(8) Within the jurisdiction of any harbour authority; the harbour authority;

(9) In any place in England or Ireland where there is no local authority (m); the justices in petty sessions; in Scotland, two or more justices.

Sect. 9 defines the conditions under which the above authorities shall grant such licences; such conditions may relate to the duration of the licence, the mode of storage, the nature and situation of the premises, the nature of other goods stored with the petroleum, the facilities for testing, and generally as to the safe keeping of the petroleum; such conditions may be such as seem expedient to such local authorities. The charge for the licence is not to exceed five shillings. If a licensee violates any of the conditions, he is to be deemed an unlicensed person, and as such is liable, under sect. 7, to a penalty not exceeding 207. for each day during which he is guilty of such violation.

If an application for a licence is refused by a local authority, the applicant may demand the grounds of refusal in writing, and thereupon memorialise, within ten days, the Secretary of State in England or Scotland, or the Lord Lieutenant in Ireland, who may within their discretion grant or refuse a valid licence; this is a provision of sect. 10.

By sect. 11 any duly authorized officer may purchase and test any petroleum, or examine the store and take samples.

Sect. 12 provides a penalty not exceeding 207. in any case of obstruction to such an officer.

By sect. 13 any court of summary jurisdiction is empowered to grant a warrant, on reasonable grounds, to any person to search for petroleum, and to take samples, seize, and detain it, or the vessels in which it is contained, until a court of summary jurisdiction shall have decided whether any petroleum so found is liable to forfeiture or not. Any person obstructing a person so authorized is liable to a penalty not exceeding 201.

Sect. 15 summarizes the mode in which all penalties under the statute may be recovered before a court of summary jurisdic

tion.

The schedule to the Petroleum Act, 1879, gives in detail the directions for testing petroleum, in order to ascertain the temperature at which it gives off vapour.

The Petroleum (Hawkers) Act, 1881 (n)

makes the following regulations with respect to the hawking of petroleum, to which the Petroleum Act, 1871, applies :

Sect. 2. (1) Quantity to be conveyed in one carriage, limited to twenty gallons;

(m) Powers of justices transferred to the district councils by Local Government Act, 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), s. 27 (f).

(n) 44 & 45 Vict. c. 67.

B.

C

(2) Vessel in which petroleum is conveyed must be closed and free from leakage;

(3) Carriage in which vessels are conveyed must be ventilated, so as to prevent evaporation such as may produce an explosive mixture;

(4) No fire or light, &c., to be brought into or dangerously near such carriage;

(5) Such carriage to be so constructed that petroleum cannot escape in liquid form;

(6) Care to be taken to prevent escape of petroleum into any part of a house, building, drain, or sewer;

(7) Petroleum to be stored in licensed premises, and in accordance with the licence, whenever it is not in the course of being hawked;

(8) Due precautions to be taken to prevent accidents, and to prevent unauthorized persons from having access to the vessels;

(9) No article of an explosive or inflammable character, other than petroleum, to be in carriage while used for hawking petroleum.

Penalty for breach of any of the above regulations-petroleum, vessels, and carriage liable to forfeiture, and the licensee liable to penalty not exceeding 207. on summary conviction.

If a servant of the licensee, or other person, commits any of the above offences, he is liable to the same penalty as the licensee. And where the licensee is charged with an offence, he is entitled to have the actual offender brought before the Court; if he proves satisfactorily his own due diligence to enforce execution of these regulations, and that the other person committed the offence without his knowledge or consent, then he, the licensee, shall be exempt from liability, and such other person shall be summarily convicted.

By sect. 6 it is declared that

The expression "carriage" includes any carriage, waggon,
cart, truck, vehicle, or other means of conveyance by land,
in whatever manner the same may be drawn or propelled;
and
A person shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to
hawk petroleum if, by himself or his servants, he goes
about carrying petroleum to sell, whether going from
town to town or to other men's houses, or selling it in the
streets of the place of his residence or otherwise, and
whether with or without any horse or beast bearing or
drawing burden.

The above are the regulations and Acts in force with regard to the ordinary user of petroleum. The following are the remaining Home Office regulations:

4. Where a storehouse forms part of, or is attached to, another building, and where the intervening floor or partition is of an

unsubstantial or highly inflammable character, or has an opening therein, the whole of such building shall be deemed to be the storehouse, and no portion of such storehouse shall be used as a dwelling or as a place where persons assemble. A storehouse shall have a separate entrance from the open air distinct from that of any dwelling or building in which persons assemble.

5. The amount of petroleum spirit to be kept in any one storehouse, whether or not upon light locomotives, shall not exceed 60 gallons at any one time.

6. Where two or more storehouses are in the same occupation and are situated within 20 feet of one another, they shall for the purposes of these regulations be deemed to be one and the same storehouse, and the maximum amount of petroleum spirit prescribed in the foregoing regulation shall be the maximum to be kept in all such storehouses taken together. Where two or more storehouses in the same occupation are distant more than 20 feet from one another, the maximum amount shall apply to each storehouse.

