USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1898 > Part 33
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CHAPTER VII.
ASHES, RUBBISH, AND HOUSE DIRT.
SECTION 1. Removal of, etc. - Ashes, rubbish, and house dirt to be removed by the city shall be kept entirely free and apart from offal and filth of any kind, and shall be placed in barrels or other suitable vessels on the outer edge of the sidewalk, on such days and at such hours as the Board of Health shall from time to time designate, by notices left at the dwellings or otherwise.
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REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
SECT. 2. Dumping of Ashes and Refuse Materials. - No. person owning or occupying any premises within the limits of the city of Somerville, and no city officer controlling or in charge of city premises, shall cause any ashes or refuse material to be placed thereon, or shall allow such premises to be used as a public dump for ashes, refuse, or other material without a permit from the Board of Health, and only in accordance with such permit.
SECT. 3. Filling of Premises with Waste, Ashes, or Rub- bish. - Any person owning or occupying any premises within this city, and desiring to fill such premises with dry waste, ashes, or rubbish, shall make written application to the Board of Health, describing the land and the filling material proposed and the sources from which he proposes to obtain the material.
CHAPTER VIII.
DEAD ANIMALS AND OFFENSIVE SUBSTANCES.
SECTION 1. Not to be thrown upon Ground or into any Body of Water. - No person shall throw or put into or upon any public or private way, enclosure or grounds, lot of land, dump- ing ground, flats, or body of water, any dead animal, oyster, clam, or lobster shells, slops, decayed vegetables, fish, refuse animal or vegetable matter, or other offensive substance whatsoever.
CHAPTER IX.
COLLECTING GREASE.
SECTION 1. Permit for. - No person shall collect or remove from any dwelling-house or other place in the city any grease, or refuse fatty matter, without first obtaining a permit so to do from the Board of Health, and in all respects complying with the conditions of such permit. All such permits shall expire on the first day of May, annually, and may be revoked at any time by the Board of Health ; and no person shall receive such a permit without first paying to the clerk of said Board, for the use of the city, the sum of $2.00.
606
ANNUAL REPORTS.
CHAPTER X.
GOATS AND SWINE.
SECTION 1. Permit to keep. - No person shall keep a goat or swine within the limits of the city without first obtaining a permit so to do from the Board of Health, and in all respects complying with the conditions of such permit. All such per- mits shall expire on the first day of May, annually, and may be revoked at any time by the Board of Health; and no person shall receive such a permit without first paying to the clerk of said Board, for the use of the city, the sum of $1.00 for each goat or swine to be kept.
CHAPTER XI.
COWS.
SECTION 1. Permit to keep. - No person shall keep or allow to be kept, within the limits of the city, in any building, or on any premises, of which he may be the owner, lessee, tenant, or occupant, more than one cow, without a written permit from the Board of Health. Every person keeping a cow shall cause the place where it is kept to be well ventilated and drained, and kept at all times in a cleanly and wholesome condition. Such permit may be revoked at any time when such revocation shall appear to the Board to be necessary for the public health and safety. All such permits shall expire on the first day of May annually.
CHAPTER XII.
OFFENSIVE TRADES, OCCUPATIONS, AND PRACTICES.
SECTION 1. Exercise of offensive Trades or Employments .- The Board of Health hereby prohibits the exercise of the follow- ing trades or employments, viz .: those of slaughtering animals, of rendering animal matter, of manufacturing fertilizers, of mixing or storing refuse animal or vegetable substances, of smoking fish or meat, of refining oils, of making egg dressing, varnish, glue, gas, water-gas, gasoline, or any burning fluid, within this city, except at the place or places where such trades or employments are now lawfully established or which may
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REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
hereafter be assigned by said Board ; such trades or employ- ments being either nuisances, or hurtful to the inhabitants of said city, dangerous to the public health, attended by noisome and injurious odors, or otherwise injurious to the health of said inhabitants.
SECT. 2. Curing and storage of Hides, Skins, and Horns .- No green hides, skins, or horns, shall be cured or stored within the limits of this city, except in accordance with a permit from the Board of Health.
SECT. 3. Old Rags, old Paper, or other Refuse in a Dwel- ling .- No old rags, old papers, or other refuse material shall be brought into or allowed to remain within any building used as a dwelling, if gathered from any place outside such building.
