office, or from any other person, or shall wilfully deliver or cause to be delivered to any person, any such message, falsely purporting to have been received by telegraph; or if any person or persons shall furnish or conspire to furnish, or cause to be furnished, to any such agent, operator or employee, to be so sent by telegraph, or to be so delivered, any such message, knowing the same to be false or forged, with the intent to deceive, injure, or defraud any individual, partnership, or corporation, or the public, the person or persons so offending, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by fine, not to exceed one thousand dollars, or imprisonment, not to exceed one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.

4605. Agent, operator or employee not to use information-Penalty.

SEC. 3. If any agent, operator, or employee in any telegraph office, shall in any way use or appropriate any information derived by him from any private message or messages passing through his hands, and addressed to any other person or persons, or in any other manner acquired by him, by reason of his trust as such agent, operator, or employee, or shall trade or speculate upon any such information so obtained, or in any manner turn, or attempt to turn, the same to his own account, profit or advantage, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by fine not to exceed one thousand dollars, or imprisonment, not to exceed one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court; and shall also be liable in treble damages to the party aggrieved, for all loss or injury sustained by reason of such wrongful act.

4606. Messages sent in order-Unreasonable delay in sending or deliveryPenalty-Messages in aid of criminal or fraudulent acts may be withheld.

SEC. 4. If any agent, operator, or employee in any telegraph office, shall unreasonably and wilfully refuse or neglect to send any message received at such office for transmission, or shall unreasonably and wilfully postpone the same out of its order, or shall unreasonably and wilfully refuse or neglect to deliver any message received by telegraph, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and may be punished by a fine, not to exceed five hundred dollars, or imprisonment, not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court; provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to require any message to be received, transmitted, or delivered, unless the charges thereon shall have been paid or tendered, nor to require the sending, receiving, or delivery of any message counseling, aiding, abetting, or encouraging treason against the government of the United States, or other resistance to lawful authority, or any message calculated to further any fraudulent plan or purpose, or to instigate or encourage the perpetration of any unlawful act, or to facilitate the escape of any criminal or person accused of crime.

See sec. 6825.

It is the duty of telegraph companies to transmit messages with reasonable diligence and in the order of time in which they are received. Mackay v. W. U. Tel. Co., 16 Nev. 222.

Unless the importance of a message is shown either by its own terms or by explanation made to the person receiving it on behalf of the telegraph company, no damages

are recoverable for failure or delay in transmission beyond the price paid for that purpose. Idem.

Telegraph companies are liable to the extent of the actual damage sustained for delay or failure in transmitting a dispatch, the importance of which is manifest either by its own words or made so by explanation. Idem.

4607. Wilfully and wrongfully opening message-Penalty-Treble dam

ages.

SEC. 5. If any person not connected with any telegraph office shall, with

out the authority or consent of the person or persons to whom the same may be directed, wilfully and unlawfully open any sealed envelope inclosing a telegraphic message and addressed to any other person or persons, with the purpose of learning the contents of such message, or shall fraudulently represent any other person or persons, and thereby procure to be delivered to himself any telegraphic message addressed to such other person or persons, with the intent to use, destroy, or detain the same from the person or persons entitled to receive such message, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by fine, not to exceed one thousand dollars, or imprisonment, not to exceed one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court; and shall, moreover, be liable in treble damages to the party injured, for all loss and damages sustained by reason of such wrongful act.

4608. Stealing message-Penalty.

SEC. 6. If any person not connected with any telegraph company shall, by means of any machine, instrument, or contrivance, or in any other manner, wilfully and fraudulently read, or attempt to read any message, or to learn the contents thereof whilst the same is being sent over any telegraph line, or shall wilfully and fraudulently or clandestinely learn, or attempt to learn, the contents or meaning of any message, while the same is in any telegraph office, or is being received thereat, or sent therefrom, or shall use, or attempt to use, or communicate to others, any information so obtained by any person, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by fine, not to exceed one thousand dollars, or imprisonment. not to exceed one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.

4609. Bribery of operator, agent or employee-Penalty.

SEC. 7. If any person shall, by the payment or promise of any bribe, inducement, or reward, procure, or attempt to procure, any telegraph agent, operator, or employee to disclose any private message, or the contents, purport, substance, or meaning thereof; or shall offer to any such agent, operator, or employee any bribe, compensation, or reward for the disclosure of any private information received by him by reason of his trust as such agent, operator or employee, or shall use, or attempt to use, any such information so obtained, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by fine, not to exceed one thousand dollars, or imprisonment, not to exceed one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.

