NEW YORK STATUTES AT LARGE.*

CHAP. 299.

AN ACT declaring and providing for the punishment of certain offenses committed upon the lakes, canals and navigable waters of the state.

PASSED April 20, 1870; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. If any person or persons shall willfully or corruptly cast away, burn, sink, scuttle or otherwise destroy any vessel, canal boat or other craft upon any of the lakes or other navigable inland waters of this state, or upon any canal of this state, with intent to injure or defraud any owner of such vessel, canal boat or other craft, or with intent to injure or defraud the owner of owners of any property shipped or laden on board the same for transportation, or with intent to injure or defraud any insurer of such vessel, canal boat or other craft, or of any property so shipped or laden thereon, or of any part thereof, the person or persons so offending shall, upon conviction thereof, be deemed and adjudged guilty of a felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment in a state prison for a term not less than two years.

§2. Any owner or owners of any vessel, canal boat or other craft, or any other person who shall, upon any of the lakes or other inland navigable waters of this state, or upon any canal of this state, willfully or corruptly cast away, burn, sink, scuttle or otherwise destroy or injure any such vessel, canal boat or other craft, or in any manner direct, procure or cause the same to be done, with intent to injure or defraud any other or owners of any property shipped or laden on board the same, or any insurer of such property, or of any part thereof, shall, upon conviction thereof, be deemed and adjudged guilty of a felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment in a state prison for a term not less than two years.

§3. Any person or persons who shall willfully or corruptly attempt to cast away, burn, sink, scuttle or otherwise destroy any vessel, canal boat or other craft, upon any of the lakes or other navigable inland waters of this state, or upon any canal of this state, with intent or design to injure or defraud the owner or owners of such vessel, canal boat or other craft, or the owner or owners of any property shipped or laden on board the same, or any insurer of any such vessel, canal boat or other craft, or property, or any part thereof, shall, upon conviction thereof, be adjudged guilty of a felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment in a state prison for a term not less than one year.

4. This act shall take effect immediately.

CHAP 423.

AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act to prevent frauds in the sale of tickets upon steamboats, steamships, and other vessels," passed March twentythird, eighteen hundred and sixty.

PASSED April 27, 1870. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Section one of the act entitled "An act to prevent frauds in the sale of tickets upon steamboats, steamships, and other vessels," passed March twentythird, eighteen hundred and sixty, is hereby amended by adding thereto the following:

"Any person or persons, or association, who shall keep an office within the city of New York, for the sale of the tickets or instruments referred to in section two, asserting or assuming an authority as above required to sell the same, shall keep affixed, in a prominent place in such office, a printed certificate of such authority, permission

These laws have been carefully compared with the originals, and may be relied upon as accurate. We have not thought it necessary to take up space by attaching to each the certificate of the secretary of state which is attached to the copy from which we print.-ED. L. J.

or agency, signed by the proper officers of the companies, and shall file a copy of such authority, permission, or agency with the chief of the police department within said city, which said printed certificate and verified copy shall contain the name of the company, line, ship, or steamship for which he or they shall act as agent; the name of the street and number of the same in which such office shall be kept for the sale of such tickets or instruments, and the name or names of the individual or individuals authorized to sell the same, who shall be considered the person or persons owning, leasing, or controlling the said offices; and for a failure to comply with these provisions such offices shall be deemed disorderly houses and subject to the penalties prescribed in section seven."

§2. Section two of said act is hereby amended by adding thereto the following:

"And no person or association, not having the authority required above, shall, under the pretense of selling or disposing of the same, procure, or attempt to procure, for any person or persons, in his or their names, any ticket or instrument mentioned in section two of this act from the regular and authorized agents, officers, owners, or consignees of any line, ship, or steamship, unless requested so to do by such person or persons, and unless such person or persons are made aware that the said tickets or instruments are procured from the said officers, agents, consignees, or owners for such person or persons, and that such procuring party has no authority to sell or dispose of the same. And any person or persons violating the provisions of this section shall be subject to the penalty prescribed in section five."

