, 1874-02-05

he may have paid for said land, and all
right and title to the same; and any
grant or conveyance he may have made,
except in the hands of boz 3 pur-
chasers, shall be null and void.
Sec. s. That upon the fling Of said
as provided in thesecond sec
ton of this act, the register Of the land
office shall post notice Of such appli-
cation. embracing description of the
land by legal subdivisions, in his office.
for a period of sixty days, and shall fur
nish the applicant copy Of the same,
for publication in newspaper publish
ed nearest the location OF the premises.
for a like period of time; and after the
expiration of said sixty days, if no ad-
verse claim shall have been filed, the
person desiring to purchase shall furnish
to the register of the ,and-ofice satisfac-
tory evidence. first, that said notice of
the application prepared by the register
as aforesaid was duly published in q
as herein required; secondly,
that the land is of the character con-
in this act, unoccupied and
without improvements, other than those
excepted, either mining or agricultural,
and that it apparently contains no val
liable deposits of gold, silver. cinnabar.
copper, or coal; aud upon payment to
the proper officer of the purchase-mon-
ey of said land, together with the fses
of the register and the receiver. the ap,
plicant may be permitted to enter said
tract, and. on the transmission to the
General Land-O Office of the papers and
testimony in the case. patent shall is
sue thereon: Provided, That any per-
son having a valid claim to any portion
of the land may object. in writing, to the
issuance of patent to lands so held by
him. stating the nature of his claim
thereto; and evidence shall be taken,
and tho merits of said objection shall be
determined by the officers of the land
Office, subject to appeal, as in other
land-cases. Effect shall be given to the
foregoing provisions of this act by regu-
lations to be prescribed by the Commits
sioner of the General Land Office.
Sec. 4. That after the passage of this
act it shall be unlawful to cut, or cause
or procure to be cat, or wantonly de-
stroy, any timber growing on eny lands
of the United States, Or remove. or cause
to be removed, any timber from said
public lands. with intent to export or
dispose of the same; and no owner, mas
ter, or consignee Of any vessel, or own
er, director, CT agent of any railroad,
shall knowingly transport the same, or
any lumber manufactured therefrom;
and any person violating the provisions
of this section shall be guilty of a mis-
and on conviction shall be
fined for every such offense a sum not
less than one hundred nor more than
one thousand dollars: Provided, That
nothing hersin contained shall prevent
any miner or agriculturist from clearing
his land in the ordinary working of his
mining claim, or preparing his farm for
tillage. or from taking the timber ne
cessary to support his improvements, or
the taking of timber for the use of the
United States; and the penalties herein
provided shall not taks effect until one
year after the passage of this act.
Our HARBoR.-The harbor of Seattle
is well known to all old mariners upon
the Sound, as the safest and best of any
equally accessible, being completely
land-locked and protected from winds
in every direction; yet a new conner at
Bellingham Bay. in an article compli-
mentary to that harbor, says: "The
storm. however, was not destructive in
our Bay, and at its most violent period
the average number of canoes could be
seen skipping along with perfect indif-
ference. How will this compare with
Seattle and Tacoma, where the waves
ran SO high as to sweep the decks of
vessels?"
The statement in regard to Bellingham
Bay is undoubtedly true; more beauti-
full bay or safer harbor cannot be found
upon any seacoast on the globe; the only
objection to it being. that during high
winds from certain quarters the entrance
is perillous, and at times impracticable,
difficulties which do not pertain to the
harbor of Seattle under any conditions
of weather. the entrance being an open
roadstead diverging into the shelter Of
banks; the longest stretch
of open sea in a straight line from our
wharves not being much over one half
the distance from San Francisco to
Oakland. Capt. Battersby. an eminent
English engineer, who was lately here
for the purpose Of examination. express
ed his qualification that he was hele
during the storms. which are said to be
the rougtest experienced upon this coast
for the last thirty years, and that he
could certify, from his own personal
knowledge, that there was no day dur
iIg that time in which any vessel at the
wharf, or lying at anchor in the bay.
suffered any damage or was exposed to
any danger from the storm; his own
language was, "the bay was as calm as
q mill pond" during the time. The
oldest inhabitant here never saw the
spray thrown upon the wharf or the
deck of vessel washed, or any dam
.se done to any craft or other
property by high winds in this har',or.
Every story to the contrary published in
The Tacoma paper. is the pure invention