The San Francisco call., 1906-08-12

Government Investigators in this State
that Yard and the others have not
opened up any mines on any OF the
half million acres they have filed upon
as placers. 1t will also be alleged as a
singular coincidence that no land has
been taken as placers that is not tim
bered, and the further allegation Will
be made that all the locators are really
after is the timber, which is very
valuable, and that the placer locations
are made only because other forms OF
entry are unavailing to break into a
forest reserve.
When the convention OF the Cali
fornia Miners Association of 1902 was
in session in this city the greatest in
terest centered in the land grab issue
T. B. walker was present in person.
Yard was also there. Curtis, Collins
and Holbrook were represented. So
was the Diamond Match Company
Walker went before the committee to
which the matter was referred In the
first instance. Aubury, who was then,
as now, fighting the land grabbers,
took up the cudgels in committee,
cross questioned Walker and extracted
from him the admission that he had
taken up 100000 acres in various
parts of the State.
Can you name any improvements
Aubury.
Il cannot" was Walkers answer.
Questioned further by Aubury, Wal
ker stated that he was securing the
land to provide an estate for his chill
dren. The handing over of a large
share of the best timber land in Cali
fornia to one person to enrich one
family did not appeal to Aubury very
strongly as a matter Of public policy.
SOME QUEER ADMISSIONS.
Yard in his business activities, ac-
cording to his own story, has a dual
character, one of which seems to be
the finite intelligence to conflict with
the other Thus he is placer miner
by reason of his mining locations, and
he is also a producer OF timber and
the timber and stone act and which
overlap or cover in many instances
these very placer claims.
eyes, 1T fs true" he says, "that have
made placer locations within the tenn
porary reserves set apart by the order
of the Secretary of the Interior dated
October Is, 1902, and I have been JUS
tilted In doing SO by reason of the
character of the lnnd located upon.
These locations are distinctly mineral.
They are capped with lava and have
auriferous grayels within their boun-
daries. Moreover, my right Is pro-
tected and strengthened by filings un-
der the timber and stone acts. These
latter filings In some instances cover
or overlap the mineral locations"
Now, 1t is the opinion of the most
enlightened mining lawyers that two
such filings contradicted.
The first sets UP that the land is
mineral The timber and stone act
pr procedure, under the rules of the Gem
erai Land Office of the United States,
requires the person filing the timber
and stone claim to take oath that there
is no mineral on the land and none
within six miles of 1t.
This peculiar situation leaves the
people of the State in suspense as to
whether Yard is a miner only for the
purpose of filing on timber lands. In
any event, he is a member of the ex-
ecutiye committee Of the California
Miners Association, while, as a prac-
tical miner, he is still an unknown
quantity.
This is something for the men of
science connected with the Government
commission of investigators to ponder
over next month, when they begin to
whether miners or timber
erabbers are taking up California tim
Der lands by the square mile, some
times at the rate OF ten square miles In
a day.