month, such absence or tardiness shall be considered good cause for his discharge from the Department, if more than five.

SECT. 4. The 12th, 13th and 28th sections of the Ordinance entitled "An Ordinance establishing a Fire Department, and providing for preventing and extinguishing fires," passed on the second day of June, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, are hereby repealed. [Passed, Dec. 31, 1852.]

An Ordinance in relation to the weighing and marking of Lighters and other vessels employed in the transportation of certain articles.

[SECT. 1. There shall be chosen annually in the month of March or April, by concurrent vote of the two branches of the city council, one or more weighers and one or more inspectors of Lighters and other vessels employed in the transportation of stones, gravel, sand or other ballast, who shall hold their offices one year and until others are chosen in their places. They shall severally have power to appoint one or more assistants subject to the approval of the city council, and shall be removable at the pleasure of the city council.]

SECT. 2. Lighters and other vessels employed in the transportation of stones, gravel or sand, or other ballast, shall be marked on the stern and stem post with a good and sufficient iron bolt, driven through said stem and stern post, and clinched. From the centre of the head of said bolt, all other marks shall take their distance in feet, inches and parts of inches, as the distance may require, from the centre of the head of the said sta-. tionary bolts to the lower edge of the other marks, which marks shall be as follows, namely, light water marks not less than four inches in length and one inch and a half in breadth; and every four tons above said light water marks, legibly cut or cast in figures of 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, and so forth, up to the full capacity of the Lighter or vessel, and said figures shall express the weight which such vessel is capable of carrying, when the lower part of the respective numbers aforesaid shall touch the water, and shall be fastened on the stem and stern post of each Lighter or vessel with sufficient nails not less than one inch in length; and other marks shall be set on the stern and stem post of every Lighter or vessel between every two marks, that the tonnage of the same may be distinguished by a regular progression of two tons.

Section 1, in brackets, repealed by a subsequent ordinance.

SECT. 3. Every such weigher shall furnish all the requisite marks and nails when thereto requested, and shall cause all such Lighters and other vessels to be weighed and marked in conformity with the provisions of the preceding section: and during the time of so weighing and marking, all the persons on board of such Lighter or vessel shall be stationed between the bulk head and the fore chains thereof. The weigher shall keep a correct account of the distance of each mark from the centre of the head of the stationary bolts in feet, inches and parts of inches, in a book to be kept for that purpose, and shall give a certificate thereof, expressing the distances as aforesaid, to the master of every such Lighter or vessel weighed and marked as aforesaid.

SECT. 4. In taking the tonnage of every such Lighter or vessel, a deduction may be made, after such vessel shall have discharged its loading, of one ton for each and every ton the light water marks may be under water.

SECT. 5. Every person, on board of any Lighter or vessel, who shall not keep within the bounds of the bulk head and fore chains during the time of taking her marks, unless in case of absolute necessity, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding fifty dollars for every offence.

SECT. 6. In case of the sale, by weight, of stones, gravel, sand, or other ballast, to be delivered at any place in the city of Boston, or into any vessel in the harbor of said city, it shall be the duty of one of said inspectors, upon application by either the purchaser or seller thereof, to go on board of the Lighter or other vessel containing the same, and inspect the marks of such Lighter or other vessel before and after the delivery of such stones, gravel, sand, or other ballast, and the persons having charge of such Lighter or other vessel for inspection of which application shall have been made as aforesaid, shall, before such delivery, trim the same, so as to make said Lighter or other vessel swim at equal marks at the stem and stern, and shall pump all the water out: and in case any person shall wilfully hinder any inspector acting under this ordinance from going on board such Lighter or other vessel, or shall begin to deliver therefrom the stones, gravel, sand, or other ballast sold by weight, before such Lighter or other vessel shall be trimmed to swim at equal marks and the water pumped out, he shall forfeit not exceeding one hundred dollars for every such offence.

SECT. 7. Every person who shall deliver stones, gravel, sand, or other ballast sold by weight when the inspection of the same shall have been demanded as is provided in the preceding section, or when an inspection of the same is required by this ordinance, from any Lighter or other vessel which shall not have been weighed, marked and inspected, as is provided in this ordinance, or which shall not have been weighed and marked under the pre

vious law or ordinance, or shall alter or counterfeit the marks or certificate of any Lighter or other vessel as aforesaid, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding three hundred dollars for every offence.

SECT. 8. Every weigher appointed as aforesaid, shall be entitled to receive, from the owner or master of each Lighter or other vessel weighed and marked by him as aforesaid, the following fees to wit: fifteen cents for every ton of such vessel, and three dollars for furnishing marks, nails and bolts, and other necessary articles, and fastening the same; and for giving the certificate, as before provided, he shall receive one dollar and fifty cents: provided, that no Lighter or other vessel which has been once weighed and marked under this or the former law or ordinance, by the weigher of the city of Boston, shall be subject to any charge for a second weighing or marking, unless it shall appear that her former weight or marks are incorrect or have been changed; and all such Lighters or vessels shall be subject to the examination and inspection of every weigher or inspector, without charge for the purpose of ascertaining whether their weight and marks are correct or have been altered.

