a commissioner to be appointed by the governor; the fee of such commissioner to be paid by the city of Boston. SECT. 2. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. [1856, 107; 1859, 21.] March 19, 1855. 1855. CHAPTER 86. AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY OF BOSTON TO LAY OUT A HIGHWAY. Be it enacted, etc.: Charles street. SECTION 1. The proper authorities of the city of Boston are Continuation of hereby empowered to lay out and construct a highway in continuation of Charles street, commencing at Cambridge street, thence over the Boundaries. land in front of the new jail, thence over the tide-waters in Charles river, and thence to North Charles street, and over and along said street to the street leading to Craigie's bridge, so called; and the said authorities may lay out the said proposed street the whole distance at one time, or portions thereof at different times, as they may deem it most expedient: provided, that the said street shall not be laid out Proviso. below the commissioners' line as established by law. SECT. 2. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. AN ACT TO CONFIRM TITLES TO LANDS IN FOREST HILLS CEMETERY. lands in Forest Hills cemetery SECTION 1. All conveyances of lands in Forest Hills cemetery Conveyances of heretofore made by the city of Roxbury, in which an impression of the established seal of said city has been made upon the paper on confirmed. which such conveyances were written, shall be taken and held to be valid in law, to pass the title to the lands described in the same, and to bind said city by the covenants therein contained, to the same extent it would have been bound had said seal been impressed on wax or wafer attached to such conveyances. SECT. 2. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. April 14, 1855. 1855. - CHAPTER 335. AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE EAST BOSTON FREE BRIDGE.' Be it enacted etc.: SECTION 1. Henry D. Gardner, Morrell Cole, Watson G. Mayo, Corporators. Noah Sturtevant, George W. Gerrish, Henry Jones, their associates and successors, are hereby made a corporation by the name of the East Boston Free Bridge. bridge. SECT. 2. Said corporation is hereby authorized to build a bridge May construct across Chelsea creek from a point beginning on the north line of Boundaries. Condor street, at a point where the westerly line of Meridian street, if produced, would strike the north line of Condor street, then running easterly on the last mentioned line forty feet, then turning and running northerly (at a right angle with said Condor street), straight to the commissioners' line on Chelsea creek, so called; com 1 Now called Meridian-street bridge. See Statutes and Ordinances (ed. 1876), p. 74. with draw. Forfeit for detention of vesBels. mencing again at the point of beginning, and running northerly towards the channel parallel with, and forty feet distant from, the last mentioned line, and at right angles with said Condor street, extending from Condor street to the commissioners' line, thence across the channel of Chelsea creek to the commissioners' line on the Chelsea side, thence to Pearl street in said Chelsea, as it now is. Which bridge shall be well built of good materials, not less than Forty feet wide, forty feet wide, with sufficient railings for the protection of passengers, with a pivot or turn-table draw made upon E. G. Brown's plan, with two openings, each not less than sixty feet wide; which draw shall, at all times, on demand, be opened for the passage of vessels that cannot pass under said bridge. And in case any such vessel, about to pass said bridge, shall be detained more than thirty minutes, the corporation shall forfeit and pay to the owner or owners of such vessel, a sum not less than two nor more than ten dollars, to be recovered by action of contract in any court proper to try the same, and no toll shall be demanded of any person or persons who shall pass over said bridge. Said corporation shall not build said bridge until a good and sufficient bond, to be approved by the treasurer of this commonwealth, in the penal sum of five thousand dollars, shall be filed in the office of said treasurer, conditioned to pay all penalties and forfeitures that may be incurred, within the meaning Corporation lia- and intent of this act. Said corporation shall be liable for all ble for damages damages to travellers over said bridge, happening through any defect of the same, in the same way and manner as the towns are liable for defects in public highways and bridges, and the condition of the bond, herein before mentioned, shall also provide for the payment of all damages which may be so sustained. Toll free. Bond to commonwealth. Corporation