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Some people are charitable only when they have a 'large audience. NEW YORK, April 25.-Kldder, Pea body & Co. have notified the Boston Ex change that more than two-thirds of the Boston and Montana Copper stock and the Butte and Boston Copper stock have consented to the consolidation of the two companies with the Amalgamated CopDer Company and the brokers have requested that the receipts for the stock turned in to thtm be placed on the unlisted depart ment of the Stock Exchange., Combine of Copper Companies. LONDON, April 25.— Jack Roberts, who was pitted against Billy Smith in the fight before the National Sporting Club Mon day that resulted in Smith's death, and Bethusen, manager of the ; club, together with the referee, timekeeper and four sec onds, were arraigned in the Bow-street Police Court to-day on the charge of man slaughter. The magistrate remanded the accused on their own recognizances in £100 each. Nat Smith, brother of Billy Smith, said to a representative of the Associated Press to-night: "The National Sporting Club Is deter mined, if possible, to secure an autopsy, for we are sure that apoplexy was not the cause of death. It is certain that my brother was given something to drink at the end of the seventh round, and after that he was utterly useless. He had the fight won when he began to stagger about the ring and fell unconscious. He never got up again. It is a. difficult matter to prove, as everybody has been interested in hushing up the scandal, but I shall have my say at the inquest, if ft. is pos fcibie." FOUL PLAY MAY HAVE CAUSED SMITH'S DEATH MANILA, April 25.— It is reported that the rebel general Cailles ordered eight American soldiers to \ be shot April 21, the same day on which he condemned to death Colonel Sanchio, one of his staff officers, and Senor de la Rosa, a weal thy native who had refused to contri bute to the Insurgent fund.- Sanchio es caped. The others were tortured and then butchered. Cailles, who is now lurking In the mountains of Tayabas province, Luzon, proclaims himself dictator and successor, of Aguinaldo, and announces his inten tion to continue a war of extermination. It Is said Cailles was born In Pondi cherry, India, his father being a French man and his mother a Hindoo. It Is also asserted that he formerly registered as« a French subject in Manila, He is a typi cal guerrilla leader, cruel, able, reckless and unrelenting. v ' . ':.; ¦ Aguinaldo denources him, disclaiming responsibility for the previous atrocities of Cailles, and declares that he never issued orders contrary to the rules of war.. Captain James H. McRae, with Com panies G and P of the Third Infantry recently encountered a . force of Insur gents near Norzagaray, province of Balu can, killed five of , them and captured twenty-five rifles.*, Soon afterward Gen eral Morres, with six men, came to Nor zagaray and surrendered. Later General Morales surrendered. -. Many ¦ more sur renders are expected before May 1, when the limit of the amnesty expires. Commissary Sergeant* John <Meston charged with complicity in the commis sary frauds, .whqge trial ended Anril 15, has been sentencl^to dishonorable dis charge and to two years' imprisonment. The sentences of the other sergeants and clerks similarly implicated will probably be greater. • / Lieutenant William Patterson of the Coast Artillery, formerly a Philadelphia lawyer, is to be tried by court-martial for misappropriating the company funds. Brutal Leader Proclaims Himself Aguinaldo's Successor. CARLES TAKES CHIEF'S PLACE In response the President expressed his pleasure at meeting the delegation and desired through them to extend his kind est wishes to the people of the Island. He said that his interest in Cuba always had been great and he made reference to messages sent to Congress concerning the island. Its welfare always would be the subject of his most earnest consideration He congratulated the members of the del egation upon being members of the Cu ban constitutional convention. He said it was a high honor, and it fell to the lot of but few men to have the opportunity to frame a government for a republic Con cerning the object of the delegates' visit the President said he would confer with the Secretary, of War and the Secretary having an intimate knowledge of the sit uation, would confer with the delegation. "WASHINGTON. April 25.