outcry to the highest bidder at not less than their appraised value, respectively, in the manner and on the terms hereinafter described and under the supervision of the Commissioner of the General Land Office continuing from day to day as long as may be necessary.

Manner.-Bids may be made either in person or by agent but not by mail nor at any time or place other than the time and place when and where the lots are offered for sale hereunder, and any person may purchase any number of lots for which he is the highest bidder. Bidders will not be required to show any qualifications as to age, citizenship, or otherwise. If any successful bidder fails to make the payment required on the date of sale the lot awarded to him shall be reoffered for sale on the following day.

Terms.-No lot will be disposed of for less than its appraised value. One-third of the bid price shall be paid on the date the bid is accepted and the balance of the purchase price may be paid in two equal installments in one and two years from the date of the sale. Interest at the rate of 5 per cent per annum will be charged on deferred installments from the date of sale. No entry will be allowed until payment has been made in full for the lot, but in case of partial payment there will be issued to the purchaser a nontransferable memorandum duplicate certificate as per Form 4-014; the receiver in such case will issue a receipt (Form 4-131) for the money paid. Nothing herein will prevent the transfer of interest secured by the purchase and the partial payment of the lot, by deed, but the assignee will acquire no greater right than that of the original purchaser and the final entry and patent will issue to the original purchaser when all payments are made.

Preference right.-The act of March 3, 1921, section 5, provides: That any person who, at the date when the appraisers commence their work upon the land, shall be an actual resident upon any one such lot and the owner of substantial and permanent improvements thereon, and who shall maintain his or her residence and improvements on such lot to the date of his or her application to enter, shall be entitled to enter, at any time prior to the day fixed for the public sale and at the appraised value thereof, such lot and any two additional lots of which he or she may also be in possession and upon which he or she may have substantial and permanent improvements: And provided further, That before making entry of any such lot or lots the applicant shall make proof, to the satisfaction of the register and receiver of the land district in which the land lies of such residence, possession, and ownership of improvements, under such regulations as to time, notice, manner, and character of proofs as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior: And provided further, That in making their appraisal of the lots so surveyed, it shall be the duty of the appraisers to ascertain the names of the residents upon and occupants of any such lots, the character and extent of the improvements thereon, and the name of the reputed owner thereof, and to report their findings in connection with their report of appraisal, which report of findings shall be taken as prima facie evidence of the facts therein set out.

The application for preference right should be presented before the date of the public sale, accompanied by proof in support thereof in the form of a corroborated affidavit, setting forth the facts as to residence, showing when it began and the length thereof, ownership and value of improvements, and any other pertinent facts.

Forfeiture. If any person who has made partial payment on the lot purchased fails to make any succeeding payment, required under these regulations, at the date such payment becomes due, the money. deposited by such person for such lot will be forfeited and the lot

Improvements on such lots, if any, must not be considered in fixing such value. Lots or blocks reserved for public purposes will not be appraised.

SCHEDULE OF APPRAISEMENT

3. The schedule of appraisement must be prepared in triplicate on forms furnished by the General Land Office, and the certificates at the end thereof must be signed by each appraiser, and on being so completed they must be immediately transmitted to said office, and when approved by the Secretary of the Interior one copy will be sent to the district land office. In the case of reclamation town sites, one copy of the schedule will be sent to the Commissioner of Reclamation.

NOTICE OF SALE

4. Each sale will be given such publicity as may be deemed proper in the particular case. Appropriate instructions in this connection will be given in the order for sale.

TIME, PLACE, AND TERMS OF SALE

5. Special regulations will be issued in each case prescribing the time when, the place where, and the terms under which the lots will be offered.

QUALIFICATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS

6. No restriction is made as to the number of lots one person may purchase. Bids and payments may be made through agents, but not by mail, or at any time or place other than that fixed in the notice of sale.

COMBINATIONS IN RESTRAINT OF THE SALE

7. All persons are warned against forming any combination or agreement which will prevent any lot from selling advantageously, or which will in any way hinder or embarrass the sale, and all persons so offending will be prosecuted under section 59 of the Criminal Code of the United States, which reads as follows:

Whoever, before or at the time of the public sale of any of the lands of the United States, shall bargain, contract, or agree, or attempt to bargain, contract, or agree with any other person, that the last-named person shall not bid upon or purchase the land so offered for sale, or any parcel thereof; or whoever by intimidation, combination, or unfair management shall hinder or prevent, or attempt to hinder or prevent, any person from bidding upon or purchasing any tract of land so offered for sale, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

CERTIFICATES

8. All lots purchased at the same time, for cash, in the same town site, and by the same person should be included in one certificate, in order to prevent unnecessary multiplicity of patents.

Where cash certificates can not immediately issue, because payment for the lots has not been made in full, and where the regulations authorize the issuance of nontransferable memorandum certificates. more than one lot should not be included in the same certificate.

REOFFERING AT PUBLIC SALE-PRIVATE ENTRY

9. In the absence of special instructions in a particular case, an offering at public sale may be adjourned or closed, in the discretion of the officer conducting the sale. If adjourned, the unsold lots will be held for future disposition at public sale. If closed, the unsold lots will become subject to private entry at the appraised price.

Lots sold at public sale and forfeited because of nonpayment of the purchase price, or for any other reason, will be held for further offering at public sale, unless reentry of the lots at private sale, at a designated price, is authorized by the regulations under which the lots are sold.

Lots sold at private sale should be accompanied by an application therefor, signed by the applicant.

