The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-12-11
MUNICIPAL NUISANcES
And Their Abatement Considered BY DR.
Morton of st. Adams.

Z
ly injurious to the health of com
munity, and second, those which affect
the body through the special senses, as
doors, noises, etc. The latter class Is
the bane of the health officers exist
ence. He must decide whether the case
is really nuisance, whether ii is Of
enough Importance to justify legal pro-
ceedings or whether the complaint is
not the result Of a neighborhood quar-
rel.
I'm my own city recently nearly the
whole time Of two city council meet
ings was devoted 20 trying TO decide
whether the Growing OF rooster in the
morning under a neighbor's window con-
stituted a nuisance, and il il did, what
steps should be taken TO abate said nuis-
anee Our city ordinance providing that
! all complaints shall be made out in
writing and signed is great aid in
lessening the number of unimportant
complaints, and those arising from neigh
borhood quarrels.
DRY closets are nuisance in all
thicllly populated communities. II is
! almost physical impossibility to pre-
vent disagreeable doors from them dur
ing the warm weather, and there again
they threaten the health of the whole
population by being a great factor in
the spread of typhoid fever by means
of the house fly All owners of prop
erty in villages having a water and sew
er system should be compelled TO pro-
vide suitable number of well yentilat-
ed water closets. See. 5443.
"'rhe subject Of pigpens is one that
gives me a lot of trouble. | feel that
any pigpen within the city limits is a
nuisance, and | do not hesitate to con-
denim il as such. II is hard sometimes
to have the health board order the
abatement of such nuisance as some
OF the members feel that it is depriving
poor people OF one means OF livelihood.
| have recommended several times dur
ing the last five years that city ordi-
nance be passed prohibiting the keeping
OF pigs within the city limits, but as
yet have failed to obtain any legisla-
tion on this matter
"Some OF the Massachusetts, towns
have an ordinance which prohibits the
keeping Of pigs within the village lin
its from the first OF May to the first
of November, thus allowing the people
to keep them during the cold weather.
am told that this plan works very
well, and that there is very little fault
found.
"The disposal Of garbage and waste,
or perhaps the non-disposal Of garbage,
constitutes a nuisance in my city which
keeps the streets Uttered, breeds flies
and causes many complaints. Many PEG.
Pile living in flats over stores have alb
solutely no place to dispose Of their
waste. Consequently after dark this is
thrown into the alley ways and back
lots much of it TO be blown into the
streets by the first wind. II is almost
impossible to find out who the offenders
are or to prosecute them if they are
caught. To Illustrate, there is block
in the city inhabited by members of
the Hebrew race. These people con-
tinually dump garbage and rubbish on
an adjacent lot have been to them
several times about the matter and
finally took the chief of police to see
them He warned them that the prae-
tiee must stop or arrest would follow.
One day as one member of the board
Of health and / We're passing the block
we caught one of the tenants red-hand-
ed, dumping rubbish into the lot. Here
was clear case with the alderman and
myself as witnesses, but no prosecu-
ton followed. The matter was taken
up at the next council meeting and died
natural death.
"The city should provide some means
OF garbage removal, especially in the
more popuIous sections where the peo-
pie have no yards where they may tenn
porarily deposit the refuse. Our local
medical society has taken the matter
up and petitioned the city council to
make some provision, so far, however,
without success, The daily or tri-week-
ly removal Of garbage by the city ought
to put a stop to the practice of dump
ing everything from an old feather bed
to a dead chicken, on our neighbor's
property.
"a health officer very often gets into
disagreeable positions in the discharge
of his duties. At one time found that
one of my patients was selling bob beef
Here was a sery ssek man committing
an ofTense against The state, and act
ing as his medical adviser and friend was
still obliged to aid the states attor-
ney in preparing the case against him.
could not help feeling like hypo-
critic each time the man called 1T my
Office.
"The fly nuisance is one which should
receive attention from the health off
Ger. The modern slogan is, Swat the
fly, but we should go much farther and
not only swat the fly but eliminate all
his breeding places. Then we should
have clean city. To this end all de-
caying vegetables and animal matter
must be carefully removed, all manure
piles either abolished or protected so
that the fly cannot gain access to them.
The manure from private stables should
be kept in a tight box with screen
cover. while that from livery stables
should be kept in some carefully screened
basement or building. The pigpen and
dry closet, as before stated, must go.
II do not wish to take up your time
with a lengthy discussion in regard to
the abatement of nuisances. We have
ample laws with which you are all ia
miliar, and, as a rule, the graver forms
OF nuisanees may be abolished with very
little trouble. Those of minor impor-
lance will require tact and great pa
thence. When our local health board
fails to abate nuisance we know that
we can appeal at any time to the state
board. feeling certain that the complaint,
if just, will receive prompt attention"