Executive Order  No. 60: (1st Series) Authorizing Handy Pad Supply Co., manufacturer of medical supplies, to build overhead bridge across Webster Street in Worcester

WHEREAS, speed in the production of great quantities of surgical dressings and supplies is essential for the adequate medical care and treatment of the armed forces of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the Handy Pad Supply Company, owned and operated by Albert H. Tessier, in the city of Worcester, is engaged exclusively in the production of surgical dressings and supplies for the armed forces of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the construction of an overhead bridge across Webster Street, a public highway in said Worcester, connecting the property owned and operated, on opposite sides of said street, by said Albert H. Tessier, doing business as said Handy Pad Supply Company, will expedite and increase the production of surgical dressings and supplies for the armed forces of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the military forces of the United States, acting through the Medical Corps, U.S.A., have requested that permission be granted to said Albert H. Tessier, doing business as Handy Pad Supply Company, in said Worcester, to build and maintain such a bridge in the interest of the war effort and to expedite the production of war materials; and

WHEREAS, the city council of said Worcester has expressed its approval of the granting by the proper public authority of permission for the construction of such a bridge; and

WHEREAS, the necessary authority to permit the building and maintenance of such a structure over said Webster Street cannot now be obtained from the General Court because said body is not now in session;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, acting under the provisions of Acts of 1941, chapter 719, section 7, as amended by Acts of 1943, chapter 3, and Acts of 1942, chapter 13, sections 2 and 3, and all other power and authority vested in me, do hereby issue this order as a measure necessary and expedient for meeting the supreme emergency of the existing state of war between the United States and certain foreign countries.

I.

Upon petition and after seven days' notice inserted in at least two newspapers published in the city of Worcester, and a public hearing thereon by the Committee on Streets of the city council of Worcester and a report thereof to said council by said Committee, the city council of said city may by a two third vote, with the approval of the mayor, grant and issue a permit to Albert H. Tessier, doing business as the Handy Pad Supply Company of Worcester, Massachusetts, his successors and assigns, to build and maintain temporarily a structure bridging Webster Street in said city for the purpose of connecting the buildings owned and occupied by said Albert H. Tessier, doing business as Handy Pad Supply Company on opposite sides of said street and numbered 70 and 75 on said street, upon such conditions and subject to such restrictions as the said city council may prescribe. Any permit so issued may be revoked by a two third vote of said city council with the approval of the mayor. The right to maintain any said structure erected in pursuance of the authority granted by such a permit shall not extend beyond the date of prorogation of the regular session of the General Court next held after the effective date of this order.

II.

Any structure built under a permit granted as aforesaid shall be constructed and maintained in such manner that the bottom chord thereof shall be not less than 20 feet above the grade line of said street; said structure shall not be more than 10 feet in width, and no part of said structure or its support shall rest on the surface of the street, nor shall any such structure be erected or maintained over any portion of said street not owned in fee by said Albert H. Tessier, without written consent of the owner of such portions in each instance filed with the said city council. Such consent of the city of Worcester, if and when necessary, may be given by vote of the said city council with the approval of the mayor.

III.

If a traveler on the highway while in the exercise of due care sustains bodily injury or damages in his property, by reason of the construction or maintenance of said bridge, he may recover damages therefor in an action of tort brought in the superior court against said Albert H. Tessier, doing business as Handy Pad Supply Company, or his successors or assigns, within one year after the date of such injury or damage; provided, that such notice of the time, place and cause of the said injury or damage be given to said Albert H. Tessier, doing business as Handy Pad Supply Company, or his successors or assigns, by, or on behalf of, the person sustaining the same as is, under the provisions of General Laws (Ter. Ed.), chapter eighty-four, as amended, valid and sufficient in cases of injury or damage sustained by reason of a defect or a want of repair in or upon a way, if such defect or want of repair is caused by or consists in part of snow or ice, or both. The remedy herein provided shall not be exclusive, but shall be in addition to any other remedy provided by law.

GIVEN at the Executive Chamber in Boston, this seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and forty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the one hundred and sixty- eighth.

By His Excellency the Governor,
Leverett Saltonstall