Sabine Pass, Tex.

the Valley to Birmingham and beyond to Five Mile Creek, at a point where sufficient head can be obtained to supply water for that part of said route between Five Mile Creek and Bessemer, Alabama, so as to secure a channel to have a minimum depth of six feet and be at least fifty feet in width at the water line, and to ascertain the cost of such improvement, and the cost of such survey shall be defrayed from the unexpended balance of the funds heretofore appropriated for the improvement of the Black Warrior River from Tuscaloosa to Daniels Creek.

For the purchase of a dredge boat for use in the harbor Dredge boat, improvement at Sabine Pass, Texas, one hundred thousand

etc.

Mobile Bay, Ala.

Estimates, etc.

dollars, and for the expense of operating the same during the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, thirty thousand dollars; in all, one hundred and thirty thousand dollars.

For maintaining and keeping open the channel in Mobile Bay, in the State of Alabama, twenty-five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of War during the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.

And hereafter the Secretary of War shall annually submit estimates in detail for river and harbor improvements required for the ensuing fiscal year to the Secretary of the Treasury to be included in, and carried into the sum total of, the Book of Estimates.

MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS, WAR DEPARTMENT.

SURVEY OF NORTHERN AND NORTHWESTERN LAKES: For printing and issuing charts for use of navigators and electrotyping plates for chart printing, two thousand dollars.

For surveys, additions to, and correcting engraved plates, to be available until expended, twenty-five thousand dollars.

TRANSPORTATION OF REPORTS AND MAPS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES: For the transportation of reports and maps to foreign countries through the Smithsonian Institution, one hundred dollars.

*

CALIFORNIA DEBRIS COMMISSION: For defraying the expenses of the Commission in carrying on the work authorized by the Act of Congress approved March first, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, fifteen thousand dollars.

HARBOR OF NEW YORK: For prevention of obstructive and injurious deposits within the harbor and adjacent waters of New York City:

For pay of inspectors and deputy inspectors, office force, and expenses of office, ten thousand two hundred and sixty dollars;

For pay of crews and maintenance of four steam tugs Vessels. and three launches, forty-eight thousand seven hundred

and forty dollars;

In all, fifty-nine thousand dollars.

ways between

ters.

DEEP WATERWAYS COMMISSION: For surveys and ex- Deep wateraminations (including estimate of cost) of deep waterways Great Lakes and and the routes thereof, between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic tide waAtlantic tide waters, as recommended by the report of the Deep Waterways Commission transmitted by the Presi dent to Congress January eighteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Such examinations and surveys shall be made by a board Board to of three engineers, to be designated by the President, one of whom may be detailed from the Engineer Corps of the Army, one from the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and one shall be appointed from civil life.

vey, etc.

sas, Texas.

sur

ine improve.

That for the purpose of ascertaining the character and Pass of Aranvalue of the improvements made at the Pass of Aransas, on the Gulf coast of Texas, by the Aransas Pass Harbor Company, a board of three engineers shall be appointed Board to examby the President, from the Engineer Corps of the Army; ments. and such board shall personally make examination of the work done by said company for the purpose of deepening the channel and removing the bar at or near said Pass of Aransas.

It shall be the duty of the board so constituted to report Duties. the depth of water upon the bar at the time of their examination; the character of the work done and the cost of same; the character and cost of any unfinished work contracted to be done by said company; the probable result upon the deepening of the channel across the bar of any work contracted for or contemplated by said company, but not then finished; the value to the Government of all work done or contracted to be done by said company for the purpose of deepening said channel or removing said bar, and such other information as they may deem essential to be known to Congress in making future provision for the purchase of said works by the United States Government.

Said board shall report the result of their investigation Report. to the Secretary of War on or before the first Monday in December, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, and the Secretary shall immediately transmit the report to Congress; and five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to pay the expenses of the said board and for the services of the said engineers, the amount of such compensation for said services to be fixed by the Secretary of War.

