of the work shall be begun, the company shall divide the main line of their work into as many sections, of not exceeding six miles in length, as may be convenient, and each of such sections, with its auxilliaries, branches and tributaries, shall form a separate division of the work; and they shall also appropriate and set apart as applicable to, and hold the same inviolate for, the construction of each of such divisions respectively, a portion of their resources bearing the same ratio to the whole of their resources properly applicable to the construction of the work, as the estimated cost of such division shall bear to the estimated cost of the whole work; and so much thereof as shall be necessary shall be applied for the purpose for which it was appropriated and set apart, and the surplus may be applied to other legitimate purposes of the company, and the work of construction shall be prosecuted as simultaneously upon the whole line as may seem to the directors consistent with proper economy.

SEC. 9. [Notice to landowners.]-The owners of land liable to be affected by the work of a company, shall have notice of the time and place, when and where the appraisers will begin the examination of lands and the assessment of benefits and injuries thereto, and of the order in which it shall be intended to proceed with the same, which notice need not specify what lands are to be examined or assessed, but may be general, and addressed to the public, and shall be sufficient if published for three successive weeks in a newspaper published in the county in which the lands are situated, and proof of its publication may be made by affidavit of the printer or publisher of the paper in which it is published, or of the secretary of the company.

SEC. 10. [Assessments, how paid.]-The board of directors may order the payment of said assessments in installments not exceeding ten per centum per month, and payment thereof shall be made to the treasurer in compliance with such order; Provided, That no more shall be collected than shall, in the opinion of the directors, be required tor the legitimate purposes of the company in the prosecution of the work; And provided further, That unless the main line of the company's proposed work shall exceed twenty miles in length, no part of the assessments shall be collected by the company until the company shall have given bond, payable to the state of Nebraska, with surety approved by the clerk of the district court, or judge thereof, of a county in which the work, or some part of it, is situated, conditioned for the faithful application to the legitimate purposes of the company of all money which shall be received by them for the construction of the work, which bond shall be filed in the clerk's office of the district court in the county where it was approved and a copy thereof in the clerk's office of such court in each of the other counties in which any part of the work is situated; and any person or persons, aggrieved by any breach of the conditions of said bond shall have an action thereon in any court of competent jurisdiction for the recovery of all damages thereby sustained by him or them.

SEC. 11. [Same-How enforced.]-Payment of assessments of benefits may be enforced by foreclosure of the lien in any court of competent jurisdiction, in the same manner as is provided by law for the foreclosure of mortgages, and the sale of mortgaged premises for the collection of debts, and payment of damages assessed for injuries to lands may be enforced by an action in a like court.

SEO. 12. [Appropriation of property.]—The company may appropriate any land, stone, timber, gravel, or other materials necessary for the right of way, or the construction, maintenance or improvement of their proposed work, by first paying into the county treasury of the county where the land is situated, for the use of the owner of the land, the amount of damages assessed by said appraisers to him therefor.

SEC. 13. [Bonds.]-Any company where work shall be estimated to cost three thousand dollars or more, may issue their bonds, with or without coupons, not exceeding in the aggregate the estimated cost of their work, which bonds may each be of any denomination, and payable at any time and place, and bear any rate

of interest not exceeding ten per centum per annum, payable annually or semiannually, and may secure the payment thereof by pledge or pledges, or mortgage or mortgages, upon said assessments for benefits to lands or any part thereof, or any other property of the company; which pledges and mortgages may each provide for a sinking fund, for the gradual extinguishment of the debts, and such company may, from time to time, negotiate said bonds in any market or place, at any rate of discount not exceeding ten per centum; and after any such bonds shall have been negotiated, no action or proceeding shall be instituted, nor any defense to any action be interposed by the company or any other person or persons, the object or tendency of which shall be to impair the validity or security, or to depress the value of such bonds, any provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding.

