1150 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
Secretary of the Interior, the president of the Board of Commissioners of the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, which shall be 
known and designated as the commission for the establishment of a zoological park. 
Sec. 2. That the said commission is- hereby authorized and directed to make an 
inspection of the country along Rock Creek, beginning at the point on that creek 
where the Woodley road crosses said creek, and extending upward along its course 
to where said creek is crossed by the Klingle road, and to select irom that district of 
country such a tract of land, of not more than 100 acres, which shall include a sec- 
tion of the creek, as said commission shall deem to be suitable and appropriate for a 
zoological park. 
Sec. 3. That the said commission shall cause to be made a careful map of said 
zoological park, showing the location, quantity, and character of each parcel of pri- 
vate property to be taken for such purpose, with the names of the respective owners 
inscribed thereon, and the said map shall be filed and recorded in the public records 
of the District of Columbia; and from and after that date the several tracts and par- 
cels of land embraced in such zoological park shall be held as condemned for public 
uses, subject to the payment of just compensation, to be determined by the said com- 
mission and approved by the President of the United States, provided that such 
compensation be accepted by the owner or owners of the several parcels of land. 
Src. 4. That if the said commission shall be unable to purchase any portion of the 
land so selected and condemned within thirty days after such condemnation, by 
agreement with the respective owners, at the price approved by the President of the 
United States, it shall, at the expiration of such period of thirty days, make applica- 
tion to the supreme court of the District of Columbia, by petition, at a general or 
special term, for an assessment of the value of such land, and said petition shall con- 
tain a particular description of the property selected and condemned, with the name 
of the owner or owners thereof, and his, her, or their residences, as far as the same 
can be ascertained, together with a copy of the recorded map of the park; and the 
said court is hereby authorized and required, upon such application, without delay, 
to notify the owners and occupants of the land and to ascertain and assess the value 
of the land so selected and condemned by appointing three commissioners to appraise 
the value or values thereof, and to return the appraisement to the court; and when 
the values of such land are thus ascertained, said values shall be paid to the owner 
or owners, and the United States shall be deemed to have a valid title to said lands. 
Sec. 5. That when the said commission shall haye obtained the land for a zoolog- 
ical park, as herein provided, it shall have power to lay out the same as a park and to 
erect such building or buildings thereon as may be necessary for the scientific pur- 
poses to which the park is dedicated and proper for the custody, care, and exhibi- 
tion of a collection of animals. ‘ 
Src. 6. That when the said commission shall have established a zoological park in 
the District of Columbia under the provisions of this act, by acquiring the necessary 
lands and by laying out the same as a park and by the erection of the necessary 
buildings, thereupon it shall be the duty of said commission to turn over the said 
zoological park, with all its buildings and appurtenances, to the custody and care of 
the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution; and when such transfer of the custody 
and care of the zoological park shall be made, the duties of said commission shall 
cease and its existence terminate. 
Src. 7. That when the said commission shall tender to the Regents of the Smith- 
sonian Institution the care and custody of the zoological park provided for in this 
act, the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution are hereby authorized to assume the 
care and custody of the same; and the said Regents of the Smithsonian Institution 
are hereby authorized to make such rules and regulations for the management of the 
park, and of the property, appurtenances, and collections of the park, as they may 
