pave. to be done under the direction of, and to the approbation of the surveyors of highways: and if the owner or owners of such lots shall neglect to pave with bricks or flat stones, and to support the foot-way, for the space of twenty days after he, or the tenant of such lot, or the attorney of the said owner or owners, shall have been Case of owners thereto required by any of the surveyors of highways, then it shall neglecting to be lawful for the said surveyors of highways, and they are hereby enjoined and required, to pave the said foot-ways with brick or flat stones, and to support and to defend the same, and to repair the same, and shall recover the whole amount thereof by action of the case, to be brought by the surveyors of highways, before any court proper to try the same: provided, nevertheless, that in all cases where Provision for aggrieved indiapplications may be made for new paving of streets, any individuals vidas. who may be affected thereby, may make their objections to the selectmen, or surveyors of highways, who are directed to take them into consideration while deliberating on the expediency of said application, and to pave the same at the expense of said town wherever they shall think it expedient: provided, also, that where there Planks may be are any vacant lots of land in any such streets, the surveyors of used before va highways may, at their discretion, allow the owner or owners thereof to cover the foot-path with planks, which shall be removed, and the brick or flat stone pavement shall be completed whenever it may become necessary in the judgment of said surveyors.] cant lots. powered to 1870, 337. SECT. 3. And be it further enacted, that the selectmen of the Selectmen emsaid town of Boston for the time being, whenever in their opinion widen streets, the safety and convenience of the inhabitants of said town shall etc. require it, shall be, and they hereby are empowered, to lay out or 2 Pick. 162. widen any street, lane, or alley of said town, and for that purpose to remove any building or buildings of what nature soever; and the owner or owners of such building shall be entitled to receive compensation for the damages which he or they may sustain by such removal, which damages shall be ascertained, determined, and recovered in the way and manner pointed out in the act of this commonwealth, entitled "An act directing the method of laying out high- P.S. 49. ways. lated. 29. SECT. 4. And be it further enacted, that no canopy, balcony, platform of cellar-door, or step in any street, laue, or alley, in the Balconies,cellartown of Boston, shall project into such street more than one-tenth doors, etc., regu part of the width of the street, and in no case more than three feet; R.O. c. 26, §§ 28, and all cellar-doors hereafter to be made or repaired, shall be built 115 Mass. 217. with upright cheeks, and shall not project from the line of the house 117 Mass. 114. more than six inches: and if any proprietor or owner of any such canopy, balcony, platform or cellar-door, or steps, shall refuse or neglect to remove or take down the same, within five days after notice and direction given him or them by the surveyors of highways, or any person empowered by them to that purpose, such owner or proprietor shall forfeit and pay the sum of two dollars for each and every day the same shall remain after the expiration of the said five days. SECT. 5. And be it further enacted, that no post shall be erected or set in any of the streets of the said town of Boston except at the corners or intersection of two streets, and in such consent of the surveyors of other places as the surveyors of highways may authorize and highways. direct, and the said surveyors may remove the same: and no person shall plant any tree in any street in the said town of Penalty for Boston, without leave first obtained from the surveyors of high- rows, etc., on ways, who shall have power to remove the same: ['and if foot-walk. person shall drive any horse or cart, or any wheel carriage of burthen R.O. c. 26, § 65. any Posts and trees not to be put in streets without wheeling bar 1847, 224. 1 This provision was repealed by St. 1847, c. 224. Directions respecting bow. windows, etc. 1882, 252. 117 Mass. 114. or pleasure, or wheel any wheelbarrow on the foot-walk of any street in said town of Boston, such person shall forfeit and pay the sum of one dollar for every such offence, to be recovered by action of debt, in the name of the surveyors of highways, before any justice of the peace in the county of Suffolk:] [1and no person shall in future make, erect or have any portico or porch, any bow-window, or other P. S. c. 28 § 24. window, which shall project into the streets of the said town of Boston, more than one foot beyond the front of his or her house; or hang any sign, or any goods, wares, or merchandize, which shall project into the street more than one foot beyond the front of his or her house or lot: and if any person shall hereafter offend against this provision, every person so offending, shall forfeit and pay the sum of one dollar for each and every day such portico or porch, bowwindow or other window shall be continued, after notice given to him by the surveyors of highways, or by any person by them authorized to that purpose.] 128 Mass. 330. 