The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-26
Licenses.
Health and Sanitation.

This department always works under difficulties because it's function is to ln- terfere with and regulate personal haplls and premises of individuals. 1herelore, 1t is necessary to have the hrm anu steady backing of law and of your honorT able body.
 During the year this department, through arrests and otherwise, forced 2Oo dry closets to be connected with sewers. If nailed up and destroyed 40. There are none now left in the city except those too low or so situated as not to be apie to reach a sewer main
 In July a mild epidemic of typhoid fever broke out in the Eighth and Ninth wards. Ii was quickly stamped out by the wig orous action of health authorities. Whlie the outbreak was unfortunate 1t has proven of value by awaking the people to the fact that the existence Of typnoid is simply a matter of choice We can keep it with us or not, just as we decide to adopt proper precautions or not
 The same kind of citizen who years ago baked at doing away with dry closets, on the ground of foolshness and In ordef to save the money it costs to make sew craze connections, is now baking at the attcmpt to reduce the birth rate of the house fly, mosquito and other unnecessary things that have recently been sentenced to death by the scientific fraternity
 In handling matters of this kind 1t is criminal to temporize with ignorance Or cupidity.
 The city has been so remarkably free from smallpox for the past three years that our people have lapsed into false sense of security. Vaccination has been neglected and the slight outbreak in No- yember and December is liable to lead to a spread of this troublesome disease. The only way to handle it is by vigorous en- forcement of your vaccination law and the regular thorough spring cleaning.
 Meat and Milk Department.
 This efficient department continues to grow with the city. Its good work cannot be overestimated The following will give an idea of its work for the year:
 Animals inspected, 51,24s; pounds of fresh meat inspected, 5,7Sl, ,470; animals condemned, CT; pounds of fresh meat con demned. 5S, ,4Ss; pounds of fresh fish con- demned. 40,4S5; buckets of oysters con demned, 119.
 Engineering.
 Nineteen hundred and seven was one Of the heaviest years ever known in the en- gineering office. as shown by comparison, of the past three years, viz. t- Cost of work completed in 1905. .$29S, ,697. Il Cost of work completed in 1906.. 33S, ,S52 95 Cost of work completed in 1907.. 343, ,261 76 Late in the year, however, all new work was abandoned as the city wishes to refrain from placing fresh burdens on the property owner until such time as the general financial situation warrants re- newal of large Improvements
 The only work under contract on Janu- ary is for sidewalks and amounts to $500.
 Sewers.
 With each passing year it is clearly shown that the city has outgrown it's sewer system. This is especially true of storm water sewers. Your engineer esti- mates that with an expenditure of about $500, 900 both sewer systems can be made complete and adequate for all time to come.
 New sanitary sewers are imperative in order that the health of this commun- ity be protected. Their capacity is now overtaxed. It has ceased to be a question of whether or not we can afford it. Bir- mngham win receive a serious setback unless they enlarged at once.
 We have h unable to build storm sewers for yA owing to the cost of them Yet th cost of construction would sooner oi later be more than off, set by reason of development that would immediately follt '. Large stretches of territory in the dy limits aret now un- tenanted and unpE eductive and in some places uninhabited owing to our inabil- ty to protect them from storm water
 Aside from the necessity of this public work there could be no more propitous time to get it under way. First, owing to the cheapness of labor and materials;