The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1921-06-16

pOrtance of definitely deciding the
law in such matters, the department
of the Interior through the solicitor
general of the United States. joined
with the Silver King Coalition com
pany in a second petition for a writ
of review, which was granted by the
supreme court Its decision reverses
the court of appeals and holds that
/ the survey monuments determine the
position and boundaries of a claim,
regardless of the language of the
patent
Case Also involved Question of Ex-
tralateral Rights Upon Sec
ondary Veins.
The second question decided by the
supreme court in a subsequent opin-
ion upon April II had TO do with the
same question as that involved in the
Dr. Jack Pot case; namely extralat-
eral rights upon secondary veins. The
Crescent assure has its apex outside
of the Conlding lode claim and dips
beneath it, At its apex it crosses the
parallel side lines of mining claims,
the property of the silver King Co
alition company 1t was proved in
the course of the trial that there was
no vein at the discovery points of
these adjacent claims, nor any veins
running lengthwise thereof On this
question the language of the supreme
court is as follows
The general purpose is TO give
right To all of the vein included in the
surface lines if there is only one,
provided the apex is within the loca-
ton. 1t often must happen that the
strike of the vein is not known. but
must be conjectured at the time of
discovery and that the location is
across instead of along the vein. This
has been obvious always and there
fore il would be wrong to interpret
the words "end lines" narrowly as
meaning the shorter ones in every in
stance
Those are the end lines that cut
across the strike of the vein If it
crosses the location We see no rea-
son for thinking that because the dis
coverer has not claimed as long
portion of the strike as he might have
he should be deprived of even his dim d,
inished lateral rights. 1t has been
the accepted opinion of this court for
many years that where, as here, the
strike of the vein crosses the location
at right angles its dip may be followed
extralaterally, whatever the direction
in which the length of the location
may run If across the strike, as
here the side lines, as it is common
nd
Subsequent locators know as well as
the original ones that the determin-
ing fact is in the direction of the
strike-not the first discoveries guess.
But it is said that where the end
lines are determined they are end
lines for all purposes, even if there are
different veins running in different
directions. having their apexes with
in the claim; and it is argued that
there is presumption that has not
been overcome that there was a dis
covery vein running parallel with the
side Iines-that this determined the
end lines and that there fore the pc
ttioner got no extralateral rights IN
the Crescent fissure. The circuit
court of appeals, approaching the pc
titioner's claim as a claim of excep-
tional privilege, seems to have at
tached "a weightier burden of proof to
| it than we are disposed to do. They
were not satisfied that the discovery
vein which determined what the end
lines should be was not some other
vein than the Crescent assure. But
we see no substantial evidence that
there was another vein. We have the
distinct testimony of experts that
there was no such and we agree with
the view of the district judge sustain
ling the petitioners extralateral
rights. Whether there are other an
swers to the contention we need not
decide
Thus we have a decision by the su-
preme court reversing what has been
the Interpretation of the mining law
for more than 10 years based upon an
erroneous decision of the circuit court
of appeals of the eighth circuit. It
viii at once occur to any thoughtful
person that new possibilities and I'M
certaintes arise. Suppose, for in
stance that there are two secondary
veins. as often happens and was IN
deed the situation in the DR.. Jack Pot
case suppose, further, that one OF
these secondary veins crosses both
side lines and one of them crosses both
end lines or one end line and one side
line. In which direction, then are the
extralateral rights? Or upon which
vein would extralateral rights be Civ
en-?
It is a principal long supposed to be
established that no mining claim can
have two sets of end lines. Is it now
to be inferred thta the owner of
claim possessing two secondary veins
may elect the direction of his extra
lateral rights. choosing the vein which
contains the best ore or gives him the
greatest sweep downward beneath the
snrface7 or suppose one Of these
veins was discovered subsequently to
the other would the miner after