Who to work on roads.

failure.

and see that the same be cleared and kept in good repair, which surveyor shall continue in office until another shall be appointed by the said court in his stead.

IV. All male labouring persons, of the age of sixteen years or more, except such as are masters of two or more male labouring slaves, of the age of sixteen years or more, shall be appointed by the court to work on some public road: For every person so appointed, Penalty for who, when required by the surveyor placed over him, shall, without legal cause or disability, fail to attend, with proper tools for clearing the road, or shall refuse to work when there, or to find some other person equally able, to work in his room, the sum of seven shillings and six pence for every day's offence, shall be paid by himself, if he be a freeman of full age, if an infant, then by his parent, guardian, or master, and if a slave or servant, then by his overseer; if he be under one, or otherwise, by his master.

Surveyors,

V. The clerk of every county court shall within ten how notified. days after the appointment of any surveyor of a road, deliver a copy of the order to the sheriff of the county, under the penalty of fifteen shillings; and the sheriff, within fifteen days after the receipt of such order, shall deliver the same to the surveyor, under the penalty of fifteen shillings. And each clerk shall moreover, once in every year, fix up in the court-house, a list of the names and precincts of all the surveyors of roads in his county, under the penalty of fifty shillings for every neglect.

Duty of surveyors.

Sign posts.

Bridges and causeys.

VI. Every surveyor of a road shall cause the same to be constantly kept well cleared and smoothed, and thirty feet wide at the least; and at the fork or crossing of every public road, shall cause to be erected, and kept in repair from time to time, a stone, or otherwise an index on a post or tree, with plain inscriptions thereon, in large letters, directing to the most noted place to which each of the said roads shall lead, and may take stone or wood for that purpose from any adjoning land: and for the expence of setting up and inscribing such stones, posts, or indexes, and keeping them in repair, the surveyor shall be reimbursed by the county court in their next succeeding levy; and where bridges and causeys are necessary, the surveyor shall cause them to be made, twelve feet broad at the least, convenient and safe, and shall keep the same in repair, and for that purpose may cut and take from the lands of any per

ed.

son adjoining, such, and so much timber, earth, or stone, as may be necessary the same being first viewed Materials for, and valued by two honest house-keepers appointed and how procur sworn for that purpose by a justice of the peace, unless the owner shall freely give such timber, stone, or earth, for that use; but where a road leads through a city or town, the surveyor shall not take any timber, stone, or earth, from any lot within the town, without the permission of the owner, but shall take the same from the lands nigh or adjacent to the said town, where it will do the least injury to the proprietor; and where the assistance of wheel-carriages is necessary for making or repairing any causeys, any justice of peace may issue his warrant, under his hand and seal, for empowering the surveyor to impress such necessary carriages, draught horses; or exen, with their gear and driver, belonging to any person who, or their servants or slaves, are appointed to work on the road, and appointing two honest house-keepers, who, being sworn, shall value by the day, the use of such carriages, draught horses, oxen, and driver, which valution, with a certificate from the surveyor how many days the said things were employed in the work, shall entitle the owner to an allowance for the same in the next county levy. And in the like manner shall the owner of timber, stoue, or earth, taken for bridges or causeys, be entitled to the valuation thereof in the next county levy, upon a certificate Penalty on from the two house-keepers who value the same. Every surveyors for surveyor of a road, who fails to do his duty as afore- neglect said, shall forfeit fifteen shillings for every offence.

in the county.

VII. Where a bridge or causey shall be necessary, and causeys How bridges and the surveyor, with his assistants, cannot make or are to be maintain the same, the court of the county are empow- built, and reered and required to contract for the building and re- paired, withpairing such bridge or causey, and to levy the charge thereof in their county levy. And where such bridge or causey shall be necessary from one county to another, the court of each county shail join in the agreement for building and repairing the same; and the charge shall be defrayed by both counties, in proportion to the public tax or assessment paid by each. Upon every such contract or agreement, bond and security shall be given by the undertaker, payable to the governor and his successors, for the use of the county or VOL XII. X

When over

tween two counties.

counties, as the case shall be, with condition for per-
forming the same, and may be prosecuted at the costs,
and for the benefit of the county or counties, or any per-
son sustaining a loss by the breach thereof, as often as
it shall happen, until the whole penalty of the bond shall
be paid.
And all such contracts made by the county
courts, or others appointed by them, shall be available
and binding upon the justices and their successors, so
as to entitle the undertaker to his stipulated reward in
the county levy, or to a recovery thereof with costs, by
action of debt, against the justices refusing to levy the

same.

