regulations for the conduct, government and control of said department, and any member of the police department shall be and is hereby authorized to serve process when directed to him, issued by said police court, and to make arrests anywhere within the limits of the town of Meriden, and in all cases where any person shall be sentenced or ordered by said police court to be committed, the mittimus for said commitment may be directed to and executed by some member of the police depart

ment.

SEC. 69. There shall be a fire department for said city which shall consist of a chief engineer, such assistant engineers and firemen as shall from time time be prescribed by the said court of common council, and who shall be appointed in such manner and serve for such times, and be paid such compensation as the city by-laws may prescribe, and said court of common council shall have control of all the property of said city, used by the fire department, and shall make all needful rules and regulations, prescribing the powers, duties and compensation of all officers and employees, and for the conduct, government and control of said department.

SEC. 70. The court of common council of said city shall constitute a board of health in said city, and shall have and may exercise all power and authority, which they shall judge necessary and proper for the preservation of the health of said city, and for the prevention of disease of any kind, and the spread of the same, and for the promotion and preservation of the health of the inhabitants of said city; may make and cause to be executed, all such orders in relation thereto, as they shall think proper, and may appoint such health officers or committees with such powers in relation thereto, as they shall think proper. And said court of common council or the mayor of said city, or any health officer, or any member of any health committee in said city, may cause all filthy and putrid substances of every kind, and all other substances of every kind, which they shall think injurious to the health and cleanliness of the inhabitants of said city, to be removed at the expense of the proprietor or proprietors of the land or building upon it, in or in front of which such substances may be, and for that purpose may enter upon, or into all lands and buildings of every kind, and all cellars, and all places in said city.

SEC. 71. All obstructions or incumbrances of every kind which shall be erected, placed, laid, left, deposited, continued or suffered to remain in or upon any highway, street, walk or avenue in said city in violation of any of the by-laws of said city, shall be deemed forfeited to said city, and may be appro

priated to the use of the same by the mayor or any alderman of said city, or any officer to whom such duty by said court of common council may be assigned; and the court of common council, or the mayor, or any alderman of said city, or any such officer, may cause all nuisances, obstructions or incumbrances found on or existing in any place in said city, in violation of any of the by laws of said city, to be removed at the expense of the person or persons causing, continuing, or suffering to remain such nuisance, obstruction or incumbrance; and said court of common council shall liquidate and adjust the expense of such removal, and may order the same to be paid by such person or persons, and the mayor or one of the aldermen of said city shall issue a warrant of distress, directed to the collector of said city, authorizing him to collect the same.

SEC. 72. Said city in legal meeting assembled, shall have power to lay taxes on the polls and ratable estates within the limits of said city, for such purposes as said city shall think proper, agreeably to the privileges granted by this act.

SEC. 73. Said court of common council shall have power to create all offices and appoint all officers and agents not herein specially provided for, which in their judgment shall be necessary for the proper management and regulation of the affairs of said city, and the efficient execution of the powers herein granted to, and the discharge of the duties herein imposed upon said city and said court of common council; all officers to be elected or appointed by said court of common council, (unless otherwise herein provided,) shall be elected and appointed sometime in the month of January in each year, and shall hold office for the term for which they may be appointed, and, except in case of death, resignation, incapacity or removal, until their successors are chosen and qualified.

SEC. 74. All the rights, powers, franchises, privileges and immunities heretofore granted to said city of Meriden, and to the board of water commissioners of said city of Meriden, in relation to the taking of water, construction, maintenance and operation of water works, issuing of bonds therefor, and supplying water for the use of said city, and the inhabitants thereof, shall be and are hereby confirmed to and in said city of Meriden, and the board of water commissioners of said city of Meriden, and the passage of this shall in no way invalidate or repeal any of the acts heretofore passed by the legislature of this state, and now in force in relation thereto; but said city of Meriden and the board of water commissioners of said city of Meriden shall hereafter continue to exercise all the rights and powers therein granted, and perform the duties and be subject

to the liabilities thereby imposed, and all the bonds issued by said city of Meriden known as "The water fund of the city of Meriden," shall be valid and obligatory on said city, and the inhabitants thereof, to the same extent as if this act had not been passed.

