Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 40 Part 2.djvu/233

 1578 SIXTYZFIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. III. Ch. 132. 1919. and two and forty-five one-hundredths acres, was erroneously meandered and designated as a lake on the ofhcial plat of the survey, which area is known locally as Round Lake; and _ Whereas the United States is now asserting title to said area as public land; and · Whereas many years ago the riparian proprietors, R. E. Lee Wilson and J. W. Rhodes, in good aith, believing themselves to be the owners of said area, drained and reclaime the same by the construction of ditches and canals and cleared every acre of said land, and the same is now in a high state of cultivation; and · Whereas the said claimants are in the actual dpossession of said area, and tilling and cultivating the same, an are entitled to some equity by reason of such labor, expenses, and improvements, and the great value which they have ad ed to the land: Now, therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Re esentatioes of the United }},E§}§,‘§,fj,§"°;,,,·‘;,‘;k·°, States of America in Congress assembled, igrat said claimants shall pr¤¤¤¤¢ rgiuéanys to have a geference right at any time within one year from the filing pmt °`°° °' of the o cial plat of corrected survey in the United States land office at Little Roc, Arkansas, to purchase from the United States the lands within the meander line of Round Lake, in sections nineteen, twenty, twenty-nine, and thirty, in township eleven north, range ,,M,m_ ten east, Mississippi County, Arkansas, at the rate of $12.35 per acre: Limttatim. Provided, 'l`hat nothing in this Act shall be so construed as to grant to any green a title to any part of said land which is shown to be within e limits of land previously surve ed and dis osed of by the R“*°°·°°°· Government: Provided further, That the Srecretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and empowered to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. Approved, March 4, 1919.