4610. Injury of or obstruction to line-Penalty.

SEC. 8. If any person shall wilfully or maliciously cut, break, or throw down any telegraph pole, or any tree, or other material used in any line of telegraph; or shall wilfully or maliciously break, displace, or injure any insulator in use in any telegraph line, or shall wilfully or maliciously cut, break, or remove from its insulator any wire used as a telegraph line; or shall, by the attachment of a ground wire, or by any other contrivance, wilfully destroy the insulation of such telegraph line, or interrupt the transmission of the electric current through the same; or shall, in any other manner, wilfully injure, molest, or destroy any property or materials appertaining to any telegraph line; or shall wilfully interfere with the use of any telegraph line, or obstruct, or postpone the transmission of any message over the same; or procure, or advise any such injury, interference or obstruction, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by fine not to exceed five hundred dollars, or imprisonment not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court: and shall, moreover, be liable to the telegraph company whose property is

injured, in a sum equal to one hundred times the amount of actual damages sustained thereby.

See sec. 6752.

4611. Civil suit for damages.

SEC. 9. Any person offending against the provisions of sections 1, 2, 4, 6, or 7 of this act, shall, in addition to the penalties therein prescribed, be liable to the party damaged in a civil suit, for all damages occasioned thereby. 4612. Employees exempt from military and jury duty.

SEC. 10. All operators, clerks, and persons in the employ of any telegraph company, whilst employed in the offices of said company, or along the route of its telegraph lines, shall be exempt from militia duty and from serving on juries, and from any fine or penalty for the neglect thereof.

4613. Contracts made by telegraph-Messages deemed communications in writing.

SEC. 11. Contracts made by telegraph shall be deemed to be contracts in writing; and all communications sent by telegraph, and signed by the person or persons sending the same, or by his or their authority, shall be held and deemed to be communications in writing.

4614. Notice by telegraph deemed sufficient.

SEC. 12. Whenever any notice, information, or intelligence, written or otherwise, is required to be given, the same may be given by telegraph; provided, that the dispatch containing the same be delivered to the person entitled thereto, or to his agent or attorney. Notice by telegraph shall be deemed actual notice.

4615. Legal instruments may be sent by telegraph-Entitled to record. SEC. 13. Any power of attorney, or other instrument in writing duly proved or acknowledged, and certified so as to be entitled to record, may, together with the certificate of its proof or acknowledgment, be sent by telegraph, and the telegraphic copy, or duplicate thereof, shall, prima facie, have the same force and effect, in all respects, and may be admitted to record and recorded in the same manner and with like effect as the original. 4616. Checks, notes, bills, orders and agreements may be transmittedLegal effect-Exception-Original message preserved.

SEC. 14. Checks, due bills, promissory notes, bills of exchange, and all orders or agreements for the payment or delivery of money, or other thing of value, may be made or drawn by telegraph, and, when so made or drawn, shall have the same force and effect to charge the maker, drawer, indorser, or acceptor, thereof, and shall create the same rights and equities in favor of the payee, drawer, indorsee, acceptor, holder, or bearer thereof; and shall be entitled to the same days of grace as if duly made or drawn and delivered in writing; but it shall not be lawful for any person, other than the person or drawer thereof, to cause any such instrument to be sent by telegraph, so as to charge any person thereby. Except as hereinafter in the next section otherwise provided, whenever the genuineness or execution of any such instrument received by telegraph shall be denied on oath, by or on behalf of the person sought to be charged thereby, it shall be incumbent upon the party claiming under or alleging the same, to prove the existence and execution of the original writing from which the telegraphic copy or duplicate was transmitted. The original message shall, in all cases, be preserved in the telegraph office from which the same is sent.

4617. Proof as to genuineness-Prima facie evidence.

SEC. 15. Except as herein before otherwise provided, any instrument in

writing, duly certified, under his hand and official seal, by a notary public, commissioner of deeds, or clerk of a court of record, to be genuine, within the personal knowledge of such officer, may, together with such certificate, be sent by telegraph, and the telegraphic copy thereof shall, prima facie, only have the same force, effect, and validity, in all respects whatsoever, as the original, and the burden of proof shall rest with the party denying the genuineness or due execution of the original.

