as they shall deem necessary. This vests in the council a large discretion. Some appropriation must, however, be made by the council, but the amount of that appropriation is discretionary with the council, provided that it be sufficient to pay the salaries of the secretary and health officer, as fixed by the board. If this is not done, a mandamus would lie to compel the council to perform its duties under the law." Thirdly, as to the illegality of the withdrawal by a council of an appropriation once made to the board of health. "When an appropriation is made by a council for a specific purpose, it is not lawful to use that money for any other purpose." The following opinion as to the applicability of the law of 1893 to all boroughs, was rendered by the Hon. H. D. Saylor, solicitor to the borough of Pottstown, at a meeting of the council of that borough, as to whether "the act enabling borough councils to establish boards of health' applied to the borough of Pottstown." It was contended by certain members of council that the act was not applicable to the borough of Pottstown for the reason that the borough is working under a special charter, and that the act estab lishing borough boards of health could not alter such a charter or affect it in any way. The opinion was that, "When the act in question uses the words, 'of every borough in this Commonwealth,' it means boroughs incorporated under special as well as general laws, and that its provisions thereof apply to the borough of Pottstown." Alt of these opinions have been of great service to your Secretary in enabling him to aid local boards in asserting their rights. Successful Prosecution. In consequence of the obstinate refusal of the proprietor of a bone-boiling establishment in Whitpain township, Montgomery county, to obey the order of the Board, and abate the very offensive nuisance which he was creating, the Secretary instructed Dr. H. H. Whitcomb, county medical inspector, to have the man arrested and shut up his establishment. This was promptly done. By the advice of his attorney, the offender pleaded guilty, and will be sentenced at the next term of court. A similar arrest was made of the proprietor of a filthy slaughter house just outside the limits of Emaus, in Salisbury township, Lancaster county. This case comes up for trial during the present month. It is a matter of congratulation to the Board that, in every instance in which it has appealed to the courts it has been sustained. This has perhaps been due to the fact that it has been slow to rush into litigation, preferring to exhaust all other means of compelling obedience to its mandates first. Resignations and Appointments. The Board has been compelled reluctantly to accept the resignation of its chemist, Prof. Henry Leffmann, M. D., and its bacteriologist, Prof. W. M. L. Coplin, M. D., the latter gentleman having been called to fill the chair of pathology at the Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee. In consequence of the resignation of Dr. Henry Leffmann, it was found necessary to immediately make some other arrangements for testing samples of drinking waters, which were constantly being sent to the Secretary, and he accordingly addressed a communication to Prof. John S. Billings, professor of hygiene of the University of Pennsylvania, requesting that some arrangements should be entered into by which the laboratory of hygiene of the University could be made use of by the State Board. After some correspondence, a personal interview took place at the office of the Board. It was decided that the Board should have the use of the laboratory of hygiene for investigations for this purpose, and that the same fee which had been paid heretofore to a private chemist should be paid to the assistant chemist of the laboratory. Prof. Billings has signified his readiness, during the sessions of the University, when he will be present, to exercise a general supervision of such investigations. During the summer season, the assistant chemist, Dr. D. H. Bergey, a young man thoroughly equipped to make such investigations, has had active charge. While holding the election of a bacteriologist under advisement, the Board elected Dr. Robert L. Pitfield, of Philadelphia, assistant bacteriologist. Reports of both these officers are appended. The State Quarantine Board for the Port of Philadelphia, while continued by act of Assembly, has had its functions somewhat modified, becoming a quarantine of observation and inspection only. It has established its new station in the borough of Marcus Hook, close to the Delaware line. The total number of vessels inspected and permitted up during the year ending July 1, 1895, was fifteen hundred and five (1,505), and the number of passengers inspected and passed during the same period, twenty-nine thousand one hundred and eleven (29,111). Throughout the year, certificates of disinfection were required for all rags and other articles of merchandise liable to convey diseases. All cargoes deficient in certificates of disinfection were denied admittance to the port, for such articles, at least, which did not present the proper certificates of disinfection. The articles for which certifi cates of disinfection, after some of the methods prescribed by the United States Treasury's regulations are rags, human hair, bed feathers, second hand bedding, and worn clothing; also, any articles. liable to convey disease coming from any infected port, must