Evening star., 1913-12-03

directly upon the purity Of the food sup
/ ply The archaeological laboratory has
been of exceptional value. too. in the OBJ
tanning of direct evidence of the infective
character of milk from herds suspected
of being more severely infected with
tuberculosis than the average dairy herd
and the evidence thus obtained has en-
abled the health department to bring
about the purging of such herds of in
fection. The extension of the work OF
the best meteorological laboratory in con-
nection with the communicable disease
| service has been recommended, and the
| enlargement of it's work with respect to
| the food supply is earnestly desired.
Sanitary Inspection.
| During the year the sanitary inspection
| force acted upon II. 1872 complaints. and
! in addition to the inspections arising
out of these complaints, made 21,61S
other original inspections. Reinspections
numbered %. 13s, and other otlcial calls
incident to the sanitary inspection work.
| but not included in the numbers given
| above, amounted to 1S.S01. Violations of
| existing laws and regulations were re-
| ported in 1899 instances. and in 16S2l
| the unlawful conditions were corrected.
| The difference represents the number OF
| cases for which notices were outstand-
| ing at the close OF the year
The inspector detailed to the enforce
! ment of the anti-smoke law made 1927
| observations and reported 1854 viola
| tions. In most of these cases the ennis
sion of smoke observed lasted for less
| than one minute and were made, there
| fore, the basis merely for cautionary
| notices to the responsible persons. Sew
| enty-eight cases were referred to the
corporation counsel for prosecution, and
| in SiytE-fOUr fines imnnSpd
collateral forfeited. The defendants were
acquitted in two cases In eight cases
| personal bonds were taken, two cases
were ''nolle pressed" and five cases were
pending at the close of the year
The law requiring weeds I'm the more
densely populated parts Of the District
to be kept at a height not exceeding four
inches from the ground has been en-
forced in so far as the force of inspect
ors at the command of the health officer
has permitted. but it is evident upon
even the most superficial investigation
that there has been nothing like sub
stantial enforcement of it. Substantial
enforcement Is impossible so long as the
law remains in its present form, unless
there be a very large increase in the
number of available inspectors and in
the amount of money for other expenses
incident to such work. AS il is not ap-
parent that the District would be bene-
fitted in any way to an extent commen-
surate with the cost of such work, the
health officer has recommended that the
law be amended so as to facilitate en-
forcement and that a special force of in
spectors for its enforcement be provided
during the weed season.
Communicable Diseases of Animals.
Rabies having continued to prevail.
the Commissioners on August 10, 1912,
6al TO-
which dogs are required to be muzzled.
The number of unmuzzled dogs taken
up during the year was 1870, of which
number 1,oss had neither tag nor muz-
zle. The effective enforcement of the
law and regulations to prevent dogs
from illegally running at large can be
effected. however. only by a substantial
increase in the available pound force
The Pound Service.
In addition to impounding 1,52O un-
muzzled dogs. 2,O7s dogs were called for
and killed on request of owners. 1t was
impossible to begin actively the impound-
ing of cats authorized by the Commits
sioners' regulation of June II. 1912. but
6,132 cats were called for and killed on
the request of citizens who had them
in their custody. At the close of the
year arrangements were being made for
the impounding of cats, in SO far as the
limited force at the disposal of the health
department will permit. by means of
traps. The impounding of the larger do
mestic animals now forms an incOnsid-
cradle part Of the pound work, only six
horses and one goat having been i'm
pounded during the whole year.
The keeping of dogs in the District is
apparently on the decrease, since during
the fiscal year 1913 only 9O61 licenses
were issued, decrease of 1.1S9 as COM
pared with the preceding year. There is
! no good reason why owners of dogs
should not be required at all times to
keep them within the confines of the
owners premises or else to take them on
public thoroughfares only when in leash.
law placing this restriction upon the
keeping of dogs in the District would go
far toward eliminating rabies. Certainly
there can be valid objection at least
to the enactment of a law requiring dogs
to be kept absolutely upon the owners
premises between sunset and sunrise, or
else to be taken out only in leash during
that period, and the enactment of a law
to that effect is essential to the limita-
tion of rabies, since apparently owners
of dogs not infrequently allow them to
run at large unmuzzled after dark in de-
fiance of law. knowing that it is impos-
sible for the pound force after dark to
distinguish between a dog that is muZ-
zled and one that is unmuzzled or a dog
that is tagged and one that is untagged
at such a distance as will render i'm
pounding possible. In order. however to
make the pound force efficient especially
in view of the added duty of impounding
cats. motor vehicle should be provided
and there should be an increase in the
available working force. Both of these
matters have been recommended by the
Commissioners to Congress for favora BILE
consideration in submitting the annual
estimates for the coming year.
Coroner.
During the year the coroner held 20 in
quests and directed the performing of
autopsies in 81 District of Columbia
cases and p United States cases The
total number of deaths from accidents
and other forms of violence was 341, of
which p were homicidal; 800 bodies were
received at the morgue. The total num-
, Der of cases passed upon and certificates
approved by the coroner during the year
was 435.
Board Of Pharmacy.
During the year the board held nine
regular meetings to transact business and
| also held four regular examinations with
the following results:
applicants u.,
| ination. Passed. Failed. drawn. iected.
July 20 I6
October October lles 2 ! . Q