— The Cuban delegation from the convention framing a constitution for the new island repub lic saw President McKinley twice to-day, once in the early part of the day, when there were expressions of friendship, and again at night, when the members of the delegation were the guests of honor at a state dinner at the White House. The real business which brought the delega tion here was not transacted, the Presi dent in the forenoon interview at the White House ' saying to the delegates that he would confer with the Secretary of War who would act as his representa tive In conferences over the Cuban situa tion. The delegation and -Secretary Root were closeted for some hours in the after noon in a discussion of the relations of the islands to the United States.' Secrecy was observed as to the conference, the statement being made that after results were reached some news as to the con clusions might be made public > Matters of importance were not touched upon in the interview between the Presi dent and the delegates, the convention be ing almost wholly informal. Senor Ca pote, in his address to the President, Epoke of the desire of the Cubans to have the closest possible relations with the United States. He said that the United States soldiers and Cubans had fought side by side and driven Spain from the island, and the ties between the two countries were bound in blood. The re lationship, therefore, between the coun tries always should be most amicable, and closer than that which usually exists be tween nations. He also spoke of the grat itude which Cuba felt for the United States for the assistance rendered in her liberation. " Delegation From Island Is Honored in "Washington. CUBANS VISIT THE PRESIDENT Not Subject to Selection. The act of 1S97 describes land which may be selected under its provisions as "vacant land open to settlement." To be vacant land must be unoccupied. To be open for settlement land must, among other things, not to' be known to crntaiin valuable mineral deposits. Land which Is occupied by another or . which is known to contain valuable mineral deposits is therefore not subject to selection under said act. It is the general rule that applicants for public land must show that the land applied for Is of the character contemplated by the law under which it is sought. There is no reason why this rule should not obtain in proceedings under the act of 1S97. and there is nothing in that act itself relieving the applicant thereunder from making such showing. As has been said in various decisions of the department this law consti tutes a standing offer on the part of the Gov ernment for the exchange of lands. In this offer the lands to be exchanged are described. Those to be relinquished by a individual must be within a forest reservation, and those *to be taken by him must be vacant and open to settlement. It is incumbent upon one who wishes to take advantage of this standing oiler to bring himself within the terms thereof, not only as to the land he proposes to relinquish, but also as to that which he proposes to take in exchange. It is. his duty to Inform himself as to the character and condition of the land he proposes to select and to honestly . disclose the facts thus ascertained. ¦ • In bo far as existing conditions appear from Land Orfice records, that is, whether a se lected tract Is of lands to which settlement laws have been extended and whether the same is free from record appropriation, claim or reservation, no showing by the selector in re spect thereto need be made, for the reason that officers of the Government can and must take notice of public records. But as to conditions In existence, or the non-existence of which cannot be determined by anything appearing upon the public records and as to which officers of the Government must depend entirely upon outside evidence, that is. whether a selected tract Is occupied by others and known to be valuable for minerals, it is manifestly neces sary that required evidence should be furnished by the selector. Officers of the Government cannot be expected to know -whether the land selected under the act Is vacant and not known to be valuable for minerals, and in these re spects subject to selection. Must Submit Proof With Filing. Such expectation would be impossible of realization. For instance, the Visalia land district, in which the lands in controversy are situated, comprises the greater portion of the mining counties of California and embraces i an area of over 7,000,000 acres. Of this area j over 500,000 acres of unreserved surveyed public I mined by conditions existing at the time when all requirements necessary to obtaining title have been compiled with by the selector, and no change in such conditions, subsequently oc curring, can affect his rights. That the ad ministration of the act in question falls within the jurisdiction of the Land Department there can be no doubt. (Bishop of Nesqually vs. Gibbon, 158 U. S-, 155, 167.) Selections under the act are therefore subject to examination by officers of the Land Department at any time up to the issue of the patent. This ex amination is had for the purpose of ascertain ing: and declaring- whether or not the selector, by compliance with all necessary requisites, has entitled himself to a patent, and not for the purpose of determining whether or not these officers will consent to the selection. If examination, whether had at the instance of third parties claiming against the selections of ex-parte proceedings, discloses that the selector has fully compiled with all the necessary re quisites