July 25, 1866. Preamble. Baltimore and Ohio R. R. Co., may extend railroad into the District of Columbia. CHAP. CCLI.An Act to authorize the Extension, Construction, and Use by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company of a Railroad from between Knoxville and the Monocacy Junction into and within the District of Columbia. Whereas it is represented to this present Congress that the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, incorporated by the State of Maryland, are desirous of extending the road authorized to be built by them, by an act of the general assembly of that State, entitled "An act to authorize the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company to build a railroad from a point on the line of its road between Knoxville and the Monocacy Junction, through Frederick and Montgomery counties, to the boundary of the District of Columbia, so as to make a direct communication with the city of Washington," into and within the District of Columbia: Therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company shall be, and they are hereby, authorized to extend into and within the District of Columbia the road aforesaid, to such point or points, terminus or termini, as may be agreed upon between the said Termini to be company and the corporation of Washington, in respect of a road within agreed upon the limits of Washington, and between the said company and the corporation of Georgetown, as respects a road within the limits of Georgetown. and Georgetown. An[d] the said Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company are hereby authorized to have and exercise the same powers, rights, and privileges, and privileges of the shall be subject to the same restrictions, in the extension and construction of the said road, into and within the said District as they have, may exercise, or possess, or are subject to within the State of Maryland, under and by virtue of their charter or act of incorporation from the State of Maryland; and shall be entitled to the same franchises, rights, compensation, benefits, and immunities in the use of the said road as are provided in the said charter. with the cities of Washington Powers and corporation. Provisions of SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That all the provisions of the sevacts of Congress eral acts of Congress relating to the lateral road authorized to be built relating to lateral road, made apinto and within the District of Columbia by an act passed March second, plicable to this eighteen hundred and thirty-one, and entitled "An act to authorize the corporation. extension, construction, and use of a lateral branch of the Baltimore and Vol. iv. p. 476. Ohio Road into and within the District of Columbia," and the supplements 1831, ch. 85. Extension to be commenced in one year, and completed in three years. July 25, 1866. entry and deliv thereto, be, and they are hereby, declared to apply to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company so far as they are severally applicable to the location, construction, and use by the said company of the road now authorized to be constructed into and within the said District. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said railroad company shall commence the construction of said extension of said road within one year, and complete the same within three years after the passage of this act; and on failure to do so, the privileges granted by this act shall be forfeited by said company. APPROVED, July 25, 1866. CHAP. CCLII. - An Act to change the Port of Entry in Puget's Sound. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Port Townsend States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the first made the port of day of October, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, the port of Port Angeery in district of los, in the district of Puget's Sound, in Washington Territory, is hereby Puget's Sound. abolished as a port of entry, and that Port Townsend be, and is hereby, Port Angelos established as the port of entry and delivery for the said district, from and after said date. abolished as a port of entry. APPROVED, July 25, 1866. July 25, 1866. CHAP. CCLIII.- An Act to grade East Capitol Street and establish Lincoln Square. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the commissioner of public East Capitol buildings be, and he hereby is, authorized and directed, in such manner Street to be graded and Linas he may deem most proper, to cause East Capitol Street to be graded coln Square enfrom Third Street east to Eleventh Street east, and to cause the square at closed. the intersection of said street with Massachusetts, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky avenues, between Eleventh and Thirteenth streets east, to be enclosed with a wooden fence, and the same shall be known as Lincoln Square. And the sum of fifteen thousand dollars is hereby ap- Appropriation. propriated out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to enable the said improvement to be made. APPROVED, July 25, 1866. CHAP. CCLIV. · An Act in Relation to the unlawful Tapping of Government Water July 25, 1866. Pipes. Unlawful tap ment water Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the unlawful tapping of any water pipe laid down in the District of Columbia by authority of the ping of governUnited States is hereby declared to be a misdemeanor and an indictable pipes punishable offence; and any person who may be indicted for and convicted of such by fine or imprisonment. offence in the criminal court of the District of Columbia shall be subject to such fine as the court may think proper to impose, not exceeding five hundred dollars, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year. And it is hereby made the special duty of the commissioner of public Commissione. of public buildbuildings to bring to the notice of the attorney of the United States for ings to prosethe District of Columbia, or to the grand jury, any infraction of this law. cute. APPROVED, July 25, 1866. CHAP. CCLV.