7. Any person who keeps petroleum spirit in a storehouse which is situated within 20 feet of any other building whether or not in his occupation, or of any timber stack or other inflammable goods not owned by him, shall give notice to the local authority under the Petroleum Acts for the district in which he is keeping such petroleum spirit, that he is so keeping petroleum spirit, and shall renew such notice in the month of January in each year during the continuance of such keeping, and shall permit any duly authorized officer of the local authority to inspect such petroleum spirit at any reasonable time. This regulation shall not apply to petroleum spirit kept in a tank forming part of a light locomotive.

8. Every storehouse shall be thoroughly ventilated.

From the above regulations it will be seen that an owner may elect either to keep petroleum in accordance with these regulations, or if for some special reason he cannot observe one of the Regulations 4, 5 or 6, he may apply to the local authority for a licence under sect. 7 of the Petroleum Act of 1871. The former will be the more usual method, but if the latter be adopted the place will be examined by the local authority's officer, who will advise the local authority as to its suitability for licence. Where a licence has been granted, Regulations 4 to 7 no longer apply.

9. Petroleum spirit shall not be kept, used, or conveyed except in metal vessels so substantially constructed as not to be liable, except under circumstances of gross negligence or extraordinary accident, to be broken or become defective or insecure. Every such vessel shall be so constructed and maintained that no leakage, whether of liquid or vapour, can take place therefrom.

10. Every such vessel, not forming part of a light locomotive, when used for conveying or keeping petroleum spirit shall bear the words "petroleum spirit highly inflammable” legibly and indelibly stamped or marked thereon, or on a metallic or enamelled label attached thereto, and shall be of a capacity not exceeding two gallons.

11. Before repairs are done to any such vessel, that vessel shall, as far as practicable, be cleaned by the removal of all petroleum spirit and of all dangerous vapours derived from the

same.

12. The filling or replenishing of a vessel with petroleum spirit shall not be carried on, nor shall the contents of any such vessel be exposed in the presence of fire or artificial light, except a light of such construction, position or character, as not to be liable to ignite any inflammable vapour arising from such spirit, and no fire or artificial light capable of igniting inflammable vapour shall be brought within dangerous proximity of the place where any vessel containing petroleum spirit is being kept.

The danger attaching to the filling or replenishing of tanks does not appear to have been directly dealt with in the Petroleum Acts, although the other danger from artificial lights, when used in connection with the carriage or storage of petroleum, has been recognized in sect. 2 of the Petroleum Act, 1881, and left to be dealt with by local authorities under sect. 9 of the Act of 1871.

The question when an artificial light is such as to be liable to cause danger, or when a light is "within dangerous proximity of a place" where petroleum is stored or kept, is one of fact for the consideration of the Court before which the question is raised.

13. In the case of all petroleum kept or conveyed for the purpose of, or in connection with, any light locomotive (a) all due precautions shall be taken for the prevention of accidents by fire or explosion, and for the prevention of unauthorized persons having access to any petroleum spirit kept or conveyed, and to the vessels containing, or intended to contain, or having actually contained the same; and (b) every person managing or employed

on or in connection with any light locomotive shall abstain from every act whatever which tends to cause fire or explosion, and which is not reasonably necessary, and shall prevent any other person from committing such act.

The above regulation may be compared with those issued by the various local authorities (o), on whom the power of granting licences upon conditions is conferred; and also with sect. 2 of the Petroleum Act, 1881 (p).

All the above regulations are to be enforced in the same manner and by the same officers as under the Petroleum Acts (q).

The penalty for the breach of any of the above regulations or bye-laws issued by the Home Secretary is a fine, upon summary conviction, not exceeding 107. (r). There is no right of appeal from such a conviction, save upon a point of law by case stated for the decision of the High Court (s). In all other cases of breach of any of the Petroleum Acts, or of regulations thereunder, the penalties enforceable are those to be found in those Acts.

14. These regulations shall come into operation on the 18th day of March, 1903, from which date the regulations dated 3rd November, 1896, and the 26th day of April, 1900, are hereby repealed.

6.-(1) The Local Government Board may make regulations with respect to the use of light locomotives on highways and their construction, and the conditions under which they may be used.

Regulations in accordance with this section and under sects. 7, 8, 9 and 12 of the Act of 1903, have been issued, and will be found set out hereafter. The regulations of 9th March, 1904, expressly rescind the regulations of 9th November, 1896.

Any breach of these regulations is punishable, under sect. 7, by a fine not exceeding 107. (t). Under the Act of 1903 the penalties will be found to be heavier in many instances, being as much as 201. for a first conviction, 50l. in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, or even in the latter case imprisonment for three months. The regulations are addressed to the various local

(0) Under sect. 9 of the Petroleum Act, 1871 (34 & 35 Vict. c. 105).
(p) 44 & 45 Vict. c. 67.

See sects. 11, 12, 13 of the Petroleum Act, 1871, ante, p. 17.
Locomotives on Highways Act, 1896, s. 7.

See post, p. 31, note on sect. 7.

See note to sect. 7, post, p. 30.