Settlement.-The extent of the settlement at the time of the survey. Industry.-The industrial possibilities of the township, especially as to the adaptability of the region to agricultural pursuits, stock raising, lumbering, mining, or other profitable enterprise.

Special. All exceptional steps in the technical process of the survey, and other special matters required in paragraphs Nos. 1 to 19, inclusive, of the above summary, not otherwise suitably recorded will be reported in the general description.

In addition to the field notes the surveyors are required to prepare, as the work progresses, an outline diagram showing the course and length of all established lines with connections, and a topographical sketch embracing all features usually shown upon the completed official township plat. These maps will be made to scale, drawn in pencil only, if desired, and will be kept up with the progress of the field work. The interiors of the sections will be fully completed; the topographical features will be sketched with care while in the view of the surveyor, and the position within the section of the various details which are to be shown on the completed plat will be located with an accuracy commensurate with their relative importance. The design of the specimen township plat will be followed closely in the preparation of the outline diagram and topographical sketch plat, except that it will generally be desirable to employ a separate sheet for each of the two purposes. These maps will then form the basis of the official plat, the ultimate purpose of which is a true and complete graphic representation of the public lands surveyed.

CHAPTER IV.

CORNER MONUMENTS.

THE LEGAL SIGNIFICANCE OF A CORNER MONUMENT.

237. It is one of the fundamental principles of the surveying laws that absolute permanency be attached to the public-land surveys when the lines have been officially established. The "survey" embraces certain definite technical procedure, heretofore described, also the marking of certain fixed points, as will be described in this chapter, though the establishment of a survey may not be termed "completed" until the field notes and plat and every detail of the technical operation constituting the survey have been finally accepted by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, all as contemplated by law. The law provides that the original corners established during the process of the survey shall forever remain fixed in position, even to disregarding technical errors in the execution of the survey-where discrepancies may have passed undetected prior to the acceptance of the survey and the opening of the lands to entry-and, as an aid to the matter of permanency, the Congress provides for the purchase of durable material for the corner monuments, also a penalty for the defacing of any marks relating to the locus of the survey. If it were possible to carry out the full intent of the surveying laws in regard to the aforementioned particulars, the most intricate of all technical and legal problems relating to surveys-the questions pertaining to the reestablishment of lost corners-would be avoided.

The courts attach major importance to authentic evidence relating to the original position of an official corner monument, such evidence being given far greater weight than the technical record relating to bearings and lengths of lines, and it is assumed in the first instance that the original corners shall serve every necessary purpose for the identification of the survey delineated upon the official approved plat, and of the lands which have passed into private ownership. The legal significance of the original monuments, as thus briefly outlined, makes it mandatory upon the surveyor to exercise con

stant diligence in the workmanlike construction of lasting corners, and alertness in skillfully connecting the same with natural objects or improvements, to the end that the greatest possible permanency may be secured for the public-land surveys.

238. Accordingly, if a surveyor is called upon to alter the condition of a previously established point, the utmost regard should be shown for the evidence of the original location of the monument, and the corner will be carefully reconstructed by such additional means as may be appropriate, without destroying the evidence which served to identify its legal position. A complete record will be kept of the description of the old monument as identified, and all alterations and additions thereto.

239. Regulation monuments are employed to mark permanently the position of the quarter-section, section, township and meander corners, appropriate to the subdivision of the public lands, as described in Chapter III; also at such sixteenth-section corners as the requirements of the written special instructions or the exigencies of the survey of fractional sections may demand; also at all angle points along an irregular boundary line, and at intermediate intervals of 40 and 80 chains along such limiting boundary. A more extended discussion of the subject of "angle points" and other monuments to be established upon irregular boundaries will be found in Chapter VII. 240. The position of every corner monument will be "evidenced" by the best of such accessories as may be available, and where the corner point itself can not be marked in the usual manner an appropriate "witness corner" will be established. A "witness meander corner" will be established upon secure ground wherever the intersection of a surveyed line with the mean high-water elevation of a meanderable body of water falls at a point where the monument would be liable to destruction.

241. The field notes relating to the establishment of a corner monument will be introduced into the technical record of the survey at the logical place in the record where the true position for the corner is indicated as having been attained. The record of the monument itself will embrace a description of:

(a) The corner material, including its dimensions, in the order of length and diameter of an iron post; or length, width and breadth of a stone; or the breast height diameter of a tree; (b) the depth set in the ground, with mention of additional support if any; (c) the significance of its position; (d) the markings upon the monu

ment; and (e) the nature of the accessories, including character, size, position and markings.

CORNER MATERIAL.

242. The General Land Office has adopted a model iron post for monumenting the public-land surveys, which will be generally used unless exceptional circumstances warrant a departure from this rule. This practice is deemed so important that the surveyor is not authorized to exercise an option in the matter, but he may refer the question to the proper supervising officer, who may grant authority for the use of other suitable material, provided the reasons for departing from the general rule are sufficient, in which case a brief statement of the facts will be given in the field notes, in the form of an explanation as to why the model iron posts were not employed.

The model iron post is made from commercial iron pipe, from 1 to 3 inches in diameter, which is cut into lengths of about 36 inches; one end of the pipe is split for a distance of about 4 or 5 inches, and the two halves are spread (when heated) to form flanges or foot plates, at right angles to the axis of the pipe; a brass cap is securely riveted to the opposite end of the pipe; and finally the pipe is filled with concrete. Unless otherwise provided in the written special instructions, the iron posts will be employed as follows: 3-inch, for standard and closing township corners, corners of one, two or four townships, and as required for mile corners and angle points of special boundary surveys; 2-inch, for standard and closing section corners, and corners of one, two or four sections; and, 1-inch, for quarter-section and meander corners, and as required for miscellaneous angle points, sixteenth-section corners and corners of special tract surveys. All witness corners are to be of the same size as would be used for the true corner.

243. The caps of the iron posts are to be suitably and plainly marked with steel dies at the time when used; the posts will be set in the ground about three-fourths of their length; and earth and stone, if the latter is at hand, will be tamped into the excavation to give the post a solid anchorage.

244. Durable native stone may be substituted for the model iron post, if the procedure has been duly authorized, but no stone will be used which measures less than 20 inches in length, or less than 6 inches in either of its minor dimensions, or less than 1,000 cubic inches in volume. A stone should always be selected with regard