quire the issues involved to be duly framed, and submitted, and shall confine the proof to such issues, and all the evidence shall be reduced to writing, and shall be subscribed and sworn to by the witnesses, respectively, and filed in the cause, and recorded in the minutes of the court. The judgment of the court in such cause shall declare the names and places of residence of the heirs of such decedent, and their respective shares and interests in the real and personal property of such decedent, in so far as such facts shall be ascertainable from the evidence under the laws of this State and the rules of evidence, and shall state in what respects, if any, the evidence presented upon such hearing fails to develop such issues or any of them, and all issues in the cause which may be framed by the court or under its direction, shall be embodied in the judgment of the court. As between and as among all parties to such cause who may have been personally so duly served with citation or notice as to a nonresident in such cause, and as between any and all of them and any and all bona fide purchasers for value from them or any of them of any of the real or personal property of such decedent, which is described in such judgment or any interest therein, such judgment shall be concluded, and as to any and all other persons such judgment shall be prima facie evidence that the heirs of such decedent and that their respective interests in the real and personal property described in such judgment are as therein stated; but such judgment shall not preclude any suit or suits against the persons therein names as heirs of such decedent or any one or more of them based upon the allegation that such heir or heirs have received more than his or their proper and just share of the property of such decedent. Such judgment shall have the force and effect of a final judgment of such court, and any party or parties to such cause may appeal from such judgment in like manner and under the same conditions as is now or as may hereafter be provided by law in other cases arising under the probate laws of this State. SEC. 5. A certified copy of such judgment may be filed for record in the office of the county clerk of the county in which any of the real property described in such judgment may be situated, and recorded in. the deed records of such county, and indexed in the name of such decedent as grantor and of the heirs named in such judgment as grantees; and from and after such filing such judgment shall constitute constructive notice of the facts set forth in such judgment. SEC. 6. The provisions of this Act shall be deemed and held to be cumulative of all existing laws, and shall not be held to repeal any existing law. SEC. 7. The fact that there now exists in this State no law making adequate provisions for determining and declaring of record who are the heirs and only heirs of decedents, and the shares and interests of such heirs in the estate of such decedents, creates an emergency and an imperative public necessity requiring that the constitutional rule which provides that bills shall be read on three several days be suspended and that this Act shall take effect from and after its passage, and it is so enacted. Approved April 17, 1907. Takes effect ninety days after adjournment. FISH AND OYSTER COMMISSIONER-RELATING TO H. B. No. 467.] DUTIES OF. CHAPTER CXXVI. An Act to amend Articles 2516, 2518c, 2518e, 2518k, of Chapter 90, of the Acts of the Twenty-ninth Legislature; Articles 2518m and 2518n, of Chapter CXXII, of the Acts of the Twenty-eighth Legislature; Articles 25181 and 2518q, of the Acts of the Twenty-sixth Legislature; Article 529e of the Acts of the Twentyseventh Legislature; Article 529j and Article 5290 of the Acts of 1895; and by adding another article known as "Article 2518c 1-2," providing for the purchase of patrolling boats, and Article 526a, making it a misdemeanor for common carriers to ship oysters during the closed season; and repealing Article 52; and repealing all laws in conflict with the above, relating to the duties of Fish and Oyster Commission, and declaring when this act shall take effect. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas: That Articles 2516, 2518c, 2518e and 2518k, of the Acts of the Twentyninth Legislature; Articles 2518m, Article 2518n, of the Acts of the Twenty-eighth Legislature, and Article 25181 and Article 2518q of the Acts of the Twenty-sixth Legislature, and Article 529e of the Twenty-seventh Legislature, and Articles 529j and 5290, of the acts of 1895, be so amended as to hereafter read as follows; and by adding thereto another article known as "Article 2518c 1-2," and Article 526a, so that the same shall read as follows: Article 2516. The Commissioner shall make, on the 31st day of August of each year, or as soon thereafter as practicable, not later than October 1 of each year, a report to the Governor showing the condition of the fish and oyster industry. The report shall contain the number and class of all boats engaged in the fish and oyster trade; the number, place and acreage of locations of private oyster beds, and the amounts received therefor; the number of licenses, special tax and all other amounts collected from whatever source, and the disbursements thereof, as provided for in this act, with such observations and remarks as pertain to the industry. The Governor shall order sufficient numbers