in operation, and maintain any line of telegraph, shall demand or collect any higher or greater rates of charges than those specified and so posted, he, she, or they, or the officers or agents of the company, association, or corporation so doing, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, Misdemeanor before any court of competent jurisdiction, shall, for each offense, be punished by fine, in any sum not exceeding one thousand nor less than one hundred dollars, and, in default of payment of such fine, may, in the discretion of the court, be committed to the county jail until such fine be paid; one-half of all such fines shall go to the informer, and one-half to the school fund of the county in which such prosecution is had, but in no case shall the county be responsible for the costs in any such prosecution.

governed by

919. SEC. 5. Such line or lines of telegraph as may avail Lines to be themselves of the provisions of this Act, shall also be governed, the general in all respects, by the general laws of the state regulating tele- laws of state. graph lines; do the business of side lines, and transmit all dispatches in the order in which they are received, under the penalty of one hundred dollars, and all damages sustained thereby, to be recovered, with costs of suit, by the person or persons whose dispatch is postponed out of its order; provided, Proviso. that arrangements may be made with publishers of newspapers for the transmission of intelligence of general and public interest out of its order; and, provided further, that preference may be given to official dispatches for the detection and capture of criminals; messages on public business may be sent by the State of Nevada over such lines free of charge.

920. SEC. 6. Any person or persons, company, associa- Right of way. tion, or corporation, or their assigns, who are constructing, or who have already constructed, or who may propose to construct, a line of telegraph, as provided in this Act, shall have the right of way for the same, and so much land as may be necessary to construct and maintain such line, and for this purpose may enter upon private lands along the line described in the certificate, for the purpose of examining and surveying the same; and where such lands cannot be obtained by the consent of the owner or owners, possessor or possessors, thereof, so much of the same as may be necessary for the construction of said line, 111y be appropriated by said person or persons, company, association, corporation, or their assigns (as the case may be after making compensation therefor, as follows, to-wit:

Said

person or persons, company, association, corporation, or the President or managing agent thereof, shall select one ap- Appraisers. praiser, and said owner or owners, possessor or possessors,

shall select

and the three shall appraise the lands sought to be appropriized by law to administer oaths, to make a true appraisement ated, after having been first sworn before some officer authorthereof, according to the best of their knowledge and belief. Tender of

One, and the two so selected shall select a third,

value.

If such person or persons, company, association, corporation, appraised or its agent, shall tender to such owner or owners, possessor or

Proviso.

Appeal may be taken.

Failure to keep line in repair to forfeit franchise.

possessors, the appraised value of such lands, appraised as aforesaid, he, she, or they, or the agent, officers, or employes of such company, association, or corporation, shall be entitled to proceed in the construction, or, if constructed, in the use of the line over the land so appraised, and may maintain said line over and upon said land, and at all times enter upon the same and pass over all adjoining lands, for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, and repairing said telegraph line, notwithstanding such tender may be refused; provided, that such tender shall always be kept good by such person or persons, company, association, corporation, or its agent; and, provided further, that an appeal may be taken by either party from the finding of the appraisers, to the district court of the district within which the land so appraised shall be situated, at any time within three months after such appraisement.

921. SEC. 7. The owner or owners of any line or lines constructed and maintained under, or availing himself, or themselves, or itself, of the provisions of this Act, shall at all times keep the same in as good condition and repair as may be practicable; and if such owner or owners shall fail to keep the same in such condition and repair, such failure shall work a forfeiture of all rights, privileges, and franchise belonging to such owner or owners, or any person having any interest therein. Such franchise may be also declared forfeited on information in the Quo warranto nature of a quo warranto, in the manner provided by law. Mackay v. Western Union Telegraph Co., 16 Nev. 222.

Penalty for divulging message.

An Act for the regulation of the telegraph, and to secure secrecy and fidelity in the transmission of telegraphic messages.

Approved February 16, 1864, 125.

922. SECTION 1. If any officer, agent, operator, clerk, or employe of a telegraph company, or any other person, shall willfully divulge to any other person than the party from whom the same was received, or to whom the same is addressed, or his agent or attorney, any message received or sent, or intended to be sent, over any telegraph line, or the contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning of such message, or any part thereof; or shall willfully alter any such message, by adding thereto or omitting therefrom any word or words, figure or figures, so as to materially change the sense, purport, or meaning of such message, to the injury of the person sending or desiring to send the same, or to whom the same was directed, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by fine not to exceed one thousand dollars, or imprisonment not to exceed one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court; provided, that

when numerals or words of number occur in any message, the operator or clerk sending or receiving may express the same in words or figures, or in both words and figures, and such fact shall not be deemed an alteration of the message, nor in any manner affecting its genuineness, force, or validity.

923. SEC. 2. If any agent, operator, or employe in any Forged telegraph office, or any other person, shall knowingly or will- message. fully send by telegraph to any person or persons, any false or forged message, purporting to be from such telegraph office, or from any other person, or shall willfully deliver or cause to be delivered to any person, any such message, falsely purporting to have been received by telegraph; or if any person or persons shall furnish or conspire to furnish, or cause to be furnished, to any such agent, operator, or employe, to be so sent by telegraph, or to be so delivered, any such message, knowing the same to be false or forged, with the intent to deceive, injure, or defraud any individual, partnership, or corporation, or the public, the person or persons so offending, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by fine, not to exceed one thousand dollars, or imprisonment, not to exceed one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the

court.

using

924. SEC. 3. If any agent, operator, or employe in any Penalty for telegraph office, shall in any way use or appropriate any infor- wrongly mation derived by him from any private message or messages information. passing through his hands, and addressed to any other person or persons, or in any other manner acquired by him, by reason of his trust as such agent, operator, or employe, or shall trade or speculate upon any such information so obtained, or in any manner turn, or attempt to turn, the same to his own account, profit, or advantage, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by fine, not to exceed one thousand dollars, or imprisonment, not to exceed one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court; and shall also be liable in treble damages to the party aggrieved, for all loss or injury sustained by reason of such wrongful act.

neglect.