23. Section five of said act is hereby amended by add ing thereto the following:

"If any drivers of any hack, carriage, cab, or other vehicle, or any runner, decoy, or agent, shall knowingly lead, carry, direct, or convey from any depot, wharf, stopping-place, hotel, or lodging-house, any person or persons to any office, violating the provisions of this act, or any one of them, he shall, upon conviction, be punished in the manner prescribed by section five, and may be indicted and convicted as prescribed in section six." §4. Section seven of said act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

27. All offices kept for the purpose of selling any passenger tickets or instruments in violation of the provisions of this act, or of any one of them, or where, without the authority required in section one of this act, a pretense is made to sell or dispose of the same, or where it is asserted or assumed that there is an authority to sell or dispose of the same as required by this act, and none such exists, or of which it shall be advertised in any newspaper, or by printed bills or posters, wherever affixed, that there is such authority, and none such exists; and all offices where such sale or disposition is made, in violation of the provisions of this act, shall be deemed disorderly houses; and all persons keeping such offices, and all persons associating together for the purpose of violating the provisions of this act, shall be deemed disorderly persons and guilty of a misdemeanor; and shall, upon conviction of being members of such association, or of being interested, directly or indirectly, in the transaction of such business, or shall receive any part of the profits thereof, shall, in like manner, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by imprisonment in the county prison for a period not less than three nor more than twelve months; and it shall be the duty of all magistrates of the county where such offices are kept, or where such sale has been made, or where such association is organized, upon due proof thereof, to issue a warrant for the apprehension of all persons that may be found therein, and to have such offices closed and such signs and advertisements removed.

5. This act shall take effect immediately.

CHAP. 491. AN ACT to amend chapter two hundred and sixtyfive of the laws of eighteen hundred and fortyeight, entitled "An act to provide for the incorporation and regulation of telegraph companies."

PASSED April 28, 1870. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Section seven of chapter two hundred and sixty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and forty-eight, entitled "An act to provide for the incorporation and regulation of telegraph companies," is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

27. Any person who shall injure, molest, or destroy any of said lines, posts, piers, or abutments, or the materials or property belonging thereto, shall, on conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or both, at the discretion of the court before which the conviction shall be had. In cases where, from necessity, by reason of the removal of houses or other like causes, the said telegraph lines are interrupted, broken, or interfered with, if the person causing such interruption shall have given twenty-four hours' previous notice, in writing, to any agent of the company to whom the lines belong, he shall be exempt from the effects of the penalty herein provided, and not otherwise.

22. This act shall take effect immediately.

CHAP. 506.

AN ACT to facilitate the payment of taxes by railroad companies.

PASSED April 28, 1870; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the board of supervisors of the several counties of this state (except New York and Kings counties), within five days after the making out or issuing of the annual tax warrants by the board of supervisors of their respective counties, to prepare and deliver to the county treasurer a statement showing the title of all railroad corporations in such county, as appears on the last assessment roll of the towns or cities in such county, the valuation of the property, real and personal, of such corporation in each town or city, and the amount of tax assessed or levied on such valuation in each town or city in their county.

§ 2. Any railroad company heretofore organized under the laws of this state, or that may be hereafter organized, may, within thirty days after the receipt of such statement by the county treasurer, pay the amount of tax so assessed or levied on their property, with one per cent fees on said tax, to the county treasurer, who is hereby authorized and directed to receive such amounts and to give proper receipt therefor.

3. In case any railroad company shall fail to pay such tax within said thirty days, it shall be the duty of the county treasurer to notify the collector of all towns or cities in their county, in which said company is assessed, of such failure to pay said tax, and upon receipt of such notice it shall be the duty of such collector to collect said tax in the manner now provided by law, together with five per cent fees; but no town or city collector shall collect any tax levied or assessed upon the property of any railroad company in said counties by the supervisors of the county until the receipt of such notice from the county treasurer.

4. The several amounts of tax so received by the county treasurer, of and from railroad companies, shall be placed to the credit of the town or city for or on account of which the same was levied or assessed, and to the credit of the fund or funds to which the same is now or shall be hereafter pledged or appropriated by law, and

the one per cent fees also paid shall be placed to the credit of the collector of said city or town; and in case such amounts shall exceed the sum due from said town or city, the surplus shall, on demand, be paid to the supervisor of said town or city, who shall receive, hold and disburse the same as if received from the collector of said town or city.

5. Nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent any railroad company from paying their tax to the collector of towns or cities as now provided by law; nor shall the provisions of this act be construed to repeal or in any manner interfere with the provisions of chapter nine hundred and seven of the session laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-nine.

26. This act shall take effect immediately

CHAP. 507.

AN ACT to define the powers of commissioners appointed under chapter nine hundred and seven of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, bonding municipalities to aid in the construction of railroads.

PASSED April 28, 1870; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. It shall be competent for any corporation, in and to the construction of whose railroad bonds shall have been authorized to be issued by any municipal corporation in this state, to enter into any agreement with the commissioners appointed to issue said bonds, limiting and defining the times when, and the proportion in which, said bonds or their proceeds shall be delivered to said corporation, and the place or places where, and the purposes for which, said bonds or their proceeds shall be applied or used, and any such agreement in writing, duly executed by such corporation, and a majority of such commissioners, shall in all courts or places be valid and effectual. And such commissioners shall not be compelled by any court to deliver such bonds or their proceeds to such corporation, until such agreement shall be executed, if required by them.

22. This act shall take effect immediately.

CHAP. 525.

AN ACT to provide for the more effectual protection of the public health.

PASSED May 2, 1870; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. From and after the passage of this act it shall be unlawful for any person, or persons, or corporation, to deposit, cast, leave or keep, or cause to be deposited, cast, left or kept, upon or near any highway or route of public travel, either on the land or on the water, any noisome or unwholesome substance, or to establish, maintain, continue or carry on, or cause to be established, maintained, continued or carried on, upon or near any public highway or route of travel, either on the land or on the water, any business, trade or manufacture which is or shall be noisome or detrimental to public health. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not less than three nor more than six months.

2. In case any person or corporation shall violate the provisions of the foregoing section, any person feeling aggrieved by such violation, may serve a notice, in writing, upon the person or corporation guilty of such violation, specifying the act in relation to which such person feels aggrieved, or the nature of the offense committed against the provisions of this act. Immediately upon the service of such notice, it shall be the duty of the person or corporation upon whom the same shall be served

to remove the substance so deposited, cast, left or kept (in case the notice shall refer to the depositing, casting, leaving or keeping of any substance in violation of this act), or to discontinue and cease to carry on or maintain the business, trade or manufacture specified in such notice (in case the same refer to the maintaining, continuing, or carrying on, of any business, trade or manufacture, against the provisions of this act), or, in default thereof, the person or corporation upon whom such notice shall be served shall forfeit and pay, to the person giving such notice, the sum of twenty-five dollars for each day's neglect to comply with the duty above specifiled, to be sued for and recovered by and in the name of such person for his own use and benefit; provided, however, that no action shall be brought to recover such penalty until the person, desiring or intending to bring the same, shall execute to the person or corporation against whom such action is to be brought a good and sufficient bond, to be approved by a justice of the supreme court, conditioned that the plaintiff in such action will pay all costs which may be recovered by the defendant therein, in case the plaintiff shall fail in such action. The notice, in writing, above specified, where the same is to be served upon an individual, may be served by delivering the same to him personally, or by leaving the same at his last known place of residence or business; and, where the same is to be served upon a corporation, it may be served personally upon any officer or director thereof.

§3. This act shall not apply to any city in this state in which there are or may be any ordinance in regard to the nuisances referred to in the first section of this act. § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

CHAP. 527.

AN ACT to authorize rural cemetery associations to accept conveyances from religious societies and trustees of any grounds held by such societies or trustees for burial purposes.

PASSED May 2, 1870. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. It shall be lawful for any cemetery association heretofore or hereafter formed under and in pursuance of the act entitled "An act authorizing the incorporation of rural cemetery associations," passed April twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, and the acts amending the same, to accept of a conveyance to such association of any grounds owned or held by any religious society or by trustees, for burial purposes, whenever such society shall authorize the proper officer or officers to convey the same, and in cases where such ground is held by trustees, whenever all the trustees living or residing in this state shall unite in such conveyance; and such conveyance, when fully executed and delivered, shall be deemed and held valid to convey all the interest of such society, and of the said trustees, in such grounds, to the association therein named.

2. The association named in any conveyance, so as aforesaid authorized, shall take, hold, and control the grounds so conveyed — subject, however, to any and all burdens, trusts, and conditions incumbent upon its grantors, and shall perform all such duties, trusts, and conditions.

