353. Except in case of extreme exigency, the causes for which shall be fully entered in the overseer's records, and then for not more then* the period of one month, it shall not be lawful for the overseer to grant aid or relief to any person with whose support the city is not chargeable under the general poor laws of the state; but he shall refer all such persons to the proper state or county officer.

§ 354. The overseer shall prepare monthly a full statement showing the amount and kind of assistance granted during the previous month. He shall make a report to the common council prior to the third day of January in each year, which shall contain a summary of such monthly statements, the monthly statements, the reports of the investigating officers, and all the books and records pertaining to the department shall be systematically kept, and shall be open for examination at all times by any taxpayer of the city, and by officers of the police department, and the names and residences of all persons relieved, with other pertinent facts, shall be kept in such books and records. The overseer shall also furnish to the mayor a daily report of the aid and relief granted by him, with the names and addresses of all recipients. (As amended by chapter 72 of the Laws of 1892.)

§ 355. No order for aid and relief of any kind shall be given to any person under the age of thirteen years at the office of the overseer, whether it be for that person or for any other person; nor shall any such order be so given to any person of thirteen years or over and under the age of eighteen years, unless the overseer shall be satisfied that great hardship would be caused by any delay in giving such order, and in that event he shall make special entries in his books of the facts bearing on the question, as stated to him at the time, and also as disclosed by an investigation which shall immediately be made. (As amended by chapter

72 of the Laws of 1892.)

§ 356. The aid and relief granted under this title shall be classified as follows: (a) Orders for provisions, boots and shoes, fuel, and other necessary articles to be furnished to applicants requiring temporary aid, designated "out-door aid." (b) Burial orders. (c) Orders for hospital aid or treatment, designated * So in original,

"in-door relief." In-door relief in abodes provided by law for cases requiring permanent assistance, shall be granted only by the superintendent of the poor of Erie county, or other proper state or county officer under the general laws of the state, and all cases requiring such relief shall be referred by the overseer to the proper state or county officer.

§ 357. Orders for hospital aid or treatment shall only be made upon the recommendation of a city physician, specifying the nature of the disease or injury, or, if the exigency of the case is such that a formal recommendation can not be obtained before the order is given, the case shall be personally examined and the order approved or disapproved by a city physician within fortyeight hours thereafter.

§ 358. The overseer shall contract for burials, and also for furnishing boots, shoes and fuel upon the orders furnished by him, with suitable persons, under ordinances to be enacted by the common council.

§ 359. Orders of the overseer for provisions, boots and shoes, or fuel or other outdoor aid, shall specify what nature of articles shall be furnished on the same, and the value thereof. Except where contracts have been made as provided in the foregoing section, the order shall be drawn in blank as regards the person or firm drawn upon, and they shall be valid evidence of the indebtedness against the city, in the hands of the person or firm who shall accept and fill the same.

§ 360. It shall be a misdemeanor for any person or firm to furnish beer, liquors or intoxicating drinks of any kind on an order of the overseer of the poor, or to buy such order from the person to whom it was issued, or from any other person, before it has been accepted and filled, or to furnish any article not specified or embraced therein. Such orders shall be drawn with proper blank spaces for the following entries, which shall be made thereon by the persons accepting and filling them: (1) The name of the person presenting the order; (2) the name of the person accepting it; (3) the amount and kind of articles furnished, with the prices thereof; and they shall in all cases be returned by the acceptor, or his agents or assigns, to the over

seer, to be examined by him and entered in his books of records, and to be countersigned by him before they shall be paid by the city treasurer.

361. The city physicians appointed under section two hundred and thirty-four of this act shall render all necessary medical services to indigent sick persons within their respective districts, under rules and regulations prescribed by the overseer of the poor and approved by the board of health, and subject to his directions. The officers in charge of the several police precincts of the city may issue to the several city physicians orders to visit any indigent sick person residing within their respective districts, and it shall be the duty of said city physician to so visit any such person upon receiving such order, and any indigent sick person may apply to any officer in charge of a police precinct for such an order.

