ADDENDA. UNITED STATES STATUTES ENACTED BY SECOND SESSION FIFTY FIFTH CONGRESS. Mar. 30, 1898. relief of the suf U.S. S. Maine, in That to reimburse the survivors of the officers and crew of the United States steamer Maine, destroyed by an explo- An act for the sion in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, on the fifteenth day of ferers by the deFebruary, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, for losses struction of the incurred by them, respectively, in the destruction of said the harbor of vessel, there shall be paid to each of said survivors, out of Havana, Cuba, any money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, a sum equal to the losses so sustained by them: Provided, That the accounting officers of the Treasury shall in all cases require a schedule and affidavit from each person making a claim under this Act, such schedule to be approved by the Secretary of the Navy; and reimbursement shall be made for such articles of clothing, outfit, and for such personal effects only as are of a character and value and in quantity suitable and appropriate to the rank or rating and duty of the person by whom the claim is made: Provided further, That in no case shall the aggregate sum allowed for such losses exceed the amount of twelve months' sea pay (without rations) of the grade or rating held by such person at the time the losses were incurred. SEC. 2. That the widow, child, or children, and in case there be not such, that the parent or parents, and if there be no parent, the brothers and sisters, of the officers, enlisted men, and others who were lost in the destruction of said vessel, or who have died or who may die within one year from date of the disaster in consequence of injuries received in the destruction of said vessel, shall be entitled to and shall receive, out of any money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, to wit: The relative, in the order named, of the persons heretofore referred to, a sum equal to twelve months' sea pay of the grade or rating of each person deceased as aforesaid: Provided, That the legal representatives of the deceased persons hereinbefore referred to shall also be paid from the Treasury of the United States any arrears of pay due the deceased at the time of their death: Provided further, That if any person who shall receive reimbursement under this Act, for losses incurred in said disaster, shall die within the year in consequence of injuries incurred in the destruction of said vessel, the amount so paid shall be deducted from the amount of twelve months' sea pay (without rations) allowed to such beneficiary by virtue of this Act of relief. Apr. 1, 1898. mission free of SEC. 3. That the accounting officers of the Treasury be, and they are hereby, authorized to continue for a period of three months any allotments which may have been made in favor of any relatives of the degrees hereinbefore enumerated by any of the officers and men attached to the United States ship Maine who lost their lives in or in consequence of the disaster to that vessel: Provided, That the amount of the allotments so continued shall be deducted from the amount of twelve months' sea pay allowed to such beneficiaries by virtue of this Act for their relief. SEC. 4. That the relief granted by the provisions of this Act shall be in full satisfaction of any and all claims whatever against the United States on account of losses or death by the destruction of the United States steamer Maine; and any claim against the United States which shall be presented and acted upon under the authority of this Act shall be held to be finally determined and shall not in any manner thereafter be reopened, reconsidered, supplemented nor be subject to appeal in any form; and the method of presenting and establishing said claims herein before presented shall be followed in lieu of those prescribed by acts or parts of acts heretofore enacted relating to the presentation and allowance of similar claims: Provided, That nothing herein shall affect the right of any of the beneficiaries under this Act to any pension to which they may be entitled under existing law after the expiration of one year from said fifteenth day of February, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight. SEC. 5. That no claims shall be allowed under the provisions of this Act which shall not be presented within two years after the date of its passage. SEC. 6. That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, authorized, whenever in his discretion it may be deemed practicable and expedient, to cause the remains of all or any of those who perished in consequence of said disaster to be removed to the United States cemetery at Arlington: Provided, That the relatives of any of such deceased officers and others mentioned in this Act who prefer that the remains of such be taken to their homes within the United States shall have such privilege extended to them, and the expense thereof shall be borne by the United States; and the sum of ten thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to carry out the provisions of this section. That such guns, ammunition, and other naval and Temporary ad military supplies as may be purchased abroad by this duty of naval Government for the national defense prior to January first, supplies. eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, shall be admitted at any port of entry in the United States free of duty. tion to prohibit Apr. 22, 1898. That the President is hereby authorized, in his discretion, Joint resolu and with such limitations and exceptions as shall seem to the export of coal him expedient, to prohibit the export of coal or other or other material material used in war from any seaport of the United States any seaport of until otherwise ordered by the President or by Congress. the United used in war from States. The Secretary of the Navy is hereby directed to report to Congress a suitable design for a statute of David D. Porter, to be erected in the city of Washington, and the reasonable cost thereof. May 4, 1898. statue of Admi- To enable the Secretary of the Navy to execute the pro- Depots for coal. visions of section fifteen hundred and fifty-two of the Revised Statutes authorizing