Chapter 113. To authorize the Monroe Railway and Construction Company to construct a bridge across Red River, at or near Grand Ecore, Louisiana
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CHAP. 113.— An Act To authorize the Monroe Railway and Construction Company to construct a bridge across Red River, at or near Grand Ecore, Louisiana. April 4, 1898. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, * That the Monroe Railway andMonroe Railway and Construction Company may bridge Red River, Louisiana. Construction Company be, and is hereby, authorized to construct and maintain a railroad bridge and approaches thereto across Red River at or near the town of Grand Ecore, in the parish of Natchitoches, State of Louisiana.
Sec. 2. That said bridge shall be located and built under and subjectSecretary of War to prescribe regulations. to such regulations for the security of navigation as the Secretary of War may prescribe; and to secure that object the said construction—to approve plans, etc. company shall submit for his examination a design and drawing of the bridge and a map of the location, and until the said plan and location are approved by him the bridge shall not be commenced or built; and—changes. should any change be made in said bridge before or after completion, such change shall likewise be subject to the approval of the Secretary of War.
Sec. 3. That said bridge shall be built with a suitable draw so keptDraw. and managed as to offer safe, reasonable, and proper means for the passage of vessels and other craft through and under same; and for theLights. safety of vessels passing at night there shall be displayed on said bridge, from sunset to sunrise, at the expense of the owners thereof, such lights or other signals as the Light-House Board may prescribe; and any changes in said bridge which the Secretary of War may atChanges, expense of. any time deem necessary, and order in the interests of navigation, shall be made by the owners thereof at their own expense.
Sec. 4. That said bridge built under this Act and subject to its limitationsTo be lawful structure and post route. shall 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 the same 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 public highways leading to the said bridge, and shall enjoy the rights and privileges of other post-roads in the United States; and equal privileges in the use of said bridge shall beTelegraph, etc., companies. granted to all telegraph and telephone companies; and the United States shall have the right of way across said bridge and its approaches for postal-telegraph purposes.
Sec. 5. That all railroad companies desiring the use of said bridgeEqual rights to railroads, etc. shall be entitled to equal rights and privileges relative to the passage of railway trains over the same and the approaches thereto upon payment of a reasonable compensation for such use; or, in case of disagreement, upon such terms and conditions as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of War, upon hearing the allegations and proofs of the parties in interest. Sec. 6. That this Act shall be null and void if actual constructionCommencement and completion. of said bridge be not commenced in one year and completed in three years from the approval hereof.
Sec. 7. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is herebyAmendment. expressly reserved. Approved, April 4, 1898.