in the newspaper published nearest the claim, for at least once a week for ninety days, and if at the expiration of ninety days after such notice in writing or by publication such delinquent should fail or refuse to contribute his proportion to comply with this act, his interest in the claim shall become the property of his co-owners who have made the required expenditure. SEC. 6. That a patent for any land claimed and located for valuable deposits may be obtained in the following manner: any person, association, or corporation authorized to locate a claim under this act, having claimed and located a piece of land for such purposes, who has, or have, complied with the terms of this act, may file in the proper landoffice an application for a patent, under oath, showing such compliance, together with a plat and field-notes of the claim or claims in common, made by or under the direction of the United States surveyor-general, showing accurately the boundaries of the claim or claims, which shall be distinctly marked by monuments on the ground, and shall post a copy of such plat, together with a notice of such application for a patent, in a conspicuous place on the land embraced in such plat previous to the filing of the application for a patent, and shall file an affidavit of at least two persons that such notice has been duly posted as aforesaid, and shall file a copy of said notice in such land-office, and shall thereupon be entitled to a patent for said land, in the manner following: the register of the land-office, upon the filing of such application, plat, fieldnotes, notices, and affidavits, shall publish a notice that such application has been made, for the period of sixty days, in a newspaper to be by him designated as published nearest to said claim; and he shall also post such notice in his office for the same period. The claimant at the time of filing this application, or at any time thereafter, within the sixty days of publication, shall file with the register a certificate of the United States surveyor-general that $500 worth of labor has been expended or improvements made upon the claim by himself or grantors, that the plat is correct, with such further description by such reference to natural objects or permanent monuments as shall identify the claim, and furnish an accurate description, to be incorporated in the patent. At the expiration of the sixty days of publication the claimant shall file his affidavit that the plat and notice have been posted in a conspicuous place on the claim during said period of publication. If no adverse claim shall have been filed with the register and the receiver of the proper land-office at the expiration of the sixty days of publication, it shall be assumed that the applicant is entitled to the patent, upon the payment to the proper officer of five dollars per acre, and that no adverse claims exist; and thereafter no objection from third parties to the issuance of a patent shall be heard, except it be shown that the applicant failed to comply with this act. SEC. 7. That where an adverse claim shall be filed during the period of publication, it shall be upon oath of the person or persons making the same, and shall show the nature, boundaries, and extent of such adverse claim, and all proceedings, except the publication of notice and making and filing of the affidavit thereof, shall be stayed until the controversy shall have been settled or decided by a court of competent jurisdiction, or the adverse claim waived. It shall be the duty of the adverse claimant, within thirty days after filing his claim, to commence proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction, to determine the question of the right of possession, and prosecute the same with reasonable diligence to final judgment; and a failure so to do shall be a waiver of his adverse claim. After such judgment shall have been rendered, the party entitled 1 to the possession of the claim, or any portion thereof, may, without giving further notice, file a certified copy of the judgment-roll with the register of the land-office, together with the certificate of the surveyorgeneral, that the requisite amount of labor has been expended, or improvements made thereon, and the description required in other cases, and shall pay to the receiver five dollars per acre for his claim, together with the proper fees, whereupon the whole proceedings and the judg ment-roll shall be certified by the register to the Commissioner of the General Land-Office, and a patent shall issue thereon for the claim, or such portion thereof as the applicant shall appear, from the decision of the court, to rightfully possess. If it shall appear from the decision of the court that several parties are entitled to separate and different portions of the claim, each party may pay for his portion of the claim, with the proper fees, and file the certificate and description by the surveyorgeneral, whereupon the register shall certify the proceedings and judg ment-roll to the Commissioner of the General Land-Office, as in the preceding case, and patents shall issue to the several parties according to their respective rights. Proof of citizenship under this act, or the acts of July 26, 1866, and July 9, 1870, in the case of an individual, may consist of his own affidavit thereof, and in case of an association of persons unincorporated, of the affidavit of their authorized agent, made on his own knowledge or upon information and belief, and in case of a corporation organized under the laws of the United States, or of any State or Territory of the United States, by the filing of a certified copy of their charter or certificate of incorporation; and nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the alienation of the title conveyed by a patent for a mining claim to any person whatever. SEC. 8. That the description of vein or lode claims, upon surveyed lands, shall designate the location of the claim with reference to the lines of the public surveys, but need not conform therewith; but where a patent shall be issued as aforesaid for claims upon unsurveyed lands, the surveyor-general, in extending the surveys, shall adjust the same to the