3. Lots which shall have been sold or granted in such burial grounds, prior to such conveyance, shall not be taken from the grantees thereof, nor their interest therein divested by such conveyance, nor shall any grave be disturbed or monument or remains removed without the consent of the lot owner or of the heirs of the person whose remains are intended to be removed.

24. The grounds authorized to be conveyed by this act shall be surveyed and mapped by the association receiving them, and the portion or portions thereof unoccupied or undisposed of may be subdivided into lots and plots, and sold or granted, by the trustees of such association,

in the same manner as the other grounds and lots of such association. And the moneys received on the sale of such lots shall be expended in payment of expenses, and improving and embellishing the grounds of the association, including the grounds conveyed under this act, in the discretion of the trustees thereof.

5. This act shall take effect immediately.

CHAP. 576.

AN ACT to provide for the introduction of the European system of steam towage upon the canals of this state.

PASSED May 2, 1870; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Permission is hereby granted to Addison M. Farwell, of Watertown, New York, his associates and successors, who may organize a corporation under the act entitled "An act to authorize the formation of corporations for manufacturing, mining, mechanical, and chemical purposes," passed February seventeen, eighteen hundred and forty-eight, and any act or acts amendatory thereof, to introduce upon the canals of this state the "European system" of steam towing.

2. The said Farwell, his associates and successors, who shall organize as provided in previous section, are hereby authorized and empowered to tow boats, floats, and cargoes on the canals of this state for hire, and for that purpose may purchase and construct, or cause to be constructed, the necessary appliances for carrying on the business of canal towing under the said European method, and shall have the exclusive right and privilege, during the term for which said corporation may be organized, to submerge or place one or more chains or cables on the bottom of the canals of this state, and attach the same thereto in such manner as will not interfere with navigation; and shall have the exclusive right to use such submerged chains and cables, designated and known as the European system, in the prosecution of the peculiar method of towing thereby. And whenever and wherever it may be necessary so to do, the said Farwell, his associates and successors, or corporation aforesald, are hereby authorized and empowered to own and employ other motive power in connection with said chain or cable process, provided the same shall not interfere with navigation. Nothing, however, in this section contained shall be construed as excluding other parties from the right or privilege of propelling or towing themselves or others by the agency of steamboats, propellers, elevated railway, or animal power, but simply to vest in the said Farwell, his associates and successors, or corporation organized as aforesaid, the exclusive right to lay and use chains or cables in the prosecution of the European system of towing thereby.

3. Any person who shall meddle with or disturb tho chains or cables, authorized to be laid under this act, with intent to injure the same, or in any manner to embarrass the operation thereof, or any person who shall willfully obstruct or interfere with boats rightfully using said chains or cables, or towed thereby, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by fine or imprisonment-the fine not to exceed two hundred dollars, and imprisonment not to exceed three months. And any person who shall willfully injure the chains or cables as aforesaid, or, by other improper conduct, shall detain the boats rightfully using said chains or cables, or being towed thereby, shall be liable, to the parties aggrieved, for all damages occasioned by said injury or detention.

4. The tugs, with machinery connected therewith, employed by said Farwell, his associates and successors, or corporation aforesaid, in the prosecution of towing, together with the fuel necessary to the voyage carried thereon, shall be exempt from the payment of tolls.

§ 5. In case said Farwell, his associates and successors, or corporation aforesaid, shall neglect or fail to introduce

said system of towing on the Erie canal within eighteen months after the passage of this act, all rights and privileges herein granted shall cease.

26. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to exclude the system of towage hereby authorized from the supervision and control of the canal board; but the same shall be subject to all the rules and regulations from time to time established by the canal board for the navigation of the canals.

27. The legislature may, at any time, alter, modify or repeal this act.

§ 8. This act shall take effect immediately.

CHAP. 655.

AN ACT to provide for the introduction of an improved system of steam towage upon the canals of this state.