of copies of said report to be printed and filed in the Secretary of State's office, for the purpose of free distribution to parties therein interested. Failing to make such report within the time specified, the said Commissioner may, in the discretion of the Governor, be dismissed from his office. Article 2518c. All funds collected for registered certificates, license, tax on fish, turtle, terrapin, shrimp and oysters, and fees and rents for locating private oyster beds and any others that may be prescribed, by deputy fish and oyster commissioner along the coast, shall be by them and each of them paid over weekly to the Fish and Oyster Commissioner. Such funds so collected by the Fish and Oyster Commissioner weekly from the deputy fish and oyster commissioners along the coast shall be by such Fish and Oyster Commissioner deposited monthly in the State Treasury to the credit of the fish and oyster fund. Out of the money so collected and deposited into the State Treasury, there shall be paid the salaries of the chief deputy, special deputies and regular deputies provided for under this act monthly by the Fish and Oyster Commissioner, drawing his warrant in favor of each of said persons on said fish and oyster fund, as follows: One chief deputy the sum of $75 per month, who shall have the same powers and authorities as the Fish and Oyster Commissioner, in the absence or inability or any other cause of the Fish and Oyster Commissioner to act, but said chief deputy shall at all times be subject to the orders of the said Fish and Oyster Commissioner, and in addition to said salary said chief deputy fish and oyster commissioner shall be paid his actual traveling expenses in the performance of his duties, upon the approval of such account by the Fish and Oyster Commissioner. Two special deputies, who shall have jurisdiction over the entire coast, but subject to the orders of the Commissioner, an amount not to exceed $600 per annum, each: One deputy at Sabine Pass, $50 per month. Two deputies at Galveston, $50 per month each. One deputy at Houston, $50 per month. But in no instance shall the State be liable for the payment of said deputies, and in the event that there are not sufficient funds to the credit of the fish and oyster fund at the end of any month to pay the salaries herein fixed, for such month, then the Fish and Oyster Commissioner shall prorate the amount then on hand in proportion to the salaries received for such month. All certificates issued by the Fish and Oyster Commissioner for the location of private oyster beds under the laws of 1895, passed by the Twenty-fourth Legislature, are hereby validated, and the Fish and Oyster Commissioner is hereby authorized to call in all certificates of location previously issued which are not annulled by the forfeiture under the laws of 1895, and to issue new certificates in lieu thereof. Article 2518c 1-2. For the purpose of protecting the fish and oyster industry, and to enforce and carry into effect the fish and oyster laws of this State, the Fish and Oyster Commissioner is hereby fully authorized and empowered to purchase for the use of the State two boats of sufficient size and tonnage to cost not exceeding one thousand dollars each, and to be paid for out of the fish and oyster fund of the State by warrants drawn on said fund by the Fish and Oyster Commissioner, and duly approved by the Governor; said boats, when so purchased, shall be used by the Fish and Oyster Commissioner, or his deputies, in patrolling the bays and public coast waters of the State; for the purpose of enforcing the criminal fish and oyster laws, and for the better protection of the public and private oyster reefs of the State, and for the purpose of requiring all parties engaged in taking fish and oystersfrom the public waters to strictly comply with the laws of Texas. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this article, the Fish and Oyster Commissioner is authorized and empowered to employ not to exceed two men on each of said boats, who shall at all times be under the direction and supervision of the Fish and Oyster Commissioner, provided that one of said men on each of the boats herein provided may in the discretion of the Fish and Oyster Commissioner be one of his regular authorized deputies; said employes hereby provided for, in case they be other than a regular authorized deputy, shall receive the sum of thirty dollars per month, and board for themselves not to exceed $10 per month. The expense of operating and maintaining said patrol to be paid for out of the fish and oyster fund of the State, by warrants drawn on said fund by the Fish and Oyster Commissioner and duly approved by the Governor. Article 2518e. All deputies, whether county or special, shall make a weekly report to the Fish and Oyster Commissioner of all funds collected by them, and remit to said Fish and Oyster Commissioner, along with said report, all sums of money collected by them during the said week, and shall make an annual report to the Fish and Oyster Commissioner not later than August first of each year, which report shall set forth in detail such acts as are provided for in Article 2516 and Article 2518c. Article 2518k. Any captain, master or manager of any boat wishing to engage in the business of catching or taking any fish, turtle, terrapin, shrimp or oysters from the waters of the State for market shall, before