boundaries of such patented claim, according to the plat or description thereof, but so as in no case to interfere with or change the location of any such patented claim. SEC. 9. That sections one, two, three, four, and six of an act entitled "An act granting the right of way to ditch and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes," approved July 26, 1866, are hereby repealed, but such repeal shall not affect existing rights. Applications for patents for mining-claims now pending may be prosecuted to a final decision in the General Land-Office; but in such cases, where adverse rights are not affected thereby, patents may issue in pursuance of the provisions of this act; and all patents for mining-claims heretofore issued under the act of July 26, 1866, shall convey all the rights and privileges conferred by this act where no adverse rights exist at the time of the passage of this act. SEC. 10. That the act entitled "An act to amend an act granting the right of way to ditch and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes," approved July 9, 1870, shall be and remain in full force, except as to the proceedings to obtain a patent, which shall be similar to the proceedings prescribed by sections six and seven of this act for obtaining patents to vein or lode claims; but where said placerclaims shall be upon surveyed lands, and conform to legal subdivisions, no further survey or plat shall be required. And all placer-mining claims hereafter located shall conform as near as practicable with the United States system of public-land surveys and the rectangular subdivisions of such surveys, and no such location shall include more than twenty acres for each individual claimant; but where placer-claims cannot be conformed to legal subdivisions, survey and plat shall be made as on unsurveyed lands: Provided, That proceedings now pending may be prosecuted to their final determination under existing laws; but the provisions of this act, when not in conflict with existing laws, shall apply in such cases: Provided also, That where by the segregation of mineral lands in any legal subdivision a quantity of agricultural land less than forty acres remains, said fractional portion of agricultural land may be entered by any party qualified by law for homestead or pre-emption purposes. SEC. 11. That where the same person, association, or corporation is in possession of a placer-claim, and also a vein or lode included within the boundaries thereof, application shall be made for a patent for the placer-claim, with the statement that it includes such vein or lode, and in such case (subject to the provisions of this act and the act entitled "An act to amend an act granting the right of way to ditch and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes," approved July 9, 1870) a patent shall issue for the placer-claim, including such vein or lode, upon the payment of five dollars per acre for such vein or lode claim, and twenty-five feet of surface on each side thereof. The remainder of the placer-claim, or any placer-claim not embracing any vein or lode claim, shall be paid for at the rate of $2.50 per acre, together with all costs of proceedings; and where a vein or lode, such as is described in the second section of this act, is known to exist within the boundaries of a placer-claim, an application for a patent for such placer-claim which does not include an application for the vein or lode claim shall be construed as a conclusive declaration that the claimant of the placer-claim has no right of possession of the vein or lode claim; but where the existence of a vein or lode in a placer-claim is not known, a patent for the placer-claim shall convey all valuable mineral and other deposits within the boundaries thereof. SEC. 12. That the surveyor-general of the United States may appoint in each land-district containing mineral lands as many competent surveyors as shall apply for appointment to survey mining-claims. The expenses of the survey of vein or lode claims, and the survey and subdivision of placer-claims into smaller quantities than one hundred and sixty acres, together with the cost of publication of notices, shall be paid by the applicants, and they shall be at liberty to obtain the same at the most reasonable rates, and they shall also be at liberty to employ any United States deputy surveyor to make the survey. The Commissioner of the General Land-Office shall also have power to establish the maximum charges for surveys and publication of notices under this act; and, in case of excessive charges for publication, he may designate any newspaper published in a land-district where mines are situated for the publication of mining notices in such district, and fix the rates to be charged by such paper; and, to the end that the Commissioner may be fully informed on the subject, each applicant shall file with the register a sworn statement of all charges and fees paid by said applicant for publication and survey, together with all fees and money paid the register and the receiver of the land-office, which statement shall be transmitted, with the other papers in the case, to the Commissioner of the General Land-Office. The fees of the register and the receiver shall be five dollars each for filing and acting upon each application for patent or adverse claim filed, and they shall be allowed the amount fixed by law for reducing testimony to writing, when done in the land-office, such fees and allowances to be paid by the respective parties; and no other fees shall be charged by them in such cases. Nothing in this act shall be construed to enlarge or affect the rights of either party in regard to any property in controversy at the time of the passage of this act, or the act entitled "An act granting the right of way to ditch and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes," approved July 26, 1866, nor shall this act affect any right acquired under said act; and nothing in this act shall be construed to repeal, impair, or in any way affect the provisions of the act entitled "An act granting to A. Sutro the right of way and other privileges to aid in the construction of a draining and exploring