and has honestly and correctly dis closed, title to the land relinquished and th-i condition and character of land selected, and that the records of the Land Department dis close no obstacle to relinquish or selection, trie duty of the land officers is clear— they must patent the land to the selector and they have no discretion to do otherwise. The rights of the selector, however, attach and take effect at the point of time when he has done all that is incumbent upon him to do in the premises and are not postponed tdthe time when that fact is ascertained and declared by the land officers. censure, would be manifestly unjust, be cause 14 Hung Chaug and Prince Ching had been urging the withdrawal for a month. However, the notice is so brief that neither plenipotentiary regards it as a reflection upon his actions, thinking that the court means that the powers did not make strong enough representations. As a matter of fact if. any reflection upon the plenipotentiaries were intended Li Hung Chang and Prince Ching would be humiliated before the foreigners and could no longer be considered representatives. The Germans killed in connection with th«» expedition were members of a scout ing party who went far beyond the border. With tha exception of the formal order- Ing off of the Chinese troops the only comment made by the court is a brief notice in the Official Gazette to the effect that bad strong- enough manifestations been made through the plenipotentiaries the troops would have been ordered to withdraw before. This, if considered a PEKDCG. April 25.— The expedition from Paotingfu nas been entirely called off and the French troops have been ordered to return to their original station. The only casualties Buffered by the entire expedi tion were two German soldiers killed. Expedition to Paotingfu Suffers a Loss of Two Germans. ALLIED TROOPS ARE CALLED IN Clarke appealed to the Secretary of the Interior in each case and it is upon these appeals that decisions are now rendered. Jn oral arguments recently made and in papers which have been recently filed it is, admitted by opposing claimants in each case that mining developments upon the lands in controversy have now been car ried to the extent which has developed beyond question that the lands are of Rreat value for their ell deposits and that tlie mineral claimants are in actual pos-' session of them and daily extracting- large quantities of oil. Many similar cases are pending In the General Land Office, and by common consent among the various claimants the two cases 'decided to-day were made test cases. In the decision, it is held: Points of the Decision. First— That where a person making: a selec tion under the act of June 4, 1S97, has com piled with all the terms and conditions neces «ut to entitle him to a patent to selected lands h<« acquires vested interest therein and is to be regarded as the equitable owner thereof. Second — That the right to patent under the •ct, one* vested, is. for most purposes, equiva lent of a patent issued, and when in fact Is sued the patent dates back to the time when •the right to it became fixed and takes effect as of that date. Third— That questions respecting- class and character of selected lands are to be deter- In the other case a forest reserve selec tion was made by Clarke December 14, 3FS9, and was accompanied by proof that the land selected was then non-mineral in character, but was not accompanied by any proof of its non-occupancy. No sub sequent proofs were made by Clarke re specting- the condition or character of the land in either case. The oil companies respectively filed a protest against Clarke's selections, alleging that at the time of selection land was occupted and known to be valuable for its deposits of mineral oil. The Commissioner of the General Land Office a few months since took up these selections and protests and directed that a hearing be had thereon to determine the condition and character of the land selected, and In the course of his decision held that in determining- the character of the land discoveries of oil made subsequent to the date of selections could be considered. The Secretary's decision holds that Clarke had no title to the lands first re linquished and that ins rights, if any, in thatt-case are -wholly dependent upon the second selection. With the first selection Clarke filed proof to the effect that the lands selected were unoccupied, non mlnerai and otherwise subject to settle ment. Ko proof showing non-occupancy and the non-mineral character of the land was filed with the second selection. Bights of the Claimants. C. W. Clarke is a forest lieu land se lector in each case, and the Kern Oil Com pany Is a mineral claimant in one case and the Gray Eagle Oil Company In ths other. In one case Clarke made a lieu land selection December 8, 1899, basins the selection upon the rtlinqulshment of land.s to which he claimed to have obtained title from the State of California. 