the Commissioner of Patents, and they shall be recorded, together with the specifications, in the Patent Office, in books to be kept for that purpose."

Approved, February 18, 1888.

CHAP. 16.—An act to relinquish the interest of the United States in certain lands February 20, 1888. in Kansas.

Public lands.
Right of United

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all the interest of the United States in and to the south-west fractional quarter States to certain, in of section thirty-one, township sixteen, range sixteen east of the sixth Kansas relinquished, principal meridian, Osage County, Kansas, is hereby relinquished to those persons, their grantees and their successors in interest, who purchased from Samuel C. Gilliland, who entered the same on the seventh day of June, eighteen hundred and seventy, but which entry was thereafter canceled.

Approved, February 20, 1888.

CHAP. 17.-An act to carry into effect the International Convention of the four- February 29, 1888. teenth of March, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, for the protection of submarine

cabl.s.

Protection of sub

Punishment for in

done.

juries intentionally Vol. 24, p. 980.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any person marine cables. who shall willfully and wrongfully break or injure, or to attempt to break or injure, or who shall in any manner procure, counsel, aid, abet, or be accessory to such breaking or injury, or attempt to break or injure, a submarine cable, in such manner as to interrupt or embarrass, in whole or in part, telegraphic communication, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or to both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.

neglect.

SEC. 2. That any person who by culpable negligence shall break Penalty for culpable or injure a submarine cable in such manner as to interrupt or embarrass, in whole or in part, telegraphic communication, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or to both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.

SEC. 3. That the provisions of the foregoing sections shall not apply to a person who breaks or injures a cable in an effort to save the life or limb of himself or of any other person, or to save his own or any other vessel: Provided, That he takes reasonable precautions to avoid such breaking or injury.

Saving life, etc.

Observance of sig

SEC. 4. That the master of any vessel which, while engaged in laying or repairing submarine cables, shall fail to observe the rules nals. concerning signals that have been or shall hereafter be adopted by the parties to the convention with a view to preventing collisions at sea; or the master of any vessel that, perceiving, or being able to perceive the said signals displayed upon a telegraph ship engaged in repairing a cable, shall not withdraw to or keep at a distance of at least one nautical mile; or the master of any vessel that seeing or being able to see buoys intended to mark the position of a cable when being laid or when out of order or broken, shall not keep at a distance of at least a quarter of a nautical mile, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, shall be liable to imprison

Fishing vessels.

ment for a term not exceeding one month, or to a fine of not exceed ing five hundred dollars.

SEC. 5. That the master of any fishing vessel who shall not keep his implements or nets at a distance of at least one nautical mile from a vessel engaged in laying or repairing a cable; or the master of any fishing vessel who shall not keep his implements or nets at a distance of at least a quarter of a nautical mile from a buoy or buoys intended to mark the position of a cable when being laid or when out of order or broken, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten days, or to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, or to both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court: Provided, however, That fishing vessels, on perceiving or being able to perceive Reasonable time al- the said signals displayed on a telegraph ship, shall be allowed such time as may be necessary to obey the notice thus given, not exceeding twenty-four hours, during which period no obstacle shall be placed in the way of their operations.

Proviso.

lowed.

Officers authorized.

Penalty for refusing to show papers.

Suits for damages.

Liability of master.

Definition of terms.

R. S., secs. 4300-435, pp. 830, 831, applicable.

Application.

Jurisdiction.

SEC. 6. That for the purpose of carrying into effect the convention, a person commanding a ship of war of the United States or of any foreign state for the time being bound by the convention, or a ship specially commissioned by the Government of the United States or by the Government of such foreign state, may exercise and perform the duties vested in and imposed on such officer by the convention. SEC. 7. That any person having the custody of the papers necessary for the preparation of the statements provided for in article ten of the convention who shall refuse to exhibit them or shall violently resist persons having authority according to article ten of said convention to draw up statements of facts in the exercise of their functions, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding two years, or to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or to both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.

SEC. 8. That the penalties provided in this act for the breaking or injury of a submarine cable shall not be a bar to a suit for damages on account of such breaking or injury.

