JURISDICTION OF JUSTICES.

LAWS 1863-64, P. 67; FEB. 10, 1864.

AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act concerning courts of justice of this State and judicial officers," passed April 20, 1863.

The People, etc.

SEC. 1. Section 48 of said act is amended so as to read as follows:

SEC. 48. These courts shall have jurisdiction, within their respective townships or cities, of the following actions and proceedings:

Eighth. Of an action to determine the right to a mining claim, when the value of the claim is less than $300, and for damages for injury to the same, when the damages claimed are less than $300.

SEC. 2. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.
SEC. 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
NOTE. The original act was not taken, because it had no reference to mining claims.

RECOVERY OF POSSESSION-LIMITATION.

LAWS 1863-64, P. 91; FEB. 18, 1864. (GENERAL LAWS 1850-1864, SEC. 4382–3.) AN ACT supplementary to the act entitled "An act to amend an act defining the time for commencing civil actions," passed April 22, 1850, approved April 18, 1863.

The People, etc.

SEC. 1. No action for the recovery of property in mining claims, or for the recovery of the possession thereof, shall be maintained unless it appears that the plaintiff, his ancestor, predecessor, or grantor was seized or possessed of the premises in question within two years before the commencement of this action.

SEC. 2. No cause of action or defense to an action, founded upon the title to property in mining claims, or to the rents or profits out of the same, shall be effectual unless it appear that the person prosecuting the action or making the defense, or under whose title the action is prosecuted or the defense is made, or the ancestor, predecessor, or grantor of such person, was seized or possessed of the premises in question within two years before the commencement of the act in respect to which such action is prosecuted or defense made.

SEC. 3. This act shall take effect from and after its passage.

POSTPONEMENT OF TRIAL.

LAWS 1911, P. 1448; MAY 1, 1911.

AN ACT to amend section 595 of the Code of Civil Procedure of this State, relating to trials in civil causes.

The People, etc.

SEC. 1. Section 595 of the Code of Civil Procedure of California is hereby amended to read as follows:

SEC. 595. * * * In actions involving the title to mining claims, or involving trespass for damages upon mining claims, if it be made to appear to the satisfaction of the court that, in order that justice may be done and the action fairly tried on its merits, it is necessary that further developments should be made, underground or upon the surface of the mining claims involved in said action, the court shall grant the postponement of the trial of the action, giving the party a reasonable time in which to prepare for trial and to do said development work.

ACTION-ADVERSE CLAIM.

SEC. 738, CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE.

SEC. 738. An action may be brought by any person against another who claims an estate or interest in real property adverse to him, for the purpose of determining such adverse claim.

ANNOTATIONS.

DETERMINATION OF ADVERSE CLAIMS.

Under this section a person in the unqualified, peaceful possession of an oil claim or other valuable mineral deposits on the public land may in a proper action have determined adverse claims to such possession.

Smith v. Union Oil Co., 166 Cal. 217, p. 219, 135 Fac. 966 (1913).

ARTESIAN WELLS.

REGULATION OF ARTESIAN WELLS.

LAWS 1875-76, P. 331; MAR. 18, 1876. LAWS 1877-78, P. 195; MAR. 9, 1878.

AN ACT to regulate the use of artesian wells and to prevent the waste of subterranean waters in this State.

The People, etc.

NOTE. The differences in these acts are sho wnby words in parentheses or the sections separately copied.

SEC. 1. (Code Supp. 1877-78, 1880, Sec. 15040.) Any artesian well which is not capped, or furnished with such mechanical appliance as will readily and effectively arrest and prevent the flow of water from such well is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. The owner, tenant, or occupant of the land upon which such well is situated who causes, permits, or suffers such public nuisance, or suffers or permits it to remain or continue, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

SEC. 2. Any person owning, possessing, or occupying any land upon which is situated an artesian well, who causes, suffers, or permits the water to unnecessarily flow from such well, or to go to waste, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

SEC. 3. An artesian well is defined, for the purposes of this act, to be any artificial well the waters of which will flow (continuously) over the natural surface of the ground adjacent to such well at any season of the year.

SEC. 4. Waste is defined, for the purposes of this act, to be the causing, suffering, or permitting the waters flowing from such well (whether naturally or artificially raised to the surface) to run into any river, creek, or other natural water-course or channel, or into any bay, lake, or pond, or into any street, road, highway (sewer), or upon the land of any person other than that of the owner of such well, or upon public lands of the United States or of the State of California, unless it be used thereon for the purposes and in the manner that it may be lawfully used upon the land of the owner of such well, provided, that this section shall not be so construed as to prevent the use of such waters for the proper irrigation of trees standing along or upon any street, road, or highway (or for ornamental ponds or fountains, or the propagation of fish).

