MONTANA. 



MOROCCO, 



541 





KMilar letter was issued in May in regard 



!> tin- purcha-e and lease of Slat.' lands liy the 



! .'f Land ('omillissiolielX Sections 1(1 1111(1 



each township and 72 sections known as 

 university lands belong to the Stale. When the 

 surveys and chisMlical ion of these lands huvn 

 been completed, they will be offered for sale or 

 lease. Until thi- Is done, no right can bo initi- 

 ated under the laws of the United States or of 

 the Stair. The law prescribes that they shall Im 

 s.>ld at nut lex than $10 an acre, the proceeds tn 

 constitute a permanent school fund, the inter- 

 iy of which shall In- expended in the sup- 

 port of the schools ; or they may be leased for 

 periods of not more than five years. These lands 

 are not subject to pre-emption homestead entry, 

 or any other entry under the land laws of the 

 United States; but those who entered upon 

 school lands in good faith prior to March 0, 1891, 

 for the purpose of making a home, will be given 

 the preference in the disposition of those lands; 

 meantime they are liable under the law for cut- 

 ting or removing from them timber or other 

 material, or despoiling the property in any way. 



Strong efforts were made-in the Legislature *to 

 have the State University located at Missoula, 

 the Agricultural College at Bozeman, and the 

 Normal School at Twin Bridges, but no choice 

 was made. One proposition was to unite all the 

 State institutions for higher education in one 

 great university. There are 72 sections of land 

 available for a university, but no fund or other 

 resources. All the institutions together would 

 have 200,000 acres of land, and about $20,000 in 

 cash. None of the bills for locating the institu- 

 tions were passed. 



Appropriations were made for the Montana 

 Law Library, and the Historical Society was 

 made a State institution. 



Montana University, four miles north of He- 

 lena, in the Prickly Pear valley, observed its 

 first anniversary in June, with orations by three 

 graduates. A project is under way to build an 

 electric railroad from the city to the university. 



A committee of the State Association of Con- 

 gregational Churches has been visiting various 

 places in order to select a site for a proposed 

 college under the care of the denomination. 

 Helena bid 240 acres and $15,000 cash ; Great 

 Falls, 300 acres and $10.000 cash ; and Living- 

 ston, 200 acres and $20,000 cash. 



Mining. Great and increasing activity in this 

 industry is shown. Discoveries are constantly 

 made, and improved facilities for development 

 constructed. Experiments are making in the 

 use of electricity in treating the ore. 



A recent decision of the Supreme Court is of 

 interest to miners and prospectors. It discusses 

 the question as to what is meant by the pro- 

 vision of the laws of the United States which 

 declares that a mining claim shall not be subject 

 to relocation, notwithstanding the failure of the 

 owner to perform the labor required by law, if 

 in the mean time he has resumed work. The 

 conclusion is given in the following words : 

 " When, therefore, he availed himself of the 

 statutory privilege of resuming work to preserve 

 his estate from forfeiture, we hold that he should 

 have prosecuted the same with reasonable dili- 

 gence until the requirements for the annual 

 labor or improvements had been obeyed." 



According to the last census, Montana ex- 

 ceeded uny other State in the production , ,f 



copper, the output ill 1 HH'J U-itlg ri-pnrli-d at 



.'.444 pounds, while that of Michigan was 

 Tin- product in 1MX) was reported 

 at l.'.'.ii.MMXK) pounds, as against WV>?0,000 at 

 Lake Superior, and a total of 272,510,000. 



The National Mining Congress is to be held at 

 Helena in July, 1H2. 



The Sapphire Ml no*. Interest in the sap- 

 phire and ruby fields shows no decline. Only 

 the bars and bench lands lying along the Mis- 

 souri can be successfully worked until arrange- 

 ments can bo made to carry water to other 

 tracts. It is proposed to do this by means of a 

 canal from Jefferson river. 



The Sapphire and Ruby Company of Montana, 

 in London, has secured 4,000 acres on the right 

 bank of the Missouri, twelve miles northeast of 

 Helena. The precious stones are found on the 

 bed rock of an ancient river-channel, now a dry, 

 elevated terrace, skirted by Missouri river and 

 covered with gravel. The tract includes El- 

 dorado Bar, formerly a celebrated gold field. 



Marble. An examination of the Sweet Grass 

 Hills is reported to have shown that the marble 

 there is of the finest quality. It concludes four 

 varieties ; a common marble, a green, and a varie- 

 gated kind, and a black marble, very rare a,nd 

 susceptible of a high polish. A company has 

 secured patents on a tract of territory there, 040 

 acres in all. 



Salmon. Senator Sanders this year addressed 

 a letter to the Interior Department in reference 

 to the desirability of clearing the obstructions 

 from Clark's Fork of Columbia river, so as to 

 allow the salmon free passage up that river and 

 its tributaries, and the Flathead reservation and 

 Flathead lake. He suggested that as this would 

 result in an increased food supply for the In- 

 dians, the agents might be directed to make a 

 reconnoissance, and report in regard to the ob- 

 structions. This was done, and the matter was 

 then referred to the United States Fish Com- 

 missioner, since it was deemed that the improve- 

 ment would be of as much value to the white as 

 to the Indian inhabitants. 



Bears. The bounty of $12.000 offered for 

 destructive animals was almost or quite ex- 

 hausted during the year; $5 is paid for every 

 lion or bear, $2 for every wolf or coyote, and 

 $1 for every lynx or bobcat killed when the 

 scalp is presented to the proper officer and be 

 punched. The number of bears killed amounts 

 to about 1,200, mostly black and cinnamon bears 

 from Missoula. Dawson, and Custer counties. 



MOROCCO, an absolute monarchy in north- 

 western Africa. The Sultan is chosen from the 

 Shereefian family of Tafiallet. which claims de- 

 scent from the Prophet's daughter Fatima. Each 

 Sultan before his death chooses his heir, whose 

 succession is not often successfully contested, 

 because he has possession of the imperial 

 treasury and control of the black household 

 troops, which furnish a large proportion of the 

 palace officials. The reigning Sultan is Muley 

 Hawaii, IK>I-H in 1S:!1. who succeeded his father. 

 Sidi Mohammed, on Sept. 17, 1873. The Sultan 

 has an army of 10,000 trained infantry, armed 

 with rifles, 400 cavalry, and a number of bat- 

 teries of field artillery, besides irregular levies 