SEC. 14. [Foreclosure of lien.]-After the expiration of three years from the recording of the appraiser's schedule of assessments in any county, no action shall be instituted to foreclose any lien on land situated in said county, unless the assessments secured by such lien shall have been pledged or mortgaged as security for one or more bonds then outstanding; and in such cases, no tract of land shall, after the lapse of said three years, be liable for more than its fair proportion of the assessments pledged or mortgaged as security for bonds of the company, and required for the extinguishment thereof.

SEC. 15. [Irregularity of proceeding-Effect.]-No informality, irregularity, or omission, which shall have occurred, or which may occur, in the organization or proceedings of any company, or in the appointment or proceedings of any of them, officers, agents, or the appraisers shall affect the rights and privileges of any such company, or invalidate the assessment of the appraisers, nor any sale of land which shall be made under any foreclosure of any lien for the assessment thereon; Provided, The amount of the assessment shall be clearly set forth in the appraiser's schedule, and the schedule shall have been duly recorded, and notice of the recording thereof given as hereinbefore provided,

CHAPTER 89 a.-TELEGRAPH COMPANIES.

SECTION 1. [Associations governed by this act.]-That all associations, whether the same shall have been or may hereafter be organized or incorporated under the laws of this state, or by and under authority of any other state or territory, or by authority of the United States, whose object and purpose is the transmission, collection, and distribution of dispatches by telegraph, shall be subject to the regulations and restrictions hereinafter prescribed by this act. [1883, chap. LXXX.]

SEC. 2. [Statement of affairs.]-Every telegraph company and every press association or corporation engaged in the transmission, collection, distribution, or delivery of telegraphic dispatches, either for private use or for publication in newspapers, shall within thirty days after this act goes into effect, file in the office of the secretary of state a statement,certified to under oath by its president and secretary or by two of its officers, embodying the following information, to-wit: The name of the association, amount of capital invested, character of its business, together with a true copy of its articles of incorporation or articles of copartnership, with regulations and by-laws then in force.

SEC. 3. [Certificate of authority.]—It shall be the duty of the secretary of state to issue a certificate to every association or corporation that has filed the statement required by the second section of this act upon payment of five ($5) dollars, which certificate shall convey authority to such association or corporation to conduct its business within this state, under the restrictions and penalties imposed herein.

SEC. 4. [Forfeiture-Penalty.]-Every telegraph company, press association, or corporation engaged in the transmission, collection, and delivery of telegraphic dispatches that shall refuse or fail to comply with the above provisions within the time herein prescribed, shall forfeit its right to carry on the collection, СНАР. 89 а. "An act to prohibit extortion and discrimination in the transmission of telegraph dis

patches."

transmission, and delivery of dispatches for publication or for private use, and shall furthermore forfeit to the county where such business is carried on, for each and every day it so continues in violation of this act, the penal sum of one thousand ($1000) dollars, to be recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction, and it shall be the duty of district attorneys to prosecute such violations of this act at the expense of the respective counties wherein said act is violated.

SEC. 5. [Transmitting dispatches.]—All telegraph companies and associations operating telegraph lines in this state shall transmit and forward all dispatches directed to newspapers, or private individuals, or public officers, with impartiality, in the order in which they are received, and use due diligence in their delivery without discrimination as to any person or party to whom they may be directed.

SEC. 6. [Delay-Penalty.]-Every officer or employe of any telegraph company or association engaged in the transmission of dispatches who shall wilfully delay the transmission or delivery of any dispatch, or divulge the contents of any dispatch entrusted to his or her care, to any person except the party entitled to receive the same, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by fine of not less than fifty ($50.00) nor more than one hundred ($100) dollars for each offense, or imprisonment of not less than thirty days nor more than three months in the county jail at the discretion of the court.

SEC. 7. [Charges.]-It shall be unlawful for any telegraph company, its agents, or operators, to demand, charge, or receive from any individual, association, or corporation, a greater sum for the transmission and delivery of any telegram or message over a given distance than it demands, charges, or receives for the transmission and delivery of any telegram or message containing an equal number of words over a greater distance, providing that dispatches transmitted during the night and dispatches for publication in newspapers may be forwarded and delivered at reduced rates; such rates must, however, be uniform to all patrons for the same service.