SECT. 4. Spitting in Street-Cars .- The Board of Health hereby adjudges spitting in street-cars to be a public nuisance, source of filth, and cause of sickness, and prohibits such spit- ting upon the floor, platform, or any other part of any street- car.
CHAPTER XIII.
SUPPRESSION OF CONTAGIOUS DISEASES AMONG DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
SECTION 1. Notice from Person suspecting or knowing of the existence of Disease .- The written notice required by law to be given to this Board by persons having knowledge of, or good reason to suspect, the existence of any contagious disease among any species of domestic animals within the limits of this city, or that any domestic animal is affected with any such con- tagious disease, shall designate, as clearly as may be, the sus- pected animals, the ownership thereof, the disease with which the animals are suspected of being infected, and the locations where such animals are to be found.
SECT. 2. Owner to isolate Animals and notify Board of Health .- Every person owning or having control of cattle sus- pected of being infected with tuberculosis, or horses suspected of being affected with farcy or glanders, or any domestic ani- mals suspected of being affected with any contagious disease, shall cause such animals to be isolated upon his own premises,
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
and shall at once notify the Board of Health in writing, giving a careful description of each animal and of the place of isolation, and no such animal shall thereafter be removed from the place of isolation or allowed to pass through any public or private street, way, or place, until after said animal has been inspected by the city inspector of animals and provisions, or by a veteri- narian appointed by this Board.
SECT. 3. Agent of Board of Health to cause Animals to be isolated .- Whenever any agent duly appointed by this Board of Health finds any animal, within the limits of said city, sus- pected by him of having, or which in his judgment is infected with, any of the contagious diseases as follows, namely : glan- ders, farcy, contagious pleuro-pneumonia, tuberculosis, Texas fever, foot and mouth diseases, rinderpest, hog cholera, and rabies, such agent shall cause, in the name of this Board, such animal to be kept quarantined or isolated in such place ( whether a portion of a building or other place ) as he may desig- nate, and may order that such animal shall be so kept isolated by the owner or the person or persons in possession of such animal, and at the cost of such owner or person or persons, and shall not be removed from the place so designated until dis- charged therefrom by an order of this Board, or its duly author- ized agent, or an order issued by the State board of cattle commissioners or any of its members ; and all persons are hereby forbidden to remove, or cause to be removed, said ani- mal from the place or enclosure where it has been so quaran- tined or isolated ; or to cause or allow said animal to pass from place to place within said city, or to be or remain in any place in said city, except the place designated as aforesaid ; or to drive or transport, or to cause to be driven or transported, any animal contrary to the regulations aforesaid ; or to cause or allow any other animal to come in contact with said quarantined animal or to enter the enclosure where such animal is confined.
SECT. 4. Penalty for Violation .- Any person disobeying any provision of this chapter or any order made by an agent of this Board of Health as aforesaid, or driving or transporting any animal contrary to the said regulations, shall be punished by a fine not. exceeding five hundred dollars or imprisonment not exceeding one year.
609
REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
CHAPTER XIV.
AGENTS.
SECTION 1. Clerk .- The clerk of this Board is hereby made its agent for the purpose of issuing burial permits as authorized by law and these regulations.
SECT. 2. Inspector of Animals and Provisions. The inspector of animals and provisions of this city is hereby made an agent of this Board for the purpose of performing the duties required of such agents by chapter thirteen of these regulations.
CHAPTER XV.
PENALTY.
SECTION 1. Whoever violates any of these regulations shall forfeit a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars, except when otherwise provided by law or by these regulations.
At a meeting held December 2, 1898, the Board passed the following regulation : -
WALL DRAPERIES AT FUNERALS.
" The Board of Health hereby adjudges that the use of ' Wall Draperies ' at funerals is a source of filth and cause of sickness, and hereby orders : That the use of such draperies in any room or place used for a funeral or for the preparation or retention of any human body before or in connection with such funeral be, and hereby is, forbidden."
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
APPROPRIATION FOR HEALTH DEPARTMENT, AND EXPENDITURES THEREFROM.
CREDIT.
Appropriation $20,000.00
Town of Amesbury, partial
payment on account of care
of smallpox patient, 1897 $421.49
County of Middlesex, partial payment on account of care of smallpox patient, 1897 426.70
Commonwealth of Massachu- setts, on account of con- tagious diseases .
