USA > Kansas > Kansas; a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence, Voilume I > Part 101
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of the board were to be paid. The board was to elect a secretary, who would act as an executive officer, but would not be a member, his salary to be such as the board might fix, when approved by the governor, and to be paid in the same manner as the salaries of other state officers. In section 3 of the act, provision was made for the sceretary to hold office as long as he satisfactorily discharged his duties, which were stated as follows: "He shall keep record of all the transactions of the board; shall have the custody of all books, papers, documents and other prop- erty belonging to the office; shall communicate with other boards of health, and with the local boards within the state."
By the act of creation it was intended to have the state board super- vise the general health interests of the state, make inquiry into the cause of disease, especially epidemics, and the local boards of health were to assist in this work by sending the state board copies of all reports and publications that might be useful. The act also gave to the state board the supervision of the registration of marriages, births, deaths and of forms of disease prevalent in the state, and the secretary of the state board is required to supervise the collection and registration of vital statistics.
The state board was given the power, when occasion requires, to engage special persons for sanitary service, and to make rules for the transportation of dead bodies beyond the boundaries of the county where death occurs. As a result of this power, in 1900, after due consideration, the state board of health, upon petition by the undertakers, passed a rule requiring every undertaker who desired to offer for transportation the body of any person who had died of an infectious or contagious disease, to pass a special examination and prove his fitness for the work, when a license would be issued to him by the state board of health.
The act of 1885 provided that "The county commissioners of the several counties of this state shall act as local boards of health for their respective counties. Each board thus created shall elect a physician who shall be ex officio a member of the board and the health officer of the same." "The county boards are not allowed to interfere with munic- ipal boards of health or their regulations, but the municipal boards are governed by the act as well as the county boards. This act provided that all practicing physicians in the state must keep a record of all deaths occurring in their practices and send this information to the state board. The local and municipal boards were enpowered to make all necessary rules and regulations for general health and quarantine and to enforce the same.
Gov. Martin appointed the following physicians members of the first board of health: G. H. T. Johnson, Atchison; G. H. Guibor, Beloit ; D. Surber, Perry ; D. W. Stormont; Topeka; J. Milton Welch, La Cygne ; H. S. Roberts, Manhattan; J. W. Jenny, Salina; W. L. Schenck, Osage City ; and T. A. Wright, Americus. They met and perfected an organiza- tion on April 10, 1885, by electing Dr. Johnson president and Dr. J. W. Redden, of Topeka, secretary. After its organization the board adopted
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rules, regulations and formulas for the prevention of disease in the state, copies of which were sent to every county and municipal board of health in Kansas.
In 1889 the legislature passed a supplementary law which gave full power and authority to the state and county boards of health in control- ling, regulating and suppressing all contagious, infectious and pestilen- tial diseases, and to call in aid when necessary to enforce the provisions of the act. The organization of the county boards went on rapidly after the act authorizing them, and by 1889 there were 86 counties with active and efficient health officers. Of the remaining counties 1I had health officers who had resigned. In a few years it was seen that the state board of health did not have sufficient power in regard to quarantine, and in 1893 an act was passed which gave the state board power to estab- lish and maintain quarantine stations at the limits of the state when- ever Asiatic cholera or other infectious disease is threatened from any adjoining state or territory. The next year a chemist and microscopist were added to assist in the work carried on by the state board.
In his annual report to the governor in 1897, the secretary recom- mended that more power be given the state board of health, and its membership increased by the addition of a civil engineer, a professional chemist, and an expert bacteriologist, whose entire time would be devoted to the work. This recommendation was approved and the advisory board increased to consist of a sanitary adviser, chemist, bacteriologist and civil and sanitary engineer. In 1906 this advisory board was increased and changed so as to consist of a sanitary adviser, two food analysts, a drug analyst, bacteriologist and statistician. Owing to the great amount of work to be done by the state board of health the work has been divided among the following standing committees: on state house, public buildings and charitable institutions ; on water supplies and sewage ; on embalmers, barbers and epidemic diseases; on adulterated foods, drugs and drinks; and on finance. From time to time laws have been passed with regard to dangerous and epidemic diseases, quarantine, etc., and power given the board to enforce them.