PASSED April 5, 1870; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Permission is hereby granted to Norman W. Kingsley of New York, and Charles H. Gardner of Brooklyn, their associates and successors, who may organize a corporation under the act entitled “An act to authorize the formation of corporations for manufacturing, mining, mechanical and chemical purposes," passed February seventeenth, eighteen hundred and forty-eight, and any act or acts amendatory thereto, to introduce upon the canals of this state an improved system of steam towage, by the use of chains, cables or rails suspended over the canal, under a patent or patents to be held or acquired by said corporation, with the exclusive right to use the said system thereon, during the full term for which the said corporation may be organized.

2. The said Norman W. Kingsley, Charles H. Gardner, their associates and successors, as heretofore specified, are hereby authorized and empowered to transport cargoes, and to tow boats and floats, loaded or unloaded, for hire, upon the canals of this state, at a rate of speed not exceeding four miles per hour, and which shall not work injury thereto, and for such purpose may purchase, construct, erect and use thereon, such boats, boilers, engines, apparatus, suspended rails, chains, or cables, and machinery, as shall be necessary to apply and operate said improved system of steam towage, in such manner as shall not interfere with the navigation on said canals. Nothing, however, in this section contained shall be construed as excluding other parties from the right or privilege of propelling or towing any boat or float upon the canals of this state by the agency of steamboats, propellers, tugs, chains, cables, elevated railways, engines or animal power, but simply to vest in the said Norman W. Kingsley, Charles H. Gardner, their associates and successors, or corporation organized as aforesaid, the exclusive right to apply and operate the said improved system of towage.

23. The machinery, engines and boilers used in pursuance of this act, the boats carrying the same, and the fuel necessary for the voyage, shall be exempt from the payment of tolls upon all the canals in this state.

4. In case the said Norman W. Kingsley, Charles H. Gardner, their associates and successors, or corporation aforesaid, shall neglect or fail to introduce said system of towing on the Erie canal within eighteen months after the passage of this act, all rights and privileges herein granted shall cease.

25. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to exclude the system of towage hereby authorized from the supervision and control of the canal board, but the same shall be subject to all the rules and regulations established, and to be established, by the canal board for the navigation of the canals.

26. The legislature may, at any time, alter, modify or repeal this act.

7. This act shall take effect immediately.

СНАР. 660.

AN ACT to provide for the appointment of an additional number of notaries public in the city of New York, and in the several assembly districts of this state. PASSED May 5, 1870.

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. The governor is hereby authorized and empowered, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, to appoint, in and for the city of New York, two hundred and fifty notaries public in addition to the number now provided by law, and ten additional in and for each assembly district in the state, outside of the city of New York.

§2. This act shall take effect immediately.

CHAP. 752.

AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act to authorize the board of supervisors of the several counties in this state to make the office of district attorney a salaried office, and to fix the salary thereof," passed April fourteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-two.

PASSED May 7, 1870; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. The first section of the act entitled "An act to authorize the board of supervisors of the several counties in this state to make the office of district attorney a salaried office, and to fix the salary thereof," passed April fourteenth, one thousand eight hundred and fiftytwo, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

1. The board of supervisors of the several counties in this state, the county of New York excepted, at any annual meeting of such board, duly convened, may lawfully determine that the office of district attorney of such county shall be a salaried office, and thereupon it shall be their duty, and they are hereby authorized, to fix the amount of compensation to be paid to the district attorney thereof for his services; and the salary, when so fixed, shall not be diminished during the term for which the district attorney has been or may be elected. § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

СНАР. 773.

AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act to authorize the formation of companies for the erection of buildings," passed April fifth, eighteen hundred and fifty-three. PASSED May 10, 1870.

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. The first section of the "Act to authorize the formation of companies for the erection of buildings," passed April fifth, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, is hereby amended by inserting after the words "for the erection of buildings," the words "or for the laying out and subdivision of lands into building lots or villa plots, and the improvement and sale thereof." And by striking out the words "five hundred thousand dollars," and inserting in lieu thereof the words "one million dollars."

2. The trustees of any company organized, or hereafter to be organized, under said act may purchase lands and other property necessary for their business, and issue stock to the amount of the value thereof in payment therefor; and the stock so issued shall be declared and taken to be full stock, and not liable to any further calls; neither shall the holders thereof be liable for any further payments under the provisions of the tenth section of the said act; but, in all statements and reports of the company to be published, this stock shall not be stated or reported as being issued for cash paid into the company, but shall be reported in this respect according to the fact. 3. This act shall take effect immediately.