Lewis Mayer, The Baltimore City Code: Comprising the Statutes and Ordinances Relating to the City of Baltimore 300-04 (1879)
| dc.coverage.spatial | Maryland - Baltimore | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-10-24T01:43:54Z | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-11-12T02:13:16Z | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-03-17T02:11:11Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 1879 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Established strict rules for the storage, transportation, and possession of gunpowder. A city-appointed superintendent managed a public gunpowder magazine, maintained records, collected storage fees, and ensured safe storage. Larger quantities brought into Baltimore generally had to be placed in the public magazine, while ships carrying gunpowder faced restrictions on where they could dock or unload. Gunpowder transported through the city had to be securely covered, and individuals generally could not possess more than 50 pounds. Stores had specific storage and signage requirements. Violations resulted in fines, and authorities could obtain warrants to search for illegally stored gunpowder. | |
| dc.description.lawtext | GUNPOWDER 52. There shall be annually appointed, as other city officers are, a superintendent or keeper of gunpowder, who shall receive a salary of four hundred dollars a year, and who shall attend at the public magazine intended for the storage of gunpowder within the city of Baltimore, every day (Sundays excepted), from the hour of nine o’clock in the morning until four o’clock in the afternoon, and shall receive and store within said magazine, all gunpowder delivered there for that purpose, and shall give a receipt for the same, mentioning the marks thereof; he shall be entitled to the following storage for all gunpowder thus received by him, to wit: for every barrel or quantity of one hundred pounds weight, in whatsoever description of vessel contained, twelve cents; for every half barrel, or quantity of fifty pounds weight, in whatsoever vessel contained, ten cents; and for every quarter barrel or twenty-five pounds weight, in whatsoever vessel contained, eight cents per month, and in like proportion for any intermediate or less quantities, or any shorter time; provided, nevertheless, that all gunpowder thus stored in quantities of less than one hundred quarter barrels, shall be charged at least one month’s storage, at the above rates, whether it shall actually have been stored so long or not. And the said superintendent shall collect the storage thus authorized to be charged from the person storing the gunpowder as aforesaid, or the owner thereof, every three months; and in case any gunpowder thus stored shall remain twelve months or upwards in said magazine, without said storage having been paid thereon, the said superintendent, with the approbation of the Mayor, shall, after public notice for that purpose, cause the same to be sold at auction, or so much thereof as may be sufficient to discharge the storage due thereon. The said superintendent shall enter, in a book or books which shall be the property of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, and which it is hereby made the duty of the Register to furnish him, all gunpowder stored as aforesaid in said magazine, and by whom stored; and shall, on receiving it, credit the person storing the same, with the quantity thereof, and shall charge the same, or any portion thereof, as it may be removed from said magazine; and shall in like manner, note all transfers of said gunpowder of which he may be apprised, in the book or books aforesaid; and he shall make returns once in every three months, on oath, to the Mayor, of all gunpowder thus stored in said magazine, and of his receipts of money for such storage, and pay over the same to the Register; he shall also cause all the powder stored in said magazine to be turned upside down at least once in every month. The said superintendent or keeper shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office, give bond with security, to be approved by the Mayor, to the Mayor and City Council, for the faithful discharge of his duties, in the sum of two thousand dollars. 53. All gunpowder brought within the limits of the city by land, or into the port or harbor, in any ship or vessel, other than a ship or vessel of war, shall be stored in the said magazine as aforesaid; if brought by land as aforesaid, within seventeen hours thereafter; if brought into the port or harbor as aforesaid, within forty-eight hours after the ship or other vessel thus bringing it shall have broken bulk; provided, the quantity thus brought in shall exceed the weight of one quarter barrel as above defined; or being of such weight and no more, shall be well secured in tin canisters; nor shall it be lawful for any ship or vessel, other than a ship or vessel of war, bringing gunpowder into the port or harbor of Baltimore, or having gunpowder on board, in a greater quantity than the weight of the quarter barrel as aforesaid; or being of such weight and no more, not secured as above