nel at the mouth of the Brazos River, Texas, between said river and the Gulf of Mexico, and so far into the main-land and between the banks of the said Brazos River as may be necessary to reach a place that will afford security from storms, swells, cyclones, and tidal waves, for the purposes of furnishing the vessels and boats adapted to the purpose facilities for navigation in and along the entire length of said channel, charging and collecting such toll therefor as may be prescribed by the regulations that may be made by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States in conformity with the laws of the United States; and for that purpose they may construct, in the river, and likewise in the Gulf of Mexico, such walls, jetties, dikes, levees, and other structures, and employ such boats, rafts, and appliances as they may, in the prosecution of said work, deem necessary: Provided, That no such structures or means employed shall hinder, delay, or materially interfere with the free navigation in said river or between said river and the Gulf of Mexico; and to protect their said works, they may build and maintain such levees or embankments as may be necessary to secure their permanency along the banks of said Brazos River; and said Brazos River Channel and Dock Company shall hold the United States harmless from any damages that may accrue to any person or persons by overflow or otherwise caused by the construction of said walls, jetties, dikes, levees, and other works constructed by said company: Provided further, That unless the construction of the proposed work shall be substantially commenced within one year from date of the approval of this act, and prosecuted with due diligence, the provisions contained herein in relation to the said improvement shall be null and void; and unless the said Brazos River Channel and Dock Company shall secure a navigable depth of twelve feet of water from a point in the river so far as may be necessary to reach a place that will afford security from storms, swells, cyclones, and tidal waves, above its mouth and extending from said point to a depth of twelve feet in the Gulf of Mexico, outside of the present bar, within three years after the date of the approval of this act, Congress may revoke the privileges herein granted in relation to said improvement. And Congress may revoke the provisions herein granted in relation to said improvement, unless the said Brazos River Channel and Dock Company shall, after securing twelve feet of water, secure an additional depth of not less than two feet during each succeeding year thereafter; until eighteen feet shall have been secured; and in case said Brazos River Channel and Dock Company shall fail to comply with the foregoing conditions as to depth of water, and time, for any period of twelve months in excess of the time fixed, as aforesaid, then the privileges herein granted, in relation to said improvements shall absolutely become null and void without action by Congress.

SEC. 2. That the works of improvement in the sail Brazos River, from the mouth of said river to the point described in section one of this act, shall consist of the construction of dikes, wing-dams, levees, embankments, and dredging or other means which may be considered by said Brazos River Channel and Dock Company necessary for obtaining a depth of eighteen feet of water between the mouth of said river and said point described in section one of this act; and that the said Brazos River Channel and Dock Company may, if they shall decide it best for the interests of navigation, change the course of said river at the sharp bend in said river between the mouth of said river and the said point described in section one of this act, but in making such change the channel shall be made of sufficient depth and width to receive the volume of said river without disturbance of its regimen.

SEC. 3. That if at any time during the construction of said jetties and anxiliary works, or after said jetties and auxiliary works shall have been completed, and said channel of eighteen feet in depth has been obtained, the United States shall have the right to pay the said Brazos River Channel and Dock Company the value of their jetties and other works constructed under and by the authority granted to said company by the State of Texas as well as by the authority of this act, and on such payment being made by the United States all right to said franchises and works on the part of said Brazos River Channel and Dock Company shall cease.

SEC. 4. That Congress may at any time alter, amend or repeal this act.
Received by the President August 9, 1888.

[NOTE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE.-The foregoing act having been presented to the President of the United States for his approval, and not having been returned by him to the house of Congress in which it originated within the time prescribed by the Constitution of the United States, has become a law without his approval.]

AN ACT to authorize the construction and operation of a street-railway and wagon bridge across the Rio Grande, between the city of El Paso, Texas, and Paso del Norte, Mexico.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the consent of Congress is hereby given to the Santa Fe Street Railway Company, a corporation organized and created under and by virtue

of the laws of the State of Texas, to construct, own, maintain and operate a streetrailway and wagon bridge across the Rio Grande, between the city of El Paso, in the State of Texas, and Paso del Norte, State of Chihuahau, Mexico, at such point as may be most convenient to said corporation to unite and connect a street railway to be coustructed by it in the said city of El Paso with any street railway that may be constructed by any person, persons or company in said Paso del Norte; and to build and lay on and across said bridge ways for the passage of animals, foot-passengers, and vehicles of all kinds, and for the transit of freight, goods, wares and merchandise, for which said corporation may charge a reasonable toll, which charge shall be subject to revision and regulation from time to time by the Secretary of War.