the Secretary of the Navy to establish, at such places as he may deem necessary, suitable depots of coal, and other fuel, for the supply of steamships of war, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary. Pensions of sailors and ma be paid to Secre And whenever any officer, seaman, or marine entitled to a pension is admitted to the Naval Home at Philadelphia, rines admitted to o to a naval hospital, his pension, while he remains there, Naval Home to shall be deducted from his accounts and paid to the Secretary of Navy. tary of the Navy for the benefit of the fund from which such home or hospital, respectively, is maintained; and section forty-eight hundred and thirteen of the Revised Statutes of the United States is hereby amended accordingly. ment of marines To reimburse the enlisted men of the United States Reimburse. Marine Corps who incurred loss of clothing by the fires for loss of clothwhich occurred at the navy-yard, Washington, District of ing by fire. Columbia, on the twenty-second and twenty-ninth days of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, fifty-one dollars and seventy-three cents: Provided, That the accounting officers of the Treasury shall in all cases require a schedule and certificate from each person making a claim under this Act. That section thirteen hundred and seventy of the Revised Statutes of the United States be, and the same is hereby, amended so as to read as follows: of assistant surgeons. "No person shall be appointed assistant surgeon until Appointment he has been examined and approved by a board of naval surgeons designated by the Secretary of the Navy, nor who is under twenty-one or over thirty years of age, inclusive." The President is hereby authorized to appoint for temporary service twenty-five acting assistant surgeons, who shall have the relative rank and compensation of assistant surgeons. en ships. That no part of this sum shall be applied to the repair of Repair of woodany wooden ship when the estimated cost of such repairs, to be appraised by a competent board of naval officers, shall exceed ten per centum of the estimated cost, appraised in like manner, of a new ship of the same size and like material: Provided further, That nothing herein contained shall deprive the Secretary of the Navy of the authority to cause the necessary repairs and preservation of the Preservation of United States ship Hartford or to order repairs of ships ford. damaged in foreign waters or on the high seas, so far as may be necessary to bring them home. U.S. ship Hart For completion, repairing, and preservation of machinery Repair of steam and boilers of naval vessels, including cost of new boilers; machinery. distilling, refrigerating, and auxiliary machinery; preservation of and small repairs to machinery and boilers in ves sels in ordinary, receiving and training vessels, repair and care of machinery of yard tugs and launches, six hundred thousand dollars: Provided, That no part of said sum shall be applied to the engines, boilers, and machinery of wooden ships where the estimated cost of such repair shall exceed ten per centum of the estimated cost of new engines and machinery of the same character and power, nor shall new boilers be constructed for wooden ships: Provided further, That nothing herein contained shall deprive the Secretary of the Navy of the authority to cause the necessary repairs and preservation of the United States ship Hartford or to order repairs of the engines, boilers, and machinery of ships damaged in foreign waters or on the high seas, so far as may be necessary to bring them home; And whenever, within the next twelve months, an exigency may exist which, in the judgment of the President, renders their services necessary, he is hereby authorized Appointment to appoint from civil life and commission such officers of of officers by the the line and staff, not above the rank or relative rank meet emergency. of commander, and warrant officers including warrant President to to Secretary of acquire by proceedings land for use of Navy. machinists, and such officers of the Marine Corps not above the rank of captain, to be appointed from the non-commissioned officers of the Corps and from civil life, as may be requisite: Provided, That such officers shall serve only during the continuance of the exigency under which their services are required in the existing war: And provided further, That such officers so appointed shall be assigned to duty with rank and pay of the grades established by existing law; and warrant machinists shall be paid at the rate of one thousand two hundred dollars per annum. The Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized and Navy authorized directed to cause to be commenced, within three months condemnation after the passage of this Act, and the Attorney-General is hereby directed to carry on, proceedings for the condemnation of the following tract of land for the use of the United States for the Norfolk Navy-Yard, for the purpose of constructing a wet dock, and for other purposes, namely, the tract of land known as the Cedar Grove property, containing fifty acres, with a water front of one thousand six hundred feet on the Elizabeth River, immediately opposite to the Gosport Navy-Yard, in the State of Virginia, under the Act of Congress approved August first, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, entitled "An Act to authorize the condemnation of land for sites of public buildings, and for other purposes," and other laws of the United States, so as to completely vest in the United States the title of said land. And all such proceedings shall be reported to Congress at its next session by the Secretary of the Navy. Medals of hon certain acts. That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, or authorized by authorized to issue to any person to whom a medal of honor has been awarded, or may hereafter be awarded, under the provisions of the Acts approved December twenty-first, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and July sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, a rosette or knot to be worn in lieu of the medal, and a ribbon to be worn with the medal; said rosette or knot and ribbon to be each of a pattern to |