SEC. 8. [Same-Newspapers.]-It shall be unlawful for any telegraph company, association, or organization engaged in the business of forwarding dispatches by telegraph, to demand, collect, or receive from any publisher or proprietor of a newspaper any greater sum for a given service than it demands, charges, or collects from the publisher or proprietor of any other newspaper for a like service, and the violation of the provisions of sections seven and eight of this act by any telegraph company or association shall constitute a misdemeanor, and upon conviction said telegraph company or association shall be fined for each and every offense in any sum not less than one hundred ($100) dollars nor more than one thousand ($1,000) dollars with cost of prosecution, and in addition thereto such telegraph company or association shall be liable for all damages sustained by the person or parties in consequence of such discrimination.

SEC. 9. [Equal facilities.]-Every telegraph company and every press association engaged in the transmission, collection, distribution, or publication of dispatches, shall afford the same and equal facilities to all publishers of newspapers, and furnish the dispatches collected by them for publication in any given focality to all newspapers there published on the same conditions as to payment and delivery.

SEC. 10. [Same-Penalty.]-Any press association, corporation, or or ganization violating the foregoing section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall, for each and every offense, be fined in any sum not less than one hundred ($100) nor more than one thousand ($1000) dollars, and in addition thereto such association and the members thereof shall be jointly and severally liable for all damages sustained by the owner of any newspaper in consequence of such discrimination.

SEC. 11. [Refusal to receive and transmit.]-If any telegraph company, association, or organization engaged in the transmission of telegraph dis

patches from any place in this state, or the person having the control or management thereof, refuse to receive dispatches from any person, corporation, or any other telegraph company, or to transmit the same with fidelity and without unreasonable delay, it shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined for each and every offense in the sum of not less than fifty ($50) nor more than one hundred ($100) dollars, and in addition be liable for damages to the person or corporation sustaining a loss by reason of such refusal or failure to so transmit.

SEC. 12. (Non-delivery-Mistakes.]-Any telegraph company engaged in the transmission of telegraphic dispatches is hereby declared to be liable for the non-delivery of dispatches entrusted to its care, and for all mistakes in transmitting messages made by any person in its employ, and for all damages resulting from a failure to perform any other duty required by law, and any such telegraph company shall not be exempted from any such liability by reason of any clause, condition, or agreement contained in its printed blanks.

SEC. 13. [Lines out of order-Duty of operator.]—In all cases where application is made to any telegraph company, or the operator, agent, clerk,or servant thereof, to send a dispatch, it shall be the duty of such operator, agent, or clerk, who may receive dispatches at that station, plainly to inform the applicant, and if required by him to write upon the dispatch that the line is not in working order, or that the dispatches already on hand for transmission will occupy the line, so that the dispatch offered cannot be transmitted within the time required, if the facts be so; and for omitting so to do, or for intentionally giving false information to the applicant in relation to the time within which the dispatch offered may be sent, such operator, agent or clerk, and the company by which he is employed, shall incur a like penalty as in section eleven of this act.

SEC. 14. [Right of way-Poles and wires.]-That any telegraph or telephone company incorporated or doing business in this state shall be and is hereby granted the right of way along any of the public roads of the state for the erection of poles and wires; Provided, That poles shall be set at least six feet within the boundary line of said roadway and not placed so as to interfere with road crossings; And provided, That said wires shall be placed at the height of not less than twenty feet above all road crossings. [1887, chap. 87.]

SEC. 15. [Injuries to fixtures.]-Any person or persons who shall break, injure, destroy or otherwise interfere with the poles, wires or fixtures of any telegraph or telephone company in this state, shall be subject to action and penalty prescribed in section 98, chapter 13, criminal code. [Id.]

CHAPTER 90.-TEN HOUR SYSTEM.*

SECTION 1. Ten hours shall constitute one day's labor, so far as it concerns laborers and mechanics, throughout the state. [R. S. 379.]

CHAPTER 91.-TOWNS AND VILLAGES.