135 Mass. 197. Merchandise not to be placed in the streets. SECT. 6. And be it further enacted, that if any person or persons shall continue to place in the street, contrary to the R.O. c. 26, § 42. meaning of this act, any goods, wares, or merchandizes, it shall be lawful for the surveyors of highways of the said town of Boston, or any person empowered by them, to remove such goods, wares, and merchandizes, and to keep them in safe custody; and the proprietor or owner of such goods, wares, and merchandize, shall not have the same goods restored, until he or they shall have paid to the person or persons so removing them, all expenses of removing and storing them, and a reasonable compensation for the time so employed in their removal, as well as the fine aforesaid and if any person shall place or pile any empty boxes, barrels, hogsheads, or other conveniency capable of containing goods or merchandize, or that may have contained goods or merchandize, in any part of the streets of the said town of Boston, more than five minutes after notice given to remove the same, such person shall forfeit and pay the sum of two dollars, for each and every such offence, to be recovered by action of debt, by the surveyors of highways, before any justice of the peace in the said county. SECT. 7. [Repealed by St. 1847, c. 224, § 3.] SECT. 8. And be it further enacted, that all the forfeitures and fines which may be recovered in pursuance of this act, shall go and be distributed one moiety thereof to the poor of the town of Boston, and the other moiety to the surveyors of highways. June 22, 1799. [1804, 73; 1809, 28; 1816, 90; 1831, 17; 1833, 128; 1870, 337; 1872, 322; 1877, 228; 1878, 75; P.S. 49, § 84.] AN ACT REGULATING THE COLLECTION OF TAXES IN THE TOWN OF Be it enacted, etc.: SECTION 1. That the selectmen of the town of Boston be, and they are, hereby empowered to appoint annually such a number of persons as constables in the said town as the public service may require; and the said constables so appointed shall give bonds to the treasurer of the town of Boston, in such sums, and on such conditions, as the said selectmen shall think proper, for the faithful 1 The construction of bow-windows and other projections is now controlled by St. 1882, c. 252, § 3. performance of the duties of their office and the constables so appointed by the selectmen, shall have the same powers as are by law vested in constables chosen by the towns of this commonwealth. sessors to be ap p. 7, §§ 36, 37. SECT. 2. [And be it further enacted, that the inhabitants of Assistant asthe town of Boston shall assemble annually on the first Wednes- pointed. day in April, in their respective wards, and shall then choose and appoint two persons in each of their respective wards to Charter, ante, assist the assessors in taking a list of the polls, in estimating the value of their personal property, and in appraising the 1884, 123. value of all real estates in their own wards; and the twentyfour persons thus chosen shall meet and appoint three persons, whom they shall judge best qualified to serve the town in the office of assessors, the ensuing year, which assessors shall have the same powers as are vested by law in assessors chosen by other towns in this commonwealth and in case of the death or resignation of any person so chosen, in either of the wards, the clerk of such ward is empowered and directed to call a new meeting of the ward to choose a suitable person to supply the place of the person so dead or declining to serve.] : to be collector of SECT. 3. [And be it further enacted, that the treasurer of the Town treasurer town of Boston shall be the collector of taxes in the said town, and taxes. shall be, and hereby is empowered to substitute and appoint under him, such and so many deputies or assistants, as the service may 1875, 176. be found to require, who shall give bonds for the faithful discharge of their duty, in such sums, and with such sureties, as the selectmen of said town shall think proper: and the said collector, and his deputy or deputies, shall have the same powers as are vested by law in collectors of taxes, chosen by other towns in this commonwealth.] SECT. 4. [Repealed by St. 1811, c. 47.] June 18, 1802. [1803, 15; 1807, 134; 1814, 165; 1860, 147; 1875, 176.] 1802. CHAPTER 44. AN ACT TO INCORPORATE OLIVER WENDELL, AND OTHERS, TOGETHER Be it enacted, etc.: porated. SECTION 1. That Oliver Wendell, William Cooper, Ebenezer Storer, Persons incorand William Smith, all of Boston, and John Pitts, of Tyngsborough, in the County of Middlesex, Esquires, and the survivors and survivor of them, together with the overseers of the poor of the town of Boston for the time being, and their successors; and after the decease of the said Oliver Wendell, William Cooper, Ebenezer Storer, William Smith, and John Pitts, the said overseers of the poor of the town of Boston for the time being, and their successors forever, be, and they hereby are, incorporated into a body politic, by the name and title of the Trustees of John Boylston's Charitable Donations, for the Benefit and Support of Aged Poor Persons, and of Orphans and Deserted Children, and by that name and title shall have perpetual succession. SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, that all the bequests, devises, This act and the and donations made and granted by John Boylston, late of Bath, will to be re 1 By St. 1875, c. 176, the offices of treasurer and collector of taxes were separated, and the powers of the treasurer in relation to the collection of taxes were vested in the collector of taxes. 