The

division of the land claimed may be made by legal subdivisions, to include, as near as may be, the valuable improvements of the respective parties. Commissioner of the General Land-Office is authorized to issue all needful rules and regulations for carrying into effect the provisions of this and the four preceding sections. [R. S.]

Act of March 3, 1873, ch. 279, 17 Stat. L. 607.

See note to section 2347, supra. Extended to Alaska. See Act of June 6, 1900, ch. 796, infra, p. 57.

The decisions of the land office " upon questions properly pending before it can only be annulled when such fraud or imposition is shown to have been practiced as prevented the unsuccessful party in a contest from fully presenting his case, or the officers composing the tribunal from fully considering it, or when such officers have themselves been guilty of fraudulent conduct, or when it is made to appear that, upon the case as established before the land department, the law applicable thereto was misconstrued or misapplied. If fraud is charged as a ground for annulling a decision of the land department, it is not enough that false testimony or forged documents have been employed; but it must be

made to appear that such false testimony has affected the decision and led to a result which otherwise would not have been reached." Durango Land, etc., Co. v. Evans, (C. C. A. 1897) 80 Fed. Rep. 429.

Affidavit before notary public. In U. S. v. Manion, (1890) 44 Fed. Rep. 800, it was held that an indictment for perjury under section 5392, R. S., would not be maintained upon an affidavit made in support of a claim under sections 2348 and 2349, R. S., before a notary public, when the regulations and instructions promulgated by the commissioner of the general land office do not confer any authority upon the notary public.

Parties who have parted with all of their title to the land in dispute are not entitled to notice of a pending controversy. Durango Land, etc., Co. v. Evans, (C. C. A. 1897) 80 Fed. Rep. 429.

Sec. 2352. [Rights reserved.] Nothing in the five preceding sections shall be construed to destroy or impair any rights which may have attached prior to the third day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, or to authorize the sale of lands valuable for mines of gold, silver, or copper. [R. S.]

Act of March 3, 1873, ch. 279, 17 Stat. L. 607.
Extended to Alaska.

See Act of June 6, 1900, ch. 796, infra.

An Act To extend the coal land laws to the district of Alaska.

[Act of June 6, 1900, ch. 796, 31 Stat. L. 658.]

[Coal land laws extended to Alaska.] That so much of the public land laws of the United States are hereby extended to the district of Alaska as relate to coal lands, namely, sections twenty-three hundred and forty-seven to twentythree hundred and fifty-two, inclusive, of the Revised Statutes. 658.]

[31 Stat. L.

[II. PROTECTION OF MINERS.]

An act for the protection of the lives of miners in the Territories.

[Act of March 3, 1891, ch. 564, 26 Stat. L. 1104.]

[SEC. 1.] [Inspectors of coal mines in Territories - bonds.] That in each organized and unorganized Territory of the United States wherein are located coal mines, the aggregate annual output of which shall be in excess of one thousand tons per annum, the President shall appoint a mine inspector, who shall hold office until his successor is appointed and qualified. Such inspector shall, before entering upon the discharge of his duties, give bond to the United States in the sum of two thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful discharge of his duties. [26 Stat. L. 1104.]

SEC. 2. [Qualifications of inspector.] That no person shall be eligible for appointment as mine inspector under section one of this act who, is not either a practical miner or mining engineer and who has not been a resident for at least six months in the Territory for which he shall be appointed; and no person who shall act as land agent, manager, or agent of any mine, or as mining engineer, or be interested in operating any mine in such Territory shall be at the same time an inspector under the provisions of this act. [26 Stat. L. 1104.]

SEC. 3. [Duties of inspector-reports.] That it shall be the duty of the mine inspector provided for in this act to make careful and thorough inspection of each coal mine operated in such Territory, and to report at least annually upon the condition of each coal mine in said Territory with reference to the appliances for the safety of the miners, the number of air or ventilating shafts, the number of shafts or slopes for ingress or egress, the character and condition of the machinery for ventilating such mines, and the quantity of air supplied to same. Such report shall be made to the governor of the Territory in which such mines are located and a duplicate thereof forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior, and in the case of an unorganized Territory directly to the Secretary of the Interior. [26 Stat. L. 1104.]

