and which are properly agricultural lands, the settlers or owners of such homesteads shall have a right of pre-emption thereto, and shall be entitled to purchase the same at the price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and in quantity not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres; or they may avail themselves of the provisions of chapter five of this Title, relating to "Homesteads." Rev. Stats. 2341. Upon the survey of the lands described in the preceding section, the Secretary of the Interior may designate and set apart such portions of the same as are clearly agricultural lands, which lands shall thereafter be subject to pre-emption and sale as other public lands, and be subject to all the laws and regulations applicable to the same. Rev. Stats. 2342. The President is authorized to establish additional land districts, and to appoint the necessary officers COAL LANDS. Entry of coal Every person above the age of twenty-one years, who is a citizen of the United States, or who has de- lands. clared his intention to become such, or any association of persons severally qualified as above, shall, upon application to the register of the proper land office, have the right to enter, by legal subdivisions, any quantity of vacant coal lands of the United States not otherwise appropriated or reserved by competent authority, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres to such individual person, or three hundred and twenty acres to such association, upon payment to the receiver of not less than ten dollars per acre for such lands, where the same shall be situated more than fifteen miles from any completed railroad, and not less than twenty dollars per acre for such lands as shall be within fifteen miles of such road. Rev. Stats. 2347. Any person or association of persons severally qualified, as above provided, who have opened and improved, or shall hereafter open and improve, any coal Limit of claim. Purchase money. Pre-emption of coal lands. Pre-emption claims of coal land to be presented within sixty days, etc. Only one entry allowed by same person or association. mine or mines upon the public lands, and shall be in actual possession of the same, shall be entitled to a preference right of entry, under the preceding section, of the mines so opened and improved: Provided, that when any association of not less than four persons, severally qualified as above provided, shall have expended not less than five thousand dollars in working and improving any such mine or mines, such association may enter not exceeding six hundred and forty acres, including such mining improvements. Rev. Stats. 2348. All claims under the preceding section must be presented to the register of the proper land district within sixty days after the date of actual possession and the commencement of improvements on the land, by the filing of a declaratory statement therefor; but when the township plat is not on file at the date of such improvement, filing must be made within sixty days from the receipt of such plat at the district office; and where the improvements shall have been made prior to the expiration of three months from the third day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, sixty days from the expiration of such three months shall be allowed for the filing of a declaratory statement, and no sale under the provisions of this section shall be allowed until the expiration of six months from the third day of March, eighteen hundred and seventythree. Rev. Stats. 2349. The three preceding sections shall be held to authorize only one entry by the same person or association of persons; and no association of persons any member of which shall have taken the benefit of such sections, either as an individual or as a member of any other association, shall enter or hold any other lands under the provisions thereof; and no member of any association which shall have taken the benefit of such sections shall enter or hold any other lands under their provisions; and all persons claiming under section preference right of twenty-three hundred and forty-eight shall be required to prove their respective rights and pay for the lands filed upon within one year from the time prescribed for filing their respective claims; and upon failure to file the proper notice, or to pay for the land within the required period, the same shall be subject to entry by any other qualified applicant. Rev. Stats. 2350. Limitation of entry. Conflicting claim. Priority of possession and im provement prevails. In case of conflicting claims upon coal lands where the improvements shall be commenced, after the third day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, priority of possession and improvement, followed by proper filing and continued good faith, shall determine the preference right to purchase. And also where im provements have already been made prior to the third Nothing in the five preceding sections shall be construed to destroy or impair any rights which may have attached prior to the third day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, or to authorize the sale of lands valuable for mines of gold, silver, or copper. Rev. Stats. 2352. SALINE LANDS. 1. Whenever it shall be made appear to the register and the receiver of any land office of the United States that any lands within their district are saline in character, it shall be the duty of said register and said receiver, under the regulations of the General Land Office, to take testimony in reference to such lands to ascertain their true character, and to report the same to the General Land Office; And if, upon such testimony, the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall find that such lands are saline and incapable of being purchased under any of the laws of the United States relative to the public domain, then, and in such case, such lands shall be offered for sale by public auction at the local land office of the district in which the same shall be situated, under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and sold to the highest bidder for cash, at a price