taken down and demolished.1 And if the owner Dec. 28, 1825. or owners of such defective chimney or fireplace shall wilfully neglect or refuse to amend, repair, or take down the same, the said owner or owners shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than one dollar nor more than twenty dollars; provided, that such Penalty. owner or owners shall have been served with an order in writing from the board of aldermen to amend, repair, or take down the said defective chimney or fireplace (as the case may be), duly certified by the city clerk; an attested copy of which order, made and certified by the said city clerk, shall be served upon such owner or owners, by any person appointed for that purpose by the said board. And the board of aldermen, for the time being, shall have full power and authority to order and direct, and they are hereby required to cause, such defective chimney or fire- Defective chimplace to be taken down and abated as a common abated. nuisance; and the owner or owners of such defective chimney or fireplace shall in such case bear, satisfy, and pay the whole expense and charge of abating such nuisance, and of taking down and removing such defective chimney or fireplace. neys must be Sweepers of chim neys to be licensed. SECT. 2. The board of aldermen are authorized and directed to appoint and license, from Dec. 28, 1825. time to time, suitable persons to be sweepers of chimneys in this city, who, together with their apprentices, and others by them employed, shall wear such badges as the board shall appoint and 1 For provisions in cases of dilapidated and dangerous buildings, see Buildings, ante, p. 84, § 22. Dec. 28, 1825. Penalty. Foul chimneys, how to be ex- direct, and whose wages and compensation for their work and service in sweeping chimneys shall not exceed the rates which have been fixed and appointed by the mayor and aldermen, or may hereafter be fixed and appointed by the board of aldermen. And if any person who shall not be appointed and licensed as aforesaid shall presume, either by himself or by his apprentices, or others by him employed, to undertake the sweeping of any chimney in this city, excepting such as are in his own occupation, every such person shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than one dollar, nor more than twenty dollars, for every offence of which he shall be duly convicted. And no inhabitant of this city shall employ any person (excepting his, or her, own servant, being in his, or her, house), to sweep any of his, or her, chimneys within the city, other than one of the chimney sweepers appointed and licensed as aforesaid by the board of aldermen; and if any inhabitant of this city shall employ any person other than the chimney sweepers appointed and licensed as aforesaid, in violation of the provisions of this ordinance, he, or they, shall forfeit and pay a fine not less than one dollar nor more than ten dollars. SECT. 3. When, and so often as, complaint is made to the board of aldermen by any chimney sweeper appointed and licensed as aforesaid, or by any inhabitant of the city, against any person or persons, that their chimneys are unsafe by reason of foulness, the said board, or any other person by them empowered, is hereby directed to inspect and view, or order to be inspected and kept in them. Dec. 28, 1825. viewed, and to them reported, every such chim- Fires not to be ney complained of as aforesaid; and if upon such view, inspection, and report they shall, either from their own view, or the report of the person appointed to view as aforesaid, judge the same to be unsafe and dangerous to make and keep fire therein by reason of foulness, they shall give notice thereof to the person or persons in the possession or occupancy of the house or tenement to which such chimney or chimneys belong; and the occupier or occupiers of such house or tenement shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than one dollar, nor more than twenty dollars, for every day in which fire shall be made and kept in such chimney or chimneys respectively by such occupier or occupiers after notice shall have been given them in manner aforesaid, until the same shall be properly and sufficiently swept. Penalty for burn ing chimneys, &c. June 4, 1850. SECT. 4. If any chimney, stove-pipe, or flue within the city shall take, or be set on, fire, the occupant of the house to which such chimney, stove-pipe, or flue appertains, or the person or persons so setting the same on fire, shall forfeit and pay the sum of two dollars; provided, that it Proviso. shall be lawful for any person to set fire to, and burn, his chimney, stove-pipe, or flue between sunrise and noon, if the buildings contiguous are wet with rain or covered with snow; and it shall be the duty of the chief or other engineers of the fire department to report to the board of aldermen the name of every person liable to the penalty provided by this section, in their first returns thereafter. City clerk. Charter. 1854, c. 448, § 30. 97 Mass. 39. Vacancy in office Absence of city Office of assistant city clerk esta- His certificate to have same force as that of city clerk. 1869, c, 72, § 2. 1. The mayor, aldermen, and common council in convention in the month of January, shall choose a clerk for the term of one year, and until another person is duly chosen and qualified in his stead, who shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of the duties of his office, and shall be removable at the pleasure of the board of aldermen, the mayor thereto consenting. He shall be denominated the city clerk, and it shall be his duty to keep a journal of the acts and proceedings of the board of aldermen, to sign all warrants issued by them, and to do such other acts in his said capacity, as may lawfully and reasonably be required of him; and to deliver over all journals, books, papers, and documents entrusted to him as such clerk, to his successor in office immediately upon such successor being chosen and qualified as aforesaid, or whenever he may be thereunto required by the aldermen. The city clerk thus chosen and qualified shall continue to have all the powers and perform all the duties now by law belonging to him. 2. In case of a vacancy in the office of city clerk, from any cause, the same shall be filled in the manner provided in the preceding section. 3. In case of the temporary absence of the city clerk, the mayor, by and with the advice and consent of the board of aldermen, may appoint a city clerk pro tempore. 4. Any city in the commonwealth may establish, by ordinance, the office of assistant city clerk, who shall be appointed in such manner and have such duties and powers, now belonging to the office of city clerk, as such ordinance shall prescribe and determine. 5. Any document or paper certified or attested by an assistant city clerk, shall be admissible in evidence in all courts of this commonwealth, in the same manner, and to the same extent, as if such document or paper were certified or attested by a city clerk. ORDINANCE.1 SECTION 1. The city clerk, under the direction and control of the board of aldermen, shall have the care and custody of the city records, and of all documents, maps, plans, and plans, and papers, respecting the care and custody of which no other provision is made. He shall attend and keep the records at all meetings of the city council. SECT. 2. In the month of July, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, and in January annually thereafter, there shall be appointed an assistant city clerk for the city of Boston. Said assistant shall be nominated by the city clerk to the board of aldermen, confirmed by said board, and sworn to the faithful discharge of his duties. He shall hold his office for the remainder of the municipal year in which he is appointed unless sooner removed; and he may be removed at any time by the city clerk. He shall be compensated for his services by the city clerk from the appropriation made by the city council for clerk hire in his office. city clerk, SECT. 3. It shall be the duty of said assistant Duties of assistant city clerk to assist the city clerk in recording, Ibid. indexing and certifying mortgages of personal property, mechanics' liens, assignments of wages, organizations of joint stock companies, and also, 1 Ordinances in relation to officers and office hours, passed Sept. 9, 1850; and to establish the office of assistant city clerk, passed May 10, 1869. |