cies.

to indigeni le. Inales.

be

transacted

1837. In case vi vacan: by the by-laws of the board; and any vacancies which may

oceur in the board by resignation, death, removal, or otherwise, shall be supplied by the board of managers in such manner as

the by-laws of the board may direct. To afford relief SECTION 5. And be it further enacted, That the object of

the said Howard Institution of the city of Washington, shall be to afford relief to the indigent females of the city of Washington, by providing work for those who may desire it, and by procuring for them fuel and other necessaries of life on the most reasonable terms, and to adopt such other means as may be found expedient

for bettering the condition of the poor of the said city. All business to

SECTION 6. And be it further enacted, That all the business by the board or of said corporation hereby created shall be transacted by the managere.

board of managers, except the election of the said board, as hereinbefore provided for; the number of the board to form a quorum to transact the business of the said corporation, to be regulated by the by-laws of said institution. At all meetings thereof the President, if present, shall preside; and if he be absent, then one of the vice presidents, if either of them be present, and if neither of these shall be present at any meeting of the board, then the members present shall appoint one of their

number as president pro tempore. Board of mana- SECTION 7. And be it further enacted, That the board of a seal, make by: managers shall have power to adopt and use a common seal, as officers, &c. the seal of this corporation, and to alter or exchange the same at

their pleasure. They shall have power to adopt all by-laws which they may think necessary for the management of the concerns of the institution, and which shall not be inconsistent with the laws of the United States, or the laws of the District of Columbia for the time being. They shall appoint such officers, agents, and servants, as may be necessary to carry on the business of the institution, and regulate the compensation to be paid to them for their services; and they may dismiss any of them at their pleasure, and appoint others in their stead, as often as they shall think fit. They shall keep a journal of their proceedings, in which shall be recorded every by-law which may be adopted. They shall adopt such checks and regulations as may appear necessary for the security of the funds and property of the institution; and shall' annually make a report of the affairs and condition of the

institution for the preceding year. Act may be a'ters Section 8. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful ed or repeated,

for Congress, at any time hereafter, 10 alter, amend, modify, or repeal this act.

Approved, March 2d, 1837.

gers may adopt

laws, appoint

dc.

CHAP. 25. An ACT to provide for the adjustment of title and final disposition

of the four reserved sections in the tract of country allotted to the Tombeckbee Association for the encouragement of the cultivation of the vine and olive.

(Sec. 1.) Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all persons who became entitled, under the contract en

to allotments under contract

condi

tions.

tered into on the eighth day of January eighteen hundred and 1837.
nineteen, by the Secretary of the Treasury, on the part of the Persons entitled
United States, and Charles Villar, agent of the Tombeckbee
Association, in pursuance of "An act to set apart and dispose of by Bee, Treas.
certain public lands for the encouragement of the cultivation of lar, shall re-
the vine and olive," approved third March, eighteen hundred certain
and seventeen, to an allotment or share of the four sections of
land reserved for the small allotments, and designated as sec.
tiòns, seven, eighteen, nineteen, and thirty in township eight-
een, range three east, their heirs, devisees, or assigns, who shall
have complied with the conditions of settlement and cultivation
on such allotment, as required by said contract, or shall have
been in the actual settlement and cultivation of his or her allot-
ment within said four sections, or a part thereof, before or on
the thirty-first day of October eighteen hundred and thirty-two,
as provided by the act of the nineteenth day of February,
eighteen hundred and thirty-three, shall, on producing to the
register and receiver of the land district in which said lands are
situated, satisfactory evidence of title to such allotment, and of
settlement and cultivation on the same as aforesaid, and paying
one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for the land, receive a
patent for the same: Provided, Such proof shall be filed and Proviso.
payment made within six months from the passage of this act :
And provided, further, That the expense of surveying any further proviso,
such allotment shall be defrayed by the person or persons claim-
ing the same.

SECTION 2. And be it further enacted, That any remainder Remainder sub-
of said four sections not disposed of by the first section of this use or Demop-
act shall be subject to entry at one dollar and twenty-five cents Academy.
per acre, by the trustees of the Demopolis Female Academy, in
trust for the use and benefit of said institution.