SEC. 2. That said bridge shall be built of good, substantial material, and of such strength and dimensions as may be sufficient to render the passage of all such vehicles, animals and,persons as are herein mentioned perfectly safe at any and all times. SEC. 3. That said bridge shall not interfere with the free navigation of said river, and in case of any litigation arising from an obstruction or an alleged obstruction to the free navigation thereof, caused or alleged to be caused by said bridge, the case may be tried before the circuit or district court of the United States for the State in which any portion of said bridge may be situated.

SEC. 4. That equal privileges in the use of said bridge shall be granted to all telegraph companies, and the United States reserves the right for the establishment of a postal telegraph across said bridge.

SEC. 5. That the consent of the State of Chihuahua, United States of Mexico, and of the proper authorities of the Republic of Mexico shall have been obtained before said bridge shall be built or commenced.

SEC. 6. That unless the construction of said bridge be commenced within one year and finished within three years from the date of the passage of this act, the provisions of this act shall be null and void.

SEC. 7. That Congress reserves the right to withdraw the authority and power conferred by this act, in case the free navigation of said river shall at any time be substantially or materially obstructed by said bridge, or for any other reason, and to direct the removal or necessary modifications thereof at the cost and expense of the owners of said bridge; and Congress may at any time alter, repeal, or amend this act. Approved, September 6, 1883.

AN ACT declaring that certain water reserve lands in the State of Wisconsin are and have been subject to the provisions of the act of Congress entitled "An act granting to railroads the right of way through the public lands of the United States," approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventyfive.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all lands in the State of Wisconsin described in and withdrawn from sale by the proclamations of the President of the United States issued March twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty, April fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, and November twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, for the reason that said lands would be required for or subject to flowage in the construction of dams, reservoirs, and other works proposed to be erected for the improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi River and certain of its tributaries, be, and the same are hereby, declared to be, and to have been at all times heretofore, subject to the provisions of a certain act of Congress, entitled "An act granting to railroads the right of way through the public lands of the United States," approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, as fully, effectually, and to the same extent as though said lands had not been described in said proclamations, or withdrawn from sale thereby, but had remained with the body of public lands subject to private entry and sale: Provided, however, That any and all parts of said lands acquired by any railroad company under said act of Congress shall at all times be subject to the right of flowage which at any time may become necessary in the construction or maintenance of dams, reservoirs, or other works which may be constructed or erected by or under the authority of the United States for the improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi River or its tributaries: Provided further, That the railroad companies availing themselves of this act shall, in addition to filing the maps now required by law to be filed, also file maps of definite location of their proposed lines of railroad, over said water reserve lands, in the office of the Secretary of War, and until the approval of said maps by the Secretary of War no right to occupy said lands shall vest in such companies; and no location shall be permitted which takes for right of way or stations lands needed for the use of the present reservoir system, or in the construction of dams or other works, or any proposed or probable extension of the same, or which will obstruct or increase the cost of the present or prospective reservoir system; or shall any railroad company be permitted to take material for construction from any of said reservoir lands outside the right of way granted herein.

Approved, September 10, 1888.

AN ACT amendatory of an act authorizing the construction of a bridge over the Mississippi River at Saint Louis, Missouri, approved February third, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section eleven of the act entitled "An act authorizing the construction of a bridge over the Mississippi River at Saint Louis, Missouri," approved February third, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, be, and the same is hereby, amended by striking out the words "stockholder or" wherever they occur in said section, so as to make said section read as follows:

"SEC. 11. That whereas a principal reason for giving authority to build the bridge herein contemplated is to secure reasonable rates and tolls for corporations and individuals for passing over the same, the Saint Louis Merchants' Bridge Company, or its successors or assigns, shall not agree or consent to the consolidation of this bridge company with any other bridge company across the Mississippi River, or to the pooling of the earnings of this bridge company with the earnings of any other bridge company on said river, nor shall any person who is or may be a director or manager of any other bridge over said river be a director or manager of the bridge herein provided for: Provided, That if this provision of this act shall at any time be violated in any of these particulars, such violation shall, without legal proceeding, at once forfeit the privilege hereby granted, and said bridge shall become the property of the United States, and the Secretary of War shall take possession of the same in the name and for the use of the United States."

SEC. 2. The right to amend or repeal this act is hereby expressly reserved.
Approved, September 10, 1888.

AN ACT making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following sums be, and they are hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the support of the Army for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine:

ENGINEER DEPARTMENT.

