The Anacostia and Potomac River Railroad Company, the Washington Railway and Electric Company, the City and Suburban Railway Company, and the Capital Traction Company are hereby permitted to lay duct lines on such streets as may be necessary for the proper operation of their lines, the location of such duct lines to be approved by the Mayor of the District of Columbia, and the cost thereof shall be borne and paid solely by said street-railway companies, and they shall be solely liable for all damages to persons and property occasioned by any construction or work authorized by this section.

(May 23, 1908, 35 Stat. 247, ch. 190, § 4.)

1981 Ed., § 44-206.

1973 Ed., § 44-206.

This section is referenced in § 35-203.

This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Governmental Organization in Volume 1). Section 401 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to a single Commissioner. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.