Early Springfield Ordinances
From Directory of the City of Springfield
John W. Kees & Co., Springfield. 1852
AN ORDINANCE
In relation to the market house.
Sec. 1. Be it ordained by the city council of Springfield, That the new market house erected upon market space be, and the same is hereby declared a public market house.
Sec. 2. Be it further ordained that from the first day of May to the fifteenth of October in each year, regular market shall be held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays of each week, commencing at fifteen minutes before sunrise in the morning, and for the remainder of the year the market shall be held on the same days of each week, commencing at fifteen minutes before 12 o'clock, A.M.
Sec. 3. That the clerk of the market shall regularly open the market by the ringing of the market house bell.
Sec. 4. That no article of marketing shall be exposed to sale in said city during market hours, at any other place than the market house; and if any person shall trespass against this section of this ordinance, he, she or they, on conviction thereof, shall be fined in any sum not less than one dollar nor more than five dollars.
Sec. 5. That it shall be the duty of the clerk of the market to procure and keep at the market house one set of scales, with the necessary weights of avoirdupois weight, which shall be the standard weight of all articles sold by weight in said market.
Sec. 6. That all butter sold or offered for sale, by retail, in said market, shall be put up in one pound rolls or prints; and if any person shall offer for sale in said market, any butter not so put up, the same shall be weighed by the clerk, who shall be entitled to charge and demand for weighing the same one cent for each pound so by him weighed, and the butter so weighed shall be subject to a lieu for the payment thereof. And if any person shall offer for sale any such roll or print of butter of less weight than shall be represented by him or her, the same shall be forfeited to the use of the city, and be sold by the clerk of the market forthwith, to the highest bidder.
Sec. 7. That if any person disposing of any article sold by weight, shall defraud, or attempt to defraud in weight, the purchaser of such article, and such fact be proven by the test of the standard weight of said market house, he, or she, or they so offending, shall forfeit the price said article sold for, to the city, and pay to the clerk of the market, as compensation, the sum of fifteen cents.
Sec. 8. That the clerk of the market shall cause the market house to be kept in repair, and the day before each market to cause said market house to be swept and cleansed, and it shall be his duty to cause teams, wagons and conveyances to be so placed, as best to accomodate buyers and sellers, to prevent all disorder and obstructions in said market, to see that no unwholsome, damaged or spoiled provisions be brought thereto, and that no light or false weight or false measures be used therein; and to do all other things that to him may seem necessary and proper for the good government of said market. And if any person or persons shall refuse to conform to the directions given by said clerk, or shall molest him in the discharge of his duties, he, she or they so offending, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not exceeding five dollars and costs.
Sec. 9. That it shall be the duty of the clerk of the market, on the first Saturday of November annually, to offer for sale, at public auction, to the highest bidder, the stalls appropriated for butchers, in said market house, after having caused the same to be numbered, and give notice of the time and place of such sale by advertisement set up on said market house, and also in some other public place in said city, at least six days prior to the time thereof; provided nothing herein shall be so construed as to affect in any way the contracts now existing in relation to the rent of the said stalls.
Sec. 10. That if any person or persons shall break or injure the market house, or shall injure or destroy any of the fixtures or apparatus thereto belonging, every person so offending, shall, upon conviction thereof, forfeit and pay for the use of the city, any sum not exceeding fifty dollars and costs.
Sec. 11. That no person shall have the privilege of selling any meat at any of the stalls on either side of the market house, in any quantity, unless such person shall have the right to the occupancy of one of the stalls appropriated to the selling of meat, and authorized by this ordinance to be rented, and every person who shall sell any meat at any such stalls, contrary to the provision of this ordinance, shall, for every such offense, be subject to pay a fine in any sum not exceeding five dollars and costs. But nothing in this section shall be so construed as to prevent persons from selling meats by the quarter outside the market house.
Sec. 12. That no person shall be permitted to purchase any articles during market hours for the purpose of retailing or selling such articles at any other time or place; and if any person shall violate the provisions of this section, by purchasing any such articles for the purpose aforesaid, such person shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not exceeding ten dollars and costs.
Sec. 13. That no person shall be permitted to buy or sell any article brought to the market house or market space, for the purpose of exposing the same for sale on any market day, at any time prior to the commencement of the market hours; and if any person shall violate the provisions of this ordinance, by purchasing or selling any such article before the commencement of the market hours, such person shall, on conviction, be fined in any sum not exceeding five dollars and costs.
Sec. 14. That if any person shall sell or offer for sale, any spoiled or tainted meat, poultry or fish, either at said market house, or at any other place within the limits of said city, every person so offending, shall, on conviction, be fined in any sum not exceeding ten dollars and costs.
Sec. 15. That no person shall cut up or expose to sale any kind of butchers' meat at any vacant stall in said market house,without having paid fifty cents for each day, to the clerk of the market for the use of the city; and any person or persons offending against this section of the ordinance, shall be subject to a fine not exceeding one dollar for each offense and costs.
Sec. 16. That no person or persons shall buy or sell, or engage any article of marketing for any purpose whatever, until the market shall be opened by the clerk of the market; and any person or persons offending against this section of the ordinance, shall be subject ot a fine not exceeding one dollar and costs.
Sec. 17. That no person shall be permitted to buy, sell or engage any article of marketing brought within the market space on the evening preceeding market days, nor from that time till the next morning, and after the market is opened; and any person or persons offending against this section of ordinance, shall be subject ot pay a fine of not more than five dollars and costs; and the person selling shall be subject to the same penalty as the buyer.
Sec. 18. That it shall be the duty of every butcher to provide himself with a set of scales and weights, for the purpose of weighing his meat at the time of selling the same. It shall aalso be the duty of every other person cutting up his, her or their meat for sale in said market, to provide himself, herself or themselves with scales and weights; and any person or persons offending against this section of the ordinance shall be subject to pay a fine of not more than five dollars and costs for each offense.
Sec. 19. This ordinance to take effect from and after its publication.
Sec. 20. That all former ordinances for the regulation of the market are hereby repealed.
JAMES M. HUNT
Mayor of the city of Springfield
SAMUEL PARSONS,
City Clerk
Passed April 14, 1852.