Engineer depot at Willet's Point, New York: Incidental expenses of the depot, fuel, chemicals, stationery, extra-duty pay for soldiers employed in wheelwright's work, engine-driving, draughting, printing, photographing, and lithographing engineer documents, repairs of public buildings, and unforeseen expenses, five thousand dollars; for purchase of materials for the instruction of engineer troops at Willets' Point in their special duties of sappers, miners, for land and submarine mines, and pontoneers, torpedo drill and signaling, one thousand five hundred dollars; for parchase and repairs of instruments to be issued to officers of the Corps of Engineers, for use on public works and surveys, two thousand dollars; to replace the building known as the laboratory for enlisted men, which was destroyed by fire in November, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, six thousand five hundred dollars; library of the Engineer School of Application: purchase and binding of professional works of recent date treating of military and civil engineering, five hundred dollars; in all, fifteen thousand five hundred dollars.

For repairs to sea-wall and wharf at Willetts' Point, New York, two thousand five hundred dollars.

#

Approved September 22, 1888.

AN ACT making appropriations for fortifications and other works of defense, for the armament thereof, for the procurement of heavy ordnance for trial and service, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America iu Congress assembled, That the appropriations hereinafter provided for shall be available until expended and shall be expended under the direct supervision of a board to consist of the commanding General of the Army, an officer of Engineers, an officer of Ordnance, and an officer of Artillery, to be selected by the Secretary of War, to be called and known as the Board of Ordnance and Fortification; and said Board shall be under the direction of the Secretary of War and subject to his supervision and control in all respects, and shall have power to provide suitable regulations for the inspection of guns and materials at all stages of manufacture to the extent necessary to protect fully the interests of the United States, and generally to provide such regulations concerning matters within said Board's operations as shall be necessary

to carry out to the best advantage all duties committed to its charge: Provided, That subject to the foregoing provisions the expenditure shall be made by the several bureaus of the War Department having jurisdiction of the same under existing law. SEC. 2. That the sums of money herein provided for be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, namely:

For the protection, preservation, and repair of fortifications and other works of defense, one hundred thousand dollars. For the construction of sea-walls, and for earth embankments, one hundred and seventeen thousand dollars.

For torpedoes for harbor defense; the purchase of submarine mines and necessary appliances to operate them; for needful casemates, cable-galleries, and appliances to render it possible to operate submarine mines; for continuing torpedo experiments; for practical instruction of engineer troops in detail of the service, and for the purchase of movable submarino torpedoes controlled at will by power transmitted from shore stations, two hundred thousand dollars.

SEC. 3. For the completion of the guns now under fabrication by the Ordnance Department and for testing the same, and for the manufacture or purchase and test of cannon and carriages, including carriages manoeuvred by power, one of which shall be a disappearing carriage, and also including those for the field and siege services; for the alteration of carriages on hand to adapt them to improved service guns; for projectiles, powders, fuzes, and implements, their trial and proof; for experiments in the means of protecting torpedo lines; for compensation of draughtsmen while employed in the Army Ordnance Bureau on ordnance construction, and for the necessary expenses of ordnance officers while temporarily employed at the proving-ground and absent from their proper stations, at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per diem while so employed, five hundred thousand dollars, and not more than ten thousand dollars of said sum shall be expended for providing increased facilities for the manufacture of projectiles; for examining, testing, and experimenting with pneumatic or other dynamite guns, gun-carriages, aerial torpedoes, dynamite shells and ammunition, and batteries for coast defense, whether sunken, counterpoise, or otherwise, brought to the notice of said board, one hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be deemed proper: Provided, That all material purchased under this section, excepting samples, shall be of American manufacture.

SEC. 4. For the erection, purchase, or manufacture of the necessary buildings and other structures, machinery, tools, and fixtures for an army gun-factory for finishing and assemblying heavy ordnance, to be erected at the Watervliet Arsenal, West Troy, New York, seven hundred thousand dollars: Provided, That not exceeding twenty thousand dollars of this sum may be used for the erection and completion of two sets of officers' quarters.

For the purchase of rough-finished, oil-tempered, and annealed steel for high power coast-defense guns of eight, ten, and twelve inch caliber, in quality and dimensions conforming to specifications, subject to inspection at each stage of the manufacture, and including all the parts of each caliber, one million five hundred thousand dollars: Provided, That no money shall be expended except for steel accepted and delivered, and no contract shall be made hereunder for gun steel at a greater average price per pound for each caliber than the lowest average price paid under contracts hitherto made by the Government for American forgings of like caliber.

The material for the guns provided for herein shall be purchased in accordance with section thirty-seven hundred and nine, Revised Statutes, for which purpose the Secretary of War is authorized to make contracts with responsible steel manufacturers, who shall be resident citizens of the United States, after proper advertisement, continuing not less than thirty days in the newspapers most likely to reach the said manufacturers: Provided, That each bidder with whom such contracts shall be made, shall have, or agree to erect, in the United States a suitable plant, including the best modern appliances, capable of making all the steel required, and of finishing it in accordance with the contracts, and shail further agree to deliver yearly a specified quantity of each caliber, the time of the delivery of the steel for the smaller calibers of heavy guns to commence at the expiration of not more than eighteen months, and that for the largest calibers, specified in the advertisement, at the expiration of not more than three years from the date of the acceptance of the contracts; and that all the tools, machines, and material for said guns shall be manufactured in the United States.

