Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 2.djvu/295

 388 FEDBBAIi BEPOBTEB. �tral or pivot pier of the draw, and the next adjoining spana to the draw shall net be lesa than 250 feet; and said spans shall not be less than 30 feet above low-water mark, and not less than 10 feet above extreme high-water mark, meas- uring to the bottom chord of the bridge, and the piers of said bridge shall be parallel with the current of the river ; and provided, also, that said draws shall be opened promptly, and upon reasonable signal, for the passage of beats whose construction shall not be such as to admit of their passage under the permanent spans of said bridge, except when trains are passing over the same ; but in no case shall unnecessary delay occur in opening the said draw, during or after the passage of trains." �The act from which this section is copied authorizes the building of a number of bridges across the Mississippi river, and in its tenth section provides : "And be it further enacted, that any company authorized by the legislature of Missouri may construct a bridge across the Missouri river, at the city of Kansas, upon the same terms ^nd conditions provided for in this act." �The third section of the same act provides as foUows: "And be it further enacted, that any bridge constructed under this act, and according to its limitations, shall be a lawful structure." �The motion for a new trial is based upon alleged errora contained in the charge given by the court to the jury. These will be considered in the order in which they are pre- sented in the brief of counsel for defendant. �1. It is said that the court erred in construing the act of congress, and particularly that portion of the act which re- lates to the width of the passage-way between the piers of the bridge. Upon this subject the court instructed the jury as follows : �"The law regarding the Kansas City draw -bridge under con- sideration is that it shall have spans of not less than 160 feet in lengfch in the clear on each side of the central or pivot pier of the draw. This means that the open span between the piers must be 160 feet when measured at right angle9 ����