87.73
Sale of offal to Hannibal S. Pond . .
600.00
Sale of horse .
25.00
Permits to keep swine and
collect grease
43.00
1,603.92
Total credit
$21,603.92
DEBIT.
Expenditures : -
For Agent's salary
$ 1,200.00
Salary of Superintendent of
collection of ashes and offal
900.00
Collecting ashes .
6,988.00
Collecting offal
10,778.00
Burying dead animals
68.50
Stable expenses (including repairs and lighting)
667.67
Hay and grain
2,531.64
Horse doctoring
22.55
Horseshoeing
435.85
Amounts carried forward . $23,592.21
$21,603.92
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REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
Amounts brought forward .
$23,592.21 $21,603.92
Harnesses and horse cloth-
ing . .
296.62
Wagons and sleds, and
repairing same
194.30
Vaccine virus
15.33
Culture tubes
12.25
New horses
230.00
Tools, and repairing same
60.29
Books, stationery, etc.
113.50
Incidentals
506.30
Total expenditure $25,020.80
Amount overdrawn
$3,416.88
ALLEN F. CARPENTER, Chairman. ALVANO T. NICKERSON. WILLIAM F. HOLMES, M. D.
Board of Health.
REPORT OF THE
OVERSEERS OF THE POOR.
CITY OF SOMERVILLE.
IN BOARD OF ALDERMEN, February 8, 1899.
Referred to Committee on Printing, to be printed in the annual reports. Sent down for concurrence.
GEORGE I. VINCENT, Clerk.
IN COMMON COUNCIL, February 9, 1899.
Referred to Committee on Printing, to be printed in the annual reports, in concurrence.
CHARLES S. ROBERTSON, Clerk.
BOARD OF OVERSEERS OF THE POOR.
Hon. ALBION A. PERRY, Mayor, Chairman, ex officio. HERBERT E. MERRILL
Ward One.
EDWARD B. WEST, President Ward Two.
EZRA D. SOUTHER to February 16, 1898 Ward Three.
JAMES H. BUTLER from March 23, 1898 Ward Three.
ALBERT W. EDMANDS . Ward Four.
COMMITTEES.
ON INVESTIGATION AND RELIEF .- Mr. West and Mr. Merrill. ON FINANCE .- Mr. Edmands, Mr. Souther, and Mr. Butler.
CHARLES C. FOLSOM, General Agent.
CORA F. LEWIS, Secretary. WILLIAM F. HOLMES, M. D., City Physician.
Office, City Hall Annex, Highland avenue.
,
CITY OF SOMERVILLE.
OFFICE OF THE OVERSEERS OF THE POOR. CITY HALL ANNEX, December 31, 1898.
To HIS HONOR, THE MAYOR, AND CITY COUNCIL, CITY OF SOMERVILLE.
Gentlemen : - In accordance with our usual custom and the requirements of law, we submit our annual report for the year 1898.
The City Council appropriated for the use of this depart- ment, $20,000.00. This amount was not sufficient, and later on a transfer of some $3,000.00 was made to our account.
We paid the Somerville Hospital over $3,000.00 during the year ; about one half of this amount, however, has been, or will be collected from friends, towns, cities, and the State. This money we considered well expended, as it aided the Hospital in its work and enabled some poor persons to have hospital treat- ment, who otherwise would not have been so favored. We believe this plan, which has been in operation for the last year and a half, to be the very best possible under the circumstances, notwithstanding the fact that it costs the city some money and makes considerable extra work for this department.
MEMBERSHIP.
The membership of the Board is the same as last year, with the exception of that from Ward 3. Ezra D. Souther, who had been a very faithful, conscientious and helpful member since November, 1894, died early in the year. He had endeared himself to all of the members, and all who associated with him in the work felt that they had lost a friend. James H. Butler was elected to fill the vacancy. Edward B. West, who
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
has been a member of the Board for ten years, has been its president for the last four and one-half years, and still holds that position. The general agent and secretary are the same as in 1897.
TEMPORARY AID.
There was a slight falling off in the number of families and the total number of persons aided during 1898. We account for this in two ways: First, fewer persons were out of work, owing to the general improvement in business. Second, owing to the fact that, by arrangement with the Highway Department, men in the families that were aided were required to work in part pay for the aid received.
