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Navy to enter a contract with S. D. Dakin

construction of a

Also to enter

with John S. Gil

bert and Zeno struction of a balance floating drysacola navy-yard.

Secor for the con

dock, &c., at Pen

making appropriations for the naval service, &c., directing among other things the construction of floating dry-docks at the navy-yards at Philadelphia, Pensacola, and Kittery, and in pursuance of the reports in favor of the two plans hereinafter named as best adapted to naval purposes, made by a board of officers appointed to examine all the plans, and by the Bureau of Yards and Docks, the Secretary of Secretary of the the Navy is hereby directed forthwith to enter into a con- into tract with Samuel D. Dakin and Rutherford Moody, for the and Rutherford complete construction, within a reasonable time from the date Moody for the of the contract, of a sectional floating dry-dock, basin, and sectional floating railways, at the navy yard at Philadelphia, according to the Philadelphia navy plan and specifications submitted by them to the Navy De- yard. partment; and also to enter into a contract with John S. Gil-, bert and Zeno Secor, for the complete construction, within a into a contract reasonable time from the date of the contract, of a balance floating dry-dock, basin, and railways, at the navy-yard at Pensacola, according to the plan and specifications submitted by them to the Navy Department; and also to enter into a contract with one or the other of the respective parties abovenamed, for the complete construction, within a reasonable time from the date of the contract, at the navy-yard at Kittery, of a floating dry-dock, basin, and railways, upon either of the above named plans that the said Secretary may prefer as best adapted to said yard; the said works at each yard to be of the largest dimensions proposed in said plans and specifications: Provided, That in each case such contract can Proviso. be made at prices that shall not exceed by more than ten per cent. the prices which have been submitted by either of the said proprietors to the Navy Department for a floating drydock on either of said plans, and for the basins and railways, of the dimensions aforesaid, at any of the said navy-yards: And provided further, That the said Secretary shall also, by further contract with said parties, enlarge the dimensions of said works at each yard to a capacity sufficient for docking. war-steamers of the largest class, at least three hundred and fifty feet in length, if the dimensions above mentioned should not be found adequate for that purpose.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the sum of four Appropriation. hundred thousand dollars is hereby appropriated towards said works from any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, which sum, together with the sums that remain unexpended of the appropriations made by said act of March third, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, for floating drydocks at the three navy-yards aforesaid, shall be applied towards the payments to be provided for in the said contracts, and be equally divided between the said contracts for the said works at the three navy-yards aforesaid.

Commutation

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That hereafter the amount of money commutation allowed by law in lieu of the for spirit ration spirit ration shall be increased to four cents.

increased.

ed

midshipmen

when performing

tenants.

Pay allowed to SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That when any master masters and pass in the navy, or passed midshipman, holding an acting apacting as masters, pointment as master from the Secretary of the Navy, has the duties of lieu performed, or shall hereafter perform, the duty of a lieutenant, under an order of the commander of the vessel to which he was or shall be at the time attached, to supply a defi ciency in the established complement of lieutenants of said vessels, whether belonging to a squadron or on separate service, which order shall have been subsequently approved by the Secretary of the Navy, shall be allowed the pay of a master for the period or periods during which he shall have performed such duty.

Pay of surgeons

in the navy.

Secretary to re

the number persons flogged in the navy, &c.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That in calculating for the pay of surgeons in the navy, hereafter, the time upon the graduated scale of pay shall be reckoned from their original entry into the service.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of port to Congress the Navy be, and he is hereby, directed to report to Congress, at the commencement of the next session, the number of persons in the naval service flogged in each of the years eighteen hundred and forty six and eighteen hundred and froty-seven, specifying the name of the ship, the offence, the sentence, and the number of lashes inflicted; and it shall be his duty to make a similar report for each year thereafter.

