AN ACT to incorporate the proprietors of Fresh Pond Meadows in incorporated. etc. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Persons Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That Thomas Brewer, Samuel Watson, and John Davenport, and others, proprietors of meadows in the towns of Cambridge, Watertown, and West Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex, on the borders of Fresh Pond and Little Spy Pond, and above Menotomy bridge, on the streams running from said ponds, overflowed and injured in consequence of the obstruction to the passage of the water in said streams, and by the setting back of the current of said streams, in consequence of the rising of the tide in Medford River, their heirs and assigns of the said premises, be, and they hereby are made a body corporate, by the name of Proprietors of Fresh Pond Meadows; for the purpose of removing the obstructions in said streams, opening such drains as may be deemed necessary, and constructing a dike and gate, at or below Russell's bridge, on the stream running from said ponds, and for the purpose of shutting out the tide from said meadows, and apportioning and collecting assess- Assessments, ments on the said proprietors, in proportion as they shall be respectively benefited by such improvements, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the same; with power to make any by-laws, to choose a clerk, treasurer, committees, assessors, collectors of taxes, commissioners, and other officers and agents, as may be necessary and proper for carrying into effect the purposes of this Act; and such committees, assessors, or commissioners, as may be appointed for the levying and apportioning of assessments upon said proprietors, shall be sworn by some justice of the peace within said county of Middlesex, to the faithful performance of their duties. SECT. 2. Be it further enacted, That in case any of said Delinquent's proprietors shall, for sixty days after demand thereof, neglect sold at auction to pay his, her, or their proportion of any assessment, made in pursuance of this Act, for the purposes aforesaid, the collector or treasurer of said proprietors, or such committee or other officers or agents of said proprietors, as may be authorized by them for this purpose, shall sell at public auction, after giving reasonable notice of such sale, such quantity of the meadow belonging to such delinquent proprietor or proprietors as shall be deemed sufficient by such treasurer or collector, committee, or other officer or agent authorized as aforesaid, to satisfy such assessment, and pay all necessary expenses incidental to such sale; and the said collector or treasurer, or such other officer or committee, or agent of said proprietors, being authorized for the purpose by said proprietors, shall convey by deed, the meadow so sold; which deed, shares may be Time for keeping gate open. Penalty for injuring gate or dike. When and how this Act shall take effect. duly executed, shall give a valid title to the grantee of the portion of said meadows so sold, and conveyed, subject, however, to the right of the proprietor or proprietors thereof, to redeem the same within one year from the sale thereof, by paying the amount of such purchase money, and the interest therefor, to the purchaser, his heirs, assigns, or other legal representatives; and the surplus of the proceeds of such sale, over the amount of the assessment, and expenses of such sale, shall be paid over by the said collector or treasurer, or other officer, agent, or committee, making the sale, to the delinquent proprietor or proprietors of the estate thus sold. SECT. 3. Be it further enacted, That the said gate shall be kept open for the free passage of fish up and down said stream, from the first day of March, to the fifteenth day of June, in each year, and for such further time as the court of common pleas in said county, on giving the parties interested reasonable notice and hearing, on the application of the selectmen of Cambridge, or West Cambridge, for that purpose, may direct, in case the time above specified shall be found insufficient for the passage of shad and alewives to and from said ponds. SECT. 4. Be it further enacted, That, if any person shall wilfully destroy, break down, remove or injure said gate or dike, the person or persons so offending, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than twenty dollars, nor more than one hundred dollars, to be sued for and recovered before the court of common pleas in said county, one half to the use of the complainant, the other half to the use of said proprietors. SECT. 5. Be it further enacted, That this Act shall be in force only in respect of such of the proprietors aforesaid as shall signify their assent thereto, in writing, or by voting therefor at a meeting of said proprietors, duly called in the manner prescribed by law for calling the meetings of corporations; and, upon such adoption of this Act, all Acts heretofore passed to incorporate the proprietors of said meadows, for the purpose aforesaid and the Acts in addition thereto, shall cease to be in force. (March 25, 1834.) Appointment of the firemen. AN ACT in addition to an Act establishing a fire department in the town of Cambridge. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the engineers, engine men, hose men and hook and ladder men, whom the selectmen of the town of Cambridge are, by the Act to which this is an addition, authorized to appoint, shall hereafter be appointed annually, on the first Wednesday in April, or as soon thereafter as may be ; anything in the Act to which this is in addition to the contrary notwithstanding. from military SECT. 2. Be it further enacted, That no member of said Exemption fire department who shall be appointed a member thereof in duty. the month of April, and who shall have produced, within thirty days after he shall have become a member thereof, to the commanding officer of the military company within whose bounds he may reside, a certificate from the selectmen of Cambridge, stating that he is a member of said department, shall be held to produce such certificate in the month of May, next following the time of his appointment; and the production of such certificate to such commanding officer, by any member of said department, appointed in the month of April, within thirty days of such appointment, shall exempt such member from military duty so long as he shall remain a member of said fire department; anything in the Act to which this is in addition, to the contrary notwithstanding. (March 30, 1835.) AN ACT to authorize Francis Winship and others to construct a draw in the great bridge over Charles River, between Cambridge and Brighton, in the county of Middlesex. authorized. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:— SECTION 1. Francis Winship, Gorham Parsons, Samuel Persons Brooks, and Edward Sparhawk, and their associates, are hereby authorized to make, at their own expense, a good and sufficient draw and passage-way in the great bridge over Charles River, between Cambridge and Brighton, in the county of Middlesex; and also to erect such piers on either side, or both sides, of said bridge as may be necessary to secure the bridge and facilitate the passage of vessels through To make a the same, with a leaf or leaves of sufficient length and between Cambreadth, with every requisite for raising the same; and the whole shall be done under the superintendence and to acceptance of the county commissioners of the county of Middlesex. the bridge and Brighton. proved by To be ap County commissioners. proved by missioners. SECT. 2. Said draw, piers, leaf, or leaves, and every requisite for raising the same, after they shall have been constructed and provided to the acceptance of the county commissioners To be apaforesaid, shall be always thereafter maintained and kept in County comrepair, and said draw shall be raised, and every necessary accommodation afforded to vessels having occasion to pass through the same, by day or by night, by the towns of Cambridge, West Cambridge, Lexington, and Brighton, in the same proportions as they are now by law liable to contribute to the support of said bridge. (April 23, 1838.) County commissioners lay out high AN ACT in relation to a highway from Prison Point to Lechmere's Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:— SECTION 1. The county commissioners for the county of authorized to Middlesex are hereby authorized and empowered to lay out a highway from Prison Point, in Charlestown, to Lechmere's Point, in Cambridge; and said commissioners in all their proceedings in relation to said highway, shall be governed by the provisions of the twenty-fourth chapter of the Revised Statutes. way. Draw to be built. SECT. 2. Said county commissioners shall cause to be built, in any dam or bridge which shall be laid out as a part of said highway, a good and sufficient draw, for the passage of vessels, not less than twenty-seven feet wide; and the said draw shall be kept in good repair, and raised at all times for the To be kept at passage of vessels, at the expense of the towns of Charles expense of Charlestown and Cam bridge. town and Cambridge; and the said towns shall in relation to said highway, be subject to all the duties and liabilities, and have all the powers and privileges, set forth in the twentyfourth chapter of the Revised Statutes in relation to highways. (April 24, 1838.) School to be established. Its object. Estate. Who are to be visitors, to appoint instructors AN ACT to authorize the Trustees of the Charity of Edward Hopkins, to establish a classical school in the town of Cambridge. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:SECTION 1. The Trustees of the Charity of Edward Hopkins are hereby authorized to establish, in the town of Cambridge, a classical school, the main object of which shall be to prepare boys for admission to Harvard University, and, for this purpose, may purchase and hold, in their corporate name, a lot of said land in said town, and erect thereupon suitable buildings, the whole costs of which shall not exceed ten thousand dollars. SECT. 2. The visitation of said school, and the right and authority to appoint instructors and make and ordain suitable and make by rules and by-laws for the government thereof, shall be vested in the president and fellows of Harvard College, the minister of the First Church in Cambridge, and the chairmen of the selectmen and school committee of said town. laws. Of admission SECT. 3. The said trustees, the visitors of said school, and free of expense the instructors thereof, shall receive into the same when to the school, established, and admit to all its benefits, privileges, and advantages, free of expense, any number of boys, not exceeding nine, at any time, belonging to the town of Cambridge or elsewhere, who being suitably qualified, shall be selected and presented for admission thereto by the school committee of said town. income of support of the Proviso, in case the school established, or shall not be cease to be maintained. income when SECT. 4. The said trustees are hereby authorized to apply Fourth part of one fourth part of the net income of their funds to the sup- fund to be port of said school, so long as the same shall continue to be applied to maintained in said town, and shall during that time, be ex- school. empted from all obligation to pay any portion of said income to any other school in said town or the master thereof: provided, however, if the said school shall not be established within two years after the passage of this Act, or shall, at any time thereafter, cease to be supported in said town, as is herein provided, the said trustees shall annually pay over the said fourth part of the net income of their funds to the treasurer of the town of Cambridge, on condition that the said town of Cambridge shall provide and maintain a school, and perform and comply with the other duties and provisions contained in the next section of this Act. SECT. 5. The town of Cambridge shall annually apply so Application of much of said income, as may at any time hereafter be paid paid over to to the treasurer thereof, in pursuance of the proviso con- treasurer, tained in the preceding section of this Act, to the instruction according to foregoing of nine boys in the learning requisite for admission to Har- proviso. vard University; the said instruction to be furnished in a public school in said town, the instructor of which shall be at all times competent to give such instruction; and said town shall, so long as said income shall continue to be paid, receive into said school, and admit to all the benefits, privileges, and advantages thereof, free of expense, any number of boys, not exceeding nine at any time, who, being properly qualified, shall be selected and presented for admission thereto, by the president and fellows of Harvard College, and the minister of the First Church in Cambridge, who shall be the visitors of said school for the purpose of seeing that the duties and provisions in this section are duly complied with and performed. SECT. 6. The said trustees are hereby authorized to pay annually to the treasurer of Harvard College one tenth part of that portion of their income which is appropriated for the benefit of theological students to be applied for the purchase of books, as a reward to meritorious under-graduates, without regard to the number of theological students who may be assisted by this charity. (April 10, 1839.) town Annual payment to college treasurer, for books, etc. purchase of |