Show AN IMPORTANT RULING secretary hitchcock of the interior department part ment has made an important ruling of late relative to the expenditure required in patenting a mining claim the decision is is based on the application of thomas F walsh of colorado for patent for two claims embraced in a group of fifteen lode claims the main work done in the development of the group consisting of a main tunnel which at the time application was made for the two claims in question was 1700 feet in length in this decision secretary hitchcock reversed the ruling of the montrose colorado land office refusing the application for patent the syllabus of mr hitchcock s ruling being as follows where the same person or company owns several contiguous mining claims capable of being advantageously worked together and adopts one general system for the purpose of developing them all the value of the work done and improvements made pursuant to such system whether done on only one of the claims or outside of them all is available toward meeting the requirement of section 2325 of the revised statutes relative to expenditure of for each of such claims it is not necessary in order to have its due share of such work or improvements credited to each claim that such claims should all be embraced in the same proceedings for patent if the mining laws are complied with in other respects such claims may be applied for and entered singly or otherwise and at different times without in anyway impairing the right to have the value of such share credited to them respectively under that section lion hon frank D hobbs register of the local land office has the full text orthis important decision |