"26. Manner of obtaining title-First, by private entry. The party will present the following application to the register, and will make oath to the same:

"I,, hereby apply under the provisions of the act approved March 3, 1873, entitled, 'An act to provide for the sale of the lands of the United States containing coal,' to purchase the quarter of section, in township

of range

in the district of lands subject to sale at the land office at, and containing acres, and I solemnly swear that no portion of said tract is in the possession of any other party; that I am twenty-one years of age, a citizen of the United States (or have declared my intention to become a citizen of the United States) and have never held nor purchased lands under said act, either as an individual or as a member of an association; and I do further swear that I am well acquainted with the character of said described land, and with each and every legal subdivision thereof, having frequently passed over the same; that my knowledge of said land is such as to enable me to testify understandingly with regard thereto; that there is not to my knowledge, within the limits thereof, any vein or lode of quartz, or other rock in place, bearing gold, silver, or copper, and that there is not, within the limits of said land, to my knowledge, any valuable mineral deposit other than coal, so help me God.

"To this affidavit the register will append the usual jurat. "27. Thereupon the register, if the tract is vacant, will so certify to the receiver, stating the price, and the applicant must then pay the amount of the purchase money.

"28. The receiver will then issue to the purchaser a duplicate receipt, and at the close of the month the register and receiver will make returns of the sale to the General Land Office, from whence, when the proceedings are found regular, a patent or complete title will be issued, and on surrender of the duplicate receipt such patent will be delivered, at the option of the patentee, either by the Commissioner at Washington, or by the register at the district land office."

Section 2349 makes provision for the filing of coal declaratory statements by the person or persons having a preference right of entry under section 2348, but no declar

atory statement is authorized or required to be filed by a claimant under section 2347.

The claimant under section 2347, must make the affidavit and application required by paragraph 26 of your instructious, before he can acquire any standing whatever, and as Levan made no such affidavit or application, it follows that he has never initiated any claim recognized by law. His filing was unauthorized and void at its inception, and should be canceled on the records of your office.

It is claimed that inasmuch as Spriggs, Buell, and Bateman are partners in said mine, their right to file for the land in contest was exhausted by the filing of D. S. No. 28, in the name of John Spriggs, and that D. S. No. 87, filed by David E. Buell, is consequently invalid.

One declaratory statement only allowed.

Section 2350 prohibits more than one entry of coal lands, either by individuals or an association of persons, and requires preferred claimants to file their declaratory statements, and prove their respective rights, and pay for their lands, within the period prescribed by section 2349. This section was construed by your predecessor, Mr. Commissioner Drummond, to prohibit second filings, and regulations to that effect were issued by him on April 15, 1873, and are still in force. Inasmuch as interested parties could retain possession of valuable mines for an indefinite length of time, without paying for the lands, by renewing their filings as fast as they expired, I am of opinion that this regulation was necessary in order to protect the interests of the government, and that it should be adhered to. As Buell, Bateman, and Spriggs have made valuable improvements on the land and shown good faith, and as there is no adverse claim, and the matter is between them and the government only, they will be allowed to amend D. S. No. 28 so as to embrace the land mentioned in D. S. No. 87, and the names of all the claimants thereto, and thereafter prove up and pay for the lands.

A mineral.

Your ruling that coal lands are mineral lands is affirmed, and in issuing a patent for the lands in question you will

be governed by the decision of my predecessor of June 7, 1876, in the case of the town-site of Central City, Colorado. Your decision is modified accordingly, and the papers transmitted with your letter of October 17, 1877, are herewith returned. Very respectfully,

C. SCHURZ, Secretary.

The Commissioner of the General Land Office.

No. 3. 1. Form for declaratory statement to be filed by an incorporated company, prescribed.

2. Secretary of company to file his own affidavit stating the qualification of each stockholder.

3. Entry not required to be for land in compact form.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

GENERAL LAND OFFICE,

WASHINGTON, D. C., August 14, 1873.

Register and Receiver, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

GENTLEMEN: You transmitted with your letter of the twentieth June last, the declaratory statement of the Wyoming Coal and Mining Company, and requested instructions as to whether or not the same was made in due form.

