CHAPTER XXXIV OF THE GENERAL LAWS. [CHAP. 376 OF 1896.] THE DOMESTIC COMMERCE LAW. ARTICLE I. Weights and measures (§§ 1-17). II. Regulations of grade and business (§§ 20-41). IV. Peddlers (§§ 60-65). V. Flour and meal (§§ 70-79). VI. Beef and pork (§§ 90-92). VII. Hops and hay (§§ 100-105). VIII. Laws repealed; when to take effect (§§ 110-111). ARTICLE I. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. SECTION 1. Short title. 2. Description of weights and measures. 4. Units of weights. 5. Units of capacity. 6. Heap measure. 7. Measure for bran. 8. Number of pounds to the bushel. 9. Barrels of apples, quinces, pears and potatoes. 10. Construction of contracts. 11. Duties of state superintendent of weights and measures. 12. Copies of standard weights and measures. 13. County sealer; duty of supervisors. 14. Town sealer. 15. City sealer. 16. Weights and measures to be sealed; fees. 17. Delivery of standards to successor in office. SECTION 1. Short title.-This chapter shall be known as the domestic commerce law. § 2. Description of weights and measures.-The standard weights and measures now in charge of the secretary of state, being the same that were furnished to this state by the government of the United States, in accordance with a joint resolution of congress, approved June fourteen, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, and consisting of one standard yard measure and one set of standard weights, comprising one Troy pound, and nine avoirdupois weights of one, two, three, four, five, ten, twenty, twenty-five and fifty pounds respectively; one set of standard Troy ounce weights, divided decimally from ten ounces to the one ten thousandth of an ounce; one set of standard liquid capacity measures, consisting of one wine gallon of two hundred and thirty-one cubic inches, one half gallon, one quart, one pint and one-half pint measure; and one standard half bushel, containing one thousand and seventy-five cubic inches and twenty-one hundredths of a cubic inch, according to the inch hereby adopted as standard shall be the standards of weight and measure throughout this state. § 3. The unit of length and surface. The unit or standard measure of length and surface, from which all other measures of extension, whether lineal, superficial or solid, shall be derived and ascertained, is the standard yard designated in this article, which is divided into three equal parts called feet, and each foot into twelve equal parts called inches. For measures of cloths and other commodities commonly sold by the yard, it may be divided into halves, quarters, eighths and sixteenths. The rod, pole or perch, contains five and one-half yards; the mile, one thousand seven hundred and sixty yards. The chain for measuring land is twenty-two yards long and is divided into one hundred equal parts called links. The acre for land measure shall be measured horizontally and contain ten square chains, equivalent in area to a rectangle sixteen rods in length and ten in breadth; six hundred and forty acres being contained in a square mile. § 4. Units of weight.—The units or standards of weight from which all other weights shall be derived and ascertained, shall be the standard of avoirdupois and Troy weights designated in this article. The avoirdupois pound bears to the Troy pound the ratio of seven thousand to five thousand seven hundred and sixty, and is divided into sixteen equal parts called ounces. The hundred weight consists of one hundred avoirdupois pounds and twenty hundred weight are a ton. The Troy ounce is equal to the twelfth part of a Troy pound. § 5. Units of capacity. The units or standards of measure of capacity or liquids from which all other measures shall be derived and ascertained shall be the standard gallon and its parts ΙΟΙ designated in this article. The barrel is equal to thirty-one and one-half gallons and two barrels are a hogshead. All other measures of capacity for liquids shall be derived from the liquid gallon by continual division by the number two, so as to make half gallons, quarts, pints, half pints and gills. The unit or standard measure of capacity for substance, not liquids, from which all other measures of such substances shali be derived and ascertained, is the standard half bushel mentioned in this article. The peck, half peck, quarter peck, quart and pint measures for measuring commodities which are not liquids shall be derived from the half bushel by successively dividing that measure by two. § 6. Heap measure.-The measure of capacity for all commodities commonly sold by heap measure shall be the half bushel and its multiples and subdivisions. The measures used to measure such commodities shall be cylindrical, with plain and even bottom, and of the diameter of nineteen and one-half inches. from outside to outside if a bushel; fifteen and one-half inches if a half bushel, and twelve and one-third inches if a peck. All commodities sold by heap measure shall be duly heaped up in the form of a cone, the outside of the measure to be the limit of the base of the cone, and the cone to be as high as the commodities will admit. § 7. Measure for bran.-The standard measure of capacity for bran and shorts shall be forty quarts to the bushel. The measure used for measuring such commodities shall be round, with a plain or even bottom, and it shall be thirteen and one-half inches in diameter in the clear at the top, and fifteen inches and onehalf in diameter in the clear at the bottom and of sufficient depth to contain such number of quarts, when stricken with a round, straight stick or roller of uniform diameter. § 8. Number of pounds to the bushel.