SEC. 9. That when an offense against this act shall have been committed by means of a vessel, or of any boat belonging to a vessel, the master of such vessel shall, unless some other person is shown to have been in charge of and navigating such vessel or boat, be deemed to have been in charge of and navigating the same, and be liable to be punished accordingly.

SEC. 10. That unless the context of this act otherwise requires, the term "vessel" shall be taken to mean every description of vessel used in navigation, in whatever way it is propelled; the term "master" shall be taken to include every person having command or charge of a vessel; and the term "person" to include a body of persons, corporate or incorporate. The term "convention" shall be taken to mean the International Convention for the Protection of Submarine Cables, made at Paris on the fourteenth day of May, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, and proclaimed by the President of the United States on the twenty-second day of May, eighteen hundred and eighty-five.

SEC. 11. That the provisions of the Revised Statutes, from section forty-three hundred to section forty-three hundred and five, inclusive, for the summary trial of offenses against the navigation laws of the United States, shall extend to the trial of offenses against the provisions of sections four and five of this act.

SEC. 12. That the provisions of this act shall be held to apply only to cables to which the convention for the time being applies.

SEC. 13. That the district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction over all offenses against this act and of all suits of a civil nature arising thereunder, whether the infraction complained

Offenses on high

Criminal proceed

of shall have been committed within the territorial waters of the
United States or outside of the said waters: Provided, That in case Proviso.
such infraction is committed outside of the territorial waters of the
United States the vessel on board of which it has been committed seas.
is a vessel of the United States. From the decrees and judgments
of the district courts in actions and suits arising under this act ap
peals and writs of error shall be allowed as now provided by law in
other cases. Criminal actions and proceedings for a violation of the
provisions of this act shall be commenced and prosecuted in the dis- ings.
trict court for the district within which the offense was committed,
and when not committed within any judicial district, then in the dis-
trict court for the district within which the offender may be found;
and suits of a civil nature may be commenced in the district court
for any district within which the defendant may be found and shall
be served with process.

Approved, February 29, 1888.

CHAP. 18.-An act authorizing the appointment of two additional division superintendents of Railway Mail Service.

February 29, 1888.

Two additional di

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Post- Railway Mail Service. master-General be, and is hereby, authorized to appoint and assign vision superintendents to duty two division superintendents of Railway Mail Service, in authorized. addition to those heretofore authorized, who shall each be paid a salary of two thousand five hundred dollars a year. Approved, February 29, 1888.

CHAP. 19.-An act to authorize the purchase of additional ground in Newark, New Jersey, adjoining the custom-house and post-office building, and for the improvement of the building thereon, and the erection of additions thereto.

March 1, 1888.

Public building.
Addition to.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary Newark, N. J. of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized to purchase or acquire by condemnation sufficient additional land adjoining the United States custom house and post-office building in Newark, New Jersey, and cause such changes and improvements to be made in the building thereon, and to erect such addition thereto as, in his judgment, may be necessary to render the same suitable for the transaction of the public business; and for the purpose herein mentioned, the sum of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be immediately available, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

Approved, March 1, 1888.

Appropriation.

CHAP. 20. An act to authorize the removal of the quarantine station from Ship Island, Mississippi.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to cause the removal of the national quarantine station now located on Ship Island, in the Gulf of Mexico, to some other island in said Gulf, or in such pass in the Mississippi Delta as may be recommended by a board to be designated

March 5, 1888.

Ship Island, Miss. tine station from.

Removal of quaran

Appropriation.

March 5, 1888.

Rockland, Me.
Public building.

by him, and that the necessary quarantine buildings and appliances be established thereon; and that the sum of forty-five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to carry out the purposes of this act.

Approved, March 5, 1888.

CHAP. 21.-An act granting to Edwin Libby Post, Grand Army of the Republic, permission to erect a soldiers' monument on vacant land adjoining custom-house at Rockland, Maine.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to grant permission to the Soldiers' monument. Edwin Libby Post, Grand Army of the Republic, to erect a soldiers' monument on vacant land belonging to the Government and adjoining the United States custom-house at Rockland, Maine, on such conditions as may seem to him proper.

