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1,000 feet, in depth varying from 150 to 400 feet. There was no con- . siderable stream of water running through this excavation, and there was no natural outlet to the same. The tailings and debris from the mine had been discharged through a shaft which was sunk through solid rock near the center of the excavation. This shaft was 80 feet in the perpendicular, and connected with a tunnel cut also through the solid rock, a distance of nearly half a mile, and opening into Humboldt canyon, which lies considerably below the level of the excavation. The total cost of the tunnel and shaft were in the neighborhood of half a million dollars. The impounding works were constructed by utilizing the excavation, the shaft, and the tunnel. The impounding area is divided by a dam into two impounding basins, each of about 20 acres in extent, which may be called the old and the new basins. The surface of the old basin lies at an altitude of about 100 feet above that of the new. The mining operations are all carried on at the upper end of the excavation.

The mining is done upon two levels or benches, one at an elevation of about 100 feet above the other. The debris from the upper mining level is carried on that level to the old impounding basin. The debris from the lower mining level is intended to be impounded in the new basin. Near the lower end of the old basin an inclined shaft has been sunk to connect with the tunnel, and its use is to allow the escape of water after all material likely to injure navigation shall have been deposited in the basin. A similar outlet is made in the new impounding basin, and both these outlets are cribbed up, from the bottom, so that a thin sheet of water from the surface, only, can escape. The operation of the old reservoir has been tested, and a considerable amount of debris has been deposited within it. The dam which separates the basins is constructed across the excavation, and prevents the debris from running back from the old basin into the new basin and the lower levels of the mine. The operation of impounding has been conducted in the following manner: The debris from the mining on the upper bench, consisting of gravel, sand, and comminuted clay, together with sufficient water to carry the same, has been conducted by a sluice, with a tolerably swift current, down to the upper edge of the old impounding reservoir, and there discharged into the pond or lake. It has been found that the heavy material is deposited first, the lighter sand and gravel are carried somewhat further, and when the current strikes the body of water in the pond nearly all the remaining material carried by the water is deposited, forming a bench across the upper end of the depositing pool, which presents an almost perpendicular wall from the surface to the bottom. The wa ter, on striking the pool, is diffused through it, and its current apparently ceases. It has the effect to raise the water in the pool, and to cause a constant outpour from its surface over the edges of the lower crib.

There are three objections urged against the operation of this impounding reservoir: First, that it does not successfully remove from the water the material which is carried in suspense, and that the water which escapes by the cribs takes with it material which becomes deposited in the lower streams, and injuriously affects the naviga

bility of the same; second, that the dam across the excavation is not of durable material, and is liable to break; third, that the cribs are liable to break or decay, and the impounding material may thus escape into the streams below.

Upon the first of these objections the evidence, although voluminous, is not to any considerable extent conflicting. The water that escapes through the cribs is discolored with very fine particles of comminuted clay, which are held in suspense. It is impossible that water that has once fairly come to rest in the pool, and has then been drawn off from the surface through the cribs, should carry with it any sand, or anything other than the lightest material. The evidence goes to prove that the fine clay held in suspense in the water, and which causes its discoloration, is of specific gravity very little greater than water, and that it will remain in suspense so long as the water moves with the velocity of a mile in two hours. The evidence further shows that this material is carried in a state of suspense through the Yuba, the Feather, and the Sacramento rivers, and into the ocean. It does not appear that at any point on those streams the water comes to rest, or the clay which it carries is deposited in an appreciable quantity After taking into consideration all of the evidence, I am convinced that after the water which conducts the mining debris shall have once come to rest, so as to deposit all the sand and heavier material that is carried in suspense, leaving only the light, flocculent particles of clay which give it its color, no material will be subsequently deposited from it, unless it is brought to rest and so remains for a period longer than it has remained at rest in the impounding pool.

