Ord 548 12/8/1924 -S
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ORDI ANC 110. 646.
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AN ORDINANC A11 ) T ,GULA. NG m�I1
PUBLIC AUC`_L'TON Jewelry, diamonds, or other precious
dr semi-precious' stones, watches , clocks, gold or silver
ware or plated ware , porcel iin, bric-a-brac , oriental
or domestic rugs, limps, screens , articles o:t' furniture ,
sills g,a.rments, furs, hand.-bags , trunks , or such like
articles and. prescribing a penalty and providing for an
emergency.
'fIHEREAS on a,ccaurit of .the generalcoiirnlaint which
ff J has grown out c)f the pract-1-ce-3 of unregulated auctions and
auctioneers of the hereinafter de, Bribed bind and character
of goods and the great arnovnt of imposition made upon. the �-
public b�,,ij� misrepreser1tation and practices of deceit and fraaud
growing ,oizt of unregulated and
irrest�onsible auctioneers and
advisable b the Board of Aldermen to
auctions it is deemed y to ,Beare
pass suitable re g -ilations governing the same ,o
honesty and lair dealing, and avoid such evil practices that
have grown up on account of the want of proper regulations
now , therefore,
z
E IT IN},
ORDAD b,, the Board of Aldermen of the City
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of Wichita Falls:
SEICTION 1. `That it shall hereafter be unlavvfu1 for �
any pcl son, firm or corporation to_ sell, dis �.� ooe of or offer
for sale in_t.h.e._C.,iu_.��°__, -�_..y�.�_ -._
or domestic rags, lamps* screens, articles of ,
or i antal arment e, furs hand-1 Sgs, trunks. , -
furniture gills g
�per-ty or whether the
tine mairie shall be by and through agents or employees
or others , without first complying with the provisions of this
Ordinance and obtaining a license from the City Clerk of the
City of Wichita Falls, and making an application therefor as
herein provided, provided, however. , that this Section shall
not apply to judicial sales or sales made by executors or
administrators, nor to sales made by or in behalf of licensed
pawn-brolrers of unredeemed pledges, which are made in the
manner provided by law.
SECTION 2. That any person desiring to hold an
auction sale for the sale of the goods hereinabove described
shall .make application to the City Clerk as herein provided
for and shall state in the saiiie application the period of
days any such person desires to hold the said auction sale
and the said City Clerk shall issue to any such person a
license upon complying with the terms of this Ordinance for
the period of time so designated, provided, that no license
shall be issued for a longer period than one year.
SECTION 3. Said application for the license shall be
in writing and sworn to , stating the name of the applicant,
his residence, the street and number of the proposed place of
sale, the length of time for which the license is desired, and
if the applicant has been previously engaged in a like or
similar business, to designate the places where the sale was
conducted and shall furnish the City Clerk with such further
evidence as shall be necessary and reasonable to establish
the truth of the statements made in said application and the
right of the applicant to a license .
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S Said a-p lication for a license shall have
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attached to it a sworn inventory of such stock or merchandise
setting cut the quality, quantity, ?�ind or grade of each item
and invoice cost thereof. To such inventory there shall be
attached an affidavit that such inventory is in all respects
true and correct. In the case of an individual, such affidavit
:hall be iiade by him as such; in the case of a firm, it shall
be made by one of the partners, and in the case of a corpora-
tion, it shall be made by the President , General ; ° nager ,
Secretary or Treasurer. Such inventory and affidavit When so
made shall be kept on file in the office of the City Clerk
as a part of the public records pertaining to the sale . Y0
merchandise shall be sold at such auction sale excei)t that
referred t c and included in the inventory iiade part of the
a,plicatioll. That Whenever any extension of the license so
granted hereunder is grantied to any -r�ersen holding an auction
an application shall be made therefor as provided herein, which
shall be granted by the City Clerk, provided, that should it
appear to the said City Clerk from the application so made,
that new or additional articles are added to the list of
articles made by any couch person, then it shall be the duty of
the said person to furnish an additional bond in the amount as
hereinabove described for the sale of the additional articles,
or as is required for the sale of the original articles.
