of a lock, if upon the same level that the water in the lock then is, shall be permitted to pass the lock before any other float not upon the same level. Questions as to which of two or more floats may first pass through a lock shall be determined by the lockkeeper, and the passage made in the manner and order directed by him.

The owner, master or navigator of any float, refusing to conform to any such determination of a lock-keeper, or who detains or unnecessarily hinders the passage of any float through a lock, in violation of any provision of this section, shall, for each offense, forfeit to the state the sum of twenty-five dollars.

$171. Prohibition of use of setting poles; knife on bow.-No person navigating any canal shall use any setting pole or shaft, pointed with iron or other metal. No covered or decked boat shall navigate any canal without a knife or sharp metallic instrument so affixed upon the stem or bow of the boat as to cut apart any tow rope which might otherwise pass over such bow.

Every owner or master of a boat failing to comply with any provision of this section shall, for every such failure, forfeit to the state the sum of twenty-five dollars.

§ 172. Obstruction of navigation.-A person who obstructs the navigation of a canal by the improper mooring, management or conduct of a boat or floating thing, or by sinking a vessel, timber, stone, earth or other thing to the bottom thereof, or by placing any obstruction upon the towing path thereof, or on the bank opposite the towing path, shall forfeit to the state the sum of twenty-five dollars for every such obstruction.

§ 173. Seizure of obstructions.-The superintendent of public works, his assistants, deputy and every superintendent or agent employed upon the canals may seize all boats, rafts, logs or any floating or sunken thing found in a canal, or any article not under the care or charge of any person, found upon the towpath thereof and sell the same at public auction after giving ten days' written notice of the sale, conspicuously posted at two public places nearest to the place where such boat, logs, floating or sunken thing or other article is found, unless before the time of sale the owner of the article appears and claims the same and pays the cost of seizure and expenses of removal.

The avails of such sale shall be accounted for by the officer making the same to the commissioners of the canal fund, who may, on the application of the owner and due proof of ownership, pay

over such proceeds to him after deducting the forfeiture and all costs and reasonable charges thereon.

If the navigation of a canal is interrupted or endangered the superintendent of public works may cut up, destroy or remove any canal boat, vessel or other thing in or partly in the canal, and, if the same is in the canal without the fault of the owner, the damages sustained by him in consequence of such destruction shall be paid to him, and if the superintendent is unable to agree with the owner as to the amount of such damages, they shall be ascertained and determined in the same manner as damages for the temporary appropriation of lands for the repairs of the canals.

§ 174. Unlawful conversion of personal property by boatmen.-If a boatman or any person on board of a boat upon any canal takes, without right, any rails, boards, planks, staves, firewood or fencing posts from the banks or vicinity of the canals, the master of the boat shall forfeit to the owner treble the value of the property taken, and possession on board the boat shall be presumptive evidence of the taking. A person or boatman violating any provision of this section shall forfeit twenty-five dollars to any person who will prosecute therefor.

§ 175. Wharves and basins.-No person without the written permission of the superintendent of public works or an assistant superintendent in charge, shall construct any wharf, basin or watering place in any canal, or make or apply any device for the purpose of taking water from a canal. Every wharf, basin, watering place or device constructed with such permission shall be held during the pleasure of the superintendent of public works and be subject to his control.

Every person constructing any such wharf, basin, watering place or device without such permission, or neglecting or refusing to conform to the direction of the superintendent granting the permission, shall for each offense forfeit to the state the sum of twenty-five dollars, and the superintendent of public works may remove or destroy the construction illegally made at the expense of the person making it.