Second, is there danger to be apprehended from insufficiency of the dam which separates the old from the new impounding basin? The dam is constructed of brush and small trees carefully laid, so that the butts form the outer wall. It is made by layers, as the pool fills up, and as the deposited debris requires it. The interstices between the layers of brush are filled in with the gravel, sand, and clay deposited from the flume. The dam, as it now stands, presents a wall nearly 100 feet high, which seems to be a compact, solid mass of gravel, sand, and clay, with the brush interwoven so as to hold it in place. If there were great pressure upon this dam, if it were a dam across a torrential stream, if its breaking or carrying away would discharge into the streams below the debris that has accumulated, it would appear to be clearly insufficient for the purpose intended; but the evidence, together with a personal inspection of the dam, convinces me that there is no great pressure upon the dam. The heavy material deposited has not only accumulated about the dam, but for a considerable distance below, and the mass appears to be now in the process of recementation and solidifying, which already, to a considerable extent, has restored it to the condition of the material in the surrounding hills. If this dam should break it is difficult to see where injury could result, for the impounded material, if it moved at at all, could only escape into the new impounding reservoir. It is plain that there is no danger from winter torrents. The mine is not in the bed of a mountain stream. The amount of water which naturally falls into this excavation is small, and even in a winter

torrent it must either all escape by the cribs, or simply accumulate and form a lake within the walls of the excavation.

It remains to be considered whether there is danger to the navigability of the streams from the breaking, decaying, or destruction of cribs. The cribs are built of logs about a foot in diameter, notched at the corners, and laid in log-cabin style, lined within with heavy planks, tightly nailed, and covered on the outside with planks in a similar manner, so that the opening within, in the clear, is about three or four feet square. It is claimed by the defendant that this material will not decay so long as it is kept moist by the surrounding mass. I do not think that that contention is well established by the evidence. The cribs in time will decay, but they will last for many years, and they will doubtless considerably outlast the use of these pools for impounding reservoirs. After the pools shall have been filled up with mining debris, and these cribs shall no longer be the outlet of the water of the mine, I do not perceive any harm that can come from their decaying. By that time the impounded material must have become, to a large degree, compact and solidified, so that the caving in of any considerable portion of it need not be expected; and, if it should cave in, it is plain to my mind that the result would be simply to choke up the shaft, and permanently close the same. This view is supported by the history of the use of the shaft heretofore. It is proven that the sudden discharge into the shaft and tunnel of a greater amount of debris than the water could carry away has resulted in a choking up of the outlet, and that the mass of material and water above has simply served, by its pressure, to increase the difficulty of removing the material and reopening the shaft. In short, the danger to be apprehended from the operation of the North Bloomfield mine, with its impounding reservoirs, as constructed and used and intended to be used, is so remote and improbable that the court is not justified in enjoining the use of the property, and thereby interdicting a valuable industry.

In arriving at this conclusion I am not unmindful of the great damage to navigation that has heretofore resulted from the deposit of mining debris in these streams, nor of the important interests that are involved, but I am convinced that in the case of this particular mine the contingency has arisen which was templated in the decision of this court in the Mining Debris Case, in providing that the decree might thereafter be modified upon a showing to the court that a plan to obviate the injuries had been successfully executed.

The injunction will be denied.

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UNITED STATES v. LAWRENCE et al.

(Circuit Court, N. D. California. October 5, 1892.)

(No. 10,738.)

NAVIGABLE WATERS-OBSTRUCTIONS-HYDRAULIC MINING INJUNCTION.

An injunction will be granted, at the suit of the United States, to restrain hydraulic mining operations, when it appears that the dam con

structed in connection with the impounding works is of wood, standing in the bed of a torrential mountain stream, and of necessity is liable to be carried away by freshets, so as to discharge all the impounded debris into the streams, thereby causing great damage to navigation.

In Equity. Suit by the United States against Charles H. Lawrence and others to enjoin the operation of certain hydraulic mining, as dangerous to navigation. Injunction granted.

