the passage of this act, whether located by one or more persons, may equal, but shall not exceed, one thousand five hundred feet in length along the vein or lode; but no location of a mining-claim shall be made until the discovery of the vein or lode within the limits of the claim located. No claim shall extend more than three hundred feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, nor shall any claim be limited by any mining regulation to less than twenty-five feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, except where adverse rights existing at the passage of this act shall render such limitation necessary. The end-lines of each claim shall be parallel to each other.

SEC. 3. That the locators of all mining locations heretofore made, or which shall hereafter be made, on any mineral vein, lode, or ledge, situated on the public domain, their heirs and assigns, where no adverse claim exists at the passage of this act, so long as they comply with the laws of the United States, and the state, territorial, and local regulations not in conflict with said laws of the United States governing their possessory title, shall have the exclusive right of possession and enjoyment of all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and of all veins, lodes, and ledges throughout their entire depth, the top or apex of which lies inside. of such surface-lines extended downward vertically, although such veins, lodes, or ledges may so far depart from a perpendicular in their course downward as to extend outside the vertical side-lines of said surface locations: Provided, That their right of possession to such outside parts of such veins or ledges shall be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn downward as aforesaid, through the end-lines of their locations, so continued in their own direction that such planes will intersect such exterior parts of said veins or ledges: And provided further, That nothing in this section shall authorize the locator or possessor of a vein or lode which extends, in its downward course, beyond the vertical lines of his claim to enter upon the surface of a claim owned or possessed by another.

SEC. 4. That where a tunnel is run for the development of a vein or lode, or for the discovery of mines, the owners of such tunnel shall have the right of possession of all veins or lodes within three thousand feet from the face of such tunnel on the line thereof, not previously known to exist, discovered in such tunnel, to the same extent as if discovered from the surface; and locations on the line of such tunnel of veins or lodes not appearing on the surface, made by other parties after the commencement of the tunnel, and while the same is being prosecuted with reasonable diligence, shall be invalid; but failure to prosecute the work on the tunnel for six months shall be considered as an abandonment of the right to all undiscovered veins on the line of said tunnel.

SEC. 5. That the miners of each mining district may make rules and regulations not in conflict with the laws of the United States, or with the laws of the state or territory in which the district is situated, governing the location manner of recording, amount of work necessary to hold possession of a mining-claim, subject to the following requirements: The location must be distinctly marked on the ground so that its boundaries can be readily traced. All records of mining-claims hereafter made shall contain the name or names of the locators, the date of the location, and such a description of the claim or claims located by reference to some natural object or permanent monument as will identify the claim. On each claim located after the passage of this act, and until a patent shall have been issued therefor, not less than one hundred dollars' worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made during each year. On all claims located prior to the passage of this act, ten dollars' worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made each year for each one hundred feet in length along the vein until a patent shall have been issued therefor; but, where such claims are held in common, such expenditure may be made upon any one claim; and, upon a failure to comply with these conditions, the claim or mine upon which such failure occurred shall be open to relocation in the same manner as if no location of the same had ever been made: Provided, That the original locators, their heirs, assigns, or legal representatives have not resumed work upon the claim after such failure and before such location. Upon the failure of any one of several co-owners to contribute his proportion of the expenditures required by this act, the co-owners who have performed the labor or made the improvements may, at the expiration of the year, give such delinquent co-owner personal notice in writing or notice by publication in the newspaper published nearest the claim, for at least once a week for ninety days, and if, at the expiration of ninety days after such notice in writing or by publication, such delinquent should fail or refuse to contribute his proportion to comply with this act, his interest in the claim shall become the property of his co-owners who have made the required expenditures.

SEC. 6. That a patent for any land claimed and located for valuable deposits may be obtained in the following manner: Any person, association, or corporation authorized to locate a claim under this act, having claimed and located a piece of land for such purposes, who has or have complied with the terms of this act, may file in the proper land-office an application for a patent, under oath, showing such compliance, together with a plat and fieldnotes of the claim or claims in common, made by or under the direction of the United States surveyor-general, showing accurately the boundaries of the claim or claims, which shall be distinctly marked by monuments on the ground, and shall post a copy of such plat, together with a notice of such application for a patent, in a conspicuous place on the land embraced in such plat previous to the filing of the application for a patent, and shall file an affidavit of at least two persons that such notice has been duly posted as aforesaid, and shall file a copy of said notice in such land office, and shall thereupon be entitled to a patent for said land, in the manner following: The