Transfer of cer. tain appropria

lines of steamers

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That, on the application tions authorized. of the Secretary of the Navy, the President of the United States be authorized, when, in his opinion, the contingencies of the public service may require it, to transfer any portion of the sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars of unexpended balances of former appropriations, mentioned in the first section of this act, from one head of appropriation to any other head of the appropriations made for the naval service; and in all cases of such transfer, a special account of the moneys transferred, and their application, shall be laid before Congress at each session, previous to its adjournment. Net proceeds of SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty postages collected in the several of the Postmaster General, under the direction of the Presicarrying the Uni- dent, to cause the net receipts of postages collected on the ted States mails; several lines of steamers from New York to Liverpool, from New York to Chagres, and from Panama to some point in the Territory of Oregon, stipulated for in contracts made with the Secretary of the Navy, to be deposited in the treasury to the credit of the appropriation for the annual compensation for the service to be rendered under said contracts, or otherwise apply the said postages in payment of the said annual compensation. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That so much of the 3d March, 1543, proviso of the act of third of March, one thousand eight hundred requiring that all and forty-three, entitled "An act making appropriations for the navy be fur the naval service for the half calendar year beginning the first tract with the of January, and ending the thirtieth of June, one thousand lowest bidder, eight hundred and forty four," &c., as requires that materials of relates to con- every name and nature for the use of the navy be furnished

how to be ap

plied.

The provision of the naval ap propriation act of

articles for use of

nished by con

modified so far as

tracts for tobacco.

by contract with the lowest bidder, be, and the same is hereby, so far modified, that it shall be lawful for the Secretary of the Navy, hereafter, to enter into contract for tobacco, from time to time, as the service requires, for a period not exceeding four years; and in making such contracts, he shall not be restricted. to the lowest bidder, unless, in his opinion, economy and the best interests of the service will be thereby promoted.

Number of pro matics in the navy not twelve:

fessors of mathe

to exceed

Their and pay.

duties

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the number of professors of mathematics in the navy shall not exceed twelve; that they shall be appointed and commissioned by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall perform such duties as may be assigned them by order of the Secretary of the Navy, at the Naval School, the Observatory, and on board ships-of-war, in in=structing the midshipmen of the navy, or otherwise. That when on duty, the pay of a professor of mathematics shall be at the rate of fifteen hundred dollars per annum, with a ration; and when on leave of absence or waiting orders, the pay shall be at the rate of eight hundred dollars per annum. SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of Insane persons the Navy be, and he is hereby, authorized to cause persons in v.ce to be placed the naval service or marine corps, who shall become insane in such lunatic while in the service, to be placed in such lunatic hospital as Secretary of the in his opinion will be most convenient and best calculated to Navy may direct. promise a restoration of reason; and that in addition to the pay which may from time to time be due to such person, he may, from the annual appropriation for the naval service, under the head of contingent enumerated, pay any deficiency of a reasonable expense; provided, that in each case it does not exceed one hundred dollars per annum.

hospitals as the

Number of midshipmen increas

Proviso.

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That the proviso of the act of August fourth, eighteen hundred and forty-two, limiting the number of officers of the navy of the grade of mid- ed to 464. shipmen to the number that were in service on the first day of January, eighteen hundred and forty-one, be, and is hereby, so modified as to authorize the appointment of officers of that grade, to the number of four hundred and sixty-four: Provided, That the appointments shall be made according to the directions of the fifth section of the act approved March third, eighteen hundred and forty-five, entitled "An act making appropriations for the naval service for the year ending thir tieth June, eighteen hundred and forty-six;" and in appointing from each State, hereafter, its proportion of officers of that grade, the appointments shall be apportioned, as nearly as practicable, equally among the several Congressional districts. therein.

Annual pay of boatswains, gun.

at Pensacola, es

SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That from and after the passage of this act, the annual pay of boatswains, gunners, ners, carpenters, carpenters, and sail-makers at the navy-yard at Pensacola and sail-makers, shall be the same as now allowed by law to the forward tablished. warrant officers at the navy-yards at Boston, New York, and Norfolk.

Restriction in SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That the restriction act of 3d March, established by the fourth section of the act approved March the number of third, eighteen hundred and forty-five, whereby no more than receiving one hundred and eighty passed midshipmen, and those senior

passed midship

men

pay, suspended.

in rank, shall at the same time receive the pay fixed by law for that class of officers, be suspended in its operation from the passage of this act, until the class of eighteen hundred and forty-one and eighteen hundred and forty-two shall have been examined, and the relative rank established among those who shall pass their examination.

