The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-16
SANITARY INSPECTOR
 SUBMITS HIS REPORT
He Praises "CIean Street Ordinance" Says Plumbing Should Be ln-
 spected By Practical Man.

The following report was received from Sanitary Inspector Walker by the mayor yesterday for the year ending December S1. 1905:
 Much has been accomplished during the year but there is still much to be done before Birmingham will be a clean city.
 "The clean street ordinance,' passed by the body, is a step in the right di- rection. If it were enforced we would have a clean city, but with the present num- Der of inspectors, teams and men it is impossible to carry out the details of this ordinance.
 We cannot expect our citizens to pro- vide expensive receptacles for their gar bage unless they are emptied regularly and to do this we must have more teams and men.
 T again call your attention to the much needed inspection (by a practical plum ber) of plumbing in the old buildings in our city. This should be done and all buildings condemned and closed up unless modern plumbing is put in within req sonable length of time. One thing very noticeable is the large number of old buildings that have been torn down and replaced by modern structures during the year. Quite a number will be torn down during the coming year. but there is a large number which will doubtless stand for a number of years. These buildings were constructed without regard to ven- tilation or proper sanitary appliances which renders them a menace to health and a public nuisance. A number of these buildings are standing on First avenue, between Twentieth and Twenty-first streets, and Second avenue between Twen- tieth and Twenty-second streets.
 't'Something should be done with the open ditch beginning at Avenue and Eighteenth street and running in a west erly direction through our city The odors that originate from this ditch dur ing the summer months are something terrible. In my opinion an automatic flush ing device could be put in at a small cost which would abate this nuisance to large extent.
 "The Ninth avenue ditch has been kept clean and very little trouble has been ex- perienced with it during the year.
 "A large number of unused wells and cisterns have been filled during the year, but there still remains a number in the northern portion of the city to be filed
 "Practicaly all the low lots on which water stood have been filled or drained.
 "The Frisco railroad has partially drained their right of way on Ninth ave- nue east of Twenty-fourth street, but there is a large number of low places that connot be drained, and it will be necessary to fill them.
 "Sometlkng should be done to keep the vacant lots in our city free from weeds. There are so many lots owned by nom residents that 1t is impossible to enforce the weed ordinance. If an ordinance were in vogue giving the city the right to keep all vacant property free from weeds and charges taxed against the property 1t would be much better than the present arrangement.
 There has not been an epidemic of any contagious or infectious dis eases during the year. A few cases of smallpox in the early part of the year, and some scarlet fever and diphtheria right along. All premises reported infected with any of the above diseases have been properly fumigated. For statistics, see re- port of the city health officer.
 "The following Is list of the property