have certificates of disinfection corresponding thereto before they are admitted to the port. On the twenty-first day of December, 1894, it became necessary for the quarantine physician, in order to avoid a disastrous interference with commerce, and great inconvenience, if not suffering, to passengers, to receive at the station the steerage passengers of the steamship Southwark, who had been exposed to the contagion of small-pox on the voyage from Liverpool, to the number of three hundred and sixty-five (365). To provide accommodations and food for this large number of persons on such short notice was no easy task. It is greatly to the credit of the quarantine physician, Dr. Boenning, and his deputies, and of the superintendent, Mr. McLaughlin, that these people were housed and fed and kept warm, notwithstanding the intense cold, during their detention of fourteen days. This is sufficiently proven by the fact that only one very serious case of illness occurred and that a chronic case of alcoholism, which proved fatal. A full report of the incident will appear in the appendix. The State Medical Examining Board and Council have amply demonstrated the wisdom of their establishment, having already refused ninety-four imperfectly qualified graduates permission to practice. The summary of the results of the examinations by the three boards is as follows: Board representing the State Medical Society, Examined. Passed. Failed. A full list of those passed is appended to this report. In consequence of the election of Dr. Pemberton Dudley as President of the State Board of Health, that gentleman now takes the place of Dr. Samuel T. Davis, on the State Medical Council. The Secretary of the Council has received official notice of this change. The permanent establishment of the office of State Forestry Commissioner by the last Legislature must be regarded with satisfaction by all those who are acquainted with the wanton destruction of the forests of the State, and who appreciate how intimately large areas of woodland are associated with the permanence and purity of water supplies. The State Board of Health will have in the Commissioner, Prof. Rothrock, an able, enthusiastic, and willing ally in its efforts to prevent the contamination of the great water sheds of the State. The "act to provide for the better protection of life and health by diminishing the danger from contagious and infectious diseases through the creation of a State Board of Undertakers, to have jurisdiction in all cities, and which requires "all who practise this calling to have a reasonable knowledge of sanitation, preservation of the dead, disinfecting the bodies of deceased persons, and the apartment, clothing and bedding in cases of death from infectious or contagious diseases" is also a step in the right direction. We have thus cursorily run over the principal features of the work of the Board, of its Secretary and its agents, of the sanitary condition of the State and the legislation for its improvement, during the tenth complete year of its existence. While from year to year we may feel discouraged as we note the very gradual character of our progress in educating the State and its lawmakers in the principles and practice of an enlightened sanitation, yet when we cast a glance backward over a decade, when we compare the few scattered boards of health of the State at its beginning, which could be numbered on one's fingers, with the five hundred and forty boards now doing good service all over the Commonwealth, and looking to the Central Board for advice and guidance, when we contrast the apathy which then prevailed in regard to public health with the intelligent and lively interest which is now witnessed even in our smaller towns, when we note the readiness of municipal authorities, corporations and companies to adopt the sug gestions of the Board, in correcting sanitary defects even at the cost of large outlay, we may well congratulate ourselves on the past and look forward hopefully to the future. It only remains for your Secretary to express his grateful acknowledgments for your unfailing confidence in him and your ever ready co-operation with him in his efforts to discharge the important duties of his office. Respectfully submitted, BENJAMIN LEE, Secretary. Communicable (Contagious and Infectious) Diseases. The occurrence of contagious or communicable diseases has been reported to the Board from the following places during the year, and action taken to prevent their spread. Typhoid Fever. Typhoid fever at Catawissa, Columbia county. Typhoid fever at Northumberland, Northumberland county. Typhoid fever at Johnstown, Cambria county. Typhoid fever at Coleville, Centre county. Typhoid fever at South Burgettstown, Washington county. Typhoid fever at Pottstown, Montgomery county. Typhoid fever at Clarington, Forest county. Typhoid fever at Casselman, Somerset county. Typhoid fever at Mount Carmel, Northumberland county. Typhoid fever at Venice, Washington county. Typhoid fever at East Brady, Clarion county. Typhoid fever at Orwigsburg, Schuylkill county. Typhoid fever at Point Township, Northumberland county. Cerebro spinal meningitis, at Philadelphia, Philadelphia county. Small-pox. Small-pox at Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne county. Small-pox at Avondale, Chester county. Small-pox at Philadelphia, Philadelphia county. Small-pox at Ashbourne, Montgomery county. Small-pox at Danville, Montour county. |