engaging in such business, secure from the Fish and Oyster Commissioner, or one of his deputies, a license granting to said person permission to take from the waters of the State any fish, turtle, terrapin, shrimp or oysters, provided that the license, in exercising the privilege named in his license, shall at all times be governed by the fish and oyster laws of this State. For the purpose of obtaining this license the person desiring same must make written application to the Fish and Oyster Commissioner, or one of his deputies, in which he (the applicant) shall set forth, under oath required, that he is a citizen of the United States; the name, class and register number of his boat, and the names of the men working on said boat. If the application be for a license to use seines or nets, the applicant shall state the number, class and length of the seines or nets to be used by him, and if the application be for a license to gather oysters, he must state the number of tongs to be used by him, and the applicant shall also agree that because of the privilege which he shall receive from the State of Texas of taking fish, turtle, terrapin, shrimp or oysters from her waters, all such products at all times be subject to inspection by the Fish and Oyster Commissioner, or any of his deputies, and that said application shall authorize said Commissioner, er any of his deputies to enter at any time, his boat, or any house where he may have such products stored, and inspect same, and he shall further agree to pay to the State the special tax provided for in Article 2514 of the fish and oyster laws. This application having been duly executed and handed to the Fish and Oyster Commissioner, or his deputy, accompanied by the applicant's registration certificate and the fee for the license applied for, it shall thereupon be the duty of the Fish and Oyster Commissioner, or the deputy receiving same, to issue to the applicant a license to engage in the business set forth in his application. Said license must be signed by the Fish and Oyster Commissioner, or his deputy, stamped with the seal of office, and state the name of the licensee, name and class of his boat, if any, and the names of the men working on same, and the date of issuance. Such license shall be for twelve months if for fishing for fish, turtle or shrimp; and from September 1 to May 1 following date of license if for gathering oysters; and from August 1 to May 1 if for the purpose of catching terrapin, and for said license the applicant shall pay the sum of one dollar ($1) for himself and one dollar for each man working on his boat. The license shall always be kept subject to the inspection of the Fish and Oyster Commissioner, or any of his deputies, and it shall not be good for any other person or persons, nor on any other boat than the one originally named therein, without the consent of the Fish and Oyster Commissioner, or one of his deputies, writte: across the face of said license. Any person engaged in the business of taking or catching any fish, turtle, terrapin, shrimp or oysters for market, who is not, while so engaged, directly working for a boat previously licensed under the terms of this act, shall procure a license in the same manner as the captains, masters and managers of boats so engaged; provided, that one license so issued under this article shall authorize the licensee to engage in the business of taking or catching any of the products named herein. Article 25181. All oyster beds shall be public or private; all not designated private shall be public. All natural oyster beds and oyster reefs of this State shall be deemed public, and a natural oyster bed shall be declared to exist when as many as five barrels of oysters may be found therein within twenty-five hundred square feet of any position of said reef or bed, and any lands covered by water containing less oysters than the above amount shall be subject to location at the discretion of the Fish and Oyster Commissioner, but this shall not apply to a reef or bed that has been exhausted within a period of eight years. Article 2518m. Any person who is a citizen of the United States, or any corporation having been chartered in this State, shall have the right of obtaining a location for planting oysters and making private oyster beds within the navigable waters of this State, by making written application to the Fish and Oyster Commissioner or his deputy, describing the location desired. A fee of ten dollars cash must accompany such application. It shall then be the duty of the Fish and Oyster Commissioner, or his deputy, to, as soon as practicable, thoroughly examine the location desired, with tongs, dredge or in any other efficient manner, and if the same do not be a natural oyster bed or reef, and exempt from location by any section of this act, he shall have the location surveyed by a competent surveyor. In making said location, said surveyor shall plant twe iron stakes or pipes on the shore line nearest to the proposed location, which said stakes or pipes shall not be less than two inches in diameter and be set at least three feet in the ground, and said stakes or pipes shall be parallel, and they shall be set se as to mark a line of equal length with said base line of the location. Said stakes or pipes shall be placed with reference to bearings of not less than three permanent object of land marks. All lines of said loca |