"SECTION 2. That the right of way through the public lands be, and the same is hereby, granted to said company for the construction of said railroad and telegraph line, and the right, power, and authority, are hereby given to said company to take from the public lands adjacent to the line of said road, earth, stone, timber, and other materials, for the construction thereof. Said right of way is granted to said railroad to the extent of two hundred feet in width on each side of said railroad, where it may pass over the public lands, including, all necessary grounds for stations, buildings, workshops, and depots, machine shops, switches, side tracks, turn-tables, and water stations." The right of way was reduced to one hundred feet for each side of the railroad, by act of congress of July 2, 1864, and the right to take material for the construction of the road was limited to ten miles on each side thereof, by the same act. By this section the company is allowed to take from the public lands all the material needed in the construction of the road; to strip the lands, and leave them naked for the people. The real value of the lands is given to the company; the refuse left for the American people. A part of the third section reads as follows:-- "That there be, and is hereby, granted to the said company, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of said railroad and telegraph line, and to secure the safe and speedy transportation of the mails, troops, munitions of war, and public stores thereon, every alternate section of land, designated by odd numbers, to the amount of five alternate sections per mile, on each side of said road, on the line thereof, and within the limits of ten miles on each side of said road, not sold, reserved, or otherwise disposed of, by the United States, and to which a pre-emption or homestead claim may not have attached at the time the line of said road is definitely fixed. Provided, that all mineral lands shall be exempted from the operation of this act; but when it shall contain timber, the timber is hereby granted to said company."