SEC. 5. For the purchase of the material for, and the manufacture of, twelve inch breech-loading rifled mortars of cast-iron, hooped with steel, of about thirty-two thousand pounds weight, similar to, and equal in range, power, and accuracy of fire to the twelve inch breech-loading mortar, cast-iron, steel-hooped, now at the Ordnance proving-ground, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, said mortars to be subject to inspection in all stages of manufacture, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

SEC. 6. Whenever any party shall present for test a completed cast-iron breechloading mortar of twelve inches caliber, of about thirty-two thousand pounds weight, with a proper supply of ammunition therefor, not exceeding two hundred rounds, such

mortar shall be tested in the presence of the party presenting the same, and should it be shown to the satisfaction of the Board by such tests to be equal in accuracy, range, power, endurance, material, and general efficiency to the twelve-inch cast-iron steel-hooped breech-loading mortar now at Sandy Hook, the mortar and ammunition shall be paid for, including cost of transportation, and contract be made for a further supply of not less than fifty, and not more than one hundred, at such reasonable cost as the Board herein provided for shall determine, not to exceed six thousand five hundred dollars each. The entire number to be delivered in one year from date of contract. Said mortar and all which may be contracted for under this provision shall be subject to inspection at each stage of manufacture.

Whenever any party shall present for test a completed single-charge breech-loading steel gun of ten or twelve inches caliber, and of weight and dimensions to be prescribed by the Board with the proper supply of ammunition for the test of the same, such gun shall, in the presence of the party presenting it, be subjected to such tests as the Board shall have prescribed; and should such gun be shown to the satisfaction of the Board by such tests to fullfill the requirements previously prescribed in respect to accuracy, range, power, endurance, and general efficiency, the gun and ammunition shall be paid for at a fair valuation, including cost of transportation, and contract shall be made at a price reasonable in the opinion of the Board, with the party presenting the best of such guns, for a further supply of similar guns, to be subjected to the usual service test before acceptance, the experimental gun and all guns purchased hereunder to be subject to inspection at each stage of manufacture, as follows, namely: For not less than fifty ten-inch steel guns; and for not less than fifty twelveinch steel guns.

The Board is authorized to make all needful and proper purchases, investigations, experiments, and tests, to ascertain with a view to their utilization by the Government, the most effective guns, including multicharge guns and the conversion of Parrott and other guns on hand, small arms, cartridges, projectiles, fuzes, explosives, torpedoes, armor-plates, and other implements and engines of war; and the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to purchase or cause to be manufactured, such guns, carriages, armor-plates, and other war materials and articles as may, in the judgment of said Board, be necessary in the proper discharge of the duty herein devolved upon them: Provided, That the amount expended and liabilities incurred in such purchases, investigations, experiments, and tests shall not exceed five hundred thousand dollars which sum is hereby appropriated: Provided further, That said Board shall test, and if found satisfactory, shall purchase two breach loading field guns of three and two tenths inch bore of aluminum bronze.

That under the provisions of this section there shall not be expended or contract or contracts entered into involving the Government in an aggregate expenditure exceeding six million five hundred thousand dollars, nor an expenditure on the part of the Government in any one fiscal year in excess of two million dollars, and all guns and materials purchased under authority of this section shall be of American production and furnished by citizens of the United States.

For payment of the necessary expenses of the Board including a per diem allowance to each member thereof when employed on duty away from his permanent station, of two and one-half dollars a day, five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary.

Approved, September 22, 1828.

AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act making appropriations for the construction, repair and preservation of certain public works on rivers and barbors, and for other purposes," approved July fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty-four.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section seven of the "Act making appropriations for the construction, repair, and preservation of certain public works on rivers and harbors, and for other purposes," approved July fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty-four be, and the same is hereby, amended, so that the same shall read as follows:

"SEC. 7. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War to prescribe such rules and regulations in respect to the use and administration of the Des Moines Rapids Canal, the Saint Mary's Falls Canal, the Louisville and Portland Canal, and the Saint Clair Flats Ship Canal as in his judgment the public necessity may require, which rules and regulations shall be posted in some conspicuous place for the information of the public; any person knowingly and willfully violating such rules and regulations shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding six months, to be enforced in any district court in the United States within whose territorial jurisdiction such offense may have been committed." SEC. 2. That this act shall take effect immediately.

Approved, September 26, 1888.