Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 9.djvu/199

 '1‘WEN TY-NIN'1'11 CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 48. 1847. W3 selection and appointment of citizens other than naval officers to be storekeepers on foreign stations, when suitable naval officers cannot be ordered on such service, or when, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Navy, the public interest will `be promoted thereby. Persons so selected and appointed to receive the same compensation as now PW allowed, and to enter into bond with security, as is required by law Bonds. of officers of the navy performing said service. Sec. 4. And be it jartlwr enacted, That the pay of iiremen and Pay ¤f'5r¤¤¤¤¤ coalheavers employed in the naval service, shall hereafter be iixed by fQgu1§;$_h°“'°" the President of the United States, in the same manner as is now provided by law for the pay of other petty officers, and of seamen, ordinary seamen, and marines: and so much of the act of Congress, approved August thirty-lirst, eighteen hundred and forty-two, entitled 184% °h· EU "An Act to regulate the Appointment and Pay of Engineers in the Navy of the United States/’ as fixes the pay of tiremen and coalheavers, be, and the same is hereby, repealed. Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That of the money appropriated _ Repairs wd in this act for " pay of the navy," and contingent expenses enumer- ;_€‘;Qt"g$‘::;‘tf,[:,f ated, an amount not exceeding twenty-eight thousand and two hun- ,;;,;,,,1,,100, dred dollars may be expended, under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, for repairs,'improvements, and instructions at Fort Severn, Annapolis, Maryland ; and for the purchase of land for the use of the naval school at that place, not exceeding twelve acres. ( Sec. 6. And be it_fi4rther enacted, That in every case of the loss I¤ cm °*`*h° or capture of a vessel belonging to the navy of the United States, the L`}-s§,,§§c $:5;;: accounting omcers of the treasury, under the direction of the Secre- pursers to be tary of the Navy, shall be, and they are hereby, authorized, in the set- °'°d’°°d» &°· tlement of the accounts of the purser of such vessel, to credit him with such portion of the amount of the provisions, clothing, small stores, and_money, with which he stands charged on the books of the Fourth Auditor of the Treasury, as they shall be satisfied was inevitably lost by such capture, or loss of a public vessel ; and such purser shall be fully exonerated by such credit, from all liability on account of the provisions, clothing, small stores, and money, so proved to have been captured or lost. Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Navy E¤P¤¤'h:¢¤¤m be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to cause such experi- Z?,,,:;;} (lp6U5m, ments to be made, under the immediate direction and superintendence Browns shatof Uriah Brown, as shall thoroughly test the eflicient properties of a §;‘;°‘ “°‘““sh‘P* liquid fire, and the practical utility of a shot-proof steamship (the ` invention of said Brown) for coast and harbor defence; said experiments to be made in the presence of competent judges, to be selected by the Secretary of the Navy for that purpose; and it shall be the duty of the said Secretary to report to Congress, at the earliest practicable period thereafter, the result of such experiments; and his opinion whether the interest of the United States would be promoted by adopting this invention as a means of national defence. That said Brown shall receive the sum of six dollars per day while engaged in making said experiments, together with all his travelling and other _ necessary expenses; Provided, He shall not be so employed for a time P'°"“°· exceeding six months. And that a sum not exceeding ten thousand _, _ dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, out of any money APP'°P‘“*'°"· in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, for defraying the expenses of said experiments. i Approved, March 3, 1847.