The Portland daily press., 1886-11-13
THE BOARD OF HEALTH
Consider Charges Against Undertak.
er N. w. Morse and Exonerate Him.

Yesterday afternoon a meeting of the
Board of Health was held in the Mayors
Office to consider certain charges which had
been brought to the attention of the Board
respecting the conduct of Undertaken n. w.
Morse, whom it was alleged had disregarded
the instructions of the physician in attend
ance upon the family of Rev. Mr. Tinker.
The charge which was made to City Clerk
Burgess, as the secretary of the Board of
Health, was that Mr.. Morse had removed a
bed lounge, on which one of Mr.. Tinker's
children had died of diphtheria, and intend
ed to preserve it, the physician having given
instructions that the lounge should be
burned
The meeting was called to order by the
Mayor. A reporter for the PRESS was in
attendance, but upon the motion of Alder
man Sawyer it was voted that it was the
sense Of the Board that the meeting was of
the nature of committee meeting and that
the reporter be excluded, information which
was deemed of a public nature to be furnish
ed by the clerk at the conclusion Of the
meeting.
At the end of the meeting the City Clerk
gave in substance the following account of
what transpired:
Undertaken Morse, who was present,
stated that he did not know that orders had
been given that the lounge should be de-
stroyed The lounge was given him by Mr..
Tinker and he had disinfected it by using
Marsh's disinfectant, preparation in use in
hospitals all over the country.
1t appeared that the physician had recon-
mended that certain articles of furniture and
bedding in the house be burned, the premises
Of course, being thoroughly disinfected In
regard to the lounge, the physician told Mr..
Tinker that it could be disinfected if it was
taken apart and the different portions disin-
fected separately. Mr.. Tinker remarked
that the lounge was hardly worth so much
trouble and the physician then recommended
that it be burned. When Mr.. Tinker at
tempted to secure a team to remove the fur
niture he encountered difficulty in finding
anybody ready to undertake the work and
Mr.. Morse, being told of the condition Of af-
fairs, consented to remove the articles. Mr.
Tinker said to the undertaken that the
lounge was to be destroyed with the remain
der of the furniture, but said nothing in re-
gard to the physicians instructions. AS the
lounge was being carried out of the house,
Mr.. Morse remarked that it seemed pity
to destroy it and said that he could disinfect
it. Mr.. Tinker said that the lounge was
new one and then said that if Mr.. Morse
could disinfect it, he might have it. Mr..
Morse accordingly took the lounge and
sprayed" it thoroughly with Marsh's prep
aration.
After learning these facts, the Board de-
cided that Mr.. Morse had not violated the in
structions of the physician, the lounge hav-
ing, in the opinion of the Board, been thor
oughly disinfected.
The complaint on which the meeting was
held comes under the following sections of
the ordinance relating to contagious diseases:
SEC. 5.-The clothing and bed-clothing of
persons sick of the diseases mentioned i'm
Section l, shall be thoroughly disinfected.
under the direction of the attending phvsi-
clan.
SEC 9.--The violation of any of the fore
going secuons, and any interference with
the Board OF Health to prevent the execution
anu enforcement OF them, or refusal to obey
tne orders OF said Board, with relation there
10 snall. on complaint. be punished by fine,
not less tnan hve nor more than twenty dol
lars Tor each offence, in addition TO the LA
bllity to such punishment as is provided bv
the Revised Statutes of the State of Maine
for specific offences
After the transaction of some routine busi-
ness, the Board adjourned