FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. Ill. Ch. 453. 1899. 1369 Sec. 2. That said corporation is authorized to take and use for all Widthpurposes of a railway and telegraph and telephone line, and for no other purpose, a right of way one hundred feet in width through the said Choctaw and Creek nations for the said Fort Smith and Western Railroad Company, the same to be fifty feet on either side of the track of said railway from the center thereof, and, in addition to the above Aqumenti me rot right of way, to take and use a strip of land one hundred feet in width, ‘“‘"°”'· with a length of two thousand feet, for station purposes to the extent of one station for each ten miles of road, with the right to use such additional grounds where there are heavy cuts or fills as may be necessary for the construction and maintenance of the roadbed and track, not exceeding fifty feet in width on each side of the said right of way, or as much thereof as may be included in said cut or fill: Provided, 17~s·i·~- That no more than said addition of land shall be taken for any one `l`"”°' station: Provided further, That no part of the lands herein authorized R¤¤¢ri¤¤¤1¤·¤··*¤· to be taken shall be leased or sold by the company, and they shall not be used except in such manner and for such purposes only as shall be necessary for the construction and convenient operation of said railroad, telegraph, and telephone line , and when any portion thereof Rvvvrnivnshall cease to be so used, such portion shall revert to the Choctaw Nation or Creek Nation. Sec. 3. That before said railway and telegraph and telephone line D¤¤¤¤z¤¤· shall be constructed through any lands held by individual occupants according to the laws, usages, and custom of the Choctaw Nation or Creek Nation, respectively, or under any law or treaty with the United States, full compensation shall be made to such occupants for all property to be taken or damage done by reason of the construction of such railway and telegraph and telephone line. In case of failure_ to make b www- *PP“$“l amicable settlementwith an y occupant, such compensation shall be deter- y` mined by the appraisement of disinterested referees, to be appointedfor the Choctaw Nation, one, who shall act as chairman, by the President; one by the principal chief of the Choctaw Nation, and one by the said railway company; and for the Creek Nation, one, who shall act as chairman, by the President; one by the principal chief of the Creek Nation, and one by said railway company, who, before entering upon the duties of their appointment, shall take and subscribe before ajudge or clerk of a United States court or United States commissioner an oath that they will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of their appointment, which oath, duly certified, shall be returned with their award to, and Bled with, the Secretary of the Interior within sixty days from the completion thereof; and upon the failure of either party to make such appointment within thirty days after the appointment made by the President the vacancy shall be filled by the judge of the United States court for the district of the Indian Territory in which the property sought to be condemned is situated upon the application of the other party. A majority of said referees shall be competent to act in case of the absence of a member, after due notice. The chairman of such` board shall appoint the time and place for all hearings: Provided, That the hearings shall be within the Frm. county where the property is situated for which compensation is being H°*”“¤°·°*"~ assessed for the taking thereof or damage thereto, and at a place as convenient as may be for said occupant, unless the said occupant and said railway company agree to have the hearing at another place. Each of said referees shall receive for his services the sum of four dollars per day for each day he is actually engaged in assessing compensation,with mileage of five cents per mile for each mile necessarily traveled in the discharge of his duties. Said board of referees shall have power to call for and examine witnesses under oath, and said witnesses shall receive the usual fees allowed witnesses by the laws of the Choctaw Nation and Creek Nation, respectively. Costs, including compensation of the referees, shall be made a part of the award and be paid by the said railway company._ In case the referees can not agree, then any two of them are authorized to make the award.
