Sierra County advocate., 1896-08-14


WHAT rs "R0CK In pLACE?'
A recent decision by Chief Jne
tice Davie Of the Supreme Court
OF British Columbia has occasioned
considerable discussion among
mining men cad experto and is be-
ing quite generally criticised w
them. Without quoting the full
text OF tho decision, the essence OF
it is In the declaration that "rock
in place" is mineral in place r
to which there is no dissent, since
the term, though not literally hccu'
rate to the language employed, nae
grown into use from a colloqnlal
ism and that mineral in place
is not mineral IN country rock, but
"mineral between delinalle rock
walls" This Inst being lndiiier.
emily, in colloquial speech aud even
English as che is written, lodge
lode or veln, the Chief Justice
holds that rock In place IL practi.
cally synonymous with "ycIn' or
lode" and that "rock III place"
means substance defined between
some definite walls or boundaries.
The question Of the e4act tech
nical meaning of these several
terms is not new one, says the
Scientific Press. II has been on
the surface OF the technical eX.
preston OF the mining industry
ever since the discoverers OF min
eral, where IL ought not to be ac-
cordipg to Van Gotta and hia fol.
Io.ers, have been building up new
theories to tit the entire range of
o,saefvcd faets. not the portion "f
them first known. The terminol-
ogy we use for definition is simply
n eaiylval maintained by the con.
servatism which would mako now
facts fit new tLeorhs regardless,
instead of making new theories to
fit the new facts,
Rock in place did mean quar-
tor Of a century ago substantially
what the chieI justice decides it
does now, but mineralized country
rock was not known then. It's
discovery and the knowledge We
have Of It's formation luetiiy the
abandonment Of the old definitions
Ms not fitting the conditions. In
some movable cases they will
fnil. They should be oheerfully
abandoned with the abandonment
of the erroneous Interpretation
Of nature that they deliued, In
place OF the old definitions make
new ones. Il. H. Damn, in pr
per eutItIed "Ihe Geueela OF pla.
Ger Gold" puhlaLed in this paper
in October. 1894, made this dis
tinctou between the lode deposits
aud plncers a lode (rook in place.
he says, "is n mineral bearing de
post in which the pfesencs Of the
mineral m due TO the operation OF
the chemical forces alone, and is !
tho place OF primary deposit, aud |
a placer il mineral bearing de-
posit in which the presence of
mineral is duo to the operation OF |
;iie t,cviiauicai iufo-r Il nature
acting on the lode deposits defined (
tboye, aud in reference TO them
5 econdafy," This definition hae
the essentiel merit Of simplicity
that makes tho argument Of any
snpposable case impoesible, The +
evidence of ougln IN "a few known
cascs are so uhscure hs 10 cause
OF opiuion even be-
tween mining expeits It's use
would tend to clarity mining law
and its Interpretation The latter
Il present seems to he guided by
the opinions Of witnesses. who, no
matter how expert IN mining. are.
Is q rule, tho reverse in know
edge Of the mrauing Of words.
Chief Justice Dav.e based his
decision on the opinion Of one of
he witnesses, tesliiying As to wha,
70 thought WAS The meaning Of the
erm rock in place Accepting
he definition suggested, the wit.
iess would only have to testify ia
.nsweT TO the question; WAS the