Page:Charters of the Weehawken ferry company.djvu/10

Rh be lawful for the said company, at any time, to drive piles, and erect or build piers, wharves, platforms, ferry stairs, toll or other houses, or other works necessary for the said road, and ferries thereon, over any navigable stream crossed thereby, and also to lease, purchase, and hold such real and personal estate as may be deemed necessary for the purposes of said corporation, and sell, lease, allot, and parcel, or otherwise improve the same, or any part thereof, in such manner as the said corporation may determine; provided always, that the said corporation shall pay, or make tender of payment, for all damages for the occupancy of lands through which the said road shall be laid out, before the said company, or any person in their employ, shall enter upon or break ground in the premises, except for the purpose of surveying said route, unless the consent in writing of the owner or owners of said lands be first had and obtained; and the said company may contract with any turnpike or bridge company, on the route they shall locate for the said road, for the purchase or hire of such turnpike or turnpikes or bridges, or any part thereof, and the same may be leased or conveyed to them by the said turnpike or bridge company.

9. And be it enacted, That the roadway for travel, hereby authorized to be constructed, shall be formed of good substantial plank or boards, not less than eight feet in width, laid down in a firm and workmanlike manner, to present a smooth surface; and the same shall not rise above five degrees from the horizontal at any point.

10. And be it enacted, That the bridges across the Hackensack river shall be so constructed as that one part thereof shall not be less than thirty feet over, to draw for the free passage of such vessels with standing masts as shall from time to lime have occasion to pass up and down the said river; and the said draws shall be so constructed, for the safe passage of vessels with standing masts, with piles, piers, and platforms on each side of the draws of the said bridges, as are in the bridges which are already built over the Hackensack river, for the free navigation of vessels through the same; and being so constructed, shall, for the term hereby granted, be supported and maintained by the said directors and their successors; and for the safety of the navigators, a lamp, sufficient for the purpose, shall be placed, at the expense of the directors and their successors, on one side of the draws, in each of said bridges, on a post for that purpose; which said lamp shall be lighted every evening thereafter, as long as the said bridge shall stand, before it grows dark, and continue lighted until daylight the next morning; and the said directors and their successors shall, as long as the bridges are standing, keep, or cause to be kept, at each bridge, a careful person, to open the draws of the said bridge for the passage of vessels with standing masts; and for each and every night's neglect for lighting the lamp, and for every neglect in opening the draw, the said directors, their agents and servants, shall pay the sum of ten dollars, to be recovered by action of debt, before either of the justices of the peace of the county of Bergen or Hudson, by any person suing for the same, one half to and for the use of the prosecutor, and the other half for the use of the poor of the township of Hackensack, in the county of Bergen, and of the township of North Bergen, in the county of Hudson.

11. And be it enacted, That when the company, or its agents, cannot agree with the owner or owners of such required lands or materials, for