WILLIAMSBURGH, (CITY OF.)
1. The powers possessed by the common
council of the late city of Williams-
burgh to open, regulate, grade and
pave streets, &c. instead of being gen-
eral, were, by the law conferring
those powers, made subject to cer-
tain important restrictions and limita-
tions. No proceedings could be taken
to open, regulate, grade or pave any
street or avenue, except upon peti-
tion signed by one-third of the per-
sons owning land situated within the
assessment limits. These provisions
of law being public, and all the pre-
liminary proceedings leading to the
determination of the common council
to make a particular improvement,
being matters of public record in the
office of the city clerk, all persons are
chargeable with notice of the law and
of such proceedings. Swift v. The
City of Williamsburgh,
2. If, therefore, an individual enters
into a contract with the corporation,
for improving a street, he cannot, af-
ter having performed a portion of the 1.
work, maintain an action against the
corporation to recover damages, on
the ground that he was induced to
enter into such contract, and to per-
form the work, upon the false repre
sentations of the defendants, that one-
third of the owners of lands to be
assessed had petitioned for the im-
provement, and that the corporation
had taken the necessary proceedings
to authorize them to make the same;
The sickness or death of a party con-
tracting to perform a particular per-
sonal service, is a legal excuse for the
non-performance of the work, in a
case where compensation is made de-
pendent upon full performance. Wolfe
v. Howes,
174
2. In such a case the party, or his rep-
resentatives, may recover upon the
quantum meruit, pro rata, for the
service actually performed.
END OF VOLUME TWENTY-FOUR.
V & E TO