'Janu ary 13, 1900, he again selected the same iands. basing the selection Upon the re linquishment of otht,r lands. -—ALL BUREAU. 1406 G STREET, /[* N- TV., WASHINGTON, April 23. (I The two oil land cases from the V^»7 Kern River oil district, which have attracted great attention in California, were deciJed to-day by Secre tary of the Interior- Hitchcock. Under •public land laws oil as found in the earth is a mineral and oil lands are subject to location and acquisition under the mining laws. This contest has been between mineral claimants, who assert a right to the lands under the placer mining law, and forest reserve lieu land claimants, who claimed title under forest reserve Uen selections made under the act of Con- BreES of June 4. 18y4. This act provides t hat owners of titled land within a forest reserve may surrender such lands to the United States and select in its place an • qual quantity of "vacant public land «-5w?n to settlement." The purpose of this provision Js twofold: First, to enable those whose lands are placed in a state of isolation by reason of their being en tirely surrounded by a forest reservation, to better their situation by taking lands in some other part of the public domain, where they will have advantages conse quent upon increasing settlement and de velopment of the country. Second, to en able the Government to acquire exclusive ownership and control of all lands within reservations so as to more effectively pre serve timber against injury by fire and depredation and to better protect and maintain sources of water supply, which are essential to the utilization of lands in arid and semi-arid regions. It is thus made evident that these lands are not now subject to selection in lieu of lands In the forest reservation and that further delay in the disposition of these selections to afford an opportunity' to file an affidavit showing- that they are vacant and open to settlement would be of no benefit to the \ selector, i Each decision holds, therefore, that the forest reserve lieu land selector has never perfected his selection and that the lands now being admitted to be of great mineral value he cannot be permitted to perfect selections because to do so would be to permit the selection of mineral lands. The selections are accordingly rejected. " , Ordinarily, as between the Government and selector there would seem to be no good ground for refusing to permit him to submit the necessary .proof at a time subsequent to the date of the attempted selection, but since this proof is essential to complete selection so as to constitute a contract fully executed on the selector's part his rights would have to be determined as of date when the selection is thus completed. . No attempt or offer to cure the defect and complete selections In ques tion has been made, and it Is now asserted by mineral claimants and fully admitted by the relector that, the land in question has been demonstrated to contain valuable deposits of petroleum. Not Properly Lieu Lands. The necessity for requiring the selector to make proof of the condition and character- of the land at the time of selection is forcibly Illustrated In this case. Prior to that time mineral oil had been discovered In the near vi cinity of this land, and lands in that neigh borhood were generally prospected and explor ed in an effort to find mineral oil therein in paying quantity. To that end wells were be ing drilled or bored hundreds of feet into the earth at great cost, and in this manner the area or extent of the oil deposit was being ascertained and the mineral character of spe cific tracts made known. The known character of the land in that vicinity was therefore un dergoing a change and tracts not known to contain mineral deposits at any given time were liable within thirty days thereafter to become known to be valuable for such depos its. The right to patent Is not acquired In any case until the proofs are such that a patent could be Issued upon them if nothing were shown to the contrary. As, long as any thing remains undone which- it is essential should be done by the selector in order to en title him to a patent right thereto, the title does not vest. That a non-mineral' affidavit should accompany the selection Is -not serious ly questioned by the applicant. It is just as essential that it should be accompanied by a vacancy or non-occupied affidavit. Appellants' contention that the word "vacant' ' as used in the statute means public lands which are not shown by the records of the local office or General Land Office to be claimed, appropri ated or«reserved, can not be accepted. .Por tions of public lands may be occupied, and for that reason be not subject to selection, and yet there be no mention of their occu pancy In 'the records of the land department It frequently occurs that persons desiring to secure title to lands under the homestead law settle upon and ocupy the same for months and even years before placing their claims on record. The proof presented by the selector did