Weekly journal-miner., 1918-01-09

tectly good titlc m ciallnant ana yet he have no title whatever owing to his abandonment and the ground having been subsequently located by another The laws do not require recordation of affidavits of assess ment work or of any other showing to make certain that the necessary requirements have been complied with to maintain the title.
 The title of an unpatented mining claim is purely conditional posses sorry title and of the very lowest order, about as easily contracted as the measles or the humps and easier to lose than an T.W.W.
 Here is an absolutely true story: An Arizona merchant extended credit 10 a miner and lost, having to accept as pay 6 couple of mining claims, the only possession of his debtor Int merchant contracted with a young fellow living near the property to do the annual assessment work for the first year but decided that the de- velopmcnt shown did not warrant any further expenditure. When the time approached for doing the next assessment work this young fellow applied for the job, but was given an evasivc answer. He watched the claims, and seeing that no work was done he relocated one of them on the first of the next year, told the merchant what he had done expecting to be we'll paid for rcconveyancc of his newly acquired title; the merchant gave him this reply, Young man, l thought you were honest. l gave you the job of doing my assessment work d year ago to help you; others wanted to do the work but 1 gave il to you, and now, as a reward for mS kindness, you come here and tell me that you have jumped one Of my claims: now, there is just one way you can square yourself with me, you go and jump the other claim.'
 However, 1t is possible for pur- chaser to be protected in the title of an unpatcnted property by taking an optional contract of purchase from the owner under terms that permR him to explore the property and ob- tain a latcnt; the patent proceedings to be conducted in the name of the owner, but at the expense and under the direction of the purchaser. Thus the purchaser having the entire mat ter under his control can investigate the title conditions as well as the physical conditions, give every op- portunity for contest or adverse dur" ing the patent proceedings, and ii the title is not assailcd in any way and the patent is issued, he is secure and can pay the purchase price and get a good title. This plan is being large ly followed in the purchase ot un- patented properties of great value.
 The matters of surface rights and mineral rights with their relations to each other often become of the grcatc,t interest. The ownership oi the minerals may be in one party while that of the surface IS m another the two estates being thus entirely separated, there being no prlvlty and the separate owners arc not tenants in common. The surface owner can claim the right of support while the mineral owner can claim such mel dental use of the surface as IS nee cssary to enable him to extract and remove the minerals.
 These rights, express and implied run wi;h the land, and where tho surface is being utilized for business purposes in the erection of large buildings. and where immense under ground excavations are being form ed it .s necessary that the titles oi each be very carefully noted by the abstractor that all parties have full notice of every condition necessary to the use, enjoyment and protection of their separate properties.
 The severance of the surface from the mineral and its transfer arc often vcxatious elements in the cXamina- ton of title. The town of Jerome, Arizona, which lies adjacent to Sena- tor Clark's one hundred million dol lar United Verde" mine Is located upon patented mining claims. The early transfers of these lots contain ed various phrases of indefinite mean ing, the following being iavorite ono: All minerals at g feet below the surface belong 10 the Maine Mining Location" The grantor of these deeds recently died, and but few of the grantees arc now 10 be found to prove the intent of the parties; liter ally this cause is a covenant that the mineral had not been severed and that # was a part and portion oi the surface right, although directly op- positc meaning is supposed to have been inc intent
 Claims arc often located and held for the surface grounds for townsitc purposes where the mineral value F a secondary matter, and while the oovernmcut does not look with favor