Sections made fractional by waters, reservations,

may be, to the water-course, Indian boundary line, or other external boundary line of such fractional section. The law presupposes the section lines surveyed and marked in the field by the United States deputy surveyors to be due north and south or east and west lines. But in actual experience, this is not always the case. Hence, in order to carry out the spirit of the law, it will be necessary in the running of subdivisional lines through fractional sections to adopt mean courses where the lines are not due lines, or to run the subdivisional line parallel with the section line when there is no opposite section line." (See Instructions of 1881, ante p. 247.)

225. Irregular Subdivisions of Fractional Sections.-In making irregular subdivisions of fractions bounded on streams or lakes, there seems to have been no rule laid down by the authorities.

It has been decided by the Supreme Court of the United States that "the meander lines run in surveying fractional portions of the public lands bordering upon navigable rivers are run not as boundaries of the tract but for the purpose of defining the sinuosities of the stream and as the means of ascertaining the quantity of land in the fraction, and which is to be paid for by the purchaser."

R. R. Co. v, Schurmier, 7th Wallace (U.S.) 272.

It is fair to infer that the same lines are to be used in ascertaining the quantity of land in any portion of the fraction. Thus, as often happens, if a deed calls for so many acres off the end of the fraction, the surveyor in making his computations to determine at what point to locate the dividing line, should in the absence of anything showing to the contrary, use the meander line for the purpose of estimating the area of the tract, and lay down the dividing line accordingly. Otherwise there could be no common basis of calculation and as many different results would be arrived at as there were different surveyors to run the line, or different times of survey.

This is especially true of fractions bordering on lakes whose shore lines are subject to great change from natural causes or artificial drainage.

The common law rule for calculating the quantity of land bordering on a non-navigable stream is that no reference is had to what lies between low water mark and the centre of the stream. On navigable waters, high water mark is the line.

Lamb v. Rickett, 11 Ohio 311.

226. Exceptional Cases.-In the United States surveys made previous to 1815, there was much irregularity in the practice of the surveyors in carrying on the surveys. The fractional sections were frequently thrown upon the south or east tiers of sections in the township; the surveys being carried on from the north to the south and from the west to the east. Where the township was made fractional by large rivers or lakes, they were frequently so laid off as to throw all the fractions into the sections bordering on the water.

There was even greater irregularity in the manner of subdividing the fractional sections into the lesser tracts. Many of them had no quarter section corners. In some, the government plats show no subdivision; some are subdivided in one way and some in another.

In making resurveys and subdivisions of these and all other exceptional cases, the surveyor must always make his resurvey conform to the plan as shown by the fieldnotes and plats of the original survey.

227. Other Original Surveys.-In a considerable portion of the United States, the general government never had any ownership of the land.

The surveys were there made by the proprietors upon such system or plan as suited themselves.

The further subdivision of these tracts is original surveying. It is sufficient to say of this work that it should be done with great care, and that the marks upon the ground which indicate the boundary lines should be of

the plainest and most permanent character which the circumstances of the case permit,

These marks are intended to fix for all time the boundaries of the tract laid off and they cannot be too plain or permanent. Want of due care and precaution in making permanent land marks upon the ground, at the time of the original survey, is the fruitful cause from which arises most of the litigation about boundary lines.

228. Highway surveys, like other surveys, lose much of their value if their corners and lines are not so thoroughly marked as to be readily found at any future time. The centre line of a highway is very commonly used as a boundary line. Good permanent landmarks, well guarded by bearings and distances to the most permanent objects in the vicinity, should be planted at the starting and closing points of the survey, at each angle in its course, and at every crossing of a section line. The distance of the crossing points should be given from the nearest government corners each way on the section line.

229. Surveys for town plats are made upon any system to suit the circumstances of the case, or the views of the owners of the land platted.

In making these surveys, it is important that the work be in every respect carefully done, that full and complete notes be taken, so that the plat when finished shall show every material fact which may be of use to the public or to the future surveyor.

The relation which the lines of the plat bear to the lines of the original boundaries, whether of the government survey or otherwise, should be shown on the plat, and, what is most important of all, the location of the lines upon the ground should be marked by a sufficient number of permanent monuments so that there may never arise any difficulty in determining the exact position those lines occupy.

Such monuments should be placed at the corners and angles of the tract platted, and if include the United

States survey, they should be placed at the corners of the legal subdivisions of a section which are included in the plat. Monuments should also be placed so as to define the lines and termini of all streets.

For this purpose, they may be placed either along the centre lines and angles of the streets or along their margins at the corners and angles of blocks. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. The surveyor should consider the special circumstances of each case, and so locate the monuments that, while effecting the purpose for which they were intended, they shall be the most likely to remain in position and the easiest to refer to.

230. In Michigan, town plats are required by law (Session Laws of 1885) to be made and recorded in the following manner:

The plats must be made on sheets of good muslin backed paper, 18 inches by 24 inches in size, on a scale showing not more than 200 feet to an inch.

The plat must have upon it a full, detailed written description of the land embraced in it, showing the township, range, section and subdivision of section of the land platted. If the premises platted are not included in the legal subdivisions of the government survey, then the boundaries are to be defined by metes and bounds and courses.

The plat must contain the full name of the town, city, village or addition platted; the names of the proprietors and of the person making the plat, and the date.

It must be signed by the proprietors and by the person making it, and be witnessed and acknowledged in the same manner as deeds. The sections and parts of sections must also be designated on the plat by lines with appropriate letters and figures.

There must be a plain designation of the cardinal points of the compass and a correct scale.

When complete and before any copies are made from it, the plat must be submitted to the Auditor General for his approval,

231. The Record.-An exact duplicate of the original plat must be filed in the office of the Register of Deeds for the county in which the land is situated. It must contain all the matter in the original plat and the certificate of the Register of Deeds and the person who made the original plat, that they have separately carefully compared the duplicate with the original plat, and that it is an exact duplicate thereof and of the whole of such plat.