not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre; And in case said lands fail to sell when so offered, then the same shall be subject to private sale, at such land office, for cash, at a price not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, in the same manner as other lands of the United States are sold: Provided, that the foregoing enactments shall not apply to any State or Territory which has not had a grant of salines by act of Congress, nor to any State which may have had such a grant, until either the grant has been fully satisfied, or the right of selection thereunder has expired by efflux of time. L. O. Regula Rights reserved. Patents to be But nothing in this act shall authorize the sale or conveyance of any title other than such as the United only a release, etc. States has, and the patents issued shall be in the form Proclamation of sale of public lands, where to be published. Timber may be cut from mineral lands for building, agricultural, mining, and domestic purposes. Registers and receivers to ascertain and notify Commissioner when timber is cut for unauthorized purposes. Penalty for violation of act. of a release and quitclaim of all title of the United States in such lands. 2. All executive proclamations relating to the sales of public lands shall be published in only one newspaper, the same to be printed and published in the State or Territory where the lands are situated, and to be designated by the Secretary of the Interior. Act of Jan. 12, 1877, ch. 18; 19 Stat. L. 221; Supp. to Rev. Stats., Vol. 1, p. 127. TIMBER RIGHTS. 1. All citizens of the United States and other persons, bona fide residents of the State of Colorado, or Nevada, or either of the Territories of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Dakota, Idaho, or Montana, and all other mineral districts of the United States, shall be, and are hereby, authorized and permitted to fell and remove, for building, agricultural, mining, or other domestic purposes, any timber or other trees growing or being on the public lands, said lands being mineral, and not subject to entry under existing laws of the United States, except for mineral entry, in either of said States, Territories, or districts of which such citizens or persons may be at the time bona fide residents, subject to such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe for the protection of the timber and of the undergrowth growing upon such lands, and for other purposes: Provided, the provisions of this act shall not extend to railroad corporations. 2. It shall be the duty of the register and the receiver of any local land office in whose district any mineral land may be situated to ascertain from time to time whether any timber is being cut or used upon any such lands, except for the purposes authorized by this act, within their respective land districts; and if so, they shall immediately notify the Commissioner of the General Land Office of that fact; And all necessary expenses incurred in making such proper examinations shall be paid and allowed such register and receiver in making up their next quarterly accounts. 3. Any person or persons who shall violate the provisions of this act, or any rules and regulations in pursuance thereof made by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be fined in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, and to which may be added imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months. Act of June 3, 1878, ch. 150; 20 Stat. L. 88; Supp. to Rev. Stats., Vol. 1, p. 166. PROTECTION OF THE LIVES OF MINERS IN THE TERRITORIES. 1. In each organized and unorganized Territory of the United States wherein are located coal mines, the aggregate annual output of which shall be in excess of one thousand tons per annum, the President shall appoint a mine inspector, who shall hold office until his successor is appointed and qualified. Such inspector shall, before entering upon the discharge of his duties, give bond to the United States in the sum of two thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful discharge of his duties. 2. No person shall be eligible for appointment as mine inspector under section one of this act, who is not either a practical miner or mining engineer and who has not been a resident for at least six months in the Territory for which he shall be appointed; and no person who shall act as land agent, manager, or agent of any mine, or as mining engineer, or be interested in operating any mine in such Territory shall be at the same time an inspector under the provisions of this act. 3. It shall be the duty of the mine inspector provided for in this act to make careful and thorough inspection of each coal mine operated in such Territory, and to report at least annually upon the condition of each coal mine in said Territory with reference to the appliances for the safety of the miners, the number of air or ventilating shafts, the number of shafts or slopes for ingress or egress, the character and condition of the machinery for ventilating such mines, and the quantity of air supplied to same. Such report shall be made to the governor of the Territory in which such mines are located and a duplicate thereof forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior, and in the case of any unorganized Territory directly to the Secretary of the Interior. Inspectors of coal mines in Territories to be appointed. Bond. Qualifications. Duties. Reports. Notification of mines. 4. In case the said mine inspector shall report that any coal mine is not properly constructed or not fur- unsafe condition of nished with reasonable and proper machinery and appliances for the safety of the miners and other employees it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to give notice to the owners and managers of said coal mine that the said mine is unsafe and notifying them in what particular the same is unsafe, and requiring them to furnish or provide such additional machinery, slopes, entries, means of escape, ventilation, or other appliances necessary to the safety of the miners and other employees within a period to be in said notice named, and if the same be not fur |