The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1910-01-23
LAND OFFICE CASE
WON BY LONG
REGISTER AND RECEIVER RECON-
MEND PATENTS FOR coEUR
o'ALENE CLAIMS.

By the terms of a decision made
yesterday by the register and receiver
of the land office. Paul C. Long, a
resident of Taft, is allowed a patent
to the Faust and Mephisto lode
claims and the Mephisto min site.
after hearing of a contest instituted
by government agents.
On August 4. 1908. Long made a min
eral entry on the Faust and Mephisto
lode claims and the Faust and Me
phisto mill site. On January !. 1909,
the entry was held for cancellation by
the land office. pending a satisfactory
showing to be made by the claimant
as to the Faust mill site. and the fur
nishing of proof of the non-mineral
character of the land covered by the
MephiSto mill site. on January 81
1909. the claimant, Long. filed a re-
linquishment of the Faust mill site and
proof of the non-mineral character of
the Mephisto mill site.
On June 10, 1909. proceedings We're
instituted against the Faust and Me-
phisto lode claims on two grounds:
that no valid discovery of mineral had
been made. and that the claims We're
not located in good faith, but We're in
tended for speculation for the timber
thereon: il was also alleged against
the Mephisto mill site that the land
therein was not used for mill site pur
poses Mt the time of the application
for patent. and is not nov being SO
used. but is held for rental purposes
not connected with the mining bust
ness and speculations in connection
with a proposition.
At the hearing held i'm Missoula on
October &c. 1909, the government was
represented by J. G. skinner while Fl.
X. Parsons attended to The interests
of the claimant, c. a. McE.lroy. an
expert miner i'm the forest service
testified To the effect that there had
been no valid discovery of mineral in
place. his testimony being corrobo-
rated by C. j. Green. a mining exam
incr for the protestant. Long. the
claimant. testified that he had located
the Faust and Mephisto lode claims
and the Mephisto mill site and at the
time he located the latter. il was oc-
cupied by Winston Brothers: he had
never received compensation or a
promise of compe nsation for the oc-
cupancy of the land from that com
pany or anyone else. He had not To-
Gated the mill site for the rental
thereof nor for speculation purposes
He could have received the sum of
$1,000 for the rental of the mill Site
At the time of application for patent
the land was occupied by buildings
49,. lat, lA hal
erected several buildings for shops at
n cost of SIPS. and these were occupied
by blacksmith tools. He testified that
when he made the discovery cuts on
the lode claims. he found indication of
copper and gold. He had located the
mill site because it was non-m mineral
in character and of easy access to
railroad and water supply.
iRobert $. Merriam. a mining engi-
neer of Wallace and United States
mineral surveyor stated that he had
found mineral in place. consisting of
several stringers of quartz containing
some mineral. which had been assayed.
and he produced affidavits as to the
results of the assays.
The land office officials found a
examiners for the protestants and for
the claimant. the first testifying that
no mineral in place had been discov-
cred, while the latter claimed the op-
posite, testifying that several quartz
veins containing minerals had been
found on the claims. Since the pro-
testants did not introduce testimony to
prove that the land was taken up for
purposes of speculation. that fact
tended to weaken their testimony re-
garding the non-mineral character of
the claims. and since no testimony
showed that the claims were located
for purposes of speculation for the
timber thereon or for townsite pur-
poses. the officials dismissed the pro-
ptest and recommended that Long be
granted PATENTS to the property.