MEMORIAL BRIDGE ACROSS POTOMAC RIVER: To enable the Chief of Engineers of the Army to make the necessary surveys, soundings, and borings, and for securing designs and estimates for a memorial bridge from the most convenient point of the Naval Observatory grounds, or adjacent thereto, across the Potomac River to the most

Memorial bridge, Potomac River.

State Department.

Nicaragua Ca

nal.

veys, etc.

convenient point of the Arlington estate property, two thousand five hundred dollars.

UNDER THE STATE DEPARTMENT.

NICARAGUA CANAL COMMISSION: To continue the surCommission to veys and examinations authorized by the Act approved continue sur March second, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, entitled Vol 28, p. 948. An Act making appropriations for the sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, and for other purposes," into the proper route, the feasibility and cost of construction of the Nicaragua Canal, with the view of making complete plans for the entire work of construction of such canal as therein provided, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and to carry out this purpose the Presi dent of the United States is authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a commission to consist of one engineer from the Corps of Engineers of the United States Army, one officer of the Navy, who may be taken from the active or retired lists, and one engineer from civil life, said commission to have all the powers and duties conferred upon the commission provided for in said Act.

June 7, 1897.

Navigation. Vol. 26, p. 320. Vol. 28, pp. 82, 281.

Vol. 29, p. 381.

Approved, June 4, 1897.

CHAP. 4.-An Act To adopt regulations for preventing collisions upon certain harbors, rivers, and inland waters of the United States. Whereas the provisions of chapter eight hundred and two of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety, and the amendments thereto, adopting regulations for preventing collisions at sea, apply to all waters of the United States connected with the high seas navigable by seagoing vessels, except so far as the navigation of any harbor, river, or inland waters is regulated by specjal rules duly made by local authority; and

Inland waters. Whereas it is desirable that the regulations relating to the navigation of all harbors, rivers, and inland waters of the United States, except the Great Lakes and their connecting and tributary waters as far east as Montreal and the Red River of the North and rivers emptying into the Gulf of Mexico and their tributaries, shall be stated in one Act: Therefore,

Regulations to prevent collisions.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following regulations for preventing collision shall be followed by all vessels navigating all harbors, rivers, and inland waters of the United States, except the Great Lakes and their connecting and tributary waters as far east as Montreal and the Red River of the North and rivers emptying into the Gulf of Mexico and their tributaries, and are hereby declared special rules duly made by local authority:

[To be inserted at page 4208 Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers, 1897.]

CHAP. 3.—An Act Making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, and for other purposes.

June 7, 1897.

ment appropria

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Indian Depart. the following sums be, and they are hereby, appropriated, tions. out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of paying the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department in full compensation for all offices the salaries for which are specially provided for herein for the service of the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, and fulfilling treaty stipulations for the various Indian tribes, namely:

*

Aids to naviga.

tion.

For completing the necessary surveys within the Chip- Surveys. pewa Indian Reservation in Minnesota, including expenses of examining and appraising pine lands, under the provisions of the Act approved January fourteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, to be reimbursed to the United States out of proceeds of the sale of their lands,, fifty thousand dollars: Provided, That all lands acquired and sold by Proviso. the United States under the "Act for the relief and civilization of the Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota," approved January fourteenth, eighteen hundred and eightynine, shall be subject to the right of the United States to construct and maintain dams for the purpose of creating reservoirs in aid of navigation, and no claim or right of U.S. not liable compensation shall accrue from the overflowing of said lands on account of the construction and maintenance of such dams or reservoirs. And the Secretary of War shall furnish the Commissioner of the General Land Office a list of such lands, with the particular tracts appropriately described, and in the disposal of each and every one of said tracts, whether by sale, by allotment in severalty to individual Indians, or otherwise, under said Act, the provisions of this paragraph shall enter into and form a part of the contract of purchase or transfer of title.

Approved, June 7, 1897.

for overflows.