When an incorporated company desires to apply for a patent for coal land under the act of Congress approved March 3, 1873, the form of the declaratory statement should be in terms as follows, viz.:

Form of declaratory statement when filed by an incorporated company.

The Wyoming Coal and Mining Company, a corporation consisting of four or more persons, organized under the general incorporation laws of the State of Nebraska—a copy of the certificate of incorporation being hereto attachedand having its principal office and place of business in Omaha, Nebraska, by its Secretary and Treasurer, Thomas Waddle, declares that to the best of his knowledge and belief, each and every stockholder in said company is a citizen of the United States or has declared his intention to become such, that no stockholder of said company, either as an individual or a member of any other association, incorporated or otherwise, has held or purchased any coal lands under the act approved March 3, 1873, entitled "An act to provide for the sale of land of the United States containing coal,"

and that it is the intention of said company to purchase under the provisions of said act the quarter of section. etc. (The remainder of the declaratory statement as filed is satisfactory.)

Secretary of company to file an affidavit.

In case an incorporated company should file a declaratory statement under said act, it will be necessary for the secretary of the company to file his affidavit, setting forth in full the names of all the stockholders at the date of actual purchase. It will also be necessary for each stockholder to file an affidavit to the effect that he has never held or purchased any coal lands under the act approved March 3, 1873, entitled "An act to provide for the sale of the land of the United States containing coal," either as an individual or as a member of an association.

Not in compact form.

While the act of March 3, 1873, limits each individual to one entry, and prohibits the holding of any other coal lands by one who has in any manner participated in the one entry allowed, it is not provided that the tract or tracts entered shall be in compact form, the only restriction being that of quantity, bounded by legal lines of subdivisions.

In according with your request I return the declaratory statement of the Wyoming Coal and Mining Company with amendments made.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

WILLIS DRUMMOND, Commissioner.

No. 4. Coal lands, claimed as such prior to the date of the definite location of the line of the Union Pacific Railroad past the same, do not belong to the road under the grant.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

GENERAL LAND OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D. C., July 26, 1875.

Register and Receiver, Salt Lake City, Utah.

GENTLEMEN: On the ninth of January, 1874, the township plat of township 2 north, range 5 east, was filed in your office.

On the sixth of March, 1874, George Crismon filed declaratory statement No. 15, claiming the south half of

north-east quarter, and lots 1 and 2 of section 3, township 2 north, range 5 east, as coal land.

This land is within the limits of the withdrawal for the Union Pacific Railroad.

On the twenty-first of November you caused a hearing to be held.

The evidence submitted at the hearing shows that Henry B. Wild discovered coal upon this tract in June, 1864, and that Wild and R. J. Redden went into possession thereof, developing said coal bed, and extracting coal therefrom; that they remained continuously in the possession of said lands until the year 1869, when Redden conveyed his interest therein to Charles Crismon and sons, and 1870, when H.B. Wild conveyed to Charles Crismon, Sr., and George Crismon his interest therein.

It also appears that Charles Crismon, Sr., and Nicholas Groesbeck conveyed their interest in said tract to George Crismon, November 21, 1874.

The evidence shows that said land has been in the actual possession and occupation of Wild, Redden, and their grantees since the date of the original discovery of coal therein, and that they have, during that time, expended more than twenty thousand dollars in developing said tract, and in extracting coal therefrom.

The Union Pacific Railroad was definitely located past this land in June, 1868.

The question is presented whether said tracts inure to said railroad company by virtue of their grant.

Mineral lands are excluded from the grant to said company, but the fourth section of the act of July 2, 1864, provides that the term "mineral land"" shall not be construed to include coal and iron lands." Said section also provides that "any lands granted by this act or the act to which this is an amendment shall not defeat or impair any pre-emption, homestead, swamp land, or other lawful claim.”

The act of third of March, 1865 (13 Stat., 529), provides "that in the case of any citizen of the United States who, at the passage of this act, may be in the business of bona fide actual coal mining on the public lands * * * for purposes of commerce, such citizen, upon making proof satisfactory to the register and receiver to that effect, shall have the right to enter according to legal subdivisions a