not show that the < land was subject to selection and would not justify the issuance of a patent even If no protests had been filed. land, scattered throughout the district, were undisposed of at the end of the fiscal year during which the selections In question were filed. In these respects the Visalia district does not greatly differ from many other land districts wherein selections under the act of 1897 have been, or are likely to be made. Ob viously, therefore. It could not have been contemplated that the local officers of the various land districts should or could, from personal knowledge', determine the physical conditions pertaining to the lands selected under the said act. The argument Is Intensi fied when applied to the Commissioner of the General Land Office and the Secretary of the Interior. In this case the lands were sur veyed In 1854. Whether since that date they have been continuously or at any. time vacant, or occupied and whether at any time known to be valuable for minerals, and if so, whether stripped of their minerals and worked out, are matters not shown by land office records. Every consideration based upon the wise ad ministration of this law supports the wisdom of the regulation requiring the selector to submit proof showing the land selected to be subject to such selection. The form of ap plication prepared by the Commissioner's of fice for selections of lands In . lieu of tracts covered by patent in forest '-, reserve and spe cifically adopted as form 4-643 in the regulations of May 9. 1S99, and Decemberil8. 1899, requires the selector to accompany his application with "affidavit showing land selected . to be non mineral in character and unoccupied." It la thus clearly made Incumbent- upon one seeking to take advantage of the offer made by tills law to establish the fact that the land he se lects is of the character contemplated by law Until this fact is established his proffer of exchange Is not completed. Until then he has not made out a case which shows upon the face of the papers that he ha* so far com piled with the conditions of the act of 1837 as to convert the offer of exchange contained in said act into a contract fully executed upon his part. To lodge in an applicant for ex change of lands under this law vested right as against the ownership of a third party, it must be made to appear that the land sought to be acquired by him is of the character con templated by that law. , Proof of Condition Required. Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock, in Deciding Against Clarke, Holds That Gil Lands Are Subject to Location 'and Acquisition Under Mining Laws of United States DECISION IN OIL LAND CONTROVERSY GREAT VICTORY FOR THE MINING MEN THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1901. SECRETARY OF THE INTE RIOR HITCHCOCK, WHO RENDERS OIL DECISION. 3 ADVERTISEMENTS. : Most every man is tired of his winter clothes and wants a new spring suit of the latest cut. Many men wanting a new suit hesitate because they think they can't afford it. They are mis- taken. For instance, -they can come here and get a good suit for as low as $7.5-0, and the suit will be all wool, too, and made from late pattern materials ; it will fit as it should and wear well. H at $1 p in cheviots, tweeds and serges, silk sewed and farmer satin lined. Fit anybody from thirty-four to forty-six chest measure. g^^il|i|v$ipan^ $17.5:0* we are showing a swell line of solid color flannel, ready-to-wear sack suits with a small parallel stripe and the^new round-corner. cut which are so popular now. The colors are black, blue, gray, brown and olive, with green, red, blue or white stripes. Most all the swell dressers are indulging in these patterns. Ours are exceptional for the price. . Every bit of our ready-to-wear clothing is made in our own sanitary ll^iMl^SSwlMiS labor. This; insures clean clothes and excellent work- manship; as union labor -always keeps :its : workmanship up to a high standing. Ours is the only union-made I^Sfe clothing on this coast. A man should not only wear union- §H|P|f made because of sentiment, but because it is the best -"¦'¦ L^y " y - ¦•¦¦:; Our sailor sale continues f^RBE^L Our sailor sale of last week was so successful that we intend to run it another week to give mothers an opportunity to outfi;'^^^^^^^» the boy 'at this low price. -, |||||,^. ¦ ' The suits are for boys from 3 to 9 years of age and the mate "^^^^^^m rials are cheviots in navy b.ue, Venetian blue, brown and red, with embroidered,designs on collars and shields; serges in the \tHHBHT' above colors, with the. exception of the brown, with braid trim- mings on collar; cassimeres in neat small checks; the pants are ffflfg ftil all lined throughout and strongly sewed ; price of the suits but WfflS mfi& Also at the same price a line of boys' two-piece suits in Scotch tweed, heavy-weight mate- frill HH] is now being printed. ' ;-A ; '\m'-'''' ' y/T-'- lT ¦'»-•- " '' ' ]^*^ - furnishings or hats. ' i; Market Street,