SEC. 4. [Notification of unsafe condition of mines.] That in case the said mine inspector shall report that any coal mine is not properly constructed or not furnished with reasonable and proper machinery and appliances for the safety of the miners and other employees it shall be the duty of the governor of such organized Territory it shall be the duty [sic] of the Secretary of the Interior to give notice to the owners and managers of said coal mine that the said mine is unsafe and notifying them in what particular the same is unsafe, and requiring them to furnish or provide such additional machinery, slopes, entries, means of escape, ventilation, or other appliances necessary to the safety of the miners and other employees within a period to be in said notice named, and if the same be not furnished as required in such notice it shall be unlawful after the time fixed in such notice for the said owners or managers to operate said mine. [26 Stat. L. 1105.]

The above reading is the language of the Statutes at Large.

SEC. 5. [Two shafts or outlets for each mine.] That in all coal mines in the Territories of the United States the owners or managers shall provide at least two shafts, slopes, or other outlets, separated by natural strata of not less than one hundred and fifty feet in breadth, by which shafts, slopes, or outlets distinct means of ingress and egress shall always be available to the persons employed in said mine. And in case of the failure of any coal mine to be so provided it shall be the duty of the mine inspector to make report of such fact, and thereupon notice shall issue, as provided in section four of this act, and with the same force and effect. [26 Stat. L. 1105.]

SEC. 6. [Ventilation-coal dust shot firing.] That the owners or managers of every coal mine shall provide an adequate amount of ventilation of not less than eighty-three and one-third cubic feet of pure air per second, or five thousand cubic feet per minute for every fifty men at work in said mine, and in like proportion for a greater number, which air shall by proper appliances or machinery be forced through such mine to the face of each and every working place, so as to dilute and render harmless and expel therefrom the noxious or poisonous gases. Wherever it is practicable to do so the entries,

rooms, and all openings being operated in coal mines shall be kept well dampened with water to cause the coal dust to settle, and that when water is not obtainable at reasonable cost for this purpose accumulations of dust shall be taken out of the mine, and shall not be deposited in way places in the mine where it would be again distributed in the atmosphere by the ventilating currents: Provided, That all owners, lessees, operators of, or any other person having the control or management of any coal shaft, drift, slope or pit in the Indian Territory, employing twenty or more miners to work in the same, shall employ shot firers to fire the shots therein. Said shots shall not be fired to exceed one per day; at twelve o'clock noon in cases where the miners work but half a day, and at five o'clock in the evening when the mine is working three-quarters or full time, and they shall not be fired until after all miners and other employees working in said shafts, drifts, slopes or pits, shall be out of same. The violation of this Act shall constitute a misdemeanor and any person convicted of such violation shall pay a fine of not exceeding five hundred dollars. [32 Stat. L. 632.]

This section was amended to read as above by the Act of July 1, 1902, ch. 1356, 32 Stat. L. 632.

It originally read as follows:

"SEC. 6. That the owners or managers of every coal mine at a depth of one hundred feet or more shall provide an adequate amount of ventilation of not less than fifty-five cubic feet of pure air per second, or thirty-three hundred cubic feet per minute, for every fifty men at work in said mine, and in like proportion for a greater number, which air shall by proper appliances or machinery be forced through such mine to the face of each and every working place, so as to dilute and render harmless and expel therefrom the noxious or poisonous gases; and'all workings shall be kept clear of standing gas." Stat. L. 1105.]

[26

"The Act of Congress makes three requirements: (1) Ventilation of not less than

fifty-five feet of pure air per second, or 3,300 cubic feet per minute, for every fifty men at work, and in like proportions for a greater number; (2) proper appliances and machinery to force the air though the mine to the face of working places; (3) keeping all workings free from standing gas. If either of these three requirements was neglected to the injury of the plaintiff's intestates the defendant was liable." It does not give to mineowners the privilege of reasoning on the sufficiency of appliances for ventilation or leave to their judgment the amount of ventilation that is sufficient for the protection of miners. The provisions of the statute impose an imperative duty, and the consequence of neglecting it cannot be excused because some workmen may disregard instructions. Deserant v. Cerillos Coal R. Co., (1900) 178 U. S. 419, reversing (1897) 9 N. Mex. 49, and (1898) 9 N. Mex. 495.

SEC. 7. [Penalty for failure to comply.] That any mine owner or manager who shall continue to operate a mine after failure to comply with the requirements of this act and after the expiration of the period named in the notice provided for in section four of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not to exceed five hundred dollars. [26 Stat. L. 1105.]

SEC. 8. [Furnace shaft.] That in no case shall a furnace shaft be used or for the purposes of this act be deemed an escape shaft. [26 Stat. L. 1105.]

