also the right to take from the lands of the United States adjacent to the line of said road material, earth, stone, and timber necessary for the construction of said railroad; also the right to take for railroad uses, subject to the reservation of all minerals and coal therein, public lands adjacent to said right of way for station buildings, depots, machine shops, side tracks, turnouts, water stations, and terminals, and other legitimate railroad purposes, not to exceed in amount 20 acres for each station, to the extent of one station for each 10 miles of its road, excepting at terminals and junction points, which may include additional 40 acres, to be limited on navigable waters to 80 rods on the shore line, and with the right to use such additional ground as may in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior be necessary where there are heavy cuts or fills: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to give to such railroad company, its lessees, grantees, or assigns, the ownership or use of minerals, including coal, within the limits of its right of way, or of the lands hereby granted: Provided further, That all mining operations prosecuted or undertaken within the limits of such right of way, or of the lands hereby granted, shall, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, be so conducted as not to injure or interfere with the property or operations of the road over its said lands or right of way. (Act of May 14, 1898, 30 Stat. 409.) A. ALASKA RIGHT-OF-WAY ACT. B. ACTIONS TO QUIET TITLE-HOMESTEAD AND MINERAL CLAIMANTS, p. 864. A. ALASKA RIGHT-OF-WAY ACT. 1. EFFECT ON AUTHORITY OF LAND DEPARTMENT. 1. EFFECT ON AUTHORITY OF LAND DEPARTMENT. Congress has not by this or any other Alaska act divested the Land Department of its general and exclusive authority to investigate and determine the mineral or nonmineral character of lands in that District, and the department is not bound by the decision of any court or other tribunal as to these questions. Low v. Katalla Co., 40 L. D. 534, p. 540. See Snyder v. Waller, 25 L. D. 7, p. 8. Ryan v. Granite Hill Co., 29 L. D. 522, p. 524. This act does no change the rule as to the jurisdiction of the Land Office to determine the question of the mineral or nonmineral character of the land in a contest between a mineral claimant and a homestead settler. Nelson v. Brownell, 193 Fed. 641, p. 642. See Lasley v. Brownell, 199 Fed. 772. 2. RESERVATIONS ALONG SHORE FOR HIGHWAYS. The 60-foot reservation provided for in this act does not, under section 26 of the act of June 6, 1900 (31 Stat. 321, p. 330), apply to mineral land. Alaska Mildred Gold Min. Co., In re, 42 L. D. 255, p. 258. necessary material from the public domain in said District for the construction of such wagon roads or tramways, together with the right, subject to supervision and at rates to be approved by said Secretary, to levy and collect toll or freight and passenger charges on passengers, animals, freight, or vehicles passing over the same for a period not exceeding 20 years; and said Secretary is also authorized to sell to the owner or owners of any such wagon road or tramway, upon the completion thereof, not to exceed 20 acres of public land at each terminus at $1.25 per acre, such lands when located at or near tidewater not to extend more than 40 rods in width along the shore line, and the title thereto to be upon such expressed conditions as in his judgment may be necessary to protect the public interest, and all minerals, including coal, in such right of way or station grounds shall be reserved to the United States: Provided, That such lands may be located concurrently with the line of such road or tramway, and the plat of preliminary survey and the map of definite location shall be filed as in the case of railroads and subject to the same conditions and limitations: Provided further, That such rights of way and privileges shall only be enjoyed by or granted to citizens of the United States or companies or corporations organized under the laws of a State or Territory; and such rights and privileges shall be held subject to the right of Congress to alter, amend, repeal, or grant equal rights to others on contiguous or parallel routes. And no right to construct a wagon road on which toll may be collected shall be granted unless it shall first be made to appear to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that the public convenience requires the construction of such proposed road, and that the expense of making the same available and convenient for public travel will not be less, on an average, than $500 per mile. (Act of May 14, 1898, 30 Stat. 411.) SEC. 42. That this act shall not apply to any lands within the limits of any military, park, Indian, or other reservation unless such right of way shall be provided for by act of Congress. (Act of May 14, 1898, 30 Stat. 409, p. 412.) Charlton Code, p. 58, sec. 7. SEC. 46. That the Union Pioneer Mining & Trading Co., a corporation created and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of California, be, and it is hereby, authorized to construct and