Show 4 IMPORTANT DECISION I Wliuu You Post Aotlces Displar 1 Them Conspicuously The Herald is in receipt of Q copy of a recent decision toy the secretary of the interior involving the title to three mining claims in Montana Which will be lad with interest by mining men tall over the country inasmuch as it settles an important point The three claims are situated north of the Big Butte near Butte Mont j and are known a the Dorcas Priscllia and Georgiana lodes which are claimed by Thomas Ferguson et al and Mag nits Hansen et al Ferguson has entered I enter-ed a protest against the entry of Hansen Han-sen on tie ground that the law in regard re-gard to posting notices had not been 1 fully complied with The Helena office sustained the protest and an appeal was taken to the commissioner The I latter reversed the Helena office and Then a appeal was taken to the secretary I sec-retary of the interior The secretary I Y confirms the decision of the Helena II I office The application for patent was filed In the Helena office November 3 I 1802 by Magnus Hapsen and John C Paulson for the JPriscilla Georgiana and Dorcas lode claims On January 13 1S93 Thomas Ferguson et al claimants claim-ants of the Happy A cw Year and 4 Thomas P Byrne et al claimants of t the Lucky Tom filed a protest against the entry by Hansen alleging prior location lo-cation of their claims that the notices no-tices of Hansen were not posted in a comspicuous place and that the necessary neces-sary amount of work had not been done The decision of the secretary says saysTha Th return of the sUre orgenerl shows that at the time the survey was made October 22 1892 the work te on these lodes was as follows On the I Priscllia a discovery shaft 4x7 feet 7 feet deep on the Georgiana a discovery I dis-covery shaft 4x5 feet S feet deep on the Dorcas discovery shaft 5x7 feet J G feet deep and shaft No2 4x5 feet I II 2 feet deep So that it I fet dei will be seen that on each claim some work had been done The evidence shows that II there were no windlasses or houses or any other improvements or conspicu Ious Ious I I-ous plao or places on the claims The caim ground is shown to be broken and I mountainous with rocky his and I many large boulders scattered over the surface There sctere or more traveled roads on the tend running in different directions It Is not definite as to whether they traverse each claim or not but they are roads that ars constantly traveled In reach lcacR lag the villages or mining camps stir fl rounding Butte City to which the land l in controversy is in close proximity The plats and notices required to be posted were tacked In open boxes about two feet square and one foot deep and were put upon the 4iound wit rocks around them for their sup port and on top to keep them in place On the Priscllia this box was placed 250 feet northwesterly from the southeast south-east corner Between the box and the discovery shaft was a ridge about 5 feet high the discovery shaft being about 1000 feet westerly ftv m where the box a placed On the Georgiana lode the box was placed about O feet west of the discovery shaft on the south side of a rocky hill or butte about 40 feet from the top vhSrIi was covered with boulders some of them 1 four feet high some of which were In Si front of the ox The box on the for t cas was about 150 feet south f the discovery shaft on the side of a hill v on level J ground rising a little from 4 the shaft There were large rocks or te rock k boulders all over the ground In this 1 Q J rr < vicinity Neither of the notircs were posted at either of the discovery shafts nor were they placed on or near either of the traveled reads They were not fastened on trees or otherwise other-wise Dlaced at an elevation above the eleatin level of the ground so that they could be seen by those going over the ground or so that they might not be obscured by the snow that is shewn to have fallen in that region at the season of the year a hen they were posted On the contrary I am btrong ly 1 impressed with the belief that there was a studied effort n the part of the applicants to avoid a compliance with the law In posting the notices In a conspicuous con-spicuous place on the land It is difficult diffi-cult perhaps to lay any general rule a to what should be construed a ra conspicuous place on a mining claim I is a matter of common knowledge that they are generally located In mountainous regions where nor any given point but comparatively a small portion of the claim nay be seen But there must from the v ir nature of things be an initial point both physical phy-sical and local in every mining claim and that is the 11srjverv shaft Without this there can be no legal location as all rights of every nature I are based upon a discovery of mineral In the absence of all other improvements improve-ments a in this case it would seem perfectly natural that any one going upon a mining claim for any purpose for which the government would be interested would go to the discovery shaft It would seem as if this initial point would be the first to attract the attention of any one Investigating the land and in the absence of aU other improvements would certainly be the most conspicuous on the cam In digging a shaft a dump is necessarily created which shows the handiwork of man I may be located in an obscure ob-scure place This is true jt nevertheless never-theless if i be the only improvement on the claim it Is certainly in contemplation con-templation of law and a a physical fact as well more conspicuous for the purpose of conveying notice to the world than boulderdrifted hills boulderrlted hls away from traveled trails or roads would be I do not think there was a com Thomas P Bryn et al claimants of pllcants in posting the notice on the claim and therefore reverse the com missioner1 decision and confirm that of the local office of e |