10.-COMMUNICATION TO HIS EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR BEAVER, DECLARING THE NUISANCE IN THE FLOODED REGIONS WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES ABATED. STATE BOARD OF HEALTH, EXECUTIVE OFFICE. His Excellency, James A. Beaver, Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. SIR: On the 14th day of June last, I had the honor to address you a report, based upon the report of inspections made by eight medical inspectors of this board, of the regions along the West branch of the Susquehanna and the Juniata rivers. In accordance with the facts contained in those reports, I, at the same time, made official declaration in the name of the State Board of Health, of the existence of a nuisance prejudicial to the public health, in the towns along the rivers in the aforesaid regions; and, inasmuch as the proportions of said nuisance were so extensive as to make it impossible for the local authorities to remove and abate it, I called upon your Excellency to at once employ such means as might be necessary to effectually remove and abate the same. I have now the honor to report that this work has been brought to a successful termination. These towns have been visited, not only by the district inspectors of the board, but also by individual members of the board acting under instructions from your Excellency, and by a committee of the board itself. The board has sent disinfectants in considerable quantities to these places, together with printed circulars, instructing the people how to make use of them, and how, in other ways so to cleanse their houses and grounds, as to prevent disease as a result of the flood. Your Excellency has also rendered them pecuniary aid in several instances, to enable them to carry out these instructions. A committee of the board has recently made a final inspection of these districts, whose report indicates that there is no longer any occasion for outside assistance for protecting the public health. I therefore, in the name of the State Board of Health, declare the nuisance in these districts removed and abated, and request that no further aid be extended to them by the state. I have the honor to be, Your Excellency's most obedient servant, BENJAMIN LEE, Secretary and Executive Officer, State Board of Health and Vital Statisties of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. FINANCIAL STATEMENT. BENJAMIN LEE, M. D., Secretary of the State Board of Health of Pennsylvania, in Account with Governor Beaver, in abatement of nuisances caused by Floods of May 31st, 1889. Dr. To amount paid by Governor Beaver personally, on 14 Aug., 1889, . 1 Oct., 1889, $11.00 4,000.00 3,000.00 10,000.00 356.00 9 Sep, 1890, Amounts received from Quarter Master General, Col. Samuel W. Hill, and Accounting Officer, Lieut. Col. Joseph H. Gray: 6 July, 1889, 496.90 To sale of house used by State Board of Health, . 75.00 27.09 To balance, 43.73 $39,928.75 Cr. By services of deputy medical inspectors, residents of Johns town, $4,018.44 By services of medical inspectors of the Board at Johns town, 180.00 By services of medical inspectors of the Board in other flooded regions, By services of other physicians, including searching for and burial of animals, 135.00 720.13 By expenses of members of Board, meeting at and inspection of Johnstown and district, 307.73 By expenses of members of Board inspecting other flooded regions, 340.06 By travelling and other personal expenses of Dr. Benjamin 252.84 By wages of clerks, cooks, messengers and all other office employés in Johnstown, 3,369.97 By wages of superintendent and other employés at morgue in Johnstown, 732.00 Sheriff's expenses, searching for and burial of animals, etc.,.. 234.88 In addition to the above expenditures, the amount of $617.02 was paid by the Accounting Officer, Col. Gray, directly to individuals in the employ of the Board, and did not pass through the hands of the secretary. APPENDIX F. QUARANTINE, EPIDEMICS, AND SPECIAL SOURCES OF DISEASE. I. How rags and bandages are disposed of in forty-eight Institutions in Pennsylvania. (a). Communication from the Board of Health of Philadelphia. (b). Secretary's Report. II. Vaccination of Public School Children. III. Cremation Furnace for Quarantine Hospitals. (a). Letter by Dr. M. L. Davis. (b). Description and Plan of Furnace. IV. Small-Pox at Pittsburgh. V. Sanitary Needs of Carbondale. VI. False Certificates. (a). Complaint of State Board of Health of Ohio. (b). Report of the Special Committee. VII. Small-Pox at Wilkes-Barre. VIII. Small-Pox at Kingston, Luzerne county. X. Small-Pox at Glen Lyon, Luzerne county. XII. Diphtheria at Gallitzin, Cambria county. XIII. Quarantine at Cape Henlopen. (a). Appointment of Dr. Benjamin Lee as United States Commissioner. (b). An act to cede certain lands to the United States. (c). Notice from J. F. Saulsbury, State Department of Delaware. (d). Report of Dr. Benjamin Lee. XIV. Extracts from Memoranda made by Dr. Charles M. Cresson Relative to Water Supply and Disease in the city of Philadelphia. XV. Note from Supervising Surgeon General relative to the use of the Steamer at Quarantine. XVI. An Act to Prevent the Spread of Contagious Diseases among Domestic Animals. I. HOW RAGS AND BANDAGES ARE DISPOSED OF IN FORTYEIGHT INSTITUTIONS, IN PENNSYLVANIA. (a.) COMMUNICATION FROM THE BOARD OF HEALTH OF PHILADELPHIA. PHILADELPHIA, March 14th, 1889. Benjamin Lee, M. D., Secretary of the State Board of Health. DEAR SIR-It has come to the notice of the board of health that hospital rags and bandages, not treated, after use find their way to dealers A comparatively small number have been re-vaccinated, perhaps about 4 per cent. Respectfully submitted, OWEN R. WILT, Superintendent of Public Schools. III.-CREMATION FURNACES FOR QUARANTINE HOSPITALS. (a.) LETTER OF DR. M. L. DAVIS. Benjamin Lee, M. D. DEAR SIR: I have been at work at a quarantine hospital for some time, with a cremation furnace so arranged that all air impregnated by patients should be destroyed by passing through the furnace, as well as to protect and perfectly isolate one patient from another. At the request of the New York Quarantine Commission, I put the plans all in definite shape; they were very greatly pleased by the plans, but as the Act of Assembly under which they were working only provided for a crematory, that was all they could adopt, and that I had built for them on Swinburn island. In view of the fact that you are interested in the erection of a quarantine hospital below Philadelphia, my brother suggested that I send you the plans for inspection. The proposed plan would be much more expensive than an ordinary building, but when we consider the importance of complete isolation of patients, and the complete destruction of all poisonous germs, cost sinks into insig nificance. The cost of the epidemics of yellow fever in the last five years would have put such a hospital at every important sea port on our exposed coast, and saved the many lives sacrificed. By this plan you can place a patient in one room with yellow fever, and in the next room one suspected of having small pox, and in the next room a patient with cholera, and the well person in the middle will be as safe as if fifty miles distant. Should there be any point which you do not fully understand, I shall be pleased to explain. Yours very truly, (b.) DESCRIPTION AND PLAN OF FURNACE. M. L. DAVIS. The hospital building consists of a central building and wings radiating from it of any desirable number and length. Fig. 1 represents the first floor of the central building. The rooms are intended to be used for offices, dining room, kitchen, waiting room, etc; all are marked G on the plan. In the corridor an iron stairway marked S runs to the upper stories. Radiating from the central building are the wards for patients marked H. Each ward has a hallway in the centre running lengthwise, with a row of rooms on either side marked F. Each room is provided with |