The first medical practice act of Kansas was passed in 1870, and pro- vided that only persons who had attended "two full courses of instruc- tion in some reputable school of medicine, either in the United States or some foreign country," or who could produce a certificate of qualifica- tion from some state or county medical society, could legally practice medicine in the state. In 1885 the state board of health was given the power to regulate the practice of medicine and in 1889 another act was passed, by which the board was given authority to issue certificates to physicians of the proper qualifications to practice medicine in Kansas, and also provided for medical examination by the board of physicians who desired to practice in the state. A penalty was provided for persons infringing the law, but many persons totally unfit to practice medicine were doing so, and it was not until 1901 that an efficient law was passed which created a state board of medical registration and examination. It
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consists of seven physicians appointed by the governor, who hold office for four years. All physicians practicing in the state at the time the act was passed were required to satisfy this board of their qualifications either by diploma, affidavit or examination before they could secure a certificate legally to practice. Since that time all persons have had to pass an examination, except. those who are graduates of reputable medi- cal institutions in the United States and foreign countries, "When licenses may be granted at the discretion of the board without examin- ation."
As early as 1887, a pure food and drug law was enacted in Kansas, making this state one of the pioneers in this important work. It read: "If any person shall knowingly sell any kind of diseased, corrupt or unwholesome provisions, whether for meat or drink, without making the same fully known to the buyer, he shall be punished or imprisoned." The law was limited but it prohibited adulteration, and was the starting point of the later pure food laws. In 1889 a second food law was passed and under the provisions of these laws the secretary of the state board of health began the great crusade for pure food for the people of Kansas. He collected samples of food in 1905 and submitted them to the state university chemist for analysis, and finding them adulterated began a systematic fight against adulteration. The work of analysis continued and it is to the credit of the state board of health that before the national pure food law had been passed by Congress or the Beveridge meat- inspection bill was framed, the Kansas packers had been compelled to furnish the Kansas market products that were free from coloring matter and dangerous preservatives, and all this resulted without a single law suit. Drugs were also analyzed and the result was nearly as successful. The passage of the national pure food law called for a revision of the food laws of Kansas, and in 1907 one of the most stringent pure food laws now in existence in the country was passed with regard to the manufacture, sale or transportation of misbranded or poisonous or dele- terious foods, drugs, medicine and liquors. The law regulates the traffic in these articles; provides for inspectors and penalties for its violation, so that today the people of Kansas are getting about the least adulterated food of any state in the Union.
Tuberculosis, or "the great white plague," began to receive special attention in this state about 1880, and Kansas is one of the pioneer states in the crusade against this dread disease. It has put into operation some of the most stringent laws in an effort to prevent its spread. The per- centage of deathis from tuberculosis had grown to be alarming, consider- ing the number of days of sunshine, altitude and the few large cities in the state with slum districts. In 1903 there were 628 deaths from this disease in the 85 counties reported, and in 1904, there were 697 deaths in the 90 counties reported. Kansas lies in such a geographical location that an army of tubercular cases pass through to the higher altitudes in the west. Many residents of Kansas are thus exposed to infection. It is due to the advice of the state board of health that pavilions for tuber-
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cular patients have been built at some of the state institutions for treat- ment of cases. The board gathered a tubercular census of the state and issued a report upon its prevention, with instructions concerning the care of patients. County health officers were instructed thoroughly to disin- fect and fumigate homes in which tubercular cases occurred. In 1904 the state board of health urged the passage of a law requiring the trans- portation companies to improve the sanitary condition of cars and the discontinuance of certain practices injurious to health, but as no law was passed the board adopted rules for cleaning and fumigating cars and by correspondence endeavored to accomplish the same purpose by appeals to the companies. The result has been that the rules came to be adopted by most of the railroads in the state. Kansas is the first state in the Union to have a law requiring tuberculosis sick rooms and houses to be disinfected, which is compulsory and is done at state expense. Kansas is also the pioneer state in the abolishment of the public drinking cup, which is an undoubted source of communication of infectious diseases. The rule issued by the board was as follows: "That the use of the com- mon drinking cup on railroad trains, in railroad stations, in the public and private schools and the state educational institutions in the State of Kansas is hereby prohibited, from and after Sept. 1, 1909." Since that time it has also been prohibited in hotels.