VIII. When the justices of one county shall judge a any place be bridge or causey over any place between them and another county to be necessary, they shall notify the same to the justices of such other county, and require them to appoint three persons to meet at the said place on a certain day to be named by the court requiring the same, to confer with three others, to be appointed by the said requiring court, and agree on the manner and condition of executing the same; which six persons, or so many of them as meet, being not fewer than three, shall have power to agree on the manner and conditions of doing the said work, and to see that the same be done: And if the court so required shall fail to appoint persons to act on their behalf, or to do what on their part should be done towards executing and paying for the said work, the justices of the court which made the requisition shall apply to the general court for a writ of mandamus, to be directed to the justices of the other court, commanding them to do, what on their part they ought to have done, and have failed to do, or to signify to them cause to the contrary thereof; upon the return of which writ, the general court, if they shall be of opinion that the work is unnecessary, or that other sufficient cause is returned, shall quash the writ; or if they think otherwise, shall cause such further proceedings to be had as are usual in other cases of mandamus issuing from the said court: And the like method of proceeding by way of mandamus shall be used, where the justices of one county shall think it necessary to open a road to their county line, for the convenience of passing to some public place in another, and the justices of such other shall refuse to continue the road through their county.

fell a tree

IX. If any person shall fell a tree into a public road, Penalty for or into any stream of water, whereon there shall be anynte à d public bridge, and shall not remove the same within or kill ga forty-eight hours, or shall kill a tree within the distance tree near it of fifty feet from the road, or shall cut, pull up, destroy, or deface, any stone, or post, erected for the direction

of travellers, or the indexes or inscriptions thereon, it shall be deemed a nuisauce.

X. Every free man, of full age, so offending, or the. For making a parent, master, or owner, of every child, apprentice, fence across servant, or slave, so offending, with his or her knowledge, shall forfeit and pay ten pounds for every of fence. And where any fence shall be made across a public road, the owner or tenant of the land shall pay ten shillings for every twenty-four hours the same shall be continued.

Roads over

XI. The owner or occupier of every dam over which a public road passes, shall constantly keep such dam mill d ms, in repair, at least twelve feet wide at the top, through how to be the whole length thereof, and shall keep and maintain kept. a bridge of like breadth, with strong rails on each side thereof, over the pier-head, flood-gates, or any waste, cut through or round the dam, under the penalty of ten shillings for every twenty-four hours failure; but where a mill-dam shall be carried away or destroyed by tempest, or accident, the owner or occupier thereof shall not be liable to the said penalties from theuce-, forth, until one month after such mill shall have been so repaired as to have ground one bushel of grain.

XII. All the penalties in this act, not otherwise directed, shall be one moiety to the informer, and the other to the use of the county, recoverable with costs, on warrant, petition, or action, as the case may be. Any justice, who, upon his own view, shall discover a road, bridge, causey, or mill-dam, as aforesaid, out of repair, shall issue a warrant against the surveyor, or other delinquent, and if no reasonable excuse be made for such default, may give judgment for the penalty and costs, not exceeding twenty-five shillings, or such offenders may be presented by the grand-juries; in all which cases of conviction, on view of a justice, or presentment, or on private informations to justices, where there shall be no evidence to convict the offender but the informer's own oath, the whole penalties shall be to the use of the county, towards lessening the levy there

Penalties

how rec ver ed and appro priated."

Limitation of

of, and shall be annually collected and accounted for by the sheriff, in the same manner as county levies; and to enable the sheriff to make such collection, every justice, immediately on conviction of any offender, where the penalty is to be to the county, shall certify the same to the clerk of his county court, who shall yearly, before the first day of March, deliver to the sheriff a list of all the offenders so certified, and of all others convicted in court, within one year preceding of any of fence against this act.

XIII. Provided, that prosecutions for any offence prosecution. herein mentioned shall be commenced within six months after the offence committed, and not after.

Commencement of act.

XIV. This act shall commence and be in force from and after the first day of January, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven.

From Rev. Bills of 1779. ch. XLIX.

Ballast mas

CHAP. LXXVI.

An act for unlading ballast and burial of dead bodies from on board ships.

I. BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That the ters, how ap- court of every county or corporation, adjacent to any pointed. navigable river or creek, shall from time to time, as vacancies happen, appoint one or more ballast-masters, residing near to the places where vessels usually ride in such river or creek, to be overseers and directors of the delivery and unloading of ballast from on board any ship or vessel within a certain district, to be by them ascertained.

II. Every ballast-master so appointed, upon receivTheir duty. ing notice from the master or chief officer on board of any ship or vessel within his district, that ballast is to be discharged from such vessel, shall go on board the same, and attend until the whole ballast is delivered, which he shall see brought on shore and laid at some convenient place near the vessel, where it may not ob