Approved, March 2d, 1837.

Female

CHAP. 26. An ACT to organize the several Fire Companies in the District of

Columbia,

[Sec. 1.) Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, from and after the passage of this act, the fire companies Powers and priof Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, in the District of vileces of the Columbia, and those which may hereafter be formed in either of Georgetown & the said cities, shall, when so formed, severally have power to companica. frame their own constitution, and adopt by-laws for their own regulation, and to elect their own officers, who, and the members of the several companies, shall be exempt from the performance of military duty in time of peace, so long as they shall continue active members thereof; and the certificate of the several presidents of the said companies, attested by the secretary, shall be sufficient evidence of membership: Provided, That no company Proviso. now formed, or hereafter to be formed, as aforesaid, shall have

Examination of

1837. the benefit of this act, until it shall first obtain a fire apparatus Further proviso. of the value of at least five hundred dollars : And, provided,

A company possessing an apparatus of the value of five hundred dollars, shall not exempt more than seventy-five; and a company possessing an apparatus of the value of one thousand dollars and upwards, shall not exempt more than one hundred.

SECTION 2. And be it further enacted, That the corporate tire apparatus, authorities in each of the said cities shall, annually, appoint an

inspector, whose duty it shall be to examine the condition of the fire apparatus belonging to each fire company at least once in every month, and to report its state to a fire department, to be composed of the presidents of the respective fire companies in each of the said cities, who are hereby constituted a fire department for that purpose, which shall sit monthly, at the town. house in the city to which they belong. And if the said inspector shall report that the fire apparatus of any one of the said fire companies is so defective or out of repair as to be of less value than five hundred dollars, or unfit for service, and the company or companies whose apparatus shall be thus reported to be so depreciated in value or out of repair, shall permit the same to continue so for one calendar month, the said company or companies shall thereupon forfeit all the rights, privileges, and immunities, granted by this act; and it shall be the duty of the said inspector to communicate this fact to the adjutant of the regiment of the city in which such company or companies may belong.

SECTION 3. And be it further enacted, That each of the said dience by fine, fire companies shall have power to enforce obedience to its con

stitution and by-laws by fire and forfeiture; and to collect all such fines by warrant, to be issued by a justice of the peace in the city where such company belong, in the name of the said company; and the certificate of the president of such company, that the person so fined has been fined for disobedience to the constitution or by-laws (as the case may be) of fire company in

city, attested by the secretary of the said company, shall be sufficient evidence for the magistrate to issue his warrant, and, after having the party before him, to enter up judgment, and issue execution thereon : Provided, Proof of such fine shall be made by the record thereof produced before the justice, and proved by the secretary; and, if either of the said companies shall expel any member thereof, he, the said member so expelled, shall thereupon forfeit all the rights, privileges, and immunities, granted by this act; and it shall be the duty of the secretary of the company from which the said member shall be so expelled, immedi. ately to inform the captain of the militia company within whose limits the said member shall reside, that he has been so expelled ; and the said expelled member shall thereupon be enrolled in the said militia company, and compelled to perform military duty, if

otherwise liable to do military duty. Money collected. SECTION 4. And be it further enacted, That all and every

sum and sums of money collected under the authority of this act, shall be paid over by the officer or other person collecting

To enforce obe.

Proviso.

the same, to the treasurer of the company, in the name of which 1837.
the warrant shall have been issued, or money collected ; and
upon such officer or other person failing so to pay over the same,
the said treasurer may recover the same by warrant or suit, in
his own name, for the use of the said fire company, in the same
manner as private debts are now recovered by law. And each Shall provide
and every of the said fire companies now existing, or which lief of certain
may hereafter be formed, as aforesaid, shall, each for itself, pro- members, &e.
vide a fund for the relief of such member or members of such
company, who shall or may receive any corporeal hurt or injury,
or contract any disease at, or in consequence of, any fire, and be
unable to provide medical aid, or whose family or families may
be dependent upon his or their daily labor for support, and for the
relief of the family or families of any member or members of
such fire company, who shall or may be killed at, or die in con:
sequence of any injury received, or disease contracted at, or in
consequence of, any fire, and whose family or families may have
been dependent upon his or their daily labor for
the treasurer of the said company shall, after having paid all
the expenses which the said company shall have lawfully incur-
red, pay over to the said fund the residue of all fines collected
under the authority of this act.

