1044 ARTICLE 25

"Draining Lands," as added to by Chapter 656 of the Acts of 1912, nor
to make void or invalid any of the proceedings taken or drains established
thereunder which said drains and ditches and the proceedings establishing
the same are hereby adopted and legalized and they are to be continued and
operate as if established under said sections 112-135.

Meridian Line.

An. Code, 1924, sec. 136. 1912, sec. 82. 1904, sec. 81. 1888, sec. 77. 1870, ch. 359, sec. 1.

137. It shall be lawful for the county commissioners of each county in
the State, if they shall deem it expedient, to cause to be erected at some
public spot adjacent to the court house of each county two good and sub-
stantial stone pillars, one hundred feet distant apart, the one from the
other, and upon the same true meridian line. And upon the summit of one
of the said pillars there shall be placed a distinctly visible needle-point;
and upon the summit of the other there shall be erected a hair-sight, in such
a manner that a straight line passing through the centre thereof and con-
tinued until the same shall strike the centre of the needle-point upon the
other, shall be in and upon the line of the true meridian running north and
south, and they shall enclose and protect the same properly; the said pillars
and 'enclosures to be subject to the custody of the county clerk, to be free to
the access of any surveyor of lands or civil engineer residing in said county,
or engaged in surveying therein, for the purpose of testing the variation of
the compass for the time being, and to cause the said meridian line to be
verified at any time when required so to do by order of the circuit court
for the said county; and furthermore, it shall be lawful for the said county
commissioners to cause to be determined the accurate latitude and longi-
tude of the pillars aforesaid, reckoning the latter from the meridian of
Washington, and to have the same marked 'distinctly and legibly in degrees,
minutes, seconds and parts of seconds, on one of the pillars aforesaid.

An. Code, 1924, sec. 137. 1912, sec. 83. 1904, sec. 82. 1888, see. 78. 1870, ch. 359, sec. 2.

138. The said county commissioners shall provide and keep a standard
measure of one rod in length, by which surveyors of lands in said county
may compare, test and verify their several chains, the said standard mea-
sure to be kept under the control and in the custody of the county clerk,
and to be accessible to all surveyors as aforesaid under such restrictions and
regulations as may be deemed by the said county commissioners compatible
with its safety and proper preservation.

An. Code, 1924, sec. 138. 1912, sec. 84. 1904, sec. 83. 1888, sec. 79. 1870, ch. 359, sec. 3.

139. It shall be the duty of each and every surveyor surveying land in
any county of this State that shall adopt the provisions of the two preceding
sections to test and note the actual variation of his compass from the afore-
said true meridian line at least once in every year, and to deposit a copy of
the same, with the date and time of such test, accompanying the same with
an affidavit verifying its correctness, with the clerk of the county in which
he may reside, to be by him recorded in a book kept for that purpose, and
every surveyor neglecting or refusing to comply with the provisions of this
section shall be liable to a penalty of fifty dollars, to be recovered with costs
as debts of like character are recovered before any justice of the peace in the
county, to be applied to such county uses as the county commissioners may
direct.