[383] HISTORY OF THE MACKEREL FISHERY. 



things for the tonne of B:, yon doe here sweare by the living God that 

 you will well and truely pa eke, all beife, porke, and other things when 

 you shall be thereunto required; you shall packe no kinde of goods 

 but such as are good and sound nor any goods in any caske that is not 

 of a just and full gage; you shall also sett your particular marke vpon 

 all caske packed by you; and in all things propper to the place of a 

 packer you shall faithfully discharge the same, from tjme to tjme, ac- 

 cording to your best judgment & conscience, So helpe you God. — (Rec- 

 ords of Massachusetts, Vol. IV, Part I, page 105.) 

 The following law was passed November 8, 1G92 : 



AN ACT for regulating the assize of cask, and preventing deceit in packing of fish, 



beef, and pork for sale. 



Be it ordained and enacted by the Governour, Council and Representatives 

 in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same. 



Sec. I. That from and after the first day of December next, all sorts 

 and kinds of tight cask used for any liquor, fish, beef, pork, or any other 

 commodities within this, their majesties' province, shall be of London 

 assize ; puncheons, eighty-four gallons ; hogsheads, sixty-three gallons; 

 tearses, forty-two gallons ; barrels, thirty-one gallons and a half ; and 

 made of sound, well-seasoned timber, and free from sap. And that fit 

 persons be appointed, from time to time, in all places needful to view 

 and gage all such cask ; and such as shall be found of due assize shall 

 be marked with the gager's mark, who shall have for his pains four 

 pence per tunn; and every cooper shall set his distinct brand-mark on 

 his own cask, on penalty of forty shillings. And whosoever shall put to 

 sale any new cask, being defective either in workmanship, timber, or 

 assize, as aforesaid, upon proof thereof, made before oue justice of the 

 peace, he shall forfeit such cask and be fined forty shillings. 



And be it further enacted [Sect. 2], That the justices of the peace, at 

 their first general quarter sessions, to be holdeu in each respective 

 county within this province, shall yearly, in every town needful thereof, 

 choose and appoint a fit person or persons to be gagers and packers, 

 and then to swear to the due execution of their office ; which, if any per- 

 son so appointed shall refuse, he shall pay the sum of forty shillings, and 

 another shall be chosen and appointed in his stead. And every gager 

 and packer shall take care that all cask in which he packs beef, pork, 

 mackerel, fish, or other goods committed to his care, be of true and full 

 assize, and that he pack the same in no other cask whatsoever, on pen- 

 alty of ten shillings for every cask by him packed, that is or shall be de- 

 fective in that respect. And if any of the before mentioned provisions 

 shall be packed into half barrels or firkins, the same shall be made in 

 proportion to the assize aforesaid, and be marked by the packer. 



And for the preventing of fraud and deceit in the packing of pickled 

 fish, beef, and pork to be put for sale, 