SECTION 1. [Unclaimed lots. That all persons who shall be or may become the owners of any equities of title, in and to any town lot or lots, or land within any incorporated town or city in this state, by virtue of which they shall be entitled to demand and receive, from the corporate authorities, a title in fee simple to the same, shall present their claims, and make demand for their deed, within sixty days from the passage of this act, in all those cases where the lot, lots or lands have already been unclaimed for the period of two years; and in all cases of sites of corporate towns or cities, which may be hereafter entered the SECS. 14, 15. "An act granting the right of way to telegraph or telephone companies along public highways and providing for a penalty in case of malicious injury or interferance with the same." Laws 1887, chap. 87. Took effect July 1, 1887.

*NOTE.--Chap. LII. R. S. 379.

property shall be claimed and the deed demanded within three years after such entry; Provided, That if any person shall neglect to comply with the terms of this act as aforesaid, the title in and to such realty shall vest in the corporation, as fully, and to all intents and purposes as though conveyed to said town or city by deed of general warranty. [1867 $ 1, 94.]

SEC. 2. [Not applicable to tax sales.]--This act shall be construed to apply to rights acquired previous to the entry of the land; and in no case to rights of parties acquired by virtue of any tax sale. [Id. § 2.]

VACATING STREETS AND ALLEYS.

SEC. 3. [Notice.]-Any person seeking to have any street, alley or public grounds, in any town or village, vacated, shall give thirty days notice of the intended application therefor to the county commissioners for the vacation of such street, alley or public grounds, by posting five notices in as many of the most public places within the limits of the said town or village. Such notices shall contain a particular description of the street, alley or public grounds desired to be vacated, and the time at which the application will be made to the county board for the order of vacation. [1871 § 1, 125.]

SEC. 4. [Board of examiners.-Upon the application of any person to the county board for the vacation of any street, alley or public grounds, proving by the oath of two persons that the foregoing section has been complied with, and by giving bond with sufficient security for all costs payable to the county, the board shall appoint three disinterested householders of the town or village, to examine the street, alley or public grounds, and at the next regular meeting of the board report whether in their opinion any injustice or inconvenience will be worked by the vacation of such street, alley or public grounds. The board, upon such report and other testimony presented by the applicant, or others opposing the vacation, shall decide for or against such vacation. [Id. § 2.]

SEC. 5. [Decision.]—The county board, if convinced that no injustice will be worked by any person or persons by such vacation, shall order such vacation, and in all cases they shall cause all expenses arising from the application and the ensuing proceedings to be paid by the party or parties applying for such vacation. [Id. § 3.1

SEC. 6. [Title, in whom vested.]-The street, alley or public grounds thus vacated, shall become the property of owners of real estate thereto adjacent, on each side, in proportion to the frontage of such real estate. The county clerk shall make a quit-claim deed, in the name of the county, to the different persons to whom such street, alley or public grounds may inure, signing said deed, and attaching the county seal thereto, and such deed shall convey all the title vested in the county. [Id. § 4.]

CHAPTER 92.-WAREHOUSEMEN.

SECTION 1. [Description of property.]-Whenever any personal property shall be consigned to, or deposited with, any forwarding merchant, wharf keeper, warehouse keeper, tavern keeper, or the keeper of any depot for the reception and storage of trunks, baggage, and other personal property, such consignee or bailee shall immediately cause to be entered in a book to be provided and kept by him for that purpose, a description of such property, with the date of the reception thereof. SEC. 2. [Notice to owner.]—If such property shall not have been left with such consignee or bailee for the purpose of being forwarded or otherwise disposed of, according to directions received by such consignee or bailee, at or before the time of the reception thereof, and the name and residence of the owner of such property be known or ascertained, the person having such property in his custody shall immediately notify such owner, by letter to be directed to him and deposited in a postoffice to be transmitted by mail, of the reception of such property.

SEC. 3. [Unclaimed property-Sale.]-In case any such property shall

NOTE.-Chap. LIV. R. S. 389. Chap. 82, G. S. 1075.