maintain a bridge across the Catalla Creek, in the District of Alaska, to be located at such point as shall be approved by the Secretary of War. Said bridge may be used for the passage of wagons and vehicles of all kinds, and for the transit of animals, and for foot passengers, for such reasonable rates of toll as may be fixed by said company and approved by the Secretary of War. (Act of Apr. 28, 1904, 33 Stat. 560.) SEC. 47. That the right of way through the lands of the United States in the District of Alaska is hereby granted to any railroad company, duly organized under the laws of any State or Territory, or by the Congress of the United States, which may hereafter file for record with the Secretary of the Interior a copy of its articles of incorporation, and due proofs of its organization under the same, to the extent of 100 feet on each side of the center line of said road; also the right to take from the lands of the United States adjacent to the line of said road material, earth, stone, and timber necessary for the construction of said railroad; also the right to take for railroad uses, subject to the reservation of all minerals and coal therein, public lands adjacent to said right of way for station buildings, depots, machine shops, side tracks, turnouts, water stations, and terminals, and other legitimate railroad purposes, not to exceed in amount 20 acres for each station, to the extent of one station for each 10 miles of its road, excepting at terminals and junction points, which may include additional 40 acres, to be limited on navigable waters to 80 rods on the shore line, and with the right to use such. additional ground as may in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior be necessary where there are heavy cuts or fills: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to give to such railroad company, its lessees, grantees, or assigns, the ownership or use of minerals, including coal, within the limits of its right of way, or of the lands hereby granted: Provided further, That all mining operations prosecuted or undertaken within the limits of such right of way, or of the lands hereby granted, shall, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, be so conducted as not to injure or interfere with the property or operations of the road over its said lands or right of way. (Act of May 14, 1898, 30 Stat. 409.) A. ALASKA RIGHT-OF-WAY ACT. B. ACTIONS TO QUIET TITLE-HOMESTEAD AND MINERAL CLAIMANTS, p. 864. A. ALASKA RIGHT-OF-WAY ACT. 1. EFFECT ON AUTHORITY OF LAND DEPARTMENT. 2. RESERVATIONS ALONG SHORE FOR HIGHWAYS. 3. ADVERSE CLAIMS. 1. EFFECT ON AUTHORITY OF LAND DEPARTMENT. Congress has not by this or any other Alaska act divested the Land Department of its general and exclusive authority to investigate and determine the mineral or nonmineral character of lands in that District, and the department is not bound by the decision of any court or other tribunal as to these questions. Low v. Katalla Co., 40 L. D. 534, p. 540. See Snyder v. Waller, 25 L. D. 7, p. 8. Ryan v. Granite Hill Co., 29 L. D. 522, p. 524. This act does no change the rule as to the jurisdiction of the Land Office to determine the question of the mineral or nonmineral character of the land in a contest between a mineral claimant and a homestead settler. Nelson v. Brownell, 193 Fed. 641, p. 642. See Lasley v. Brownell, 199 Fed. 772. 2. RESERVATIONS ALONG SHORE FOR HIGHWAYS. The 60-foot reservation provided for in this act does not, under section 26 of the act of June 6, 1900 (31 Stat. 321, p. 330), apply to mineral land. Alaska Mildred Gold Min. Co., In re, 42 L. D. 255, p. 258. This act only contemplates the reservation along the shore of an easement for highway purposes, and does not prohibit the location of a mining claim extending to the water's edge, but subject to the roadway easement. Alaska Mildred Gold Min. Co., In re, 42 L. D. 255, p. 258. Notwithstanding the reservation of 60-foot roadways along the shore and navigable streams, a mining claim may be located to the water's edge. Alaska Mildred Gold Min. Co., In re, 42 L. D. 255, p. 258. Under the provision that a roadway 60 feet in width shall be reserved for public use along navigable streams and the seashore in Alaska, it follows that mill sites being nonmineral land do not fall within the exception of mineral land from such reservation provided by section 26, of the act of June 6, 1900 (31 Stat. 321, p. 330), and therefore their shoreward boundaries can not lawfully be laid within 60 feet of the water's edge. Alaska Copper Co., In re, 32 L. D. 128, p. 131. 