A. L. Rhodes and Alfred Barstow, for the United States.
C. W. Cross, for respondent.

GILBERT, Circuit Judge. The bill filed by the complainant in this case is similar to the bill in the case of U. S. v. North Bloomfield Mining Co., (53 Fed. Rep. 625;) and the defenses here made are substantially the same as those made in that suit. It is claimed in the answer of the defendants that they have established a system of impounding works whereby all material liable to injure the navigability of the streams referred to in the bill is impounded and retained upon the premises, and does not enter the navigable streams. The mining debris from the defendants' mines escapes through a shaft 90 feet deep, sunk in the lower level of the mine. Thence it is discharged into a tunnel 3,000 feet long, which empties into Canyon creek. About a quarter of a mile below the exit of the tunnel a dam has been constructed across the channel of the creek. This dam is a crib dam, composed of heavy fir logs, pinned together at the corners, and raised to the height of 28 or 30 feet. The interior of the crib is filled with stones. The dam has caused the water to set back to a considerable distance in the stream, creating a pond. Into the upper portion of this pool the mining debris is carried from the tunnel. During the time this restraining device has been used, the mining debris has worked its way down towards the dam, and filled up some portion of the reservoir. The exact proportion of the pool which yet remains to be filled is not definitely fixed by the testimony, but the evidence would indicate that there still remains an impounding pool extending back from the dam a distance of about 1,000 feet, in which no portion of the debris or material discharged appears visible above the surface of the water. It appears, also, that the current of the water in the dam is sluggish, and that during the operation of the mine, and the discharge of debris into the pool, there has been an appreciable current in the water; but the evidence does not show that any considerable amount of debris calculated to lodge in the streams below, or to injure their navigability, has been discharged over the dam. The width of the impounding pool is from 125 to 200 feet. The dam itself is constructed at a narrow place in the stream, and it is anchored against rocks projecting from either side of the ravine, which rocks are in situ, are firm, and afford a strong and solid abutment to support the dam.

In deciding whether a mining operation conducted with this kind of an impounding device should be restrained by the court, I am moved, not so much by consideration of the question whether or

not the mining debris has been successfully impounded by the defendants heretofore, as by the probability of its escape from the impounding pool, and its consequent injury to the navigability of the lower streams in the future. The dam in question appears from the evidence to be strong and well built. It is doubtless capable of sustaining great pressure. It is a wooden dam, however, and it stands in the bed of a torrential stream. It necessarily follows that it is liable to be carried away by freshets. The same forces that have broken similar dams heretofore are liable at any time to destroy this dam; and, if it should be thus destroyed, no one can doubt that all the mining debris now impounded above the dam would by the same destructive force be carried into the streams below. Canyon creek empties into the north fork of the Yuba river about a mile below the dam. The north fork of the Yuba discharges its waters into the main Yuba, thence into the Feather river, thence into the Sacramento. The evidence would indicate that the impounding reservoir is not full, but that its capacity, while considerably reduced, at present may be increased by raising the dam to a height of 100 feet or

more.

It is evident that with the increased height of the dam a corresponding increase in its length must be made, thereby entailing a corresponding increase of the danger of its breaking. In view of the principles announced in the decision of this court in the Mining Debris Case, in 1884, 9 Sawy. 441, 18 Fed. Rep. 753, and in view of the justlygrounded apprehension of injury to navigation in the case of any wooden dam constructed across the channel of a mountain stream, as in the case now before the court, I am of the opinion that an injunction should issue, as prayed for in the bill.

UNITED STATES v. GRAVES.

(District Court, N. D. Iowa, E. D. December 17, 1892.)

1. NATIONAL BANKS-REPORTS TO COMPTROLLER-"FALSE ENTRIES." A "false entry" in a report by a national bank officer or director to the comptroller of the treasury, within the meaning of Rev. St. § 5209, is not merely an incorrect entry made through inadvertence, negligence, or mistake, but is an entry known to the maker to be untrue and incorrect, and by him intentionally entered while so knowing its false and untrue character.

2. SAME.

A national bank is not required to conform the headings of the various accounts on its books to any prescribed names, nor to the names stated in the form of report prescribed by the comptroller; and therefore when a report is called for, if the person making it enters under the headings in the prescribed form a statement of the bank's condition, which is true in respect to the headings in said form, he has fulmiled the demands of the law.

8. SAME-REPORT OF LOANS AND DISCOUNTS.

The entry of "Loans and Discounts" in reports to the comptroller does not guaranty the solvency of the makers of the paper, but is a statement that in truth and fact at the date named in the report the bank actually held and owned "Loans and Discounts" to the aggregate so reported.

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