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APPENDIX C.

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ACT OF CONGRESS APPROVED APRIL 24, 1888.

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE CONSTRUCTION OF A BRIDGEACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of theUnited States of America in Congress Assembled, That the Kansas City andMemphis Railway and Bridge Company, a corporation created and organizedunder and by virtue of the laws of the State of Arkansas, its successors andassigns, be and the same are hereby authorized and empowered to erect, con-struct, and maintain a bridge over the Mississippi River, from or near the townof Hopefield in the State of Arkansas; to or near the taxing district of ShelbyCounty, commonly known as the city of Memphis, in the State of Tennessee.Said bridge shall be constructed to provide for the passage of railway trainsand wagons and vehicles of all kinds, for the transit of animals, and, at theoption of the corporation by which it may be built, for foot-passengers, forsuch reasonable rates of toll as may be approved from time to time by theSecretary of War.

Sec. 2. That any bridge built under this act and subject to its limitationsshall be a lawful structure, and shall be recognized and known as a post-route,upon which also no higher charge shall be made for the transmission over thesame of the mails, the troops, and munitions of war of the United States,than the rate per mile paid for the transportation over the railroad or publichighways leading to the said bridge, and it shall enjoy the rights and privilegesof other post-roads in the United States.

Sec. 3. That the said bridge shall be made with unbroken and continuousspans. Before approving the plans for said bridge the Secretary of War shallorder three engineer officers from the Engineer Bureau to be detailed to theduty of examining, by actual inspection, the locality where said bridge is to bebuilt, and to report what shall be the length of the main channel span and ofthe other spans, Provided,, That the main channel span shall in no event beless than seven hundred feet in length, or the other spans less than sixhunderd feet each in length ; and if the report of said officers shall be approvedby the Secretary of War, the spans of said bridge shall be of the length sorequired. The lowest part of the superstructure of said bridge shall be at leastseventy-five feet above extreme high-water mark, as understood at the point oflocation, and the bridge shall be at right angles to and its piers parallel withthe current of the river. No bridge shall be erected or maintained under the

authority of this act which shall at any time substantially or materially ob-struct the free navigation of said river ; and if any bridge erected under suchauthority shall, in the opinion of the Secretary of War, obstruct such naviga-tion, he is hereby authorized to cause such change or alteration of said bridgeto be made as will effectually obviate such obstruction; and all such altera-tions shall be made and all such obstructions be removed at the expenseof the owner or owners of said bridge ; and in case of any litigation arisingfrom any obstruction or alleged obstruction to the free navigation of said rivercaused or alleged to be caused by said bridge, the case may be brought in thecircuit court of the United States within whose jurisdiction any portion ofsaid obstruction or bridge may be located. Provided further, That nothingin this act shall be so construed as to repeal or modify any of the provisionsof law now existing in reference to the protection of the navigation of rivers,or to exempt this bridge from the operation of the same.

Sec. 4. That all railroad companies desiring the use of said bridge shallhave and be entitled to equal rights and privileges relative to the passage ofrailway trains or cars over the same, and over the approaches thereto, uponpayment of a reasonable compensation for such use ; and in case the owner orowners of said bridge and the several railroad companies, or any one of them>desiring such use shall fail to agree upon the sum or sums to be paid, andupon rules and conditions to which each shall conform in using said bridge,all matters at issue between them shall be decided by the Secretary of War,upon reasonable notice to the parties in interest and upon consideration of suchallegations and proofs as may be submitted to him. But the last foregoingprovision shall not be held to exclude the ordinary jurisdiction of the courts ofthe United States in such cases.

Sec. 5. That any bridge authorized to be constructed under this act shallbe built and located under and subject to such regulations for the security ofnavigation of said river, as the Secretary of War shall prescribe ; and to securethat object, the said companies or corporations shall submit to the Secretaryof War, for his examination and approval, a design and drawings of the bridgeand a map of the location, giving, for the space of two miles above and twomiles below' the proposed location, the topography of the banks of the river,the shore-lines at extreme high and low v r ater, the direction and strength of thecurrents at all stages, and the soundings, accurately showing the bed of thestream, the location of any other bridge or bridges, and shall furnish such

other information as may be required for a full and satisfactory understandingof the subject; and until the said plan and location of the bridge are approvedby the Secretary of War, the bridge shall not be built or commenced; andshould any change be made in the plans of said bridge during the progress ofconstruction, such change shall be subject to approval of the Secretary of War,and shall not be made or commenced until the same is so approved.

Sec. 6. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War, on satisfactoryproof that a necessity exists therefor, to require the company or persons own-ing said bridge to cause such aids to the passage of said bridge to be con-structed, placed, and maintained at their own cost and expense, in the form ofbooms, dikes, piers, or other suitable and proper structures for the guiding ofrafts, steamboats, and other water-craft safely through the passage-way, asshall be specified in his order in that behalf; and on failure of the company orpersons aforesaid to make and establish and maintain such additional struct-ures within a reasonable time, the said Secretary may cause the said bridge tobe removed at the expense of the owners thereof, or may proceed to cause thesame to be built or made at the expense of the owners of said bridge, and inthat case shall refer the matter without delay to the Attorney-General of theUnited States, whose duty it shall be to institute, in the name of the UnitedStates, proceedings in any circuit court of the United States within whose juris-diction such bridge or any part thereof is located, for the recovery of theamount so expended by the Government and all costs of such proceedings;and all moneys accruing from such proceedings shall be covered into theTreasury of the United States.

Sec. 7. That if the construction of the bridge hereby authorized shall notbe commenced within one year from the time this act takes effect, and be com-pleted within four years after the same date, then this act shall be void, and allrights hereby conferred shall cease and determine.

Sec. 8. That an act entitled “ An act to authorize the construction of abridge across the Mississippi River at Memphis, Tennessee ” approvedFebruary twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, be, and the same is,hereby repealed.

Sec. 9. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this act is hereby ex-pressly reserved, and the right to require any changes in said structure, or itsentire removal, at the expense of the owners, whenever the Secretary of Warshall decide that the public interests require it, is also expressly reserved.