Approved, March 5, 1888.

March 5, 1888.

Signal service.
Purchase of building

Post, p. 90.

CHAP. 22.-An act to authorize the Secretary of War to convey to the city of Austin, Texas, a tract of land in said city for educational purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized to convey to the city of Austin, in the State of Texas, for educational purposes, a certain tract or parcel of land known as the "Arsenal Block," and lying in the southeast portion of the said city of Austin, and bounded on the east by East avenue, on the south by Third street, on the north by Waller Creek, and on the west by Red River street: Provided, That any conveyance made by the Secretary of War pursuant to this act shall be upon the express condition that the title to the property described shall revert to the United States whenever the city of Austin shall cease to use the same for educational purposes.

Approved, March 5, 1888.

CHÁP. 23.-An act for the purchase of a site, including the building thereon, also for the erection of the necessary store-houses, for the use of the office of the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, at the city of Washington, District of Columbia.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary for, Washington, D. C. of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to purchase or otherwise provide a site containing about fifty-four thousand square feet of ground, and the building thereon, on the northeast quarter of square numbered twenty-five, corner of twentyfourth and M streets northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, belonging to David Fergusson, for use of the Signal Bureau of the War Department, and cause to be erected, on such portion of the site as is not now occupied by buildings, substantial and commodious building, with fire-proof vaults, for use as store-houses for the accommodation of the office of the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, and for other Government uses, at Washington, District of Columbia. The site and building thereon, including the store-houses, when completed upon plans and specifications to be previously made and approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall not exceed in cost the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars: Provided, That not more than one hundred and twelve thousand dollars be paid to David Fergusson for the property herein referred to; nor

New building.

Provisos.

Limit of price.

shall any site be purchased until estimates for the erection or pur-
chase of a building, including the necessary store-houses, which will
furnish sufficient accommodations for the transactions of the public
business, and which shall not exceed in cost the balance of the sum
herein limited after the site shall have been purchased and paid for,
shall have been approved by the Secretary of the Treasury; and no
site nor plans for said building or buildings shall be approved by
the Secretary of the Treasury involving an expenditure exceeding
the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for site and build-
ing; and the site purchased shall leave the building unexposed to
danger from fire by a space of at least fifty feet except Government
buildings, including streets and alleys: Provided, That no part of
the said sum shall be expended until a valid title to the said site
shall be vested in the United States.
Approved, March 5, 1888.

CHAP. 29.-An act authorizing the Secretary of War to transfer to the trustees of the Porter Academy certain property in the city of Charleston, South Carolina. enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to convey, by deed duly and properly executed to the trustees of the Porter Academy, of Charleston, South Carolina, and to their successors, the property situated in said city, belonging to the Government of the United States, formerly used as an arsenal, now and for the seven years last past used for educational purposes, bounded on the north by Bee street, on the east by Ashley street, on the south by Doughty street, and on the west by President street, said conveyance to embrace a condition that said property shall be inviolably dedicated to educational purposes, and no other.

SEC. 2.. That the Secretary of War shall require the said trustees to file an acceptance in the War Department of said property, stipulating that the same shall be dedicated and used for all time for educational purposes, and for no other.

Approved, March 8, 1888.

CHAP. 30.-An act to amend an act to restrict the ownership of real estate in the Territories to American citizens, and so forth, approved March third, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven.

Alien ownership of real estate. Vol. 24, p. 476.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That an act entitled "An act to restrict the ownership of real estate in the Territories to American citizens, and so forth," approved March third, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, be so amended that the same shall not apply to or operate in the District of Columbia, so far as relates to the ownership of legations, or the ownership of residences District of Columbia." by representatives of foreign Governments, or attaches thereof. Approved, March 9, 1888.

CHAP. 34.-An act to fix the charge for passports at one dollar.

Foreign representatives may acquire, in

March 23, 1888.

duced.

fees reVol. 18, p. 90.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and Passport after the passage of this act a fee of one dollar shall be collected for each citizen's passport issued from the Department of State. That all acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this are hereby repealed. Approved, March 23, 1888.