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Show HUNDREDS RUSH TO TAKE OIL LANDS IN MONTANA (By International Ntwe Service. HELENA, Mom. Jan U Oil la tip- magnet which has drawn Bpecula-i tors to apply for fHte-yeai' lease:- ol Montana, land in th last fifteen months on o scale which nearly equals i the old land drawings, which attracted! thousands from every slate in the! union a few years aao when the fed er?l government CO&dUCted glgantu! lotteries in awarding prospective aei-tlcrs aei-tlcrs their place in llu- list to select homestead entile.- n Indian reservations. reserva-tions. Iyami owned by the .state has been eagerly sought Since one well came in In the central pari 01 ihe state, The stHte hoard ol tend cc.mtn'.ssion-r.s ha given leases cn a total ol a07,200 acres of land for an annual rental oi 6'V0(in The Btme executed $00 Leases. So f.ir. rcportfl received by th.-1 board show that only one leaser has acti:all; -Jailed drjllin'-; operations on this acreage, which Is scattered throtrgh every county in th. state east of the Rockies When the rush for leases started LI tate leased a section of land for an annual rental of $100, requiring 10 per cent royalty of al! oil and gaj with a renewal privilege at iiie end ol five yearl without any drillinc required. When the demand exceeded all expectations ex-pectations and gn w into a busines s which began lo compare with the old time gold rushes the. state land board changed the lease. Since March S, 1920. the board cut the acreage lo 320 ucres tor each l lease, demands drilling started within IS months, and a 15 per cent royalty Is now demanded. The annual rental Is the same, but the lease goes to the highest bidder al the end of five year.-. Under the first form lor leases 252,-000 252,-000 acres were leaned. |