- An Act to authorize the Entry and Clearance of Vessels at the Port of July 25, 1866. Calais, Maine. Deputy collec tor of customs at Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, from and after the passage of this act, the Secretary of the Treasury may authorize, under such Calais, Me., may regulations as he shall deem necessary, the deputy collector of customs at enter and clear the port of Calais, in the State of Maine, to enter and clear vessels, and vessels, &c. to perform such other official acts as the said Secretary shall think advisable. APPROVED, July 25, 1866. An Act granting the Right of Way to Ditch and Canal Owners over July 26, 1866. the Public Lands, and for other Purposes. Mineral lands declared open to occupation to all lations, &c. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the mineral lands of the public domain, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared to be free and open to exploration and occupation by all citizens of the United citizens, &c. States, and those who have declared their intention to become citizens, subject to regusubject to such regulations as may be prescribed by law, and subject also to the local customs or rules of miners in the several mining districts, so far as the same may not be in conflict with the laws of the United States. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That whenever any person or assoPersons, &c. ciation of persons claim a vein or lode of quartz, or other rock in place, out opposition, claiming, withbearing gold, silver, cinnabar, or copper, having previously occupied and any vein of improved the same according to the local custom or rules of miners in the quartz-bearing gold, &c. having district where the same is situated, and having expended in actual labor occupied and ⚫ and improvements thereon an amount of not less than one thousand dol- made expendi tures on the samne, and filing lars, and in regard to whose possession there is no controversy or opposdiagram, may ing claim, it shall and may be lawful for said claimant or association of enter the tract and receive a claimants to file in the local land office a diagram of the same, so extended patent therefor. laterally or otherwise as to conform to the local laws, customs, and rules of miners, and to enter such tract and receive a patent therefor, granting such mine, together with the right to follow such vein or lode with its dips, angles, and variations, to any depth, although it may enter the land adjoining, which land adjoining shall be sold subject to this condition. Patent to grant what. After filing diagram of tract claimed, what proceedings to be had before patent issues. Notice to be published. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That upon the filing of the diagram as provided in the second section of this act, and posting the same in a conspicuous place on the claim, together with a notice of intention to apply for a patent, the register of the land office shall publish a notice of the same in a newspaper published nearest to the location of said claim, and shall also post such notice in his office for the period of ninety days; and after the expiration of said period, if no adverse claim shall have been filed, it shall be the duty of the surveyor-general, upon application of the Survey of plat party, to survey the premises and make a plat thereof, indorsed with his of premises. approval, designating the number and description of the location, the value of the labor and improvements, and the character of the vein exPayment of posed; and upon the payment to the proper officer of five dollars per five dollars per acre, together with the cost of such survey, plat, and notice, and giving acre, and costs of survey, &c. satisfactory evidence that said diagram and notice have been posted on the claim during said period of ninety days, the register of the land office shall transmit to the general land office said plat, survey, and description; Survey, plat, and a patent shall issue for the same thereupon. But said plat, survey, &c. to cover only or description shall in no case cover more than one vein or lode, and no one vein, to be named in patent. patent shall issue for more than one vein or lode, which shall be expressed in the patent issued. Proceedings when the loca- Location not SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That when such location and entry of a mine shall be upon unsurveyed lands, it shall and may be lawful, after the extension thereto of the public surveys, to adjust the surveys to the limits of the premises according to the location and possession and plat aforesaid, and the surveyor-general may, in extending the surveys, vary the same from a rectangular form to suit the circumstances of the country and the local rules, laws, and customs of miners: Provided, That no location hereafter made shall exceed two hundred feet in length along the vein for each locator, with an additional claim for discovery to the claim for discov- discoveror of the lode, with the