§ 176. Prohibition against driving on tow-paths or faster than a walk over bridges. —A person, not engaged in towing a boat or other float upon or conveying articles unladen or to be laden from or to a canal, who leads, drives or rides any horse, ox, mule, ass or other cattle upon the towing path of a canal or upon the bank opposite to such towing path, within the blue line of the

canal, shall forfeit to the state the sum of five dollars. This provision shall not apply to a person authorized by any canal superintendent or canal contractor to enter upon the towing path or banks opposite thereto for the purpose of examining or repairing the same. Whenever any canal or canal feeder is constructed through or upon any lands so as to render such lands inaccessible from a highway, except by the erection of a bridge over such canal or feeder, the owner or owners of such lands, on permission being obtained from the superintendent of public works, may use so much of the towing path or the banks opposite thereto, or the banks of any feeder, as may be necessary to pass to and from such lands to a public highway, without damage to such banks or interference to navigation. Such use shall cease whenever the state or local authorities construct suitable bridges over said canals and feeders, enabling such owners to pass to and from such lands to a public highway.

A person who leads, rides or drives any horse or mule faster than a walk over any bridge belonging to or under the control of the state, over any canal, canal feeder, stream or river thereof, or drives any cattle across any such bridge at a faster rate than a walk, or permits more than twenty-five cattle to be upon such bridge at any one time, shall forfeit to the state the sum of fifteen dollars, to be sued for by the superintendent of canal repairs, and when recovered to be accounted for by him to the commissioners of the canal fund.

§ 177. Quantity of water to be taken into level; wasteweirs. No more water shall be taken into any level of any canal than shall be sufficient to supply such level during the days of the greatest business, and to supply any other level of the canal or other public work of the state dependent upon such level for a supply of water.

Every waste-weir upon the same level as the canal shall be constructed as nearly as may be consistent with the safety and convenience of the canals, of the same height, but in all cases so as to leave a depth of at least four feet of water in the level; and at least one waste-gate shall be constructed as nearly opposite to the mouth of every feeder taken into the canal as the convenient discharge of the water will permit.

§ 178. Regulations relating to the harbor at Whitehall.The inspector and measurer of lumber and of boats and their cargoes at Whitehall, in the county of Washington, shall regulate

and station all vessels, boats, rafts and other craft in the harbor of Whitehall, within the corporate limits of the village of Whitehall, and from time to time remove such vessels, boats or other craft as may not be employed or detained in discharging or receiving cargoes or loading, to accommodate other vessels, boats or other craft to load or unload; prevent all vessels, boats or other craft from obstructing for an unreasonable time the entrance of boats, rafts or other craft into the Champlain canal at Whitehall, and determine how far and in what instances the masters and others having charge of such vessels, boats, rafts or other craft shall accommodate each other in their respective situations and locations in such harbor.

A master or other person, having charge or control of any vessel, boat or raft within such limits, who neglects or refuses to obey the lawful direction of such inspector, or a person who resists or opposes him in the execution of his duties shall, for every such offense, forfeit and pay to the people of the state the sum of twenty-five dollars.

§ 179. Liability of boat for penalties; detention and sale thereof.--Every penalty and forfeiture prescribed by this article against the owner, master, boatman, navigator or other person having charge of any float, when incurred, shall be chargeable on such float, and an action for the recovery thereof may be brought against any person in the possession or having charge thereof at the time when it is commenced; and any court or judicial officer issuing the process for the commencement of such an action, may, by a clause to be inserted therein, direct the officer executing the same to detain such boat or float and the furniture and horses belonging thereto until such action is determined, or until adequate security is given for the payment of any judgment recovered. If such security be given, or the defendant in the action prevail, such court or officer shall order the boat or other float and property detained to be released. If no such security be given, and a judgment be recovered for such penalty or forfeiture, and not immediately paid, an execution shall be issued under which the property so detained may be sold in like manner as if the judgment had been obtained against the owner thereof.

§ 180. Actions for penalties.-All actions for penalties and forfeitures imposed in this chapter, or for damages, in behalf of the state, shall be prosecuted in the name of the people of this state, by such persons and in such manner as the commissioners

of the canal fund, in their regulations, direct. All money recovered in such actions shall be accounted for and paid over to such commissioners.

The imposition or recovery of any such penalty or forfeiture shall not be a bar to the recovery of any damages resulting to the state or an individual, because of such violation.

181. Laws repealed. Of the laws enumerated in the schedule hereto annexed, that portion specified in the last column is repealed.

182. When to take effect.-This chapter shall take effect on October 1, 1894.