3. ADVERSE CLAIMS. As adverse proceedings under the mining laws are confined to conflicting mining claims, so the adverse nature of this act should for like reasons be limited to cases of conflicts arising between nonmineral claimants only and should not be invoked or applied to cases of conflict arising between mining locators, on the one hand, and agricultural or nonmineral claimants, on the other. Squires, In re, 40 L. D. 542, p. 544. A court has jurisdiction to determine the superior right to the possession of land under this act as between the adverse claimants and by its decree to protect the one held to be entitled thereto and where a decree goes no further it is binding upon the department. Crary v. Gavigan, 36 L. D. 225, p. 226. B. ACTIONS TO QUIET TITLE HOMESTEAD AND MINERAL CLAIMANTS. The requirement of this section as to actions to quiet title does not apply to contests arising between homestead settlers and the locators of mineral claims concerning the mineral or nonmineral character of the land in controversy. Nelson v. Brownell, 193 Fed. 641, p. 642. See Lasley v. Brownell, 199 Fed. 772. 38 STAT. 305, MARCH 12, 1914 (PUBLIC, NO. 69, 63D CONGRESS). ALASKA RAILROAD ACT. AN ACT To authorize the President of the United States to locate, construct, and operate railroads in the Territory of Alaska, and for other purposes. Be it enacted, etc., That the President of the United States is hereby empowered, authorized, and directed to adopt and use a name by which to designate the railroad or railroads and properties to be located, owned, acquired, or operated under the authority of this act; to employ such officers, agents, or agencies, in his discretion, as may be necessary to enable him to carry out the purposes of this act; to authorize and require such officers, agents, or agencies to perform any or all of the duties imposed upon him by the terms of this act; to detail and require any officer or officers in the Engineer Corps in the Army or Navy to perform service under this act; to fix the compensation of all officers, agents, or employees appointed or designated by him; to designate and cause to be located a route or routes for a line or lines of railroad in the Territory of Alaska not to exceed in the aggregate 1,000 miles, to be so located as to connect one or more of the open Pacific Ocean harbors on the southern coast of Alaska with the navigable waters in the interior of Alaska, and with a coal field or fields so as best to aid in the development of the agricultural and mineral or other resources of Alaska, and the settlement of the public lands therein, and so as to provide transportation of coal for the Army and Navy, transportation of troops, arms, munitions of war, the mails, and for other governmental and public uses, and for the transportation of passengers and property; to construct and build a railroad or railroads along such route or routes as he may so designate and locate, with the necessary branch lines, feeders, sidings, switches, and spurs; to purchase or otherwise acquire all real and personal property necessary to carry out the purposes of this act; to exercise the power of eminent domain in acquiring property for such use, which use is hereby declared to be a public use, by condemnation in the courts of Alaska in accordance with the laws now or hereafter in force there; to acquire rights of way, terminal grounds, and all other rights; to purchase or otherwise acquire all necessary equipment for the construction and operation of such railroad or railroads; to build or otherwise acquire docks, wharves, terminal facilities, and all structures needed for the equipment and operation of such railroad or railroads; to fix, change, or modify rates for the transportation of passengers and property, which rates shall be equal and uniform, but no free transportation or passes shall be permitted except that the provisions of the interstate commerce laws relating to the transportation of employees and their families shall be in force as to the lines constructed under this act; to receive compensation for the transportation of passengers and property, and to perform generally all the usual duties of a common carrier by railroad; to make and establish rules and regulations for the control and operation of said railroad or railroads; in his discretion, to lease the said railroad or railroads, or any portion thereof, including telegraph and telephone lines, after completion under such terms as he may deem proper, but no lease shall be for a longer period than twenty years, or in the event of failure to lease, to operate the same until the further action of Congress: Provided, That if said railroad or railroads, including telegraph and telephone lines, are leased under the authority herein. given, then and in that event they shall be operated under the jurisdiction and control of the provisions of the interstate commerce laws; to purchase, condemn, or otherwise acquire upon such terms as he may deem proper any other line or lines of railroad in Alaska which may be necessary to complete the construction of the line or lines of railroad designated or located by him: Provided, That the price to be paid in case of purchase shall in no case exceed the actual physical value of the railroad; to make contracts or agreements with any railroad or steamship company or vessel owner for joint transportation of passengers or property over the road or roads herein provided for, and such railroad or steamship line or by such vessel, and to make such other contracts as may be necessary to carry out any of the purposes of this act; to utilize in carrying on the work herein provided |