In 1911 the state legislature passed a bill "Providing for the establish- ment of a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients in the state of Kansas." By this act the governor was to appoint four physicians, not more than two of whom shall be of the same school to constitute the "Advisory Commission of the Kansas Sanitorium for Tuberculosis Patients." They serve without compensation, except for the necessary expenses incurred in the actual performance of their duties. The members of the first board held office for one, two, three and four years respectively, beginning with July 1, 19II. and thereafter their successors serve for four years. The secretary of the state board of health by virtue of his office is at all times a member of this commission. The advisory commission is vested with power to make and prescribe all rules and regulations for the sanitorium and is required to visit the institution at least twice each year or oftener if necessary. Patients who are able to pay are charged a nominal sum fixed by the board of control but any persons unable to pay such charges for support and treatment "shall be admitted to said sanitorium under the same conditions as patients are now admitted into other state hos- pitals." An appropriation of $50,000 "or as much thereof as may be necessary," was made for the purchase of the necessary land, the erec- tion of buildings, providing for a sufficient water supply and sewerage system and for salaries and other expenses for the years 1911 and 1912. When completed this sanitorium will give Kansas one of the best equipped institutions of the kind in the country, which will be one of great benefit to the people who are suffering from tuberculosis.
In 1903, the annual appropriation for the state board of health was $2,720, of which $1,200 was for the salary of the secretary; $720 for a
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stenographer and $800 for the expenses of the board. In eight years the work of the board has grown immensely for in 1911 there were 37 per- sons employed, of whom 17 gave their entire time to the work-the sec- retary, 6 clerks, 6 traveling food and drug inspectors, I bacteriologist and 3 attendants at the tuberculosis exhibit. In connection with the state university and the state agricultural college a state engineer and assistant, 3 drug analysts and 3 assistants, with 10 extra student assist- ants and 2 water analysts, while the hospital doctors willingly gave help. Only the people who devote their entire time to the work are paid from the state board of health appropriation, the others doing the extra work for the salaries they receive from the institutions with which they are connected. The board is trying to provide the best possible health regulations for the people of Kansas, and among the important results of its work is the weight and measures law, with its economic value to the public; tlie sewage and water laws; the work in hotel inspection, and quarantine provisions in time of epidemics.
Healy, a village of Cheyenne township, Lane county, is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R., about 12 miles northwest of Dighton, the county seat. It has a bank, a money order postoffice, telegraph and express offices, telephone connections, Christian and Methodist churches, a grain elevator, a hotel, and a number of general stores. It is the ship- ping point of a large agricultural district in the northwestern part of the county and in 1910 had a population of 175.
Heber, a hamlet of Cloud county, is situated near the head of East Pipe creek, about 15 miles southeast of Concordia, the county seat. Mail is received through the postoffice at Miltonvale. Sulphur Springs is the nearest railroad station.
Heizer, one of the villages of Barton county, is located in Buffalo township on the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., 8 miles northwest of Great Bend, the county seat. It has a mill, an elevator, several retail stores, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice. The population according to the census of 1910 was 75.
Helmick, a hamlet of Morris county, is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R., 7 miles west of Council Grove, the county seat, whence mail is delivered by rural carrier.
Henry, a hamlet of Sheridan county, is located about 10 miles south- east of Hoxie, the county seat and most convenient railroad station, whence mail is received by rural route.