925. SEC. 4. If any agent, operator, or employe in any Willful lect to send any message received at such office for transmission, telegraph office, shall unreasonably and willfully refuse or neg-" or shall unreasonably and willfully postpone the same out of its order, or shall unreasonably and willfully refuse or neglect to deliver any message received by telegraph, the person so

offending

shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and may

be punished by fine, not to exceed five hundred dollars, or imprisonment, not to exceed six months, or by both such fine

nothing herein contained shall be construed to require any message to be received, transmitted, or delivered, unless the charges thereon shall have been paid or tendered, nor to require the sending, receiving, or delivery of any message counseling, aiding, abetting, or encouraging treason against the govern

Penalty for willfully opening message.

Further penalties.

Bribery.

ment of the United States, or other resistance to lawful authority, or any message calculated to further any fraudulent plan or purpose, or to instigate or encourage the perpetration of any unlawful act, or to facilitate the escape of any criminal or person accused of crime.

926. SEC. 5. If any person not connected with any telegraph office shall, without the authority or consent of the person or persons to whom the same may be directed, willfully and unlawfully open any sealed envelope inclosing a telegraphic message and addressed to any other person or persons, with the purpose of learning the contents of such message, or shall fraudulently represent any other person or persons, and thereby procure to be delivered to himself any telegraphic message addressed to such other person or persons, with the intent to use, destroy, or detain the same from the person or persons entitled to receive such message, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by fine, not to exceed one thousand dollars, or imprisonment, not to exceed one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court; and shall, oreover, be liable in treble damages to the party injured, for all loss and damages sustained by reason of such wrongful act.

927. SEC. 6. If any person not connected with any telegraph company shall, by means of any machine, instrument, or contrivance, or in any other manner, willfully and fraudulently read, or attempt to read any message, or to learn the contents thereof whilst the same is being sent over any telegraph line, or shall willfully and fraudulently or clandestinely learn, or attempt to learn, the contents or meaning of any message, while the same is in any telegraph oflice, or is being received thereat, or sent therefrom, or shall use, or attempt to use, or communicate to others, any information so obtained by any person, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by fine, not to exceed one thousand dollars, or imprisonment, not to exceed one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the

court.

928. SEC. 7. If any person shall, by the payment or promise of any bribe, inducement, or reward, procure, or attempt to procure, any telegraph agent, operator, or employe to disclose any private message, or the contents, purport, substance, or meaning thereof; or shall offer to any such agent, operator, or employe any bribe, compensation, or reward for the disclosure of any private information received by him by reason of his trust as such agent, operator or employe; or shall use, or attempt to use, any such information so obtained, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by fine, not to exceed one thousand dollars, or imprisonment, not to exceed one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the co art.

929. SEC. 8. If any person shall willfully or maliciously cut, break, or throw down any telegraph pole, or any tree, or

other material used in any line of telegraph; or shall willfully Penalty for or maliciously break, displace, or injure any insulator in use in injuring line. any telegraph line, or shall willfully or maliciously cut, break, or remove from its insulator any wire used as a telegraph line; or shall, by the attachment of a ground wire, or by any other contrivance, willfully destroy the insulation of such telegraph line, or interrupt the transmission of the electric current through the same; or shall, in any other manner, willfully injure, molest, or destroy any property or materials appertaining to any telegraph line; or shall willfully interfere with the use of any telegraph line, or obstruct, or postpone the transmission of any message over the same; or procure, or advise any such injury, interference, or obstruction, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by fine not to exceed five hundred dollars, or imprisonment not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court; and shall, moreover, be liable to the telegraph company whose property is injured, in a sum equal to one hundred times the amount of actual damages sustained thereby.

930. SEc. 9. Any person offending against the provisions civil suit. of sections one, two, four, six, or seven of this Act, shall, in addition to the penalties therein prescribed, be liable to the party damaged in a civil suit, for all damages occasioned thereby.

931. SEC. 10. All operators, clerks, and persons in the Employes employ of any telegraph company, whilst employed in the exempt, etc. offices of said company, or along the route of its telegraph lines, shall be exempt from militia duty and from serving on juries, and from any fine or penalty for the neglect thereof.

932.

SEC. 11. Contracts made by telegraph shall be contracts. deemed to be contracts in writing; and all communications sent by telegraph, and signed by the person or persons sending the same, or by his or their authority, shall be held and deemed to be communications in writing.

933. SEC. 12. Whenever any notice, information, or intel- Actual notice. ligence, written or otherwise, is required to be given, the same may be given by telegraph; provided, that the dispatch containing the same be delivered to the person entitled thereto, or to his agent or attorney. Notice by telegraph shall be deemed actual notice.

934. SEC. 13.

instruments.

Any power of attorney, or other instrument Legal in writing duly proved or acknowledged, and certified so as to be entitled to record, may, together with the certificate of its proof or acknowledgment, be sent by telegraph, and the telegraphic copy, or duplicate thereof, shall, prima facie, have the same force and effect, in all respects, and may be admitted to record and recorded in the same manner and with like effect as the original.

etc

935. SEC. 14. Checks, due bills, promissory notes, bills Bills, notes, of exchange, and all orders or agreements for the payment or delivery of money, or other thing of value, may be made or