OYSTERS. 2257

An. Code, sec. 37. 1904, sec. 36. 1894, ch. 380, sec. 35.

39. The board of public works shall have power to. remove any officer
of said force for neglect of duty or incompetency; and the commander of
the force shall have power to suspend any officer of the force for a period
riot exceeding thirty days for any neglect of duty; and any officer com-
manding in said force shall have power to remove any subordinate under
his command and to appoint a person to fill the vacancy whenever the inter-
est of said service may, in his judgment, require him so to do.

An. Code, see. 38. 1904, sec. 37. 1894, ch. 380, sec. 36. 1896, ch. 418. 1900, ch. 380.

40. The board of public works shall have power and it shall be their
duty to keep the steamers of said vessels in good repair, and for the purpose
of reducing the expense of the state fishery force the said board is author-
ized and hereby required to lay up and put out of commission one steamer,
and under no circumstances shall said steamer be put in commission ex-
cept during the dredging season, and only then in such emergency as the
board of public works may judge is necessary that both steamers are
required to enforce the provisions of this article; and the board of public
works shall appoint a deputy commander at a salary of eighty-three dol-
lars thirty-three and one-third cents per month, who shall in such cases
take command of said steamer and ship a crew, and as soon as the
emergency is passed the said deputy commander shall discharge said
crew and place said steamer out of commission again, only, one man to
be retained to act as watchman, who shall receive not more than thirty
dollars per month while so employed; and for the purpose of still further
reducing expenses, the said board of public works is authorized, in its
discretion, to sell one of the steamers and to turn the funds arising from
such sale over to the comptroller to be placed to the credit of the oyster
fund; the board of public works is further authorized and required to
reduce the .number of employes on the said boats from the fifteenth day
of March until the first day of November of each year to three, viz.: cap-
tain, mate and cook, excepting the schooners Nellie, Jackson, Folly and
Baughman, which shall consist of the three above-named crew and a sea-
man, being four men to each of the above-named boats; and the board of
public works is hereby authorized to contract for sloops or vessels to
guard the line from the fifteenth day of November to the fifteenth day of
March, between the tongers and dredgers from the long wharf at Cam-
bridge to Bowdle's house in Talbot county, and to rent or hire suitable
boats to guard the waters of Herring bay, Manokin river, Holland straits,
Honga river, Hooper's straits and Pocomoke river and sound, the price
to be paid for the use of such boats not to exceed thirty dollars per nionth
during the period of employment, and the crews of the boats so employed,
not exceeding three for each boat, shall be paid for their services not
exceeding fifty dollars per month for the captain or master, and thirty
dollars each per month for their several assistants; provided further, that
the board of public works is hereby authorized to contract for a guard-
boat to protect St. Mary's and St. George's rivers and Smith's creek dur-
ing the whole year at a cost not exceeding seven hundred and twenty dol-
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