2 See will of John Boylston, Suffolk Reg. Prob., vol. 94, p. 17. clauses of the corded. Amount of real tate which may be held. in the kingdom of Great Britain, deceased, for the purposes above mentioned, be, and they hereby are, vested in the said corporation, to be held and disposed of by them conformably to the directions of the said will and the said corporation shall insert among their records a copy of this act and also of all the clauses of the said last will and testament which have relation to the said two several charitable donations, for the benefit of aged poor persons, and for the support of orphans and deserted children; and in the management and disposal of the funds granted in said will, the said corporation shall conform to, and be governed by the directions therein contained. SECT. 3. And be it further enacted, that the said corporation and personal es- shall have a perpetual succession, by the name and title aforesaid, to sue or be impleaded; to purchase and hold lands or other real estate, not exceeding the value of three thousand dollars by the year; to hold personal estate not exceeding the value of sixty thousand dollars; and to manage, lease, bargain and sell, or otherwise dispose of, all or any part thereof, subject to the directions of the said will; and to do all acts as natural persons may do, as the said corporation from time to time shall judge best, to carry into effect the charitable intentions of the said will and the real or personal estate which the said corporation are hereby empowered to hold, shall not be considered as part of that which the Overseers of the Poor of the Town of Boston are already empowered by their former act of incorporation to hold, but as altogether distinct and separate from the same. By-laws may be made and ofllcers chosen. SECT. 4. Be it further enacted, that the said corporation shall have a common seal, with power to break and alter the same; and said corporation is hereby authorized to make by-laws, and private statutes and ordinances, not repugnant to the laws of the land, for the better government of said corporation and its finances; to choose a treasurer, clerk, and other subordinate officers, as from time to time shall be found necessary, and all or any of them again at pleasure to displace. SECT. 5. And be it further enacted, that all instruments which said corporation shall lawfully make by the name aforesaid, and sealed with their common seal, and all acts done, or matters passed upon by the consent of a major part of the members of said corporation, shall bind the said corporation, and be valid in law. Treasurer to collect taxes out standing at the AN ACT IN ADDITION TO AN ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT REGULATING THE SECTION 1. That the treasurer of said town of Boston, his deputy or deputies, shall be empowered to collect all such taxes as may time of his elec- be outstanding and uncollected at the time of his being chosen to the office of treasurer, such treasurer and his deputies first giving bonds for the faithful discharge of their duty, in such sums and with such sureties as the selectmen of said town shall think proper. tion. To issue warrant to his deputies. SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, that the said treasurer may issue his warrant to his deputy or deputies for the collecting and gathering in such part of the rates or assessments as, in his discretion, he shall think proper to commit to such deputy or deputies, which warrant shall be in the same tenor with the warrant prescribed AN ACT TO SET OFF THE NORTH-EAST PART OF THE TOWN OF DOR- Be it enacted, etc.: land set off. SECTION 1. That all that part of Dorchester lying north-east of Boundaries of the following line, viz.: Beginning at a stake and stones at Old Harbor, so called, at the south-west corner of land formerly belonging to John Champney, running north thirty-seven and one half degrees west, to a large elm tree, marked D on the south-west side, and B on the north-east side, standing on land belonging to the heirs of Thomas Bird, deceased; then running the same course to a heap of stones, on the south-east side of the road; thence across the road, the same course, to a heap of stones on the north-west side; thence on the same course to a black oak tree, standing on a small hummock, marked D on one side, and B on the other side, upon land of Ebenezer Clap, jun.; thence the same course till it comes to Boston harbor, with the inhabitants thereon, be, and they hereby are, annexed to the town of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, and shall thereafter be considered and deemed to be a part of the town of Boston: provided, Proviso respect that the said tract of land, and the inhabitants thereon, set off as aforesaid, shall be holden to pay all such taxes as are already assessed, or ordered to be assessed, by said town of Dorchester, in the same manner as they would have been if this act had not been passed. ing taxes. use. SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, that the proprietors of said Lots for public tract shall assign and set apart three lots of land on the same for public use, viz.: one lot for the purpose of a public market place, one lot for a school-house, and one lot for a burial-ground, to the satisfaction and acceptance of the selectmen of the town of Boston; or in case the said selectmen and proprietors shall not agree upon the said lots, it shall be lawful for the supreme judicial court, at any session thereof in the said county of Suffolk, upon application of the said selectmen, to nominate and appoint three disinterested freeholders within the commonwealth, and not inhabitants of said town of Boston, to assign and set off the three lots aforesaid by metes and bounds; and the report of said freeholders, or any two of them, being made and returned to, and accepted by, the said court, at any session thereof in said county, shall be final and binding upon all parties; and the lots of land by them assigned and set off as aforesaid shall thenceforth vest in the said town of Boston forever, without any compensation to be made therefor by the town; but if the person or persons whose lands shall be assigned and set apart as aforesaid shall demand compensation therefor, the same shall be appraised by three freeholders, to be appointed as aforesaid, who shall also assess upon the other proprietors the sum or sums which each shall be holden to pay to the person whose lands may be thus assigned for public use; and the report of said freeholders, or any two of them, being made and returned to, and accepted by, said court, judgment thereon shall be final, and execution awarded, as in cases of reports by referees under a rule of court. |