right to follow such vein to any depth, with all its dips, variations, and angles, together with a reasonable quanany depth, &c. tity of surface for the convenient working of the same as fixed by local Limit to num- rules: And provided further, That no person may make more than one location on the same lode, and not more than three thousand feet shall be taken in any one claim by any association of persons. to exceed 200 feet along vein, with additional erer, and right to follow vein to ber and extent of locations. Further condi tion of sale, and to be expressed in patent. Where ad verse claimants appear, proceedings stayed until right is settled. Patent then to issue. President may establish additional land districts, &c. for SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That as a further condition of sale, in the absence of necessary legislation by Congress, the local legislature of any State or Territory may provide rules for working mines involving easements, drainage, and other necessary means to their complete develop ment; and those conditions shall be fully expressed in the patent. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That whenever any adverse claim ants to any mine located and claimed as aforesaid shall appear before the approval of the survey, as provided in the third section of this act, all proceedings shall be stayed until a final settlement and adjudication in the courts of competent jurisdiction of the rights of possession to such claim, when a patent may issue as in other cases. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and is hereby, authorized to establish additional land districts and to appoint the necessary officers under existing laws, wherever he purposes of this may deem the same necessary for the public convenience in executing the provisions of this act. act. See Post, p. 470. is SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the right of way for the construction of highways over public lands, not reserved for public uses, hereby granted. Owners of vested rights to SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That whenever, by priority of possession, rights to the use of water for mining, agricultural, manufacturing, use of water for or other purposes, have vested and accrued, and the same are recognized mining, &c. to and acknowledged by the local customs, laws, and the decisions of courts, be protected, and right of way for the possessors and owners of such vested rights shall be maintained and canals and ditchprotected in the same; and the right of way for the construction of es granted. ditches and canals for the purposes aforesaid is hereby acknowledged and confirmed: Provided, however, That whenever, after the passage of this act, any person or persons shall, in the construction of any ditch or canal, injure or damage the possession of any settler on the public domain, the party committing such injury or damage shall be liable to the party injured for such injury or damage. pas Damages. Owners of homesteads which no valu may pre-empt SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That wherever, prior to the sage of this act, upon the lands heretofore designated as mineral lands, made upon lands which have been excluded from survey and sale, there have been home- designated as steads made by citizens of the United States, or persons who have de- mineral, in clared their intention to become citizens, which homesteads have been able mines of made, improved, and used for agricultural purposes, and upon which there gold, &c. have have been no valuable mines of gold, silver, cinnabar, or copper discov- been found, &c. ered, and which are properly agricultural lands, the said settlers or own- the same, &c.; ers of such homesteads shall have a right of pre-emption thereto, and shall be entitled to purchase the same at the price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and in quantity not to exceed one hundred and sixty-acres; or said parties may avail themselves of the provisions of the them as homeact of Congress approved May twenty, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, 1862, ch. 75. entitled "An act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public do- Vol xii. p. 392. main," and acts amendatory thereof. or may take steads. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That upon the survey of the lands Upon survey, lands clearly agaforesaid, the Secretary of the Interior may designate and set apart such ricultural may portions of the said lands as are clearly agricultural lands, which lands be set apart and shall thereafter be subject to pre-emption and sale as other public lands made subject to of the United States, and subject to all the laws and regulations applica- sale. ble to the same. APPROVED, July 26, 1866. CHAP. CCLXIII. pre-emption and An Act to authorize "The Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River July 26, 1866. Tidewater Canal Company" to enter the District of Columbia, and extend their Canal to the Anacostia River at any Point above Benning's Bridge. canal to Anacostia River; Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That "The Chesapeake Bay The Chesaand Potomac River Tide-water Canal Company," incorporated by the peake Bay, &c. Canal Company general assembly of the State of Maryland, at the January session there- may extend its of, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, by an act entitled "An act to incorporate the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River Tide-water Canal