The Tombstone epitaph., 1882-03-20
MINING LAW.
What Constitutes One Hundred Do1. lars Worth of Assessment W0, Clearly Set Forth.

We have no apology to offer foI the republication of the following able charge of Chief Justice Prince, of New Mexico, as to what consti- tutes one hundred dollars worth of work on mining claim under the United States laws. There are liable to be many cases in this county of a similar nature where, no doubt, the same or similar rulings will be given by the court. By considering the stubborn facts of the law iL advance it IS probable that many hard, earned dollar will be saved to would. be litigants:
 POSSESSION.
 This is an acton under what is called the forcible entry and detalner law. The plaintiffs allege in the complaint that on the lst day of Jan. uary, 1882, they were in possession of a mining claim known as the Bourbon, in the Cerrillos mining dis trict, and that the defendants on said day by force, fraud and stealth, en. tered upon said claim and detained and held possession thereof against the plaintiffs.
 In ac's of this kind the question of the title to the premises in question cannot be considered. The case de, pends entirely on possession, not title. It can only be successfully brought by the person or persons m possession of the premises at the time of the alleged entrance.
 The first question, then, for you to consider is, whether the plaintiffs were in possession on the lst day of January, 1852.
 The facts necessary to constitute possession differ in accordance with the different character of the prop. erty possessed. Thus in the case of mining claim, no acts are required as evidence of possession other than those usually performed by the own. CTS of such claims. A miner is not expected to reside on his claim nor build on it, nor cultivate it, nor en close it. The character of the pos session necessary on mining claims will vary with the nature of the mines and mode adopted in working them, and sometimes with the char acter of the country.
 ma case of this kind the posses sion of the plaintiffs may be either by actual occupancy by themselves or agent, at the time of the entry complained of, or it may be shown by location in accordance with law, and the subsequent doing of all acts required by law and legal regulations for the holding of a mining claim, and the absence of any acts or omis- sions showing an abandonment of their part of the claim in question.
 If you believe that the plaintiffs legally located the Bourbon claim i 1876, and during 1880 and 1881 per formed the labor or made the i'm. provements required by the statutes and lawful local regulations, and have not in any way abandoned it, then they were. in possession thereof for the purposes of this action on the lst day of January.
 ANNUAL ASSESSMENTS.
 It was conceded during the trlal that the. proper amount of work was done in, 1880. As to the legality of the location in 1879, you are to de- eide from the evidence before you on that subject.
 The greater part of the testimony in this case has been in regard to the amount of work and improvements done in 1881, and as this is ques. tion of great importance, will state to you the law with regard to it, as l understand it, with some particularly.
 The words of the statute are as follows:
 "On each claim located after the 10th of May, 1872, and until a patent has been issued therefore, not less than $lOO worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made during each year" By a subsequent act the years for this purpose are the calendar years, commencing each January and ending December 3I.
 The question for you to decide, as to this, is whether there has been an actual performance of labor or mak- ing of improvements on the claim, of the fair and reasonable value of $10O during the year 1881.
 In order to assist you in arriving at conclusion on this point, the court has allowed testimony to be in. troduced of every kind which bears on the subject and could aid you in determining whether labor and i'm. provements to the value stated were really put upon the lroperty or not.
 Among the classes of testimony which have been produced before you are the following:
 l. The number of days of labor performed on the mine in question.
 ?. The usual and customary rate of wages per day for similar labor, in the vicinity, and at the time of the performance of this labor.
 3. The amount and character of