The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-01-20
CHARTER CHANGES :
 ASKED FOR BY HEALTH BOARD
Conference With the Mayor To-day on
 the Subject = Board Expects to Get
 Larger Appropriation This Year-No
 Increase Since 1895.

Bernard Setzer, as a subcommittee Of the board of Apportionment met with President George 4E. Ober oil the Health board yesterday afternoon and went oyer the reauisition of the latter board. President Ober explained the workings of the Health Board. One of these was the fact that the appro- priation of the board of Health has not been increased since 1895 and that during that time the city has heavily increased in population. MT. Setzer assured Dr. Ober that he would do ev- erything iii his power to get a iber- al appropriation for the board this year. It would have been a good thing if every member of the board of App portionment could have listened to the explanations of President Ober. pr. Ober is much in earnest in his desire for better food and milk inspection. He has already used over $100 of his private funds for the benefit of the board He desires bacteriologist whose tests will be accepted as indis- putable evidence in court. It is now necessary to supplement the tests made in the laboratory of the board by those made at the Agricultural ex- pertinent station before the tests can be used as evidence. On every occa- sion when such tests have been made the agricultural experiment station has established the accuracy of those made by the board. The pasteuriza- ton of milk, while it destroys the albuminoids and makes the milk un- fit for the food of infants. Some ln- fantS will starve on pasteurized milk. The efforts of the board will be exert ed in the line of producing milk under sanitary conditions. This is half the battle for pure milk. Supplement this with care in handling and the problem is about solved. In the city of De- troit where the milk question has been the subject of careful attention, per haps the most careful in the United States. care is taken to maintainn the milk at 8 temperature which prevents development of the petrefactive bac- teria. Milk should be subject to con- stant inspection from the time it leaves the udder until 1t reaches the consumer.
 The board of health is also hanpered by lack of authority to enforce some much needed regulations. Health Off, f1cer Mcclellan was in conference with Mayor Lee to-day to obtain the incor- poration of certain features in the proposed charter changes. Some of the authority delegated to the Com- mon Council of Waterbury will be ask ed for in this city. The idea is to have the charter clearly clothe the common council with authority to del- egate certain powers to the board of health for the control of abuses. Many of these are dependent upon local con- ditions and will not apply in other cit ies Conditions are continually arising which call for remedy and the board finds itself unable to cope with them on account of lack of authority. In some cases where the common cOun- cil has the required authority it can not be delegated to the board of health without the risk of running up against law suits. The employment of a reg ular bacteriologist by the board of health will do away with the neces- sity of the Anti-Tuberculosis society employing such a specialist. The so- ciety hopes to be able to make use of the specialist employed by the Health board. The rooms of the society on the upper floor of the Police and Char ities Building, contiguous to the health boards laboratory. and it would be possible for one bacteriologist to do the work of both the society and the board.
 One of the changes asked for by the board is legislation which will com pefe every distributor of milk to reg ister at the health boards office, stat ing the sources of his supply and other data which will give the board an ap- portunity to assure the purity of the nrOduct