Approved August 3, 1848.

of Mississippi

ing to actual sur

be made.

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made and returns

register and re

CHAP. 122-AN ACT supplemental to an act to confirm the survey and loca tion of claims for lands in the State of Mississippi, east of the Pearl river and south of the thirty first degree of north latitude, approved March three, eighteen hundred and forty-five.

[SEC. 1.] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress as. Certain land sembled, That all confirmed claims and settlement rights for claims in the State lands situate in the State of Mississippi, east of the Pearl confirmed accord river and south of thirty-first degree of north latitude, which veys hereafter to had not been actually surveyed on the ground, and for which no plats of actual survey had been returned to the surveyor general's office south of Tennessee, on or before the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine, shall be, and are hereby confirmed, according to actual surveys hereafter to be made as herein provided for, in the same manner that said claims actually surveyed on the ground, and returned to the surveyor general's office at the time aforesaid, are confirmed by the act to which this is a supplement; and Surveys to be the surveyor general is hereby authorized and directed, on certified to the request of any party interested, to cause the survey of said ceiver for the Au- claims, without delay, and at any time between the passage gusta land dis of this act and the first day of January, eighteen hundred and fifty, to be made and returned to his office, and he shall certify the return and plats of such actual surveys, so made to his office, to the register and receiver for lands in the Augusta district for said State. And the surveyor general, and the said register and receiver, shall regard these claims and plats of actual survey, in all respects, upon the same footing with the claims confirmed as actually surveyed upon the ground, by said act to which this is a supplement, and subject to, and entitled to, the benefits of all the provisions of said act: Provided, That if it shall appear to the surveyor general, from the plats of actual survey already returned to his office, that any of said claims cannot now be actually surveyed on the ground, owing to their conflict with other claims already confirmed as actually surveyed on the ground, by the act to which this is a supplement, then it shall be lawful for him to grant to the claimant, so deprived of his loca

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tion, a warrant, as provided by the fourth section of said act, without causing the survey to be made.

by the surveyor

the act to which

ment, may be lo

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That all warrants which Warrants issued have been 'heretofore issued, or which shall hereafter be is-, general south of sued, by the surveyor general south of Tennessee, under the Tennessee under provisions of the original act to which this is a supplement, this is a suppleand under the provisions of this act, be, and they are hereby, cated upon any authorized to be located upon any lands subject to sale at lands subject to private entry in the State of Mississippi, in any of the land the State of Misdistricts in said State, in the same manner that said warrants are now authorized to be located in the Augusta land district. Approved August 5, 1848.

private entry in

sissippi.

CHAP. 123.—AN ACT for the relief of Bent, St. Vrain, and Company.

Their claim to

[SEC. 1.] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the proper accounting officers of the treasury, be settled on prinbe, and they are hereby, directed to audit and settle the claim ciples of equity of Bent, St. Vrain, and Company, on principles of equity and and justice. justice, for provisions collected for the use of a detachment of United States troops on the waters of the upper Arkansas, in the year eighteen hundred and forty-three, under a contract made with Major Lee, commissary of subsistence at St. Louis, and recommended to be allowed by General Gibson, Commissary General of Subsistence, by letter to the Second Comptroller, dated May twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and fortyfour; and that the amount found due to the said Bent, St. due them to be Vrain, and Company, be paid to them out of any moneys in the paid. treasury not otherwise appropriated.

Approved August 5, 1848.

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[SEC. 1.] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the sum of two thousand three hundred and $2,333 92 to be thirty-three dollars and eighty-two and a half cents be paid to paid him for lead John Anderson, of Jefferson county, Missouri, for forty-eight ceived from him thousand five hundred and seventy-four pounds of lead, re- mine which beceived by the agent of the United States as rent for the use the time rent was of a lead mine which belonged to said Anderson at the time paid. the rent was paid.

Approved August 5, 1848. 8

as rent of a lead

longed to him at

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