Section 5. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this Not to interfere
act shall be construed to interfere with the right of the corporate of the corporate
authorities of the several cities aforesaid " to provide for the pre- the cities afore.
vention and extinguishment of fires ;" and it is hereby declared said with regard
to be the true intent and meaning of the several acts of incor-
poration of the several cities aforesaid, to give to the corporate
authorities thereof full power and lawful authority to make all
necessary provisions for the prevention and extinguishment of
fires ; for the preservation of order and protection of property at
any fire ; for the removal from any fire of suspicious persons,
and those who are disobedient to the regulations of the said sev-
eral corporations; for the punishment, by fine and imprisonment,
of such person or persons as, being present at, refuse to assist,
and obey the commands of the proper officer, in extinguishing
any fire; for the removal of such property as may be necessary
to be removed; to prevent and arrest the progress of any fires;
and to aid, protect, and obtain obedience to the officers in com-
mand of the several fire companies, and to protect the members
thereof while in the discharge of their duty at any fire.

Approved, March 2d, 1837.

to fires,

CHAP. 27. An ACT for the relief of Catharine Myott.

[Sec. 1.) Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the proper officers be, and they are hereby, authorized to 4 half section of cause the east half of section fourteen, in township forty-four apart for C.My. north, range one east, third principal meridian, in the State of

1837. Illinois, to be set apart and designated for Catharine Myotty as

part of the reservation to which she is entitled under the provision of the treaty made at Prairie du Chien on the first day of August, eighteen hundred and twenty-nine.

Approved, March 2d, 1837.

CHAP. 28. An ACT confirming the claim of the heirs of Michael Dragon to

certain tracts of land therein mentioned. [Séc. 1.) Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Represen

tatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, The claim.mof That the claims of Andria Demetry, or the heirs of Michael try confirmed. Dragon, deceased, to three several tracts of land situate on the

bay of Saint Louis, in the State of Louisiana, the titles to which were derived from the Spanish Government of that country, and containing together five thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight arpens, be, and the same hereby are, confirmed, in conformity with the report made by the register and receiver of the land district of St. Stephen's, acting as commissioners under the third section of the act approved the second March, eighteen hundred and twenty-nine, entitled “ An act confirming the report of the register and receiver of the land office for the district of St. Stephen's, in the State of Alabama, and for other purposes,” dated the

sixteenth of February, eighteen hundred and thirty-four : ProProviso.

vided, This confirmation does not interfere with any title or right, if such exist, to any part of the said land, acquired by any individual or individuals under the laws of the United States.

Approved, March 2d, 1837.

CHAP. 29. An ACT to amend an act approved the second of July, eighteen

hundred and thirty-six, for the relief of Samuel Smith, Linn McGhee, and Se. moice, Creek Indians; and, also, an act passed the second July, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, for the relief of Susan Marlow.

[Sec. 1.] Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Represen

tatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, So much of acts That so much of the acts for the relief of Samuel Smith, Linn to one section or McGhee, Semoice, and Susan Marlow, as restrict'them to the land repealed.

entry of one entire section of land, be, and the same is hereby reAuthorized to pealed ; and the

said Samuel Smith, Linn McGhee, Semoice, and cach. Susan Marlow, are hereby authorized to enter, without payment

and by legal subdivisions, a quantity of land not exceeding six hundred and forty acres each, which is subject to entry at private sale.

Approved, March 2d, 1837.

enter 640 acres

CHAP. 30. An ACT making appropriations for the naval service, for the year

one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven. [Sec. 1.) Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following sums be appropriated for the naval service, for the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, in ad dition to the unexpended balances of former appropriations, to wit: