Penalty for destroying placard. Duty of railroads relative to spark arresters, etc. Penalty for violation. Relative to engines. be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding three months. SEC. 11. Every person who shall wilfully deface, destroy or remove any warning placard posted under the requirements of this act shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for each offense, or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding three months. SEC. 12. It shall be the duty of all railroad companies operating any railroad within this State to use efficient spark arresters on all their engines and to keep their right of way to the width of fifty feet on each side of the center of the main track cleared of all combustible materials and safely dispose of the same within said limits of their right of way between the fifteenth day of April and the first day of December. No railroad company shall permit its employes to leave a deposit of fire or live coals, or hot ashes, in the immediate vicinity of woodland, or lands liable to be overrun by fires, and where engineers, conductors or trainmen discover that fences or other materials along the right of way or woodland adjacent to the railroad are burning or in danger from fire, they shall report the same promptly at the next telegraph station that they pass. In seasons of drouth railroad companies shall give particular instructions to their employes for the prevention and prompt extinguishment of fires and they shall cause warning placards furnished by the forest commissioner to be posted at their stations in the vicinity of forest and grass lands, and where a fire occurs along the line of their road they shall concentrate such help and adopt such measures as shall be available to effectively extinguish it. Any railroad company wilfully violating the requirements of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for each such offense, and railroad employes wilfuly violating the requirements of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be punished by a fine of not less than five dollars nor more than fifty dollars. But this section shall not be construed to prohibit or prevent any railroad company from piling or keeping upon the right of way cross ties or other material necessary in the operation or maintenance of such railroad. SEC. 13. It shall be the duty of each and every owner of threshing, etc. threshing or other portable steam engines to have efficient spark arresters on their engines at all times when in use, and no person in charge of any threshing engine shall deposit live coals or hot ashes from his engine in any place without putting them out or covering them with at least three inches of earth before leaving them. All persons violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not less than five dollars nor more than fifty dollars. Penalty for violation. Relative to damages. SEC. 14. Nothing in this act shall be construed as affecting any right of action for damages. SEC. 15. Woodland territory within the terms of this act Woodland, shall be construed to mean forest and brush land. what deemed. expended. SEC. 16. All moneys received as penalties for violating the Penalties, how provisions of this act shall be paid into the county treasury of the county wherein the offense occurred, and the treasurer of the county shall pay the same forthwith to the treasurer of the municipality where the offense occurred, to be used in defraying the expenses of enforcing the provisions of this act within such municipality. to report to governor. SEC. 17. The forest commissioner shall annually on or be- Commissioner. fore the first day of December make a written report to the Governor of his doings in respect to the duties herein assigned him, together with an itemized account of the expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this act, which report shall include such statistics and facts as he has obtained from the chief fire warden and from the several fire wardens of the State, and from other sources, together with his suggestions relative to the preservation of the forests of the State and the prevention and extinguishment of forest fires. of act. SEC. 18. This act shall apply and be in force only within Application the territory within this State lying north of the north line of township twenty north. SEC. 19. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this Repealing act are hereby repealed. Approved June 18, 1903. clause. [No. 250.] AN ACT to amend sections one, three and thirteen of act number one hundred forty-six of the Public Acts of eighteen hundred fifty-seven, approved February sixteen, eighteen hundred fifty-seven, as amended by act number six of the Public Acts of eighteen hundred eighty-seven, approved February five, eighteen hundred eighty-seven, being sections one hundred seventy-seven, one hundred seventy-nine and one hundred eighty-five of the Compiled Laws of eighteen hundred ninety-seven, entitled "An act to provide for the organization of the supreme court." The People of the State of Michigan enact: SECTION 1. Sections one, three and thirteen of act number sections one hundred forty-six of the Public Acts of eighteen hundred amended. fifty-seven, approved February sixteenth, eighteen hundred fifty-seven, as amended by act number six of the Public Acts of eighteen hundred eighty-seven, approved February fifth, eighteen hundred eighty-seven, being sections one hundred seventy-seven, one hundred seventy-nine and one hundred eighty-five of the Compiled Laws of eighteen hundred ninety How constituted. Additional justices, when elected, term seven, entitled "An act to provide for the organization of the supreme court," are hereby amended so as to read as follows: SEC. 1. From and after the first day of January, nineteen hundred five, the supreme court shall consist of a chief justice and seven associate justices, to be chosen by the electors of this State, and in the mean time the supreme court shall continue as at present organized. SEC. 3. At the election to be held in the several townships and cities of this State, on the first Tuesday after the first of office. etc. Monday of November, nineteen hundred four, there shall be elected three additional associate justices of the supreme court, who shall enter upon office on the first day of January, nineteen hundred five, one of whom shall hold his office until the thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred seven, one shall hold his office until the thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred nine, and one shall [hold] his office until the thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred eleven. The ballots cast at such election for such justices shall designate the term of service of each justice voted for. At the election to be held in the several townships and cities of this State, on the first Monday in April, nineteen hundred five, there shall be elected one justice of the supreme court, who shall hold his office for the term of eight years from and after the first day of January next succeeding such election. At the election to be held in the several townships and cities of this State, on the first Monday in April, nineteen hundred seven, and every two years thereafter, there shall be elected two justices of the supreme court to hold their offices respectively for the term of eight years from and after the first day of January next succeeding such elections. The several justices of the supreme court now in office shall hold their offices respectively during the term for which they have been elected, and the term of all other justices of the supreme court shall be eight years, as above provided. Transacting of business.. SEC. 13. Five judges shall be sufficient to form a quorum for the hearing of cases and the transaction of business by the supreme court organized under the provisions of this act, and the court shall have the same jurisdiction and powers which have been conferred by the constitution and laws now in force, upon the present supreme court. Parties to proceedings pending in the supreme court shall be entitled to an oral hearing in all calendar cases and upon all motions involving constitutional questions and personal liberty. Whenever there shall be filed a dissenting opinion in a case heard by a quorum of five judges only, the parties therein shall have a right to a rehearing before the entire bench upon making a proper application therefor. From and after the thirty-first chief justice. day of December, nineteen hundred five, the powers and duties appertaining to the office of chief justice of the supreme court shall devolve, from time to time, upon the two justices of that court whose term of office shall soonest expire by its own limitations; the justice having served the longest time Who to be court. in said court shall discharge such duties during the year next preceding the last year of his term, and the justice having served the shortest time in said court shall discharge such duties during the last year of his said term: Provided, how- Proviso. ever, In case the said two justices have served the same length of time in said court, then the justice senior in years shall discharge such duties during the year next preceding the last year of his term, and the justice junior in years shall discharge such duties during the last year of his term. Four Terms of terms of the supreme court shall be held annually, commencing Tuesday after the first Monday of January, April, June and October, which shall be called, respectively, the January, April, June and October terms of said court. All the terms of said court shall be held at the supreme court room in the city of Lansing, in the county of Ingham. The court may hold special or adjourned terms, and shall continue its sessions a sufficient number of days at each term to hear all the causes ready for hearing, and all causes and questions not decided at the term when the same are submitted shall be determined early in the next succeeding term. Approved June 18, 1903. [No. 251.] AN ACT to amend sections nine, ten, eleven, sixteen, twenty and twenty-five of an act, entitled "An act to increase the efficiency of the military establishment of the State of Michigan, and to repeal all former acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act." approved June six, nineteen hundred and one. The People of the State of Michigan enact: amended. SECTION 1. Sections nine, ten, eleven, sixteen, twenty and Sections twenty-five of an act. entitled "An act to increase the efficiency of the military establishment of the State of Michigan, and to repeal all former acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act," approved June thirty, nineteen hundred and one, are hereby amended so as to read as follows: composed. SEC. 9. The Michigan National Guard shall be composed of M. N. G., how not less than forty companies of infantry, and if more than forty companies are organized, at least one shall be composed of colored men. The Commander-in-Chief, with the advice of the State Military Board, may organize one battery of light artillery, one signal company, one company of engineers and one troop of cavalry: Provided, That it shall be lawful to pro- Proviso as to cure not to exceed four automatic guns or other repeating or revolving guns, and to provide for their use by said companies of infantry, or detachments therefrom, and all of which force guns. To be same as Proviso. Term of enlistment. Brigadier general, ap. pointment, etc. shall be under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed for the service of the State Military Board. SEC. 10. Each regiment of infantry shall consist of the same number of battalions and companies, of officers, non-commissioned officers and musicians as shall be prescribed from time to time for like organizations in the United States army, as near as may be, subject to the rules and regulations prescribed by the State Military Board. The formation, composition and size of each company and regimental band shall conform to the requirements of like organizations in infantry regiments of the United States army as near as may be, subject to the rules and regulations adopted by the State Military Board: Provided, That the Commander-in-Chief may, in lieu of a regimental band, employ a band for service with the regiment or independent battalion while on duty in camp or field, such band and every member thereof when so employed to be amenable to established military laws and regulations. The term of enlistment in the Michigan National Guard shall be for three years, and all line and field officers, except when to fill a vacancy, shall be commissioned for a term of three years, and until their successors shall be commissioned. SEC. 11. Upon the expiration of the commission of the brigadier general commanding when this law shall take effect, the Commander-in-Chief shall appoint and commission his successor for a term of three years from among the active officers above the rank of captain of the Michigan National Guard; and thereafter every three years a brigadier general shall be Vacancies in appointed and commissioned in like manner. All vacancies field officers, how filled. in the field officers of a regiment shall be filled at an election, the time and place of holding which shall be fixed by the adjutant general. Said election shall be by ballot and all field officers so chosen must receive a majority of all the votes cast. All commissioned officers attached to companies belonging to such regiment, together with the majors commanding battalions and the colonel and lieutenant colonel, shall be entitled to vote. Ten days' notice of the time and place of holding such election shall be given each officer entitled to a vote therein. Only captains of companies in the battalion where a vacancy in the position of major has occurred shall be eligible to election as major of such battalion; and no active officer below the rank of major shall be eligible for election to Brigade staff, the position of colonel or lieutenant colonel. The brigade staff how consti tuted. shall consist of one chief surgeon with the rank of lieutenant colonel, one assistant adjutant general, one assistant quartermaster general, one assistant inspector general, and one commissary of subsistence, and one inspector of small arms practice, who shall act as ordnance officer, each with the rank of major, and two personal aides with the rank of first lieutenant, to be appointed by the Commander-in-Chief on the recommendation of the brigade commander. No person shall be appointed or commissioned as a staff officer of any brigade or regiment in the Michigan National Guard (except as medical |