Evening star., 1932-02-02
SECRETARY FIGHTS
ANOTHER HURLEY
Virginian Stakes Mining Claim
'on Old Catherine Furnace
:. at Charlottesville.

Peter ]. Hurley of Smell, Va, claims
no kinship or acquaintance with
Patrick j. Hurley of Washington, but
as a matter of fact their paths have
crossed in such way that the Secre-
tary of War has called upon the At
torney General of the United States
to remedy a rather novel situation.
War Department officials disclosed
today that the said Peter j. Hurley,
being an ingenious man, has filed a
regular Western mining claim to the
historic old Catherine Iron Furnace,
located within the area of the
Charlottesville battle-ground Park, and
intends to dig for precious metals in
its long abandoned bottom. In the
eyes of Patrick J. Hurley who has
jurisdiction over the park, Peter Is
tresspasser on government-owned land
and he doesn't intend to let him get
away with it.
Legal Right Doubted.
The controversy is perfectly
smicable one, but the War Department
decided today to call in Attorney Gen
eral Mitchell and ask him to direct
the United States Attorney at Norfolk
to take the usual legal methods to pry
Peter off the property if he moves one
single stone from the furnace 1t is very
do So for it appears under the act OF
Congress establishing the FTederlcks-
burg and SpotSylVania County Battle
fields Memorial Commission, Peter
hasn't a legal leg to stand on.
Major Arthur E. Wlbourn, secretary
of the commission, forwarded the
papers to the War Department. They
eventually found their way to the Office
of Mai. r. D. Valiant, in charge of
g rfo
master Generals Department, which
has control over military parks. Maj.
Valiant determined it was a question
for the legal branch of the Government.
A file of six separate papers has
accumulated since January %, the
date that Mr.. Hurley of Smell Staked
his claim and first forwarded his
Notice of Mining Location-Lode
Claim" to the Bureau Of Mines in
Washington. That bureau promptly
notified him it had no jurisdiction.
Liable to Arrest
The act of Congress approved Feb
ruary IA, 1927 establishing the Battle
Fields Memorial in and near Fred
cricksburg, makes adequate provision to
protect against "treSSpaSSers.' Accord
ing to the act, Peter J. Hurley of Smell
is liable to arrest and imprisonment
If he disturbs one stone in the old
abandoned iron furnace without Secre-
tary Hurleys consent.
The Catherine Furnace. believed to
be one of TIE oldest in that region, is
located on ground formerly comprising
a part of the w H. Peden estate
donated to the Government for the
Charlottesville Park in the Wilder
ness.
Using a printed form issued by the
State of Arizona, Hurley of Smell served
notice ito all whom 1t may concern"
that he has entered his claim and
location for the purpose Of "eXplora-
ton and purchase"
May be After Residue.
There follows a detailed description
of the stakes, meteS and bounds, and
this concluding statement: Il am
claiming this old furnace for the gold
and silver, copper and lead iron that
may be in said furnace. l am not
going to take down the walls Of fur
mace, but remove all stone from old gang
way and remove all paving out of gang
way, and from bottom of furnace
What the man wants to 90, Maj.
Valiant explains, is evidently to re-
trieve the rich residue long believed
to have settled in the bottom of the
ancient furnace as The molten iron
poured out of it one way and the
Stag ran out another year after year.
Paul w. Kear. special assistant to
the Attorney General in the office of
the United States Attorney for the
Eastern district of Virginia, at Norfolk,
advised Commissioner Wnbourn to
carry his protests to the Secretary OF
War.
In the opinion Of War Department
officials, the mine CLAIMANT has lust
about an equal chance of establishing
q mining or any other kind OF claim
on the White House grounds.