Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 2.djvu/789



for continuing the same in good repair; and for constructing and keeping in repair, and attending at all times during high water the guard gates or lock, herein after directed to be constructed in the canal authorized to be cut as aforesaid around the west end of the causeway from Mason’s island, and of erecting the bridges herein after mentioned, and for keeping the same in repair.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the said agent or agents or a majority of them to agree with the owners of any land through which either of the said canals is intended to pass, for the purchase 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 circuit court of the District of Columbia, the said judge shall issue his warrant directed to the marshal of the district, to summon and empannel twelve able and discreet freeholders of the vicinage, noways related to either party, to meet on some certain place on the ground through which the said canal is proposed to be conducted, and on a certain day to be expressed in the warrant, of which reasonable notice shall be given by the marshal and proprietors or tenants of said ground; and the marshal upon receiving the said warrant shall forthwith summon the said jury, and when met shall administer an oath or affirmation to every juryman, that he will faithfully, justly, and impartially value the land not exceeding the width of thirty feet, and all damages the owner thereof will sustain by cutting the canal through such land, according to the best of his skill and judgment; and the inquisition thereupon taken, shall be signed by the marshal and the jurymen present, and returned by the marshal to the clerk of the court of the county of Alexandria 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 on all persons, and shall be paid by the agent or agents to the owner of the land, or his or her legal representatives; and on payment thereof, said canal may be cut and made through said lands, and said described land and canal shall become an open highway for ever: Provided, they nor the waters of the said canals or either of them shall not be used for any other purpose than navigation, but by the consent of the owner of the lands through which said canal may pass.

. And be it further enacted, That the canal authorized to be cut as aforesaid around the west end of the causeway, and not nearer than one hundred feet to the land end of the lower side of the wharf, formerly used as a ferry wharf, from Mason’s island, shall commence at some point on the western shore of the Potomac river, above a high rock situated about thirty yards above the said causeway, thence to proceed, leaving the said high rock between said canal and the river, and passing at a distance of at least twenty feet from the original walls of said causeway, shall enter said river at the distance of at least twenty and not exceeding one hundred yards below said causeway; that said canal shall not be narrower than twelve feet, nor wider than twenty feet at the bottom, and shall not contain less than two feet, nor more than four feet water in depth at common low tide, and shall be substantially walled with stone on both sides throughout; and if on excavating the site for the said canal at the proper depth, it does not prove to be a bottom of solid rock, then the same shall be securely paved at bottom with heavy flat stone, well laid, for the whole or such part as may not be a bottom of natural rock. And the said canal shall be further secured by wing walls and puddle on the river side to prevent the water from undermining the causeway walls. There shall also be erected in said canal for the protection of said causeway, during the times of high freshes, two substantial guard gates, as high as the parapet wall of said causeway, one at least twenty feet above said causeway, and the other at a