BALTIMORE CITY. 1291

period of one year shall connect with, open into, or lead to or from any
public street, lane, alley or way of said city, and passage between which
said private street, lane, alley or way and said public street, lane, alley

or way shall not be barred or obstructed by a wall, fence or similar struc-
ture erected along the dividing line between them, either without a gate
or gates therein, or with a gate or gates, which shall be kept closed at
all times except when in actual use, shall be conclusively presumed
to have been dedicated by the owner or owners thereof to public use
as public highways, and may, at any time thereafter be accepted as
public highways, either by ordinance of the Mayor and City Council of
Baltimore or in any other manner in which a dedication of land to public
use made in any other way be accepted. The preceding provisions of this
act shall not apply to any private streets, lanes, alleys or ways laid out

after the passage of this amended act, upon plans approved by the Topo-
graphical Survey Commission* of Baltimore City, whose owner or owners
shall declare them to be private by placing and maintaining a sign or signs

at or near the junction or junctions of such private streets, lanes, alleys
or ways with such public streets, lanes, alleys or ways on which sign or
signs shall be marked the words "Private Way," provided and so long as
such owner or owners do not grant in such private streets, lanes, alleys

or ways, for a longer period than twenty-five years, any franchise, right

or easement for a railway or for pipe or conduits for supplying electricity,

gas, water or steam or for any other use that would be in the nature of a
public service franchise.

Canton Co. v. Seal. 144 Md. 174.

1912, ch. 659. sec. 2.

840B. That nothing herein contained shall affect any right acquired
by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore City under said Act of 1908,
Chapter 582, prior to the passage of this Act.

1908, ch. 583.

840C. That every private street, lane, alley or way now existing in
the City of Baltimore, which for a period of one year from the passage
of this Act, shall connect with, open into, or lead to or from any public
street, lane, alley or way of said city, and passage between which said
private street, lane, alley or way, and said public street, lane, alley or
way shall not be barred or obstructed by a wall, fence or similar structure
erected along the dividing line between them, either without a gate or
gates therein, or with a gate or gates which shall be kept closed at all
times except when in actual use, shall be conclusively presumed to have
been dedicated by the owner or owners thereof to public use as public
highways, and may, at any time thereafter, be accepted as public high-
ways, either by ordinance of the Mavor and City Council of Baltimore

*Now the Bureau of Plans and Surveys. See sec. 85A, sub-sec. 8 hereof.