SEC. 9. [Construction of escape shafts.] That escape shafts shall be constructed in compliance with the requirements of this act within six months from the date of the passage hereof, unless the time shall be extended by the mine inspector, and in no case shall said time be extended to exceed one year from the passage of this act. [26 Stat. L. 1105.]

SEC. 10. [Speaking tubes.] That a metal speaking-tube from the top to the bottom of the shaft or slope shall be provided in all cases, so that conversation may be carried on through the same. [26 Stat. L. 1105.]

SEC. 11. [Safety catches.] That an approved safety catch shall be provided and sufficient cover overhead on every carriage used in lowering or hoist

ing persons. And the mine inspectors shall examine and pass upon the adequacy and safety of all such hoisting apparatus. [26 Stat. L. 1105.]

SEC. 12. [Children under twelve not to work under ground -penalty for violation.] That no child under twelve years of age shall be employed in the underground workings of any mine. And no father or other person shall misrepresent the age of anybody so employed. Any person guilty of violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not to exceed one hundred dollars. [26 Stat. L. 1105.]

SEC. 13. [Men in charge of hoisting apparatus.] That only experienced and competent and sober men shall be placed in charge of hoisting apparatus or engines. And the maximum number of persons who may ascend or descend upon any cage or hoisting apparatus shall be determined by the mine inspector. [26 Stat. L. 1106.]

SEC. 14. [Inspection how and when made owners to furnish means for.] That it shall be lawful for any inspector to enter and inspect any coal mine in his district and the work and machinery belonging thereto at all reasonable times, but so as not to impede or obstruct the working of the mine; and to make inquiry into the state of the mine, works, and machinery, and the ventilation and mode of lighting the same, and into all matters and things connected with or relating to the safety of the persons employed in or about the same, and especially to make inquiry whether the provisions of this act are complied with; and the owner or agent is hereby required to furnish means necessary for such entry, inspection, examination and inquiry, of which the said inspector shall make an entry in the record in his office, noting the time and material circumstances of the inspection. [26 Stat. L. 1106.]

SEC. 15. [Fatal accidents to be reported.] That in all cases of fatal accident a full report thereof shall be made by the mine owner or manager to the mine inspector, said report to be in the [sic] writing and made within ten days after such deaths shall have occurred. [26 Stat. L. 1106.]

SEC. 16. [Injunction to prevent working of mines.] That as a cumulative remedy, in case of the failure of any owner or manager of any mine to comply with the requirements contained in the notice of the Governor of such Territory or the Secretary of the Interior, given in pursuance of this act, any court of competent jurisdiction, or the judge of such court in vacation, may, on the application of the mine inspector in the name of the United States and supported by the recommendation of the governor of said Territory, or of the Secretary of the Interior, issue an injunction restraining the further operation of such mine until such requirements are complied with, and in order to obtain such injunction no bond shall be required. [26 Stat. L. 1106.]

SEC. 17. ["Owner or manager" defined.] That wherever the term owner or manager " is used in this act the same shall include lessees or other persons controlling the operation of any mine. And in case of the violation of the provisions of this act by any corporation the managing officers and superintendents, and other managing agents of such corporation, shall be personally liable and shall be punished as provided in act for owners and managers. Stat. L. 1106.]

[26

SEC. 18. [Inspectors' salary and expenses.] That the mine inspectors provided for in this act shall each receive a salary of two thousand per annum,

and their actual traveling expenses when engaged in their duties. L. 1106.]

SEC. 19. [Territorial statute to supersede this law.] That whenever any organized Territory shall make or has made provision by law for the safe operation of mines within such Territory, and the governor of such Territory shall certify said fact with a copy of the said law to the Secretary of the Interior, then and thereafter the provisions of this act shall no longer be enforced in such organized Territory, but in lieu thereof the statute of such Territory shall be operative in lieu of this act. [26 Stat. L. 1106.]

[III. CALIFORNIA DÉBRIS COMMISSION AND REGULATION OF HYDRAULIC MINING.]

An act to create the California Debris Commission and regulate hydraulic mining in the State of California.

[Act of March 1, 1893, ch. 183, 27 Stat. L. 507.]

[SEC. 1.] [Appointment of commission - authority and powers.] That a commission is hereby created, to be known as the California Debris Commission, consisting of three members. The President of the United States shall, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint the commission from officers of the Corps of Engineers, United States Army. Vacancies occurring therein shall be filled in like manner. It shall have the authority, and exercise the powers hereinafter set forth, under the supervision of the Chief of Engineers and direction of the Secretary of War. [27 Stat. L. 507.]