SEC. 75. This act shall take effect on the 1st day of December, 1873, and from that time all acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith shall be and are repealed, unless otherwise provided herein: provided, however, that all proceedings for the appraisal of damages, or the assessment of benefits, which shall then have been commenced under and in accordance with the provisions of any existing act, shall be proceeded with and fully completed according to the provisions of the act or acts under which the same were commenced, and that such repeal shall not affect any suit, prosecution or proceeding whatever, then pending by or against said city, or under the provisions of any existing act relating thereto, and shall not affect or invalidate any right or obligation of said city, and shall not relieve any person from any penalty or forfeiture incurred for the violation of any city by-law: and provided further, that the city by-laws which shall be in force when this act shall take effect, shall continue in force until repealed by the court of common council of said city, and all officers of said city, and of said city and police courts, shall be continued in office during their official terms, and until their successors, if any, are chosen, with all the powers and authority which they have under the existing charter of said city and provided further, that this act shall not take effect unless accepted by said city, at a special meeting thereof, to be warned as other special city meetings, and held on the first Monday of October, 1873, for the purpose of voting upon the acceptance hereof, at which meeting the poll shall open at seven o'clock, A. M., and close at one o'clock, P. M., and the vote shall be by ballot; the ballots cast with the word "yes" written or printed thereon, shall be counted in favor of the acceptance, and those cast with the word "no" written or printed thereon, shall be counted against the acceptance of this act. If a majority of said ballots shall be in favor of such acceptance, then this act shall go into effect as herein before provided, on the 1st day of December, 1873; otherwise it shall not take effect, and the mayor or clerk of said city shall, within three days after such meeting, certify the result of such balloting to the secretary of state, to be by him recorded.

SEC. 76. This act may be altered, amended or repealed at the pleasure of the general assembly.

Approved, July 8th, 1873.

[133.]

AN ACT FIXING THE SALARY OF THE CITY AND POLICE JUDGE FOR THE CITY OF MERIDEN.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: SECTION 1. The salary of the judge of the city and police court of the city of Meriden, from and after the fourth day of July, A. D. 1873, shall be the sum of twelve hundred dollars per annum.

SEC. 2. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.

Approved, July 8th, 1873.

[134.]

INCORPORATING THE SOUTH NORWALK MUTUAL PROTECTION INSURANCE COMPANY.

Resolved by this Assembly: SECTION 1. Moses B. Pardee, Thomas I. Raymond, Daniel L. Millard, James L. Mallory, Henry B. Downs, Francis H. Nash, Frederick S. Lyon, Walter C. Quintard, Joseph R. Raymond, Stephen H. Pardee, David Dayton and William T. Craw, and all others who may become members, as hereinafter provided, and their successors forever are hereby created, ordained, constituted and declared to be a body politic and corporate, for the purpose of insuring houses, stores, shops, mills and other buildings, household furniture and other personal property of every name and description, against loss or damage by fire, whether the same shall happen by accident, lightning or any other means, excepting that of design in the insured, or by the invasion of the public enemy, or insurrection, including, also, damage by lightning when fire shall not ensue, by the name and style of The South Norwalk Mutual Protection Insurance Company, and by that name are and forever hereafter shall be capable in law to have, hold, purchase, receive, possess, enjoy and retain to themselves and their successors, lands, rents, tenements and hereditaments, goods, chattels and effects of what kind and nature soever, and the same to grant, sell, demise, aliene and dispose of, and by that name to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered unto, defend and be defended against in all courts of record and in any other place or places whatsoever; also, to make, have and to use a common seal, and the same to

alter and renew at pleasure; also, to ordain, establish and put in execution such by-laws or ordinances and regulations as shall be necessary and convenient for the government of the corporation, not contrary to the laws of this state or of the United States, or of the provisions of this charter, and generally to do and execute all and singular the acts, matters and things, which, to them, may or shall appertain.

SEC. 2. That all and every person and persons, who shall become interested in said company by insuring therein, or by taking and paying not less than twenty per cent. on any number of shares of the guarantee fund of said company, and also their respective heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, continuing to be insured therein, or being the owner of any portion of the guarantee fund, as hereinafter provided, shall be deemed and taken to be members thereof, for and during the term specified in their respective policies or during the time they shall own any portion of said guarantee fund, and no longer, and shall, at all times during such membership, be concluded and bound by the provisions of this act.

SEC. 3. That a meeting of said corporation shall be held at such place as may be designated by their by-laws, annually, on the first Tuesday in January in each year, after the present year, at two o'clock in the afternoon, at which meeting shall be chosen, by ballot, seven directors for the year then ensuing. All vacancies happening in said board of directors, may be filled by the remaining members, until the next annual meeting, and a majority of the whole shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Special meetings of the corporation may be called by the board of directors, or in such other manner as the by-laws may prescribe. At either annual or special meetings, the corporation shall have power to make bylaws as aforesaid, and to transact all necessary business relating to the good order and prosperity of said corporation, and at all such meetings a majority of the members present, voting as hereinafter provided, shall determine all questions put to said corporation.

SEC. 4. That the board of directors shall superintend the concerns of said company, and shall have the management of the funds and property thereof, and of all other matters and things thereunto relating, not otherwise provided for by said company. They shall have power, from time to time, to appoint a secretary, treasurer, and such other officers, agents and assistants as to them may seem necessary, and prescribe their duties, fix their compensation, take such security from them as they may deem necessary for the faithful performance of their respective duties, and may remove them at pleasure.