4618. Warrant and orders of arrest may be transmitted-ProcedureProbable cause-Original preserved.

SEC. 16. Whenever any person or persons shall have been indicted, or accused, on oath, of any public offense, or thereof convicted, and a warrant of arrest shall have been issued, the magistrate issuing such warrant, or any judge of the supreme court, or of any district, county or probate court, may indorse thereon an order signed by him, and authorizing the service thereof by telegraph, and thereupon such warrant and order may be sent by telegraph to any marshal, sheriff, constable, or policeman; and on the receipt of the telegraphic copy thereof by any such officer, he shall have the same authority, and be under the same obligation to arrest, take into custody, and detain the said person or persons, as if the said original warrant of arrest, with the proper direction for the service thereof duly indorsed thereon, had been placed in his hands, and the said telegraphic copy shall be entitled to full faith and credit, and have the same force and effect in all courts and places as the original. But prior to indictment and conviction no such order shall be made by any officer, unless, in his judgment, there is probable cause to believe the said accused person or persons guilty of the offense charged; provided, the making of such order by any officer aforesaid shall be prima facie evidence of the regularity thereof, and of all proceedings prior thereto. The original warrant and order, or a copy thereof, certified by the officer making the order, shall be preserved in the telegraph office from which the same is sent; and in telegraphing the same, the original or the said certified copy may be used.

See sec. 6967.

[Secs. 17 and 18 are now part of the civil practice act, secs. 5371, 5372.]

4619. Company may have private mark or design-Filed where—Unlawful use, penalty for.

SEC. 19. The president or secretary of any telegraph company doing business in this state, may file in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the principal office of said company, within this state, is situated, a copy of any printed blank or envelope, picture, or device, used, or intended so to be, by said company, with his certificate that the same is commonly used, or is intended so to be, in the business of said company, as a distinguishing mark, notice or index of said business, and thereupon such blank, envelope, picture, or device, shall become the property of said company; and it shall not be lawful for any person, unless by the employment or permission of said company, to print, publish, distribute or use, or cause to be printed, published. distributed, or used, either of them, or any copy, counterfeit, similitude, or imitation thereof. Any person wilfully offending against the provisions of this section may be punished by fine, not to exceed five hundred dollars, or imprisonment, not to exceed six months.

4620. Dispatches sent in order received-Exceptions.

SEC. 20. It shall be the duty of any telegraph company doing business in this state to transmit all dispatches in the order in which they are received. under the penalty of one hundred dollars, to be recovered with costs of suit by the person or persons whose dispatch is postponed out of its order; pro

vided, that communications to and from public officers on official business may have precedence over all other communications; and, provided also, that intelligence of general and public interest may be transmitted for publication out of its order.

See sec. 4628.

4621. Meaning of certain terms.

SEC. 21. The term "telegraphic copy," or "telegraphic duplicate," whenever used in this act, shall be construed to mean any copy of a message made or prepared for delivery at the office to which said message may have been sent by telegraph.

4622. California state telegraph company, provisions relating to.

SEC. 22. The California state telegraph company, a company formed within the State of California, and having its principal office in the city of San Francisco, and doing business within the State of Nevada, is hereby declared to be duly incorporated under its present corporate name, style, and organization, and the right is hereby granted to said company to acquire, own, and enjoy, and to dispose of any and all such property, real and personal, franchises and privileges, as may be proper or convenient for the transaction of its business, and for effectually carrying out the objects and purposes of said company, as fully and completely as if said company had been originally formed and duly incorporated under the laws of this state, hereby conferring upon said company as ample power to do and transact business, and maintain its rights in all courts and places, as is or may be possessed by domestic corporations or natural persons.

4623. Idem-Privileges in Nevada.

SEC. 23. There is hereby granted to the California telegraph company the privilege of constructing and putting in operation lines of telegraph over any public lands, and along or across any streets, roads, highways, or streams within the State of Nevada; provided, that the same be not unnecessarily obstructed thereby.

An Act to provide for constructing and maintaining telegraph lines
in the State of Nevada.

4624. Telegraph lines may be constructed.

SECTION 1. Any person or persons, company, association, or corporation, desiring to do so, may construct and maintain, or if already constructed, may maintain, or if partially constructed, may complete and maintain, within this state, a telegraph line or lines, by complying with section 2 of this act. 4625. To sign and acknowledge certificate-File and record in office of secretary of state-Fees-Library fund-Notice.

SEC. 2. The person, or persons, or the president or the managing agent of the company, association, or corporation mentioned in section 1, shall make, sign, and acknowledge before some officer authorized by law to take acknowledgments of deeds, a certificate in writing, setting forth the name