-Whenever any commodity specified in this section is sold by the bushel, and no special agreement is made by the parties as to the mode of measuring, the bushel shall consist of seventy pounds of lime or coarse salt; sixty pounds of wheat, peas, potatoes, clover-seed or beans; fifty-seven pounds of onions; fifty-six pounds of Indian corn, rye or fine salt; fifty-five pounds of flaxseed; fiftyfour pounds of sweet potatoes; fifty pounds of corn meal, rye meal or carrots; forty-eight pounds of barley, apples or buck wheat; forty-five pounds of herdsgrass, timothy seed or rough rice; forty-four pounds of Sea Island cotton seed; thirty-three pounds of dried peaches; thirty-two pounds of oats; thirty pounds of upland cotton seed; twenty-five pounds dried apples; twenty pounds of bran or shorts. § 9. Barrels of apples, quinces, pears and potatoes.-A barrel of pears, quinces or potatoes shall represent a quantity equal to one hundred quarts of grain or dry measure. A barrel of apples shall be of the following dimensions: head diameter, seventeen and one-eighth inches; length of stave, twenty-eight and onehalf inches; bulge not less than sixty-four inches outside measurement. Every person buying or selling apples, pears, quinces or potatoes in this state by the barrel, shall be understood as referring to the quantity or size of the barrel specified in this section, but when potatoes are sold by weight the quantity constituting a barrel shall be one hundred and seventy-four pounds. No person shall make, or cause to be made, barrels holding less than the quantity herein specified, knowing or having reason to believe that the same are to be used for the sale of apples, quinces, pears or potatoes, unless such barrel is plainly marked on the outside thereof with the words "short barrel" in letters of not less than one inch in height. No person in this state shall use barrels hereafter made for the sale of such articles of a size less than the size specified in this section. Every person violating any provision of this section shall forfeit to the people of the state a sum of five dollars for every barrel put up made or used in violation of such provision. (As amended by chap. 317 of 1899.) § 10. Construction of contracts.-All contracts made within the state for work to be done, or for the sale or delivery of personal property, by weight or measure, shall be taken and construed according to the standards of weights and measures adopted in this article. § 11. Duties of state superintendent of weights and measures. -The state superintendent of weights and measures shall take charge of the standards adopted by this article as the standards of the state; cause them to be kept in a fire-proof building belonging to the state, from which they shall not be removed, and take all other necessary precautions for their safe-keeping. shall correct the standards of the several cities and counties and provide them with such standards, balances and other means of adjustment as may be necessary, and, as often as once in ten He years, compare the same with those in his possession, and he shall have a general supervision of the weights and measures of the state. § 12. Copies of standard weights and measures.-The state shall have a complete set of copies of the original standards of weights and measures adopted by this article, which shall be used for adjusting county standards, and the original standards shall not be used except for the adjustment of this set of copies and for scientific purposes. The state superintendent of weights and measures shall see that the foregoing provisions of this section are complied with and procure such apparatus and fixtures, if the same have not already been procured, as are necessary in the comparison and adjustment of the county standards. He shall cause all the city and county standards to be impressed with the emblem of the United States, the letters "N. Y.," and such other device as he shall direct for the particular county. § 13. County sealer; duty of supervisors.-There shall be a county sealer of weights and measures in each county, who shall be appointed by the board of supervisors and hold office during the pleasure of such board. He shall take charge of and safely keep the county standards, provide the several towns with such standard weights, measures and balances, stamped with such devices as the board of supervisors may direct, as may be wanting, and compare the town standards with those of the county as often as once in five years. In towns where there are no standards or no town sealer, he shall perform the duties of a town sealer. The board of supervisors of each county shall procure the proper standards for each town therein not provided therewith, and the expense thereof shall be paid by such town. 14. Town sealer.-There shall be a town sealer of weights and measures in each town, to be appointed by the town board and hold office during its pleasure. He shall take charge of and safely keep the town standards and see that the weights, measures and all apparatus used in the town which are brought to him for that purpose, conform to the town standards. § 15. City sealer.—Where not otherwise provided by law, there shall be a city sealer of weights and measures to be appointed by the common council of each city, and hold office during the |