Hepler, an incorporated city of Crawford county, is situated in Walnut township and is a station on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R., about 15 miles northwest of Girard, the county seat. The town was established in Jan., 1871, by a company of which B. F. Hepler of Fort Scott was president and T. H. Annable was secretary .. The first settler was John Vietz, who erected the first business building. On Jan. 4, 1883, appeared the first issue of the Hepler Leader, which was published by W. D. Wright. Hepler has a bank, a money order postoffice with two rural routes, a weekly newspaper (the Enterprise), telegraph and express
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facilities, telephone connections, hotels, churches, good public schools, and a number of good mercantile houses. It is a shipping point for a rich agricultural section in the northwestern part of Crawford and the southwestern part of Bourbon county, and in 1910 reported a population of 275.
Herington, a comparatively new city of Dickinson county, was founded in Jan., 1884, by M. D. Herington, after whom it was named. The first building was erected by Risley & Lincoln for a hardware store in March, 1884. Among the early business men and firms were M. D. Herington, F. S. Mitchell, C. C. Thompson, Tusten & Caldwell, Calkins Bros., J. W. Chandler, B. F. Hartman and Risley & Lincoln. The site was selected chiefly because of a beautiful natural grove there. One year after the town was founded the value of the buildings was estimated at $75,000, and the Herington Tribune of Jan. 22, 1885, gives the volume of business done during the first year as $485,300.
Herington is located in the southeastern part of the county at the junction of the Missouri Pacific and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroads, 27 miles from Abilene, the county seat. It has 2 banks, an international money order postoffice with four rural routes, telegraph and express service, a telephone exchange, 2 weekly newspapers (the Sun and the Times), electric lights, waterworks, graded and high schools and churches of various denominations. Among the industries and com- mercial enterprises are flour mills, an ice and cold storage plant, a cream- ery, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroad shops, good hotels, and a number of well stocked and substantial mercantile concerns. Herington is an incorporated city of the second class and in 1910 reported a pop- ulation of 3,273, a gain of 1,666, or more than 100 per cent. during the preceding ten years. The city is divided into four wards, and much of its progress is due to the intelligent and well directed efforts of its com- mercial club.
Herkimer, a village of Marshall county, is located on the St. Joseph & Grand Island R. R. and on Reamer creek, 6 miles northeast of Marysville the county seat. It is the business center for Logan township, in which it is situated, has telegraph, express and postoffice, and the population in 1910 was 225. Herkimer was settled in 1858, the postoffice was estab- lished permanently in 1876 and the town was platted two years later by O. Keller, who owned the site. It was named after a postoffice in New York.
Herndon, an incorporated town of Rawlins county, is situated 15 miles northwest of Atwood, the county seat, in the Beaver creek valley, one of the richest farming sections in the county. It is a station on the Orleans & St. Francis division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R. R. and is a shipping point of considerable importance. Herndon has a bank, a money order postoffice with three rural routes, a weekly newspaper (the Nonpareil), telegraph, telephone and express facilities, Catholic and Protestant churches, a flour mill, a hotel, a number of general stores and implement houses, and in 1910 reported a population of 273. It was first settled in 1878 and was incorporated in 1906.
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Hertha, a hamlet on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R. in Neosho county, 6 miles south of Erie, the county seat. It has an express office and postoffice. The population in 1910 was 40.
Hesper, a hamlet of Douglas county, is located in the eastern portion, 5 miles southeast of Eudora, from which it has rural free delivery. In 1910 it had a population of 36. The Friends have an academy at this place.
Hesston, a village of Harvey county, is located on the Missouri Pacific R. R. in Emma township, 8 miles northwest of Newton, the county seat. It is the shipping and receiving point for a large and wealthy agricultural district. All lines of business enterprises are represented, including a bank. There are several churches and a graded school. The town is supplied with telegraph and express offices and has a money order post- office with one rural route. The population according to the census of 1910 was 250.
Hewins, one of the larger villages of Chautauqua county, is located on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. and the Big Cheney river in Harrison township, 15 miles southwest of Sedan, the county seat. It has a bank, all the main lines of business enterprise, telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice with one rural route. The population in 1910 was 225.
