PART XLII.-GUANO ISLANDS. R. S., 5570. R. S., 5571. R. S., 5572. R.S., 5573. 403. Guano Islands. Whenever any citizen of the United States discovers a deposit of guano on any island, rock, or key, not within the lawful jurisdiction of any other government, and not occupied by the citizens of any other government, and takes peaceable possession thereof, and occupies the same, such island, rock, or key may, at the discretion of the President, be considered as appertaining to the United States. The discoverer shall, as soon as practicable, give notice, verified by affidavit, to the Department of State, of such discovery, occupation, and possession, describing the island, rock, or key, and the latitude and longitude thereof, as near as may be, and showing that such possession was taken in the name of the United States; and shall furnish satisfactory evidence to the State Department that such island, rock, or key was not, at the time of the discovery thereof, or of the taking possession and occupation thereof by the claimants, in the possession or occupation of any other government or of the citizens of any other government, before the same shall be considered as appertaining to the United States. If the discoverer dies before perfecting proof of discovery or fully complying with the provisions of the preceding section, his widow, heir, executor, or administrator, shall be entitled to the benefits of such discovery, upon complying with the provisions of this Title [R. S. 5570-5578]; but nothing herein shall be held to impair any rights of discovery or any assignment by a discoverer heretofore recognized by the United States. The discoverer, or his assigns, being citizens of the United States, may be allowed, at the pleasure of Congress, the exclusive right of occupying such island, rocks, or keys, for the purpose of obtaining guano, and of selling and delivering the same to citizens of the United States, to be used therein, and may be allowed to charge and receive for every ton thereof delivered alongside a vessel, in proper tubs, within reach of ship's tackle, a sum not exceeding eight dollars per ton for the best quality, or four dollars for every ton taken while in its native place of deposit. No guano shall be taken from any such island, rock, or key, except for the use of the citizens of the United States or of persons resident therein. The discoverer, or his widow, heir, executor, administrator, or assigns, shall enter into bond, in such penalty and with such sureties as may be required by the President, to deliver the guano to citizens of the United States, for the purpose of being used therein, and to none others, and at the price prescribed, and to provide all necessary facilities for that purpose within a time to be fixed in the bond; and any breach of the provisions thereof shall be deemed a forfeiture of all rights accruing under and by virtue of this Title [R. S., 5570-5578]. This section shall, however, be suspended in relation to all persons who have complied with the provisions of this Title, for five years from and after the fourteenth day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-two. R. S., 5574. The introduction of guano from such islands, rocks, or R. S., 5575. keys, shall be regulated as in the coasting trade between different parts of the United States, and the same laws shall govern the vessels concerned therein. All acts done, and offenses or crimes committed, on any R. S., 5576. such island, rock, or key, by persons who may land thereon, or in the waters adjacent thereto, shall be deemed committed on the high seas, on board a merchant-ship or vessel belonging to the United States; and shall be punished according to the laws of the United States relating to such ships or vessels and offenses on the high seas, which laws for the purpose aforesaid are extended over such islands, rocks, and keys. The President is authorized, at his discretion, to employ R. S., 5577. the land and naval forces of the United States to protect the rights of the discoverer or of his widow, heir, executor, administrator, or assigns. Nothing in this Title [R. S., 5570-5578] contained shall R. S., 5578. be construed as obliging the United States to retain' possession of the islands, rocks, or keys, after the guano shall have been removed from the same. PART XLIII.—MISCELLANEOUS 404. Life-saving medals. 405. Rescuing shipwrecked American seamen. 406. School-ships. 407. Instruction at military schools 410. North Atlantic fisheries. June 20, 1874. May 4, 1882. 404. Life-saving medals. The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to cause to be prepared medals of honor, with suitable devices, to be distinguished as life-saving medals of the first and sec ond class, which shall be bestowed upon any persons who shall hereafter endanger their own lives in saving, or endeavouring to save lives from perils of the sea, within the United States, or upon any American vessel: Provided, That the medal of the first class shall be confined to cases of extreme and heroic daring; and that the medal of the second class shall be given in cases not sufficiently distinguished to deserve the medal of the first class: Provided, also, That no award of either medal shall be made to any person until sufficient evidence of his deserving shall have been filed with the Secretary of the Treasury and entered upon the records of the Department. The life-saving medals of the first and second class authorized by the provisions of the seventh section of the act of July twentieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, shall be hereafter designated as the gold and silver lifesaving medal respectively, and any person who has received or may hereafter receive either of said medals under the provisions of said section, or the twelfth section of the act of June eighteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, and who shall again perform an act which would