SEC. 5. Any person violating any of the provisions of this act may be proceeded against for a misdemeanor in any justice's court of the county in which such well is located, and shall, upon conviction, be fined for each offense, not less than $10 or more than $50. There shall also, upon conviction had, in addition to such fine, be taxed against such party the cost of prosecution. Such fine and costs may be collected as in other criminal cases, and the justice may also issue an execution upon the judgment therein rendered, and the same may be enforced and collected as in civil cases.

SEC. 6. (Act of March 18, 1876.) It shall be the duty of the roadmaster to examine the artesian wells within their respective districts, and for that purpose may at all proper times enter upon the premises where such well is situated; and it shall be his duty to institute, or cause to be instituted, criminal action for all violations of the provisions of this act, or for all public offenses defined in this act, committed within such district.

SEC. 6. (Act of March 9, 1878.) It shall be the duty of the supervisors or roadmasters, on complaint of any citizen within their respective districts, and for that purpose may at all proper times enter upon the premises where such well is situated; and it shall be his duty to institute, or cause to be instituted, criminal action for all violations of the provisions of this act, or for all public offenses defined in this act committed within such district.

SEC. 7. An act entitled "An act to regulate the use of artesian wells and to prevent the waste of subterranean waters in Santa Clara and Los Angeles Counties," approved March 18, 1876, and all other acts and parts of acts in conflict with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.

SEC. 8. This act shall not apply to artesian wells in the county of San Bernardino. SEC. 9. This act shall take effect and be in force on and after the first day of July, A. D. 1878.

LAWS 1887, P. 62; MAR. 9, 1887.

AN ACT making an appropriation for the support and maintenance of the State mining bureau for the thirty-ninth and fortieth fiscal years.

ASSAYER.

OFFICE OF STATE ASSAYER.

LAWS 1850, P. 338; APR. 20, 1850.

AN ACT creating the office of State assayer, melter, and refiner of gold, and defining his duties.

The People, etc.

SEC. 1. There shall be established in the city of San Francisco a State office for assaying, melting, and refining gold.

SEC. 2. The governor of the State shall appoint two competent persons to take in charge and perform the duties of said establishment, one as director, the other as assayer, melter, and refiner of gold. Before entering upon their duties, each of them shall execute a bond, with two or more good and sufficient sureties of $50,000 each, to be approved by the governor, conditioned for the skillful and faithful performance of all the duties required of them by law, which bonds shall be made payable to the people of the State of California, and deposited with the secretary of state. They, and all persons in their employ, shall take an oath before some judge duly qualified to administer oaths, truthfully and faithfully to perform their trust.

SEC. 3. They shall be appointed and hold office for one year, and until their successors are appointed and qualified. They shall keep their office open daily (Sundays excepted), from 9 o'clock a. m. until 2 o'clock p. m., for the transaction of business. SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of the State director to procure and safely keep a series of standard weights, corresponding with the troy weights of the United States Mint, consisting of pound weights, and the requisite subdivisions. He shall also receive all gold dust or bullion, in quantity not less than 2 ounces, troy weight, which may be offered him for the purpose of assaying or refining. All such gold dust or bullion shall be weighed, and, when practicable, in the presence of the depositor, and the director shall be responsible on his bond for the safe-keeping and delivery of the same; if the dust or bullion is in such a state as to require melting before its value can be ascertained, the weight after melting shall be considered as the true weight of the dust or bullion so deposited.

SEC. 5. It shall be the duty of the director to keep a record of the weight of all dust or bullion received by him, the time of its reception, the name and residence of the person from whom it is received, and the amount received from each person, and the county from which said dust or metal was taken, and upon delivery of it into the hands of the assayer, he shall take a receipt of the same in a book kept for that purpose.

SEC. 6. The director shall keep a book of receipts, and a receipt shall be given to each depositor of the weight and value of the amount deposited; said receipts shall be regularly numbered in the order in which they are given, and the number of the receipt shall be entered upon the margin of the page from which it is taken, with the date when given, the weight and value of the amount, and the name of the person receiving the receipt.

SEC. 7. It shall be the duty of the State assayer to carefully refine and assay any and all gold dust or bullion placed in his hands by the director for that purpose, and to cause the same to be made into ingots or bars, in the form of an oblong square, and of such weight as shall be desired by the depositor; provided, that no such ingots or bars shall be made or issued of less weight than 2 ounces.

SEC. 8. The State assayer shall keep books of record in which shall be recorded the original weight of all dust or bullion placed in his hands by the director for assaying,