Chapter 682. To authorize the New Orleans and Mississippi Midland Railroad Company of Mississippi to build and maintain a railway bridge across Pearl River
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CHAP. 682.— An Act To authorize the New Orleans and Mississippi Midland Railroad Company of Mississippi to build and maintain a railway bridge across Pearl River. May 3, 1902. [[Public, No. 101](/us/pl/57/101).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* Pearl River, Miss. New Orleans and Mississippi Midland Railroad company may bridge. Location. That the New Orleans and Mississippi Midland Railroad Company, a corporation duly incorporated and existing’ under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Mississippi, be, and is hereby, authorized to construct and maintain, by itself or through its assignees, a railway bridge across Pearl River at a point suitable to the interest of navigation between the towns of Monticello and Columbia, in the State of Mississippi.
Said bridgeToll. shall be constructed to provide for passage of railway trains, and for transmission of the mails at such legal rates of toll as may be fixed by said railroad company, or its transferees, and approved by the Secretary of War. Sec. 2. That said bridge built under this Act and subject to its limitations,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 be granted to all telegraph and telephone companies; and theTelegraph, etc., rights.
United States shall have the right of way across said bridge and its approaches for postal telegraph purpose»: *Provided,* That the bridge*Proviso*.Aids to navigation. herein authorized to be constructed shall be so kept and managed by the company owning or operating it as to afford proper ways and means for the passage through or under it of vessels, barges, or rafts at all times, both by day and by night; and if said bridge be constructed asOpening draw. a drawbridge, the draw shall lie opened promptly upon reasonable signal for the passage of boats; and upon whatever kind of bridge is builtLights, etc. there shall be displayed from sunset to sunrise, at the expense of said company, such lights and signals as the Light-House Board shall prescribe.
Sec. 3. 188That if said bridge erected and maintained under theUnobstructed navigation. authority of this Act shall at any time unreasonably obstruct the free navigation of said river, or shall, in the opinion of the Secretary of War, unreasonably obstruct such navigation, he is hereby authorized to cause such change or alteration of said bridge to be made as will effectually obviate such obstruction; and such alteration shall be madeChanges. and all such obstructions be removed at the expense of the owners or operators of said bridge; and in case of any litigation arising from theLitigation. obstruction or alleged obstruction to the free navigation of said river the case may be brought in the district court of the United States for the western district of Louisiana: *Provided,* That nothing in this Act*Proviso*.Existing laws not affected. shall be so construed as to repeal or modify any of the provisions of law now existing in reference to the protection of the navigation of rivers, or to exempt said bridge from the operation of same.
Sec. 4. That all railroad companies desiring to use the said bridgeUse by other roads. shall have and be entitled to equal rights and privileges relative to the passage of railway trains over the same and the approaches thereto upon the payment of a reasonable compensation for such use, which compensation may be different in case of different railways. In caseCompensation. of disagreement as to compensation for the use of said bridge the difference shall be determined by the Secretary of War upon hearing the allegations and proof of the parties in interest.
Sec. 5. That the bridge authorized to be constructed under this ActSecretary of War to approve plans, etc. shall be built and located under and subject to such regulations for the security of navigation of said river as the Secretary of War shall prescribe; and to secure that object the said company or corporation shall submit to the Secretary of War, for his examination and approval, a design and drawing of said bridge, and a map of the location, giving, for the space of one mile above and one mile below the proposed location of the bridge, the topography of the banks of the river, with shore lines at high and low water, the direction and strength of the currents at all stages, and the soundings accurately showing the, bed of the stream, the location of any other bridge or bridges, and shall furnish such other information as may be required for a full and satisfactory understanding of the subject.
And until said plans and location of the bridge are approved by the Secretary of War the bridge shall not be built; and should any change be made in the planChanges. of the said bridge during the process of construction or after completion. such change shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of War. Sec. 6. That this Act shall be null and void if actual constructionTime of construction. of the bridge herein authorized be not commenced within one year and completed within four years from the date hereof.
Sec. 7. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is herebyAmendment. expressly reserved. Approved, May 3, 1902.