SECTION 5: That all persons desiring a license shall, upon
complying With the application herein provided for , and before
a license shall be issued to any stch per son shall tender a
bond to the Lity of ",'ichita, Falls duly executed by the said
applicant , as principal , in the sum of One Thousand ollars ,
ti^rhich bond shall be made payable to the City of s'.Tichita Falls
at ':'Tichita Falls, `d":Iichita County, 'Texas , and When in corlpliance
with the terms of this Ordinance shall be approved by the
i;:ayor of the City of Wichita Falls, and shall be conditioned
that the said principal thereon shall pay all losses and
damages which may lavrfully bo, claimed against him on account
of any material misrepresentations of :tact and belief or any
ateriai :oppression et' facts concerning the merchandise to be
auctioned at si:ch sale , or Which may grow out of a violation
of any of the terms of this Ordinance. Such bond shall be made
amenable to any person who imay sustain any loss or damage on
account of any such r:isrepresen_tt.tion and shall cover all
auction :ales of merchandise described in the inventory made
and required to be filed v,,ith the City Clerk, a.n(, any such
person sustaining any damage or loss rcray bring suit in any
Court of corpetent jurisdiction tc recover the same and the
provisions of the said bond shall be construed liberally in
favor of any such person on account of any loss or damage
sustained by any such person either directly or indirectly.
All remedies upon or under such bond shall be in addition to
any cumulative of all other remedies the parties may have at
law or in equity for of any such losses or damagew'.
The bond shall be signed b-, two or :::ore sureties, one of whom
shall be a surety compan;;T doing business ir._ the State of Texas ,
aZ d t'hi.e other shall be a resident of ', ichita County, Texas .
Cumulative recoveries may be had on said bond to the full
amount thereof.
SECTION 6: That the City Clerk may inspect and investigate
any part or all of such stock or merchandise coming within the
purview of this Ordinance before issuing the license in order
to determine the truth of the statements made in the application
and the inventory.
SECTI0N 7: That before any license shall be i°::sued the
applicant shall pay to the City of 'tiichita Falls a license fee
in advance in the sum equal to $5.00 per day for each of the days
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during which the auction. is entitled tc be held according
to the license.
SECTION 8: It shall be unlawful for any person acting as
auctioneer to make any statements which are false in me
particular , or which have a tendency to mislead any person
present, or to make any r:isrepresentation whatsoever, or
at all as to the quality or quantity, character or present
condition, or value , or cost, or general selling price, or
whether new or second-hand, or partly so , of any property
offered for disposal by auction sale .
SECTION 9: It shall -be unlawful for any persontoact
as
by-bidder or what is commonl; known as a ,capper"
o "booster"
at any smch auction or place where any such auction shall take
place, or to offer or make any false bid or to offer any false
bid to buy or pretend to buy any such article sold or offered
for sale at any such auction.
SECTION 10: It shall be the duty of the person, firm or
corporation whose merchandise is thus being sold at public
auction to give each and every purchaser of an article the se11-
ing price of which amounts to the sum of '. 2.00 or more , an
invoice, containing a full description of the article , the sell-
ing price thereof, together with a statement giveing each
and
every warranty under which the article was sold. Duplicate
copies of said invoice shall be kept.
SECTION 11: That the term "person" as used herein shall include
and comprehend any person, firm, or association of persons or
any corporation, their agents , servants or employees.
SECTION 12: That any person, firm, association of persons, or
any corporation, their agents , servants , or employees, violating
any of the provisions of this Ordinance ;.hall, upon conviction
in the Corporation Court, be fined in any sum not exceeding
Two liundr ed ($200.00) Dollars , and each and every day that a
violation of this Ordinance occurs shall be deemed a separate
offense . That in addition to the penalty herein provided for
any such person convicted in the Corporation Ccurt, or upon
appeal thereof, the Judge of the said Corporation Court, or any
Judge upon appeal thereof may revoke the license under which
the said auction is being held and it shall thereafter be
unlawful for any person whose license is revoked to hold any
auction under the terms of this Ordinance provided, however,
that any person try-nose license is revoked, may make application
to the 1:ayor and Board of Aldernien, and after a hearing upon
such application for a re-issuance of any such license and may
have a new license granted any such person upon the order of
the Layor and Board of Aldermen to the City Clerk provided, that
any such person whose license is revoked shall cor.ply with the
terms and provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 13: That should any portion or part of this Ordinance
be held for any reason invalid or unenforceable , the same shall
not be construed to affect any other valid portion thereof , but
all valid portions shall rer:iain in full force and effect.
SECTIO1�T 14: "�HERF��S , on account of the promiscuous auction sales
ude bytrwve _g autioneers, as well as on account of the
rang acts Of e to±tion and oppression growing out of misrepresenta-
Lions and deceits practised on the public by unregulated auction-
eers engaged in the sale of the articles hereinabove described,
creates an urgency and an emergency in behalf of the preservation
of the public peace, health and safety that requires this Crdinance
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to beco.le effective upon its passage and it is accordingly
so ordained that this Ordinance shall become effective
immediately upon its passage as in the charter in such cases
is rude and provided.
PASSED AND APPROVED this day of November,
A. D. 1924.
CITY 01W, WICHITA FAILS ,
By its
�Llayor.
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ATTEST:
City Clergy:.
APPPOVED A.S mn 2np,'.
City A torney.
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