§ 362. The overseer shall furnish the city physicians with official prescription blanks, which shall be used by the city physicians in prescribing medicines for the indigent sick attended by them on the order of the overseer or the officers in charge of the several police precincts, under rules and regulations prescribed by the overseer. Said prescription blanks shall be signed by the physician issuing them and shall have the same force and effect, and be accepted and filed* in the same manner, and shall be returned and paid in the same manner as orders of the overseer for provisions issued under section three hundred and fifty-nine of this act. Such prescriptions shall be returned to the overseer of the poor within thirty days for payment. 363. The city physicians shall furnish to the overseer reports weekly and whenever required by the overseer, of the names and addresses of all persons attended by them, with the nature of their ailments, the number of visits made to each, and the number and kind of prescriptions given to them.

§ 364. Any fraud practiced, or false representation made by an applicant for city aid or relief, or by any other person, to procure aid or relief to be given, or to procure any order for outdoor aid to be accepted or filled, or to be paid by the city,

So in original.

or any willful act of any city officer or other person, designed to impede or in any way to interfere with the just and proper administration of this department, shall be a misdemeanor.

COHOES, ALBANY COUNTY.

(Note. Overseer of the poor appointed by the common council for a term of two years at an annual salary of $800.)

Chapter 671, Laws of 1892.

TITLE V.

§ 41. The overseer of the poor.-The overseer of the poor shall, subject to the provisions of this act, have the same powers, with the same restrictions and liabilities, as overseers of the poor of towns in the county of Albany; and, for all purposes relating to the maintenance and support of the poor, the city shall be treated as one of the towns of said county. Said overseer of the poor shall occupy an office to be provided by the common council, in some central and convenient part of the city, and shall, at the first regular meeting of the common council in each month, report to it in writing, in detail, under oath, all appropriations, expenditures, temporary relief and allowances made by him as such officer during the last preceding month. Said report shall specify the name of each person relieved, with the quantity, quality and price of each article furnished, and from whom obtained; it shall also contain the names of all persons to whom meals and lodgings have been furnished, and the number of such meals and lodgings, from whom obtained and the cost of the same. Said report shall be accompanied with the written orders given by the aldermen, as mentioned in section forty-four of this title, and with a statement of all applications not granted and the reasons therefor.

§ 42. Said overseer shall possess all the powers and authority, subject to any modifications herein, of overseers of the poor of the several towns in this state, in relation to the support of indi

gent persons, the binding out of children, the safe care and keeping of lunatics, the care of habitual drunkards, the binding and contracting to service of disorderly persons, the support of bastards and proceedings to charge the parents of such bastards.

§ 43. Indigent persons and such others as shall be entitled to relief under the laws of this state, who are, or who shall become chargeable or likely to become chargeable to the city, being in said city shall continue to be supported and relieved in the manner provided by law in respect to the county of Albany. All persons applying for any such relief shall make application in writing, which applications shall be filed and preserved by the overseer of the poor and delivered monthly to the clerk. All charges and accounts against the city for services rendered, acts done or means furnished by virtue of this and the preceding section, shall be audited by the common council in the same manner and at the same time similar accounts are audited in the several towns in the county of Albany by the respective town boards; and all accounts properly chargeable against the county of Albany, shall be audited by the board of supervisors of said county of Albany, in the same manner as the accounts of towns and town officers are audited and allowed by them.

44. Said overseer of the poor shall not grant medical, surgical or temporary relief, or board and lodging for any poor or indigent person, at the expense of the city, without the written order or authority, first had and obtained of at least two aldermen, and in such case not to an amount exceeding the sum limited in such order, nor without the written petition of the applicant. Any medical, surgical or temporary relief, or board and lodging, furnished without such order or petition, shall not be a valid claim or be recovered against the city; and said common council are prohibited from auditing or allowing any such claim or account to any person whatever. For a violation of this section the common council may remove said overseer of the poor. The common council of said city shall have the power and authority to contract for and purchase at such times and in such quantities as they shall deem necessary, for the temporary relief of the poor of said city, provisions, articles and