112 ALASKA. 



not be made by a less number than eight homi jide locators ; and no local laws 

 or mining regulations can restrict a placer location to less than twenty acres, 

 although the locator is not compelled to take so much. 



62. The regulations hereinbefore given as to the manner of marking locations 

 on the ground, and placing the same on record, must be observed in the case ot 

 placer locations so far as the same are applicable, the law requiring, however, 

 that where placer claims are upon surveyed public lands the locations must 

 hereafter be made to conform to legal subdivisions thereof as near as practicable. 



63. The first care in recognizing an application for patent upon a placer claim 

 must be exercised in determining the exact classification of the lands. To this 

 end the clearest evidence of which the case is capable should be presented. 



(1) If the claim be all placer ground, that fact must be stated in the applica- 

 tion and corroborated by accompanying proofs; if of mixed placers and lodes, it 

 should be so set out, with a description of all known lodes situated within the 

 boundaries of the claim. A specific declaration, such as is required by section 

 2333, Revised Statutes, must be furnished as to each lode intended to be claimed. 

 All other known lodes are, by the silence of the applicant, excluded by law from 

 all claim by him, of whatsoever nature, possessory or otherwise. 



(2) Section 2395, Revised Statutes (subdivision 7), requires the surveyor to 

 "note in his field books the true situation of all mines, salt licks, salt springs, 

 and mill seats which come to his knowledge;" also "all water-courses over 

 which the lines he runs may pass." It further requires him to "note the qual- 

 ity of the lands." These descriptive notes are required by subdivion 8 to be 

 incorporated in the plat by the surveyor-general. 



(3) If these duties have been performed, the public surveys will furnish a 

 reasonable guide to the district officers and to claimants in prosecuting their 

 applications. But experience has shown that great neglect has resulted from 

 inattention to the law in this respect, and the regular plats are of very little 

 value in the matter. It will, therefore, be required in the future that deputy 

 surveyors shall, at the expense of the parties, make full examination of all placer 

 claims surveyed by them, and duly note the facts as specified in the law, stating 

 the quality and composition of the soil, the kind and amount of timber and 

 other vegetation, the locus and size of streams, and such other matters as may 

 appear upon the surface of the claim. This examination should include the 

 character and extent of all surface and underground workings, whether placer or 

 lode, for mining purposes. 



(4) In addition to these data, which the law requires to be shown in all cases, 

 the deputv should report with reference to the proximity of centers of trade or 

 residence; also of well-known systems of lode deposit or of individual lodes. 



