Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 2.djvu/577



will combine shortness of distance with the most convenient ground, and the smallest expenditure of money; and it shall be lawful to and for the said president and directors, their surveyors and agents, to enter upon all and every the lands and enclosures in, through and over which the said turnpike road may be thought proper to pass, and to examine the ground most proper for the purpose, and the quarries and beds of stone, and gravel, and other materials in the vicinity, that will be useful in making the said road: Provided, that the said road shall not be so laid out as to intersect that road laid out and established by the Washington and Alexandria turnpike company, without the consent of the said company.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful to and for the president and directors, by and with their superintendents, artists and labourers, with their tools and instruments, with carts, wagons and other carriages, and beasts of draft or burthen, to enter upon the lands in, over or near to which the route or tract of the said intended road shall pass, first giving notice of their intention to the owners thereof, or their representatives, and doing as little damage thereto as possible, and repairing any breaches they may make in the enclosures thereof, and making amends for any damages that may be done, by a reasonable agreement, if they can agree; but if they cannot agree, then by appraisement, to be made upon oath or affirmation, by three indifferent freeholders or any [two] of them agreeing, to be mutually chosen, or if they cannot agree in a choice, or if the owners upon due notice shall neglect or refuse to join in the choice, then to be appointed by one of the judges of the circuit court of the district of Columbia, and having tendered the appraised value so as aforesaid to be made, it shall be lawful to cut, dig, take, and carry away any logs, stone, gravel, sand, or earth most conveniently situate for making or repairing said road; and it shall and may be lawful for the said president and directors, or a majority of them, to agree with the owners of any ground to be occupied by the road, and the necessary toll houses and gates for the right thereof; and in case of disagreement, or in case the owner thereof shall be a feme covert, under age, non compos, or out of the district, on application to one of the judges of the said circuit court, the said judge shall issue a warrant, directed to the marshal of the district, to summon a jury of twenty-four inhabitants of the district of Columbia, of property and reputation, not related to the parties, nor in any manner interested, to meet on the land to be valued, at a day to be expressed in the warrant, not less than ten, nor more than twenty thereafter; and the marshal upon receiving the said warrant, shall forthwith summon the said jury, and when met, provided there be not less than twelve, shall administer an oath or affirmation to every juryman that shall appear, that he shall faithfully, justly and impartially, value the lands and all damages the owner thereof shall sustain, by opening the road through such land, according to the best of his skill and judgment, and that the inquisition thereupon taken, shall be signed by the marshal and by the jurymen present, and returned by the marshal to the clerk of the county, to be by him recorded; and upon every such valuation, the jury is hereby directed to describe and ascertain the bounds of the land by them valued; and their valuation shall be conclusive upon all persons, and shall be paid by the president and directors to the owner of the land or his or her legal representative, and on payment thereof, said land shall be taken and occupied for a public road and for the necessary toll houses and gates, for ever. The said president and directors shall cause the said road to be laid out, not exceeding eighty feet in width, twenty-four feet whereof in breadth, at least, shall be made an artificial road of stone, gravel or other hard substance, of sufficient depth or thickness, to secure a solid and firm road, with a surface as even as the materials will admit, and so nearly level