provided, to approach, lie at anchor, or moor nearer than two hundred yards to any wharf, or land within the limits of said city, or discharge, land or deliver gunpowder in a greater quantity or otherwise secured than as aforesaid, at any other place within the said city, than at the wharf of the magazine aforesaid, or such other wharf or place as the Mayor and Harbor Board may designate for that purpose; nor shall any gunpowder be delivered or received on board of any ship or other vessel from the magazine aforesaid or elsewhere, in a quantity above the weight of one quarter barrel as aforesaid, or being of such weight and no more, not secured as aforesaid, while the said vessel shall be or remain within two hundred yards of any land or wharf within the limits of the city; and for any violation of any of the provisions of this section, the owner of the gunpowder in question, the person who shall bring it into the city, the person who shall receive or take charge of it when brought in, and the owner, master and consignee of the ship or other vessel concerned in said violation, as the case may be, shall be severally liable to a penalty of twenty dollars for each twenty-five pounds of gunpowder, in whatsoever vessel or vessels it may be contained, which shall be the subject matter of such violation. 54. All gunpowder carried or conveyed to or from any place in or through the city, shall be first well secured with a good bag or bags, or covered with a sail or other cloth under and around it, so as effectually to secure the same from scattering or sifting out, under a penalty of ten dollars for every quarter barrel, or twenty-five pounds weight, carried or conveyed otherwise than is herein provided, to be recovered of the owner of said powder, or the person having charge of the same, or of the person actually conveying or carrying the same, or any of them. 55. No person or persons shall have or keep in his, her or their possession, within the limits of the city, whether in any building or shed, or in the street, or upon any lot or premises whatever, or in any wagon, cart, dray or other carriage, any quantity of gunpowder exceeding fifty pounds in weight, (which shall be well secured in tin canisters or wooden kegs,) under a penalty of twenty-five dollars for every violation of this section, by having above the quantity hereby allowed; provided, that this penalty shall not apply to gunpowder being conveyed and actually in transitu, without stoppage, (except sufficient time for the purpose of delivery,) through the streets of the city of Baltimore, for the purpose of shipment or transportation beyond the city. 56. Any person or persons keeping gunpowder in their store or warehouse, shall have it kept in a tin canister near one of the front doors, and a tin sign placed on the outside of the door marked “gunpowder.” Any person or persons failing to comply with the provisions of this section, shall forfeit ten dollars to the use of the city of Baltimore; to be collected as small debts are, before a single justice of the peace, in the name of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore. 57. The Mayor, or any justice of the peace, is hereby authorized as often as he shall be informed, upon oath, of probable cause to suspect any person or persons of concealing or keeping within the said city, any quantity of gunpowder over and above fifty pounds as aforesaid, to issue a search warrant to examine into the truth of such allegation or suspicion, and search any place whatever therein. 58. The owner and owners, consignee and consignees, master and acting master at the time of any ship or other vessel which shall approach any part of the city, lie at anchor, or moor in the port or harbor of the same, or from which gunpowder shall be discharged, landed or delivered, or which shall deliver or receive any gunpowder in violation of this ordinance, shall each of them be severally liable for the penalties provided by this ordinance. | |
| dc.description.summary | This ordinance established strict rules for the storage, transportation, and possession of gunpowder. A city-appointed superintendent managed a public gunpowder magazine, maintained records, collected storage fees, and ensured safe storage. Larger quantities brought into Baltimore generally had to be placed in the public magazine, while ships carrying gunpowder faced restrictions on where they could dock or unload. Gunpowder transported through the city had to be securely covered, and individuals generally could not possess more than 50 pounds. Stores had specific storage and signage requirements. Violations resulted in fines, and authorities could obtain warrants to search for illegally stored gunpowder. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://dspace.firearmsresearchcenter.org/id/frc0001/4117 | |
| dc.relation.isreferencedby | https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t8ff3sk4q | |
| dc.subject | GUNPOWDER - TRANSPORTATION | |
| dc.subject | GUN POWDER | |
| dc.title | Lewis Mayer, The Baltimore City Code: Comprising the Statutes and Ordinances Relating to the City of Baltimore 300-04 (1879) |