HEALTH ORDINANCES OF THE NEW CITIES OF ROCHESTER, SOMERSWORTH, AND LACONIA. ROCHESTER. The board of health is composed of the city physician, the overseer of the poor, and a sanitary officer, who are paid for their services the sums of one hundred dollars, two hundred dollars, and three hundred dollars, respectively. The following are the ordinances of the city relating to public health: SECTION 1. The city council shall, at the beginning of the first municipal year, elect one person to serve both as city physician and member of the board of health for the term of one year, and at the expiration of said one year, and of every third year thereafter, shall elect one person to serve in both said capacities for the term of three years. SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of said physician to attend, under the direction of the overseer of the poor, upon all sick paupers or patients under the care of the city authorities; to examine all persons applying for aid, and make a written report to the overseer of the poor as to their mental and physical condition; to vaccinate with cowpox virus any scholar proposing to enter the public schools who has not been vaccinated, and who, through lack of means, is unable to pay therefor; and, in case of any alarm of any infectious or contagious disease, to give to the city council, or any committee thereof, all such professional advice and counsel as they may request of him, and generally to perform such other professional services as may reasonably be required of him by the mayor and council. SEC. 3. Said physician shall have no power to bind the city to pay for the assistance or service of any other physician, or any bill whatever, except when authorized in writing so to do by the mayor. SEC. 4. The city council shall, at the beginning of the first municipal year, elect a person to serve both as overseer of the poor and member of the board of health for the term of two years, and at the expiration of said two years, and of every three years thereafter, they shall elect a person to serve in both said capacities for the term of three years; and at the beginning of the first municipal year, and every third year thereafter, they shall elect a person to serve as a member of the board of health for the term of three years, who shall be the executive officer of said board, and be denominated the sanitary officer. SEC. 5. Said sanitary officer, city physician, and overseer of the poor shall constitute the board of health provided for in the city charter, and shall have all the powers given such officers by the laws of the state and the ordinances of the city. SEC. 6. The sanitary officer shall thoroughly acquaint himself with the sanitary laws and regulations prescribed by the state and city ordinances. SEC. 7. The sanitary officer shall devote at least one half of his entire time to the performance of the duties. imposed upon him by virtue of his office. He shall investigate all complaints relating to nuisances that may be brought to his attention, serve all orders and notices issued by the board, and enforce all rules and regulations, or other conditions affecting the health or comfort of the public. He shall have the same power to make arrests as is by law and ordinance conferred upon the regular police of the city, in all cases where any person or persons shall violate the laws of the state, city ordinances, orders, rules or regulations relating to the health of the city, and shall wear a badge prescribed by the board. In case he shall be unable to act as the executive officer of the board, through sickness or other good cause, the board may elect a suitable person to act temporarily in his stead, and such person, while so acting, shall possess all the authority and receive the same compensation which the sanitary officer would otherwise receive under the provisions of these ordinances. SEC. 8. The sanitary officer shall, under the direction of the board of health, in the first week in May, commence a systematic house to house sanitary inspection, which shall continue until the inspection of the city is completed. He shall secure the abatement, within a reasonable time, of all nuisances found, and shall give such advice and make such recommendations to householders and others as he may deem necessary to secure good sanitary conditions. SEC. 9. It shall be the duty of every physician, surgeon, or other person attending upon a case of small-pox, epidemic cholera, epidemic dysentery, diphtheria, scarletfever, typhoid fever, measles, yellow-fever, or other dangerous, contagious, infectious, or pestilential disease, and every householder, attendant, or agent in whose house a case of any such disease occurs, immediately to report every such case to the sanitary officer or to the board of health, giving the number of the house, the street, avenue, or lane upon which it is situated, and the name of the occupant or occupants, with the name and age of the diseased person, if known; and the board may take such action as they deem expedient to prevent the spread of such disease. SEC. 10. All petitions for the cleansing, removing, or abatement of any nuisance, shall be made to the board of health, or to the sanitary officer, or to any one of them, verbally or in writing, stating distinctly the character of such nuisance, the premises where situated, and the reason for its removal or abatement; but if it becomes necessary to institute legal proceedings against the party or parties complained of, the complainants shall, before such proceedings are instituted, file a complaint in writing with the board. SEC. 11. A notice served on an owner, agent, or occupant of any property, or left at the private residence of the owner or agent, or occupant, or, if neither can be found, posted on the front door, or wall, or fence of such property, and a like notice sent to his last known postoffice address, shall be considered sufficient and ample notice. SEC. 12. The board of health shall meet at such times and places as it may deem necessary, for the consideration of matters relating to the public health; and shall investigate, inquire into, and advise in all cases referred to them for such. SEC. 13. They shall make such rules and regulations for the prevention and removal of nuisances, for the control and restriction of infectious and contagious diseases, and such other regulations relating to the public health, as, in their judgment, the health and safety of the people may require; which shall take effect when approved by the city council, recorded by the city clerk, and copies thereof printed and circulated among the citizens, or published in one or more of the papers of the city. SEC. 14. They shall prescribe a blank form, upon which the sanitary officer shall enter a complete record of all his inspections, of all complaints made to him or the board, of all orders issued, of all notices served, and of all nuisances abated. Such records shall be submitted to the board of health whenever called for, and at the end of each fiscal year shall be placed in the hands of the city clerk. SEC. 15. The board of health shall provide itself with such blanks and record books, at the expense of the city, as are necessary, and shall promptly, at the close of each. financial year, make a report in writing to the city council of all complaints made to them, and the cause of the same, of so much of the vital statistics as is necessary, of the cause of death so far as possible, and of such other sanitary information as may be called for by the city council, together with such suggestions pertaining to the public health as the board shall deem expedient to present. SEC. 16. No person or persons shall suffer or permit any cellar, vault, private drain, pool, sink, privy, sewer, or other place upon any premises or grounds belonging to or occupied by him or them to become offensive or injurious to the public health. SEC. 17. No occupant, or person having control or charge of any lot, tenement, building, premises, or other place, shall cause or permit any nuisance to be or remain in or upon the same, or between them and the centre of the adjoining street, lane, or alley. SEC. 18. No pen or sty for swine, swill-house or building for rendering any offal, tainted or damaged lard, tallow or any putrid substances, shall be erected within the compact part of the city, if the same in the opinion of the board of health is a nuisance; and no swill, garbage, or any animal or vegetable substances shall be allowed to accumulate in or about any premises until the same becomes putrid or offensive. SEC. 19. No hog-pen, goat-pen, chicken-coop, or barnyard shall be kept or used so near to any street, lane, or adjoining lot on which others reside, as, in the opinion of the board, to be injurious to the public health or offensive and injurious to the health of such adjoining residents, by reason of such proximity, or by reason of their being kept or maintained in such a position that the contents therefrom shall be discharged upon said adjoining lot, street, or lane; and no manure from stables or other places shall be allowed to accumulate until it becomes offensive to persons |