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 prospecting 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 made 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 one copy of the field-notes to be given the claimant for filing with the proper register, to be finally transmitted by that officer, with 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. As there is no resident surveyorgeneral for the State of Arkansas, applications for the survey of mineral claims in said State should be made to the Commissioner of this office, who, under the law, is ex officio the United States surveyorgeneral. 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; or, if none adjoin, the names of the nearest claims, etc. 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. Accompanying 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 the locator, or a locator in company with others who have since conveyed their interests in the location to him, a full, true, and correct copy of such location notice 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 only as purchaser, a copy of the location record must be filed under seal or upon oath as aforesaid, with an abstract of title, under seal or oath as aforesaid, brought down to date of filing the application, tracing the right of possession by a continuous chain of conveyances from the original locators to the applicant, also certifying that no conveyances affecting the title to the claim in question appear of record other than those set forth in the accompanying abstract. The abstracts herein required may be certified to by the proper recorder, or by any abstracter or abstract company, duly authorized by State or Territorial statute, if abstracts so certified by abstracters or abstract companies are by statute receivable as evidence in the courts of such State or Territory, in the same manner and to like extent that abstracts certified by the recorder are now admitted: Provided, that proof be furnished that the abstracts so certified by abstracters or abstract companies are receivable as evidence in the courts as aforesaid. 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, etc.; 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 (who must furnish the agreement of the publisher to hold applicant for patent alone responsible for charges of publication), 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. When the notice is published in a weekly newspaper ten consecutive insertions are necessary; when in a daily newspaper the notice must appear in each issue for sixty-one consecutive issues, the first day of issue being excluded in estimating the period of sixty days. 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. In the publication of final-proof notices the register has no discretion under the law to designate any other than the newspaper "nearest the land" for such purpose when such paper is a newspaper of general circulation. But he will in all cases designate the newspaper of general circulation that is published nearest the land, geographically measured. When two or more such newspapers are published in the same town, nearest the land, he may select the one which, in his honest and impartial judgment as a public officer, will best subserve the purpose of the law and the general interests of the public. 38. Newspaper charges must not exceed the rates established by this office for the publication of legal notices. 39. 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. 40. 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. 41. After the sixty days' period of newspaper publication has expired the claimant will furnish from the office of publication a sworn statement that the notice was published for the statutory period, giving the first and last day of such publication, and his own affidavit showing that the plat and notice aforesaid remained conspicuously posted upon the claim sought to be patented during said sixty days' publication, giving the dates. 42. 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. The claimant will also make a sworn statement of all charges and fees paid by him for publication and surveys, together with all fees and money paid the register and receiver of the land office; after which the whole matter will be forwarded to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and a patent issued thereon if found regular. 43. 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. 44. The consecutive series of numbers of mineral entries must be continued, whether the same are of lode or placer claims or mill sites. 45. The surveyors-general should designate all surveyed mineral claims by a progressive series of numbers, beginning with survey No. 37, irrespective as to whether they are situated on surveyed or unsurveyed lands, the claim to be so designated at date of issuing the order therefor, 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 distance of more than two miles from such public corner, in which latter case it should be connected with a United States mineral monument. Such connecting line must not be more than two miles in length and should be measured on the ground direct between the points, or calculated from actually surveyed traverse lines if the nature of the country should not permit direct measurement. If a regularly established survey corner is within two miles of a claim situated on unsurveyed lands, the connection should be made with such corner in preference to a connection with a United States mineral monument. The connecting line must be surveyed by the deputy mineral surveyor at the time of his making the particular survey, and be made a part thereof. 46. Upon the approval of the survey of a mining claim made upon surveyed lands, the surveyor-general will prepare and transmit to the local land office and to this office a diagram tracing showing the portions of legal 40-acre subdivisions made fractional by reason of the mineral survey, designating each of such portions by the proper lot number, beginning with No. 1 in each section, and giving the area of each lot. 47. The survey and plat of mineral claims, required by section 2325, Revised Statutes of the United States, to be filed in the proper land office, with application for patent, must be made subsequent to the recording of the location of the mine; and when the original location is made by survey of a United States deputy surveyor such location survey cannot be substituted for that required by the statute, as above indicated. 48. The surveyor-general should derive his information upon which to base his certificate as to the value of labor expended or improvements made from his deputy who makes the actual survey and examination upon the premises, and such deputy should specify with particularity and full detail the character and extent of such improvements. 49. The following particulars should be observed in the survey of every mining claim: (1) The exterior boundaries of the claim should be represented on the plat of survey and in the field-notes. (2) The intersection of the lines of the survey with the lines of conflicting prior surveys should be noted in the field-notes and represented upon the plat. (3) Conflicts with unsurveyed claims, where the applicant for survey does not claim the area in conflict, should be shown by actual survey. (4) The total area of the claim embraced by the exterior boundaries should be stated, and also the area in conflict with each intersecting survey, substantially as follows: Total area of claim Area in conflict with survey No. 302 Area in conflict with Mountain Maid lode mining claim, Acres. 10.50 1.56 2.33 1.48 It does not follow that because mining surveys are required to exhibit all conflicts with prior surveys the areas of conflict are to be excluded. The field-notes and plat are made a part of the application for patent, and care should be taken that the description does not inadvertently exclude portions intended to be retained. It is better that the application for patent should state the portions to be excluded in express terms. A survey executed as in the example given will enable the applicant for patent to exclude such conflicts as may seem desirable. For instance, the conflict with survey No. 302 and with the Mountain Maid lode claim might be excluded, and that with survey No. 948 included. 50. The rights granted to locators under section 2322, Revised Statutes, are restricted to such locations on veins, lodes, or ledges as may be "situated on the public domain." In applications for lode claims where the survey conflicts with a prior valid lode claim and the ground in conflict is excluded, the applicant not only has no right to the excluded ground, but he has no right to that portion of any vein or lode the top or apex of which lies within such excluded ground, unless his location was prior to May 10, 1872. His right to the lode claimed terminates where the lode, in its onward course or strike, intersects the exterior boundary of such excluded ground and passes within it. The end line of his survey should not, therefore, be established beyond such intersection. 51. Where, however, the lode claim for which survey is being made was located prior to the conflicting claim, and such conflict is to be excluded, in order to include all ground not so excluded, the end line of the survey may be so established within the conflicting lode claim, but the line must be so run as not to extend any farther into such conflicting claim than may be necessary to make such end line parallel to the other end line, and at the same time embrace the ground so held and claimed. The useless practice in such cases of extending both the side lines of a survey into the conflicting claim, and establishing an end line wholly within it, beyond a point necessary under the rule just stated, will be discontinued. PLACER CLAIMS. 52. The proceedings to obtain patents for claims usually called placers, including all forms of deposit, excepting veins of quartz or other rock in place, are similar to the proceedings prescribed for |