FULL SUPPORT.
The number of persons who are boarded at the city's expense in almshouses of other cities and towns and in private families has decreased slightly. Several have died within a few weeks. We now have in almshouses, 13; in private families, 12. We average about 10 sick persons in hospitals for whom the city pays. Those in the Somerville Hospital are paid for at the rate of $8.00 per week; in other hospitals the price varies from $7.00 to $10.00 per week. We charge other cities and towns the same as we pay the Hospital, except the city of Boston. Boston charges us $7.00 per week, and we charge that city the same. Those treated in our hospital, who are " State cases," are paid for at the same rate, viz. : $8.00 per week ; but in these cases the law allows us to collect from the State only $5.00 per week.
ALMSHOUSE.
The Overseers of the Poor wish to express their gratitude to His Honor, the Mayor, and City Council of 1898 for their prac- tical work in securing the Russell estate for the use of this department for an almshouse. The buildings, we believe, can be arranged, with a small outlay, so that they will meet our requirements for several years to come. Although there has been some delay in consequence of a flaw in the title, we have faith to believe that a satisfactory way will be found out of the
:
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REPORT OF THE OVERSEERS OF THE POOR.
difficulty, so that we may very soon take possession of the " Property " and move our poor people into our "City Home," where they belong and where we can look after them.
INSANE.
We have six less insane persons for whose support the city is paying, than one year ago. The number varies from year to year. Some efforts were made last year, and we believe some progress was made, in the direction of "State Control and Support " of all insane cases. A "State Board of Insanity" was appointed by the Governor. This Board is to " report to the Legislature on or before the first Wednesday in January in the year nineteen hundred, such method, or methods, as in its opinion will most effectually provide for the care and the sup- port of the insane poor who, under existing laws, are cared for by or supported at the expense of the cities and towns of the Commonwealth."
The following are extracts from the existing laws in reference to the commitment of the insane : -
P. S. - CHAP. 87. SECT. 13. No person shall be committed to an insane hospital, unless in addition to the oral testimony there has been filed with the judge a certificate signed by two physicians, each of whom is a graduate of some legally organized medical college, and has practised three years in the state, and neither of whom is con- nected with any hospital or other establishment for treatment of the insane. Each must have personally examined the person alleged to be insane within five days of signing the certificate ; and each shall certify that in his opinion said person is insane and a proper subject for treatment in an insane hospital, and shall specify the facts on which his opinion is founded. A copy of the certificate, attested by the judge, shall be delivered by the officer or other person making the commitment to the superintendent of the hospital or other place of commitment, and shall be filed and kept with the order.
SECT. 14. A person applying for the commitment or for the admission of an insane person to a state insane hospital, under the provisions of this chapter, shall first give notice in writing to the Overseers of the Poor, or their agent, of the place where the insane person resides, of his intention to make such application ; and satis- factory evidence that such notice has been given shall be produced to the judge in cases of commitment.
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
SECT. 25. When the state board has reason to believe that any insane person, not incurable, is deprived of proper remedial treat- ment, and is confined in an almshouse or other place, whether such insane person is a public charge or otherwise, it shall cause applica- tion to be made to a judge for the commitment of such person to a hospital in the manner herein prescribed.
SECT. 31. The price for the support, in state insane hospitals, of state, city, and town paupers, shall be three dollars and twenty-five cents a week for each person.
SECT. 32. The charges for the support of insane persons, not having known settlements in this state, shall be paid quarterly by the commonwealth ; and the same may afterwards be recovered, by the treasurer of the commonwealth, of the insane persons themselves, if of sufficient ability to pay the same, or of any person or kindred bound by law to maintain them, or of the place of their settlement, if any such is ascertained; and the district-attorneys or other prosecuting officers shall bring actions therefor when requested.
SECT. 45. No pauper shall be discharged from a state hospital without suitable clothing ; and the trustees may furnish the same at their discretion, together with such sum of money, not exceeding twenty dollars, as they may deem necessary. Such money and the cost of such clothing, the expense of pursuing such pauper insane persons as escape therefrom, and of burial of such as die in the hospitals, shall be reimbursed to the trustees by the places of legal settlement of city and town paupers, and by the commonwealth in the case of state paupers.
EXTRACTS FROM PAUPER LAWS.
