Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-02-06
Opinions Delivered BY the
Supreme Court.
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Of Helena is a Loser in One of Them--
The Judge s Grow Faceti0us in
One of the Cases.
Special to the Inter Mountain.

Special to the Inter Mountain.
Helena, Feb. 6.-The supreme court
handed down three opinions today, none
on appeals from Silver Bow. The court
s~ustains the district court of Lewis and
Clarke county, brought by Charles Guig-
non against the First National bank and
Receiver Wilson, to recover G400, pro-
ceeds of a draft given the Helena bank
for collection from the South Africa bank
of London in August, 1895, one month be-
fore the First National suspended. The
collection was made, but the Helena bank
closing before it could make it's returns
to Guignon, he was unable to get the
money. Gulgnon obtained judgment IN
the lower court. In an elaborate opinion
by the chief justice, the supreme court
attirms the lower court. The case has at
tracted widespread attention., and it's suc-
cessful conclusion may result in other ac-
tons of a similar nature being COM
menced against receivers Of suspended
banks in Montana.
The court reversed the district court Of
Jefferson county in two cases, James
Glass ct al. VS.. Basin Mining company,
and Basin Mining ompany VS.. Wallace
Nee. Whlte. The former was an action
brought to acquire right of way over the
defendants mining property for a tlume
to carry water to Glass Brothers mining
plant at Basin. Because of defects in the
complaint filed in the lower court, the su-
preme court holds that the plaintiffs had
no standing in court, and that the lower
court erred because it lacked Jurisdiction,
hence the reversal. Commenting upon the
portion of plaintiffs replication wherein
they promised, if allowed to build the
tlume, to make it secure, and, like the
deacon's shay, they will make it strong
est in its weakest points, the supreme
court hulllorously quotes an apt couplet
from DR.. Holmes famous poem: 1T is
not the plaintiffs fiume, though, that this
court thinks SHOULD be made strongest in
its weakest point" says the court, but
the proceedings by which they can alone
obtain the right to build the flume. How
ever, as far as they have gone, their case
is truly like the deacon's shay, and like
the deacon, they are on the rock, for they
are out Of court. Emo of the wonderful
one horse shay, logic is logic, that's all I
say
Ihe other case reversed the result from
MacWhite's attempt to secure title to the
Cannon lode claim at Basin in the face Of
an adverse claim by the Basin COMPANY.
who by virtue of a prior location claim
ed the property as a part of the Hope
claim. The court below adopted the find.
S~V anna y III VI lllo
defendant. When the survey of the Hope
was made the urveyor followed some
misinformation and made a mistake. AS
soon as the error was discovered it was
rectiied. This, White claimed, consti-
tuted an abandonment but the supreme
court denounces any such idea. In re-
versing the case the court says in con-
clusion: "The evidence not only positive
ly disproves any abandonment by the
plaintiff of the ground in question but
shows every intent and wish to retain it
and we know Of no principle of law by
which the owner of a mining claim seek
ing a patent can be deprived of his prop
erty because of an error by a United
States surveyor in the survey, which the
owner in good faith takes steps to cure
by permission of the interior department
within a few days after the discovery Of
it's existence. Respondent (Mac White)
was a trespasser when he went on the
ground within the limits of the Hope and
by no act of the appellant has he ever
acquired any other attitude against it,"