to hold charter for benefit of Bos SECT. 3. The said corporation are to receive, hold, and conduct, said charter or act of incorporation, for the benefit of the city of ton and Chelsea. Boston and the town of Chelsea, in the county of Suffolk, subject, however, to the free use of said bridge to the public, and with right to transfer said charter. Act void, unless, etc. SECT. 4. If said bridge is not built within five years after the passing of this act to build said bridge, then the said act shall be void. [1856, 109.] May 15, 1855. New bridge across Fore Point channel (Federal street bridge). AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY OF BOSTON TO BUILD A BRIDGE. Be it enacted, etc.: The city of Boston is hereby authorized to widen and repair the bridge crossing Fore Point channel, at Sea street, or may construct a new bridge near thereto, and for that purpose may drive piles in said channel necessary therefor, and also for draw-piers and other uses which the city may deem expedient and proper for the public welfare and its own convenience; and said bridge, so constructed, shall be provided with good and suitable draws, which said city shall open and close at all times, for the accommodation of vessels having occasion to pass the same. [1825, 147; 1830, 121; 1831, 46; 1869, 194.] May 19, 1855. 1856. AN ACT IN ADDITION TO CHAPTER 107. AN Be it enacted, etc.: SECT. 2. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. AN ACT IN ADDITION TO AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE EAST BOSTON Be it enacted, etc. : FREE BRIDGE."1 SECTION 1. The city of Boston is hereby authorized to purchase City authorized to purchase the bridge which the East Boston Free Bridge Corporation were au- bridge. thorized to build, by the act to which this is an addition, and also any other property of said corporation, to hold and maintain the same for the purposes named in said act. SECT. 2. The city of Boston is hereby authorized to construct such guards or piers as the safety of said bridge may require. SECT. 3. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. AN ACT IN RELATION TO A BURYING-GROUND IN THE TOWN OF WEST Be it enacted, etc.: ROXBURY. fine limits of undertakers. SECTION 1. That the selectmen of the town of West Roxbury be, Selectmen to deand they hereby are, authorized and empowered to prescribe the burying ground limits, and to define what shall be the boundaries, within which the and appoint dead shall be interred on the land owned by the Reverend Patrick O'Beirne, upon which land said O'Beirne was authorized to establish a burying-ground, by the city of Roxbury, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-nine; and the said selectmen, after establishing said limits, are authorized to appoint undertakers for said burying-ground; and the said burying-ground shall be under the same laws, regulations, restrictions, and limitations, as apply to other burying-grounds in the commonwealth. SECT. 2. The county commissioners for the county of Norfolk, or Authorized to lay out highway. the selectmen of the town of West Roxbury, are hereby authorized 1 Now called Meridian-street bridge. Appeal. and empowered to lay out a highway across the land above described, of the said O'Beirne, agreeably to the plan of said highway, described in a plan drawn by William A. Garbett, under date of May twentyfifth, eighteen hundred and fifty-five, if they shall judge public convenience requires said highway, upon awarding to said O'Beirne such damages as they who lay out said highway may adjudge to be reasonable, the award to be subject to the same appeal as is authorized in other awards for land damages. SECT. 3. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. April 19, 1856. Penalty for carrying away stones, gravel, or sand. Limits of har bor for purposes of this act. Be it enacted, etc.: SECTION 1. Any person who shall take, carry away, or remove, by land or water, any stones, gravel, or sand, from any of the beaches, head-lands, or islands, within or bordering upon Boston harbor, without a license therefor from the mayor and aldermen of the city of Boston, shall, for each offence, forfeit a sum not exceeding twenty dollars, to be recovered by complaint or indictment in any court of competent jurisdiction. SECT. 2. Boston harbor, for the purposes of this act, shall be deemed to extend to a line drawn from the outer end of Commercial point, in the town of Dorchester, direct to the outer end of Point Alderton, in the town of Hull; thence to the outer end of the outer Brewster island, and thence direct to the short beach, at the division line between the towns of North Chelsea and Winthrop. SECT. 3. All acts and parts of acts, inconsistent with this act, are hereby repealed. SECT. 4. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. June 6, 1856. Limit of appropriations repealed. AN ACT RELATING TO THE PUBLIC LIBRARY IN THE CITY OF BOSTON. Be it enacted, etc.: SECTION 1. So much of the act of March twelfth, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, as limits to ten thousand dollars the appropriations authorized to be made annually by the city of Boston to maintain a public library, is hereby repealed. SECT. 2. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. [1853, 38.] March 4, 1857. Election of di rectors of public institutions. 1857. CHAPTER 35. AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE PUBLIC INSTI- Be it enacted, etc.: SECTION 1. There shall be elected by the city council of the city of Boston, by concurrent vote, twelve suitable persons, resident citizens of the said city, who shall constitute a board of directors for the houses of industry and reformation, and the lunatic hospital duties. 1825, 182. 1843, 22. within said city, and the house of correction for the county of Suffolk. The said board shall be styled, "The Board of Directors for Public Institutions," and shall have all the authority and powers, Powers and and be subject to all the duties, now conferred and imposed by virtue of existing statutes, respectively, upon the directors of said houses of 1822, 65. industry and reformation, and the overseers of said house of correc- 1826, 111. tion, together with such other powers and duties in connection with R... 33, § 2. said lunatic hospital, and the management of the business thereof, as the said city council may, by ordinance, and in conformity to the statutes of the commonwealth, provide. A majority of said board of directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; and upon the election of the first board, as provided in the fourth City council dis section of this act, said city council shall be discharged from all obli- charged from ob. ligations. gations of statutes now existing, requiring the election or appointment of directors or overseers for either of said institutions. insane. SECT. 2. The said board of directors shall also have the same Powers as to powers as to the discharge of insane persons from confinement, as are now vested in the mayor and board of aldermen of said city. may pass ordi SECT. 3. The said city council shall have power to pass such or- City council dinances, zot inconsistent herewith, or repugnant to other laws of nances. this commonwealth, as to the duties and authority of said board of R.O. c. 33. directors, and providing for their reasonable compensation, as it may, from time to time, deem expedient and necessary. board of direc tors. Clections. SECT. 4. Said city council shall proceed, after the acceptance of Election of first this act, to elect by ballot nine citizens at large, three of whom shall be elected and hold their office for three years, three for two years, and three for one year; and these persons, together with one member from the board of aldermen, and two members from the common council of said city, to be elected for one year by the said city council, shall constitute the first board of directors under this act; and thereafter, annually, the said city council shall elect, in the Subsequent manner aforesaid, three citizens of said city, at large, who shall hold their office in said board of directors for three years, and one member of the board of aldermen, and two members of the common council of said city, who shall hold their office in said board of directors for one year. Each of the said directors so elected under this act shall, in addition to his said term, hold his office until another is elected in his stead; and the said city council shall have power to remove Power to remove members from said board of directors for cause shown, and to fill all members and fill vacancies which may occur in the same. vacancies. effect. SECT. 5. This act shall not go into effect unless accepted by said When to take city council within six months from its passage, and shall take effect directly upon and after such acceptance.' SECT. 6. All acts and parts of acts, inconsistent herewith, are · hereby repealed. March 28, 1857. [1822, 56; 1824, 28; 1825, 182; 1826, 111; 1839, 131; 1840, 79; 1843, 22; 1847, 208; 1851, 243; 1857, 281; 1858, 112; P.S. 220; P.S. 222, §§ 16, 20.] AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE JAMAICA POND AQUEDUCT CORPORATION. SECTION 1. George H. Williams, Arthur W. Austin, and Thomas Corporators. B. Williams, their associates and successors, are hereby made a corporation by the name and title of the Jamacia Pond Aqueduct Cor- Name. 1 Accepted by city council May 30, 1857. |