P. S .- CHAP. 83. SECT. 1. A married woman shall follow and have the settlement of her husband, if he has any within the state ; otherwise her own at the time of marriage, if she then had any, shall not be lost or suspended by the marriage.
Second. Legitimate children shall follow and have the settlement of their father, if he has any within the state, until they gain a settle- ment of their own; but if he has none, they shall in like manner follow and have the settlement of their mother, if she has any.
Third. Illegitimate children shall follow and have the settlement of their mother at the time of their birth, if she then has any within the state ; but neither legitimate or illegitimate children shall gain a
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REPORT OF THE OVERSEERS OF THE POOR.
settlement by birth in the place where they are born, if neither of their parents then has a settlement therein.
Fourth. Any person of the age of twenty-one years, having an estate of inheritance or freehold in any place within the state, and living on the same three years successively, shall thereby gain a settlement in such place.
Fifth. CHAP. 425. SECT. 1. ACTS OF 1898. Any person of the age of twenty-one years, who resides in any place within this state five years together, and within that time pays all state, county, city, or town taxes, duly assessed on his poll or estate, for any three years within that time, shall thereby gain a settlement in such place.
Sixth. Any woman of the age of twenty-one years, who resides in any place within this state for five years together, shall thereby gain a settlement in such place.
Seventh. The provisions of the preceding clause shall apply to married women who have not a settlement derived by marriage under the provisions of the first clause, and to widows; and a settlement thereunder shall be deemed to have been gained by an unsettled woman upon the completion of the term of residence therein men- tioned, although the whole or a part of such term has already elapsed.
Eighth. Any person being chosen, and actually serving one whole year in the office of clerk, treasurer, selectman, overseer of the poor, assessor, constable, or collector of taxes, in any place, shall thereby gain a settlement therein. For this purpose, a year shall be considered as including the time between the choice of such officers at one annual meeting and the choice at the next annual meeting, whether more or less than a calendar year.
Ninth. Every settled ordained minister of the gospel shall be deemed to have acquired a legal settlement in the place wherein he is or may be settled as a minister.
Tenth. A minor who serves an apprenticeship to a lawful trade for the space of four years in any place, and actually sets up such trade therein within one year after the expiration of said term, being then twenty-one years old, and continues there to carry on the same for five years, shall thereby gain a settlement in such place; but being hired as a journeyman shall not be considered as setting up a trade.
Eleventh. Any person who was duly enlisted and mustered into the military or naval service of the United States, as a part of the quota of any city or town in this commonwealth, under any call of the President of the United States during the late civil war, or duly
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
assigned as a part of the quota thereof, after having been enlisted and mustered into said service, and who duly served for not less than one year, or died, or became disabled from wounds or disease received or contracted while engaged in such service, or while a prisoner in the hands of the enemy, and his wife or widow and minor children, shall be deemed thereby to have acquired a settle- ment in such place ; and any person who would otherwise be entitled to a settlement under this clause, but who was not a part of the quota of any city or town, shall, if he served as a part of the quota of the commonwealth, be deemed to have acquired a settlement in the place where he actually resided at the time of enlistment. But these pro- visions shall not apply to any person who was enlisted, and received a bounty for such enlistment in more than one place, unless the second enlistment was made after an honorable discharge from the first term of service, nor to any person who has been proved guilty of wilful desertion, or who left the service otherwise than by reason of disability, or an honorable discharge.
Twelfth. Upon the division of a city or town, every person having a legal settlement therein, but being absent at the time of such division, and not having acquired a legal settlement elsewhere, shall have his legal settlement in that place wherein his last dwelling- place or home happens to fall upon such division ; and when a new city or town is incorporated, composed of a part of one or more incorporated places, every person legally settled in the places of which such new city or town is so composed, and who actually dwells, and has his home within the bounds of such new city or town at the time of its incorporation, and any person duly qualified as provided in the eleventh clause of this section, who, at the time of his enlist- ment, dwelt and had his home within such bounds, shall thereby acquire a legal settlement in such new place ; but no person residing in that part of a place which upon such division is incorporated into a new city or town, and having then no legal settlement therein, shall acquire any by force of such incorporation only ; nor shall such incorporation prevent his acquiring a settlement therein within the time and by the means by which he would have gained it there if no such division had been made.
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