Company," be, and the same are hereby, authorized to extend their canal from the point where it strikes the boundary line of the District of Columbia, thence in and through the said District to the Anacostia River at any point thereon above Benning's bridge. may take and hold property necessary for SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said company are hereby authorized and empowered to take, purchase, and hold, for the purpose[s] of this act, so much real estate and other property as shall be necessarily proper construcrequired for the proper construction of the extension aforesaid, and for tion of extension, &c. the construction of all proper and convenient basins, locks, reservoirs, docks, and wharves, to be connected with said extension. And where the Proceedings said company shall not be able to procure such real estate by purchase where land can not be purchased, or the owner is under disability. Commission of inquest of damages. made. Notice. from the owner thereof, or the owner thereof shall be a femme covert, infant, non compos mentis, imprisoned, or resident beyond the District of Columbia, then application may be made by the president of said company to the chief justice of the supreme court of the District of Columbia, for the appointment of three persons, who shall be freeholders in said District, as a commission of inquest of damages, and who shall go upon and inspect any property proposed to be taken by said company for the purposes contemplated by this act; and before any person so appointed as such commissioner shall proceed to act, he shall take an oath or affirmation that he will fairly and truly value the damages sustained by the owner or owners of any property by the use and occupation of any such real estate, water Report to be rights, or other property, by said company; and said commission shall reduce their inquisition or finding to writing, and sign and seal the same, and it shall then be returned to the said chief justice, who shall file the same in the office of the register of deeds of the city of Washington. But no such inquisition shall be had until after ten days' notice thereof has been served on the owner of the real estate so to be taken, when he resides in the District of Columbia, or by publication of notice in one or more of the daily newspapers published in the city of Washington, for twenty days where such owner resides beyond said District. When the owner is a femme covert, the notice shall be to her and her husband; when he is a minor, to his guardian; and when he is non compos mentis, to his committee, or the person having charge of his estate. The said Report to be report shall be confirmed by the supreme court of the District of Columbia at its next term after the return of said report, unless for cause shown to the contrary. And where good cause is thus shown, the said chief justice shall set aside said inquest, and appoint another similar commission, who shall qualify in the same manner, and whose inquisition shall be taken, returned, filed, and confirmed, or set aside for good cause shown, in the same manner as the first inquisition was taken, returned, filed, and New commis- confirmed, or set aside. And such commission and inquisition shall be resion and inqui- newed as often as may be necessary, until the inquisition made shall be confirmed. Such inquisition shall describe the property taken by metes and bounds, and the valuation thereof shall be paid or tendered within ten days after the confirmation of such inquisition by said district court; and when such valuation or damages are so paid or tendered, said compay expenses of pany shall have a full and perfect right to enter upon, use, occupy, and inquisition. enjoy any property so valued during its corporate existence, and all expenses incurred by such inquisition shall be paid by said company. confirmed. Inquest may be set aside. sition from time to time. Property taken to be described, and valuation paid. Company to Tolls and rents. Canal exten lic highway. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for said company to levy, demand, and receive such even tolls and rents for the use of the wharves and docks of said company on said extension, or for freight transported by said company, or for the pa-sage through said extension of boats, rafts, or any other water craft, as a majority of the directors at any regular meeting shall assess therefor: Provided, That the Congress of the United States shall at all times have power to increase or reduce, such tolls or rents. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said canal extension, when sion to be a pub- completed, shall forever thereafter be esteemed and taken to be a public highway for the transportation of all goods, commodities, or produce of every kind and description, and for all canal boats, rafts, or other water crafts of every kind whatever, upon the payment of such tolls or rents as are authorized to be imposed by this act. Public property of the United States to go through free of tolls. Company when SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the said company shall permit all public property belonging to the United States to pass through said canal extension free of all charge or toll; and the said company shall, required to give from time to time, as may be required, lay before Congress a just and Congress an ac- true account of their receipts and expenditures on said extension, with a count of receipts statement of the clear profits thereof. and expendi tures,&o. |