restricting the taking of gravel from the islands of the harbor. AN ACT TO PROTECT BOSTON HARBOR. Be it enacted, etc., as follows: SECTION 1. Any person who shall take, carry away or remove by land or water any stones, gravel or sand, from any of the beaches, head-lands or islands within or bordering upon Boston Harbor, without a license therefor from the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Boston, shall, for each offence, forfeit a sum not exceeding twenty dollars, to be recovered by complaint or indictment in any court of competent jurisdiction. SECT. 2. Boston Harbor, for the purposes of this act, shall be deemed to extend to a line drawn from the outer end of Commercial Point, in the Town of Dorchester, direct to the outer end of Point Alderton, in the Town of Hull; thence to the outer end of the outer Brewster Island, and thence direct to the Short Beach, at the division line between the towns of North Chelsea and Winthrop. SECT. 3. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. SECT. 4. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. [June 6, 1856.] It will be observed that the foregoing act forbids the taking of gravel from certain beaches, headlands and islands within the harbor. Long Island is within the prohibition. All persons taking gravel from Long Island, without a license from the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, are liable to prosecution and punishment by complaint or indictment. The Mayor and Aldermen have never granted but two licenses; one was to remove loose stones and ballast from the north side of Long Island, between the wharf and the Government line at East Head. This license was granted to Thos. J. Dunbar and Peter Dunbar, for the purpose only of making the beach at that place smooth, for the convenience of bathers, and that purpose being served, was revoked May 13th, 1873. The other license was a restricted one, strictly confining the taking of gravel or ballast from Bass Point; and this license was granted only after consultation with General Benham and Mr. Boschke, the former representing the government of the United States, and the latter being the Harbor Engineer, under the Harbor Commissioners of the Commonwealth. Both of those gentlemen were of opinion that the removal of gravel from Bass Point would do no damage to the harbor. It is well known that at times gravel will become so deposited by the action of the sea as to change the harbor lines and endanger navigation. In such cases it has to be removed at a great expense. Many have entertained this opinion of Bass Point, which makes out into the Western Way, between Long and Rainsford Islands, and, being covered at high tide, is likely to pick up vessels beating through that channel. The gravel used by the city is furnished by contractors, as your committee is informed; and they cannot see how any committee or officer of the City Government could have supposed that any gravel was obtained in violation of the statute, especially as the proprietors of the island thereby endangered the license to take from it any gravel whatever. The first communication from General Thom did not indicate from what part of the island gravel had been taken, nor that it was not taken from Bass Point, which General Benham and Mr. Boschke had decided to be harmless. Certainly, if information had been brought to the attention of the proper committee, or the Chief of Police, it would have justified a prosecution of the offenders, and they would not have been permitted to go unpunished. On the twenty-fourth of April last your committee viewed the islands of the harbor, and discovered the sloop Industry being laden with gravel on the west side of Long Island, near the southerly end thereof, a spot far removed from Bass Point, and on the opposite side of the island. Your committee have obtained other information regarding this vessel, and have placed it in the hands of the Chief of Police, together with the information contained in General Thom's last communication to the Harbor Commissioners, received from them by the Mayor, and referred by him to the City Council. And some of these depredators have already been prosecuted. Your committee have not considered the expediency of recommending a revocation of the license, nor the necessity of legislation providing greater penalties for the illegal taking of gravel from the islands, and the transfer of the right to take the gravel when the good of the harbor requires it, directly to the city, for these reasons: first, that Mr. Thos. J. Dunbar, at the last meeting of the committee, sent a messenger, who stated that he desired to be heard before the committee upon thequestion of for bidding the taking of gravel from Bass Point; second, because the committee would like to learn the views of General Thom, regarding the effect of taking gravel from Bass Point; and third, because the committee desire to ascertain whether the proprietors of the Island have authorized these trespasses, which are likely to endanger both the security and beauty of our harbor, or whether they are merely the wanton and reckless acts of the skippers of vessels seeking for gravel where it can be obtained with the least trouble and the greatest protection from the easterly storms. While the Harbor Police are supplied with row-boats only, they cannot maintain a constant watch over all the headlands, beaches and islands. The question of furnishing them with a small steamboat receives greater importance in view of these depredations. In the mean time it will be well for every person discovering such breaches of the law to make them known directly to the Chief of Police. The importance of the subject has induced the committee to make this report of progress. They ask permission to consider the subject more at length, that no precaution advisable to secure the permanent integrity of the harbor may be omitted. Respectfully submitted, W. F. BROOKS, BENJAMIN DEAN. |