tunnel to the Comstock lode, in the State of Nevada," approved July 25, 1866. SEC. 13. That all affidavits required to be made under this act, or the act of which it is amendatory, may be verified before any officer authorized to administer oaths within the land-district where the claims may be situated, and all testimony and proofs may be taken before any such officer, and when duly certified by the officer taking the same, shall have the same force and effect as if taken before the register and the receiver of the land-office. In cases of contest as to the mineral or agricultural character of land, the testimony and proofs may be taken as herein provided on personal notice of at least ten days to the opposing party; or if said party cannot be found, then by publication of at least once a week for thirty days in a newspaper, to be designated by the register of the land-office as published nearest to the location of such land; and the register shall require proof that such notice has been given. SEC. 14. That where two or more veins intersect or cross each other, priority of title shall govern, and such prior location shall be entitled to all ore or mineral contained within the space of intersection: Provided, however, That the subsequent location shall have the right of way through said space of intersection for the purposes of the convenient working of the said mine: And provided also, That where two or more veins unite, the oldest or prior location shall take the vein below the point of union, including all the space of intersection. SEC. 15. That where non-mineral land not contiguous to the vein or lode is used or occupied by the proprietor of such vein or lode for mining or milling purposes, such non-adjacent surface-ground may be embraced and included in an application for a patent for such vein or lode, and the same may be patented therewith, subject to the same preliminary requirements as to survey and notice as are applicable under this act to veins or lodes: Provided, That no location hereafter made of such non-adjacent land shall exceed five acres, and payment for the same must be made at the same rate as fixed by this act for the superficies of the lode. The owner of a quartz-mill or reduction-works, not owning a mine in connection therewith,.may also receive a patent for his mill-site, as provided in this section. SEC. 16. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed: Provided, That nothing contained in this act shall be construed to impair, in any way, rights or interests in mining property acquired under existing laws. CHAPTER XIX. AMERICAN SCHOOLS OF MINING AND METALLURGY. Since the publication of my first report, in 1869, in which the subject of professional education was treated at some length, a great advance has been made in the facilities afforded by American schools and colleges, though nothing has been done by the Government, I regret to say, toward the establishing of a national school of mines. There are now some thirty institutions in this country, in the plans of which room is made for instruction in mining and metallurgy. Of course this department is not organized with equal thoroughness or furnished with equal liberality in all these cases; in too many of them trustees have added to the old curriculum merely a nominal course, because it was the fashion, and in order to attract students. But it is gratifying to know that a considerable number of these mining and technological schools mean business, and not show. Without intending to slight any which I omit, I have collected full information concerning some of the principal institutions east of the Rocky Mountains. There is an inchoate school in Colorado, and there is a promising department for this subject in the University of California; but these have had no chance, as yet, to show what they can do. The schools to which I shall refer are, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (Boston;) the School of Mines of Columbia College, (New York;) the Sheffield Scientific School, (New Haven ;) the Stevens Institute of Technology, (Hoboken;) the Pardee Scientific Department of Lafayette College, (Easton;) the School of Mining and Metallurgy of Lehigh University, (Bethlehem ;) the School of Mining and Practical Geology, of Harvard University, (Cambridge;) the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, (Troy ;) the Scientific Department of the University of Pennsylvania, (Philadelphia;) the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy, (Rolla;) and the Polytechnic Department of Washington University, (Saint Louis.) THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. Officers of instruction.-John D. Runkle, Ph. D., LL. D., President; John D. Runkle, Ph. D., LL.D., Walker Professor of Mathematics and Mechanics; William Watson, Ph. D., Professor of Mechanical Engineering; John B. Henck, A. M., Hayward Professor of Civil and Topographical Engineering; William R. Ware, S. B., Professor of Architecture; William P. Atkinson, A. M., Professor of English and History; George A. Osborne, S. B., Professor of Mathmatics, Astronomy, and Navigation; Alfred P. Rockwell, A. M., Professor of Mining Engineering; Edward C. Pickering, S. B. Thayer Professor of Physics; Samuel Kneeland, A. M., M. D., Professor of Zoology and Physiology; John M. Ordway, A. M.,* Professor of Metallurgy and Industrial Chemistry; James M. Crafts, S. B., Professor of Analytical and Organic Chemistry; Robert H. Richards, graduate of the Institute, Professor of Mineralogy and Assaying, in charge of the Mining and Metallurgical Laboratory; Thomas Sterry Hunt, LL. D., Professor of Geology; George H. Howison, A. M., Professor of Logic and the Philosophy of Science; S. Edward Warren, C. E., Professor of Descriptive Geometry, Stereotomy, and drawing; Professor of Modern Languages; Henry L. Whiting, United States Coast Survey, Professor of Topography; Henry Mitchell, A.M., United States Coast Survey, Professor of Physical Hydrography; Alpheus Hyatt, S. B., Custodian of the Boston Society of Natural History, Professor of Palæontology; Lewis B. Monroe, Professor of Vocal Čul *The instruction in botany is at present given by Professor Ordway. |