entitle him to a medal of the same class under said provisions, shall receive, and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to award, in lieu of a second medal, a bar, suitably inscribed, of the same metal as the medal to which said person would be entitled, to be attached to a ribbon of such description as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, which may be fastened to the medal already bestowed upon said person; and for every such additional act an additional bar may be added. And the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized, in his discretion, whenever any person becomes entitled to a bar representing a gold medal, to award him, in addition to said bar, such token as it is customary to award in acknowledgment of the services of masters and crews of foreign vessels in rescuing American citizens from shipwreck. upon per Sec. 12. The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to June 18, 1878.' bestow the life-saving medal of the second class sons making such signal exertions in rescuing and succoring the shipwrecked, and saving persons from drowning, as, in his opinion, shall merit such recognition. So much of the acts relating to the Life-Saving Service Jan. 21, 1897. approved June twentieth, eighteen hundred and seventyfour, June eighteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, and May fourth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, as provide for the award of life-saving medals shall be construed so as to empower the Secretary of the Treasury to bestow such medals upon persons making signal exertions in rescuing and succoring the shipwrecked and saving persons from drowning in the waters over which the United States has jurisdiction, whether the said persons making such exertions were or were not members of a life-saving crew, or whether or not such exertions were made in the vicinity of a life-saving station. 405. Rescuing shipwrecked American seamen. Expenses which may be incurred in the acknowledgment Feb. 9, 1903. of the services of masters and crews of foreign vessels in rescuing American seamen or citizens from shipwreck, four thousand five hundred dollars. 406. School-ships. The Secretary of the Navy, to promote nautical educa- June 20, 1874, tion, is hereby authorized and empowered to furnish, upon the application in writing of the Governor of the State, a suitable vessel of the Navy, with all her apparel, charts, books, and instruments of navigation, provided the same can be spared without detriment to the naval service, to be used for the benefit of any nautical school, or school or college having a nautical branch, established at each or any of the ports of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Norfolk, Wilmington, Mobile, Charleston, New Mar. 3, 1881. Orleans, Savannah, Baton Rouge, in Narragansett Bay, and San Francisco, upon the condition that there shall be maintained, at such port, a school or branch of a school for the instruction of youths in navigation, steamship, marine enginery and all matters pertaining to the proper construction, equipment and sailing of vessels or any particular branch thereof. And the President of the United States is hereby authorized, when in his opinion the same can be done without detriment to the public service, to detail proper officers of ! Mar. 3, 1901. Feb. 26, 1879. Aug. 3, 1894. the Navy as superintendents of, or instructors in, such schools: Provided, That if any such school shall be discontinued, or the good of the naval service shall require, such vessel shall be immediately restored to the Secretary of the Navy, and the officers so detailed recalled: And provided further, That no person shall be sentenced to or received at, such schools as a punishment or commutation of punishment for crime. 407. Instruction at military schools. The President be, and he is hereby, authorized, upon the application of the governor of any State having seacoast line or bordering on one or more of the Great Lakes, to direct the Secretary of the Navy to furnish to one wellestablished military school in that State, desiring to afford its cadets instruction in elementary seamanship, one fully equipped man-of-war's cutter for every fifty cadets in actual attendance, and such other equipment as may be spared and be deemed adequate for instruction in elementary seamanship: Provided, That the said school shall have adequate facilities for cutter drill, and shall have in actual attendance at least one hundred and forty cadets in uniform receiving military instruction and quartered in barracks under military regulation, and shall have the capacity to quarter and educate at the same time one hundred and fifty cadets: And provided further, That the Secretary of the Navy shall require a bond in each case in double the value of the property, for the care and safe keeping thereof, and for the return of the same when required. 408. Instruction in shipbuilding. For the purpose of promoting a knowledge of steamengineering and iron-ship building among the young men of the United States, the President may, upon the application of an established scientific school or college within the United States, detail an officer from the Engineer Corps of the Navy as professor in such school or college: Provided, That the number of officers so detailed shall not at any time exceed twenty-five, and such details shall be governed by rules to be prescribed from time to time by the President: And provided further, That such details may be withheld or withdrawn whenever, in the judgment of the President, the interests of the public service shall so require. 409. Naval Militia. The Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized and empowered to loan temporarily to any State, upon the written application of the governor thereof, a vessel of the Navy, to be selected from such vessels as are not suitable or required for general service, together with such of |