Hiattville, one of the early settlements of Bourbon county, is located on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R. 13 miles southwest of Fort Scott, the county seat. The postoffice was established in 1870 and called Pawnee, but the name was subsequently changed to Hiattville, in honor of James M. Hiatt, who owned the land upon which the town was sit- uated. Stores were opened within a short time and the town began to flourish. At the present time there are several general stores, a black- smith shop, school and church. It has a money order postoffice, tele- graph and express facilities, and in 1910 had a population of 225.
Hiawatha, the county seat and second largest town of Brown county, is centrally located on the Missouri Pacific and the St. Joseph & Grand Island railroads. It is an incorporated city of the second class and has over 100 business establishments, among which are 3 banks, a mill, a bottling works, a feed mill, a washing machine factory, greenhouses, an opera house, six publications, viz : the Brown County World, daily and weekly ; the Kansas Democrat; the Key, a monthly ; the School News, monthly; Herbert's Magazine, and the Hiawatha News. The city has waterworks, fire department, sewer system, electricity for lighting and power purposes, and a handsome park with a bathing pond. A public library is maintained in the building of the Ladies Art League. The Hiawatha Academy is located here. The town is supplied with telegraph and express offices and has an international money order postoffice with six rural routes. The population according to the census of 1910 was 2,974.
Hiawatha was founded in 1857 and is therefore one of the older towns of the state. The first building was erected for hotel purposes and occu-
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pied by Partch & Barnum. The postoffice was established in 1858 with. H. R. Dutton the first postmaster. The fire department was organized. in 1874. A fire occurred in 1871 which destroyed $12,000 worth of prop- erty, and another in 1879 which destroyed the first Hiawatha house. From 1875 the city council refused to issue liquor licenses to any one .. The first newspaper was the Brown County Union, established in 1861. In 1871 a full complement of city officers were elected as follows: Mayor,. J. Shilling ; clerk, H. J. Aten ; treasurer, James A. Pope; marshal, J. B. Butterfield; assessor, F. J. Heller; police judge, J. W. Oberholtzer ; attorney, C. W. Johnson; councilmen, J. W. Pottenger, B. F. Killey, G. Amann, H. M. Robinson and H. C. Wey.
Hickory Point, lying about 10 miles south of Lawrence, on the south side of the Wakarusa and on the old Santa Fe road, was a valuable piece of timber and prairie land, where some of the earliest settlers located. The first settlers were chiefly free-state men from Indiana, but subse- quently others from the western states and from Missouri settled there. In the lower end of the grove a town called Palmyra was laid out early in the summer of 1855. In some cases the original settlers left their claims and returned east, several Missourians took the claims thus for- feited according to squatter laws, and in some cases fraudulently seized others. During the summer and fall this led frequently to disputes and sometimes led to personal violence and bloodshed. This was almost always the case where the contestants to the claim belonged to the con- flicting political elements of the territory. Each faction would try to. gather around them immigrants of their own political faith, and as the grounds were unsurveyed, with no courts of justice near, many angry contests arose over the ownership of land and collisions were not infre- quent. An instance of this character took place at Hickory Point, Hol- loway, in his History of Kansas says, "led to what is termed the Waka- rusa war." (q. v.)
Hickory Point, Battle of .- The settlement of Hickory Point in Jeffer- son county was laid out in March, 1855, on the northwest quarter of section 5, township 9, range 19 east, on the north side of the military and freight road. One of the first settlers, Charles Hardt, was appointed postmaster. From the first settlement there had been a contest between the free-state and pro-slavery residents of the vicinity. Party feeling ran high and each faction regarded the other as having no rights. At the first election the pro-slavery men took possession of the polls, and there was little respect for law and order on either side. After the out- rages perpetrated at the first election, each party held an election and refused to acknowledge the other as legal. By the summer of 1856, the free-state settlers had become the stronger faction and determined to drive the other party out. On June 8 two pro-slavery men, Jones and Fielding, were driven away. At that time the settlement consisted of , three log buildings, a store, hotel and blacksmith shop. Both parties in the neighborhood went armed and several skirmishes occurred.
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