[SECT. 9. It shall be the duty of the inspectors to give a certificate, in such form as is hereinafter provided, to the owner or vender of all the stones, sand, gravel or other ballast inspected under the provisions of this ordinance, and to keep an account of all articles inspected in a book, which shall always be kept open to the inspection of owners, venders or purchasers of stone, sand, gravel, or other ballast sold by weight.]

SECT. 10. The accounts to be kept by said inspector, and the certificates to be given to the owners or venders of stones, sand, gravel or other ballast, as described in the preceding sections, shall specify the name of the vender, the kind of ballast, sand, or gravel, or other stone, the weight and the deduction of light water marks, the amount of fees received, and the date of certificate.

[SECT. 11. The fees for inspecting the weight of stones, sand, gravel, or other ballast, shall be three cents for every ton inspected and delivered, which shall in all cases be paid by the vender of the same.]

SECT. 12. The inspectors appointed as aforesaid, shall keep an office, and keep the same open, from sunrise to sunset, with liberty to close the same from seven to eight o'clock in the forenoon, during the months of April, May, June, July, August, and September, and from eight to nine o'clock during the other six months, and from one to two o'clock in the afternoon through the whole year, Sundays, Public Fasts, Thanksgivings, and the Anniversary of American Independence excepted.

Sections 9 and 11, in brackets, repealed by a subsequent ordinance.

SECT. 13. Every owner or master of any such vessel who shall neglect to have the same weighed, marked, and examined, according to the provisions of this or the former law or ordinance, or who shall remove any marks or alter his certificate, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding three hundred dollars for every offence.

SECT. 14. Every such weigher who shall be guilty of placing any such mark, contrary to the provisions of this ordinance, or who shall give a false certificate, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding three hundred dollars for every offence.

SECT. 15. The master of any Lighter or vessel that has ballast for sale shall, on arrival, report himself to the office of the inspector.

SECT. 16. The master of any Lighter or vessel that has stones, sand, gravel, or other ballast for sale, shall produce for examination the certificate of marks and measurements of his vessel whenever the same shall be demanded by the inspector, and in case of neglect or refusal to produce them he shall forfeit a sum not exceeding fifty dollars.

SECT. 17. No officer or agent of the city of Boston shall purchase any stones, gravel, sand or other ballast for said city, or make any contract therefor, or accept the delivery of the same, unless the same shall have been, or before the delivery thereof shall be, weighed and inspected according to the provisions of this ordinance, and a certificate thereof given as is hereinbefore provided; and no bill against the city, arising out of or connected with any such purchase, shall be approved or allowed by any committee, passed by the auditor or paid by the treasurer, unless the said certificate shall accompany the bill for the same.

SECT. 18. This ordinance shall take effect immediately on its passage, and the officers herein mentioned may be chosen forthwith: provided, that no person who is owner or agent, in whole or in part, of any Lighter or vessel, or who has any interest therein, having stones, gravel, sand, or other ballast for sale, shall be chosen or shall continue to be an officer under this ordi

nance.

SECT. 19. The "Ordinance in relation to the weighing and marking of Lighters and other vessels employed in the transportation of certain articles," passed on the 27th of December, 1852, is hereby repealed. [Passed, April 14, 1853.]

11

An Ordinance providing for the care and management of the Public Lands.

SECT. 1. There shall be chosen by concurrent vote of the two branches of the city council, in the month of January or February, one alderman, one member of the common council, and five citizens at large, to constitute the Board of Public Land Commissioners, the first two to hold their offices for one year, or until removed or others are chosen in their places, and the last five for five years, or until removed or others are chosen in their places. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, the persons chosen at large shall be divided into five classes: the seats of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the first year, of the second class at the expiration of the second year, of the third class at the expiration of the third year, of the fourth class at the expiration of the fourth year, of the fifth class at the expiration of the fifth year; so that one-fifth may be chosen each year; and they and each of these commissioners shall be removable at the pleasure of the city council.

SECT. 2. The persons so chosen shall meet and organize themselves into a Board, by the choice of a president from their own number, and of a clerk, and they may make such rules and regulations for their own government and in relation to all subordinate officers by them appointed, as they may deem expedient.

SECT. 3. The said Board may appoint all necessary subordinate officers, agents, and assistants, and may fix their compensation and that of the clerk before mentioned.

SECT. 4. The said Board, on or before the fifteenth day of December annually, shall present to the city council a report, containing a statement of the condition of all the public lands and other property connected therewith, with an account of all receipts, expenditures, and sales, together with any information or suggestions which they may deem expedient; and they shall, at the same time, transmit to the city council the report of the Superintendent of Public Lands, hereinafter mentioned.

SECT. 5. The said Board shall have the care and management of the public lands belonging to the city, so far as relates to the improvement, sale, and disposal of the same, subject to the limitations mentioned in this and other ordinances of the city, and to such rules, orders, and regulations as the city council may from time to time adopt.

SECT. 6. The said Board are authorized to lay out and make such streets, passage ways, and squares on the public lands, to lay such sewers therein, and to make such alterations in the lots, as they may deem expedient, subject to the approval of the mayor and aldermen.