The Republican journal., 1897-12-09

inflammation of the bladder. had only taken
one bottle when found great relief. The medi-
cine has effected permanent cuTe.'
the metals; gives him public lands, with
out cost, upon which to erect his build
ings, and free use of water necessary for
the exploitation of the mines.
Although no permission, or license,
from the Government is required to work
mine, announcement is necessary in
order to obtain perfect title. Mines may
be denounced either on public or private
lands, and the first denouncer ACQUIRES
their ownership. When the mine is sit
uated on private lands the denouncer is
required to indemnify the land owner for
the damage caused to his property, as as
sessed by experts appointed by the par
ties. The legal extent of mining claim
is 200 varas in length by 100 varas in
BREADTH "a yara, the Spanish yard, be-
ing about 80 inches. If the mine is sit
uated in a region where no others had be-
fore been discovered, the discoverer will
be allowed to denounce three claims on
minor vein. In all other cases, no per-
son is entitled to more than one claim,
and what is called the continuation
thereof-that is, the right to follow the
vein through one additional contiguous
claim. Mines abandoned for one year be-
come vacant and again denounceable. All
announcements must be made by written
memorial, addressed to the Judge who is
known as ''de 10 Contencioso Adminstra-
tive having jurisdiction in those cases
in which the Government is interested as
party to the transaction. The memori-
al must set forth the name. residence.
place of birth and occupation of the de-
description of the locality of the mine and
of all its distinctive marks, signs and sur
r0undings, as is required to perfectly
identify the claim. A notice of the de-
nouncement must be published three
times in the official gazette, and all per-
sons interested summoned to appear and
set forth their objections, if they have
any. If no contestants appear, the de-
nouncer is given 90 days time to sink a
shaft on the mine, at least 10 varas deep,
so as to enable the Government engineer
to get in his work. AS soon as the sixty
days are over, the judge appoints an
engineer, who will go to the place and
measure, examine and draw plan of the
mine. If no difficulty arises the de-
nouncement is then complete; and the
only expense attending the process is the
fee and expenses of the engineer
make this full xplanation-which per-
haps may be tedious to those of my read
ers who are not particularly interested in
mining-in answer to many letters l have
received asking information on the sub
ject. But it must be remembered that
the mining laws of these miss called Re-
publics have gather more quirks and
bubbles than those of other countries,
and are capable of all sorts of interpreta-
lions in the hands of skillful attorneys
They are the same old Spanish ordinancies
more or less charged in the year 1880.
The code is diffuse, verbose, technical,
and so obscure as to be almost unintel-
ligible, and some of the laws are obsolete
unless raked up for special occasions
Therefore the foreigner who has anything
to do with them should make sure of the
ground he stands on, through his Consul
or some other competent authority, and
again l wish to emphatically repeat
that in none of these countries are
fortunes to be found by the impecunious.
Here, more than elsewhere, the old say
ing holds good, cit takes money to make
money"
To visit the successful mining camps of
Costa RIGA you have to ride over rough
roads, cross bridgeless rivers and traverse
thick forests where mahogany, cedar,
rubber and other tropical trees cover the
earth and screen the skies. The journey
is long and tiresome; but to see gold at
the end of it repays most people for the
discomfort of travel,-to say nothing of
seeing Mother Nature always at her best
in the way of verdure, and some of the
most beautiful views the world can show
Should you be travelling without COM
panions, you would find it we'll in making
long journeys through the comparatively
unoccupied portions of the country, to
join one of the caravans, with OK teams
as motive powers, that pass to and fro
between all points at stated intervals. OF
course you would ride horse or mule,
and the caravan would be only for protec-
ton. The carts are heavy springless
vehicles made by the peasants, the wheels
being solid disks, more or less circular in
form, cut from the stems of large trees.