Chapter 271.
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/statutes-at-large/vol-27/chapter-271-1154046·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 271.— An act to authorize the construction of jetties, piers, and breakwaters at private expense in the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth of Ropes Pass, in the State of Texas.July 27, 1892. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Port Ropes Company may construct jetties, etc., Mustang Island, Texas. That the Port Ropes Company, a corporation existing under the laws of the State of Texas, which has partially constructed a ship channel across Mustang Island, in said State, for the purpose of obtaining a deep-water harbor upon the coast of Texas, at its own cost and expense, by connecting the waters of Corpus Christi Bay with those of the Gulf of Mexico, be. and is hereby, authorized to protect the gulf entrance to said ship channel, and to further prosecute its project of obtaining and maintaining a deep-water harbor, by constructing suitable jetties, piers, and breakwaters as far out into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico as may be requisite to obtain and maintain a channel with a depth of thirty feet, more or less.
Sec. 2. That said work shall be prosecuted by the said the Port RopesCompletion. Company, its successors and assigns, diligently, and completed within seven years from the passage of this act and entirely at its own expense, and nothing in this act shall be construed as committing the Government of the United States to any expenditure for the whole or any part of the same. And the said company shall hold the UnitedUnited States not liable for damages. etc. States harmless from any damage that may accrue to any person or persons by reason of the construction of its work.
Sec. 3. That at any time after said improvements and works have beenUnited States may purchase works on completion. completed as herein provided, and a depth of twenty feet has been obtained, the United States shall have the right to pay the said company, or their assigns, successors, or legal representatives, the value of the works constructed under this act or under or by virtue of any authority granted by the State of Texas, which value shall be ascertained by appraisement to be made by three officers of the EngineerAppraisement.
Corps of the United States Army, who shall be appointed for that purpose by the, Secretary of War, and on such payment being made by the United States all rights to said work on the part of said parties shall cease; but nothing in this act shall be construed as compelling orPurchase not compulsory. requiring the Government to take possession of and pay for said works unless so desired by the Government of the United States. Sec. 4. That Congress may at any time alter, amend, or repeal thisAmendment. act.
Approved, July 27, 1892.