The morning call., 1894-08-14
Respondent Was the. Champion
Gold-Minirig Company.
INJUNcTloNGRANTED AS PRAYED
An Able Opinion Rendered by Cir
cult Judge IiawIey of Nevada. !:
Attorneys CompIimented. IL: II. :.


were John Nj. <Wrightof Oakland, assisted
by w. S. Wood of San Franz CISCO. for the
plaiDtiff-rhe Consolidated Wyoming Gold
Mining Company. and Curtis Il. EinsIey Of
this city, assisted by his partner. Henry
Eiekhoff, and by Louis Hoef1er, on the
part of the defendant-the Champion Gold
Mining Company, ::.:...:.
The property: at stake was something
like 1000 feet:of a valuable mineral. lode
or its downward course into this earth. as
Wei as the. proceeds OF about" 10000
tons of ore extracted by defendant before
suit began. Plaintiff. prayed for am In
junction to RESTRAIN defendant: from fur
Their trespRSs upon said lode on its dipi
and for an accounting of: the damage
caused by the tTespasS already committed
An opinion by Judge Hawley: was read,
in the Circuit Court here yesterday by
United States District Judge Beatty of
Idaho in which both claims.of. plaintiff
were sustained, and adecree ordered ac-
cordingly.: The points at issue in this case
are of such importance, and the court rem
dering the decision is Of such fsr-rsach4ng
authority, that the case deserves more
than passing mention
The court In lis treatment OF the case
INDUCED in: such complimentary remarks
of the parties: engaged in the case that It
appears that at least as far IS the legal
gentlemen are concerned, the golden age
of courtesy in court has arrived and they
are to be Congratulated accordingly. The
court says: -. g.
Before discussing any Of the contrOVerted
conflicting and somewhat, complicated queS-
tons OF fact tits proper TO say that both par
ties had several: large. maps Carefully drawn
and PREPARED. in:such. a manner as 10 matefl.
ally aid them in presenting the testimony Of
3 respective witnesses In a clear and concise
manner: Each party also introduced large
model of the underground workings, by refer
ence to.WhieE the court was able TO follow the
witnesses as they gave their testimony con-
corning theiE eX animation of the several drifts,
funue lS; upE6iseS; wines and. levels exposed 10
the u1dergEeund workings OF the respective
claims. Ihe:testtmOGy was presented ana the
whole case. tried in an-lntelligrnt and satlSfae-
Counsel were fair and courteous to the court,
TO the Witnesses and to each other. Questions
not in real dispute were readily. admitted.
Each party.put sued a similar line OF examina-
ton by, ir5t'iu reducing their surveyors; sec
Cnd, the SUPERINTENDENT, or Underground lore
man: IlIrd. practical and experienced miners,
and f0uTIb;. one ;tXpert on each side. 1he wit
ne SseSs were intelligent M n aud fayorabiy
impressed the :eourt"that hey intended TO tell
the truth and detail the facts as they appeared
TO them. without any. hesitation or equYoea-
tiOn. Both counsel and witnesses demeaned
themselves; throughout the long and tedious
trial such a manner as to receive the COM
mendation". OF 1.-The court for their honesty,
1rankness, ability and courtesy,
The plaintiff claimed title under two
paten is, The Wyoming" and "Ural," each
granted: subsequent 10 May 10. 1872, but
basedupon location or occupancy prior to
that dale In each case the end lines Of
the patented ground are not parallel, but
converge, and one of the most important
points of the decision is that as to loca-
tons made before May 10, 1872, and as to
patents. based upon occupancy prior to
May1O. 1872, paTallelism of END lines is not
rftt n hna 10Y pf
rights. - :
The title Of plaintiff to its Wyoming and
Ural mines is found by the court TO be
prior to the title OF defendant to its claiGs
and the surface lines of the parties were
agreed uuons "a judgment between the
same parties was rendered by the Superior
Court of Nevada County, and affirmed by.
the Supreme Court upon much the same
basis as the present decision, but the court
here decides the case upon the original
testimony presented, regardless OF whether
the former decision be here res adJudieata
or not.
The Ural lode enters the UTal mine
through its northend line, and after trav-
erSing about 1400 feet Of its length passes
out through a side line into the defend
ants ground, and the court holds that
plaintif is entitled to 1400 feet OF the Ural
l0de:on its downward course. between YER
tical planes drawn downward and extend
ing, the one through the Ural northend
line, and the other drawn parallel to said
norihend line and intersecting the point
where the Ural lode crosses out through
iIsseast side line. This point is the most
important of the case, Judge Hawley hold
ing that the rule laid down IN the Amy
case, 1852 Z. S., 222, does not apply to the
state of facts found here. On the contrary
he distinguishes the cases OF Tyler VS..
Sweeney, "a Fec. 2S4, and Last Chance
VS.. Tyler, 81 Fed, 557, and the present
case, holding that they are one and all
consistent with the Amy case. The de-
cisi0n in this respect is in harmony with
the letter and spirit OF the mining statutes.
aud it is the universally expressed wish of
mining men that the rule may now remain
forever undsturbed.
Judge Hawley says:
1t cannot it seems TO me, consistently be
said:that complainant Is deprived of any OF its
2 extra lateral rights 10 the 400 feet, more or
less which.s all: entirely within the surface
lines OF the Ural patent. and substantially par
aller with the. side lines as marked upon The
surface ground.
The statute of the United States is not 10 my
opinion, susceptible of any such construction.
and no decis1on OF any national or State court
has ever gone TO that extent. The Supreme
Court of, the United States in the Amy case
simply decided: that when a mining claim Is
located across. instead of along, the lode, its
side lines must be treated as its end lines and
It's. eBd lines its side lines; so that under the
be followed outside The vertical plane OF the
original side lines into an adjoining claim.
e The decision also gives the plaintiff title
to the disputed ground bysa second title.
AS claimed by -plaintiff the court finds
that the wyoming. or slate vein. enters
the earth at an angle Of about % degrees.
and atcertaln depths. varying in different
parts of the Droperty, unites with the
.UTal, or contact" vein, which enters the
earth at an angle Of about 80 degrees. In
case+like this the mining statute gives
the united lode TO the prior locator. in this
case the Wyoming Company. ~
Another point decided important to law
yers. is that inasmnch-as the plaintiffs title
is admitted the. injunction prayed by it is
the primary remedy; and carries with it an
accounting. . =: -
The general effect Of the. decision is to
perpetually stop further work by defend
ant within the disputed ground. and to
cause defendant to. pay for the ore of
plaintiff il has already extracted. Even
the shaft of defendant. which was sunk in
the contact assure, under this decision be-
lengs to-: Plaintiff below the depth of
about 800 feet.
This suit was begun something over two
years since and the members OF the plain
tiff company have constantly complained
that they were being fought with their
own money. But In this case. as else
where. il is found that Though the mills
of the gods grind slowly they grind eX-
ceedlue small" and it is more than likely
that now the gold OF plaintiff, which for
years past has gone to the payment of fat
dividends to the stock holders of defendant
company, will at last find its way to its
true owners.
A careful perusal of the entire decision