TOWN SITES PLATTED BY OR FOR OCCUPANTS

In a town site platted and disposed of under sections 2382 to 2386, inclusive, United States Revised Statutes, the procedure is as follows:

SURVEY AND PLAT

1. The occupants, at their own expense, must cause a survey of the land into lots, blocks, streets, and alleys to be made, and the plat and field notes thereof to be filed with the recorder of the county in which the land is situated. The plat must show (1) that the land does not include an area in excess of 640 acres, unless the lots, buildings, and improvements cover a greater area, and then only to the extent so occupied and improved; (2) that the boundaries of the land are correctly shown and described thereon according to the lines of the public surveys, or if not so surveyed, then that the exterior lines of the town-site survey are tied to a designated, permanent, and thoroughly identified monument; (3) that the streets, squares, blocks, lots, and alleys, the dimensions of the same, with measurements, courses, and area of each municipal subdivision, and the name of the town are correctly delineated thereon; and (4) the exterior lines of all existing railroad rights of way and station grounds. The lots should not exceed 4,200 square feet, except in cases where the configuration necessitates a different area. above required facts should be verified by the oath of the surveyor entered upon the margin of the plat.

The

A statement of the extent and general character of the improvements on the land must be filed with the plat and field notes, and such plat and statement must be verified by the oath of the party acting for and in behalf of the occupants of the land.

TRANSCRIPT OF PLAT AND STATEMENT

2. Within one month after filing such plat, field notes, and statement, a transcript thereof in duplicate, each duly verified by the certificate of the county recorder, and accompanied by the testimony of two witnesses that such town has been established in good faith, and showing the number of inhabitants thereof, and when it was so established, shall be filed with the register of the land district in which the town site is located, who will immediately transmit the same to the General Land Office for consideration, and approval thereof one of said duplicate plats and statements will be returned to the register for his files.

NOTICE OF FILING PLAT

upon

the

3. On filing such plat and statement the register will prepare and conspicuously post in his office a notice to the effect that the offi cial plat of such town site has been filed and that he is ready to receive applications by lot occupants to make proof for and purchase the lots occupied by them, respectively. The newspapers in the vicinity should be given copies of the notice as an item of news, and such other publicity should be given it as can be done without

expense.

ADJUSTMENT TO LINES OF PUBLIC SURVEY

4. When the town site is upon land over which the township surveys have not been extended the district cadastral engineer will be notified of the town-site survey and be furnished by the General Land Office with an outline plat showing the exterior lines thereof, with courses and distances, the date of the survey and the approval thereof, and thereafter when the township surveys have been ex tended over the land the exterior lines of the town site may be adjusted thereto where it can be done without impairing vested rights.

DEPARTMENT MAY MAKE TOWN-SITE SURVEY

5. Refusal or failure to file such transcript, plat, field notes, and statement, with the testimony, as above required, within twelve months from the establishment of a town on the public domain, will authorize the Secretary of the Interior to cause a survey and plat to be made thereof, the lots in which shall be disposed of at an increase of 50 per centum on the minimum price.

PRICE OF LOTS

6. The minimum price for all lots of 4,200 square feet or less is $10 per lot, except in cases where the Secretary of the Interior causes the survey into lots and blocks to be made by the Government, in which case the minimum price is $15 per lot for such lots. The minimum price for all lots in excess of 4,200 square feet will be com puted by adding to said minimum price of $10 or $15, as the case may be, the sum of $4 for each additional 1,000 square feet or frac tional part thereof in excess of 4,200 square feet, in the absence of special provisions in a particular case.

PREEMPTION CLAIMS

7. A preemption right of purchase at the minimum price, at any time before the day fixed for the public sale, of not exceeding two lots, is accorded an actual resident, to secure which he must file in the district office his application therefor, and therein state the date of settlement, the value and character of his improvements thereon, that he is 21 years of age or over or the head of a family, and that he is a citizen of the United States or has declared his intention to become such. The notice of intention to make proof must be filed and the notice for publication must be issued, published, and posted at the applicant's expense as in ordinary cases and in manner and form and for the time as provided in the act of March 3, 1879 (20 Stat. 472). (See 38 L. D. 131, 40 L. D. 459, and 43 L. D. 216.)

Where a husband and wife are joint settlers, and the husband purchases two lots, as stated, the wife may also purchase an "additional lot" upon which she has placed substantial improvements. (39 L. D. 516.)

PREEMPTION PROOF

8. Preemption proof may be made before the register, or any officer duly authorized by law, and must show by record or documentary evidence where such evidence is usually required, and where not so required by the testimony of witnesses, (1) due publication of the register's notice; (2) the claimant's age; (3) his citizenship; and (4) his actual residence upon one lot and substantial improvements on the second lot, if two lots be included in the application. The proof must embrace the testimony of the applicant and of at least two of his advertised witnesses. The purchase price for the lot or lots must be paid when the proof is made. Entry of public lands under other laws, or in other town sites, or ownership of more than 320 acres, will not disqualify an applicant from making such entry. No entry can be made of an improved lot on which the claimant does not reside unless his residence lot is included in the same or a previous entry.

HEARINGS

9. Hearings will be ordered and conducted in accordance with the Rules of Practice where two or more adverse applications are filed for the same lot, or where a sufficient contest affidavit is filed against an application, on or before the day fixed for making proof, but no purchase money will be collected from the applicants until the final determination of the case, whereupon the successful applicant will be required to pay the purchase price within 30 days from notice thereof.

CONFLICTING MINERAL CLAIMS

10. Mineral surveys, locations, applications, and entries covering lots in such town sites will not prevent the entry of such lots hereunder and the issuance of patent thereon, but such mineral claims,

• See instructions of Oct. 19, 1929, p. 1149.