Show I 1 THE HEALTH ORDINANCE the city council met iu in special session march 21 for the purpose of discussing uie proposed health ordinance the following to the chamber of commerce from drs dra foster hamilton standart and judge C C goodwin good win was read as an introduction to the lengthy ordinance which was submitted to the consideration of the council tp the salt lake chamber of con com mercee gentlemen in presenting at your request an ordinance for the establishment lish ment of a board of health and sanitary regulation of the city it has been found desirable to disregard all previously exhaling exi aling ordinances not because they are not some of them excellent in themselves but ant because th they are fragmentary unsystematic an and entirely unsatisfactory in their administrative provi provisions sionA in framing this ordinance stol advantage vante has been taken of bf the experience or of a half dozen progressive western cities in which the conditions are as much as possible like our own and it has been our aim to produce such as will be harmonious produce in itself itself and comprehensive enough to meet every emergency with as little friction as t possible os sible such an ordinance is necessarily long and wearisome in its details and repetitions repetition st r in this however it is safe as it leaves less to the discretion of the board of health and its officers and consequently lessens the chance of criticism for what might be claimed to be arbitrary unfair or oppressive action the mayor is 1 made chairman of the board by virtue of his office this is the universal custom and its reasons are too obvious for comment that a majority of the board should be physicians as sanitary science is a recognized and honored branch of medicine seems equally obvious and will not be dwelt upon upon the health commissioner as executive officer devolves the chief part of the duty of giving effect to the will and purpose of the board his time will be very largely largel 1 required in the work whatever of of displeasure sp leasure inay be felt by individuals aggrieved at any action of the board they will seek relief in the presence of this officer the multiplicity of details must be organized by bemand harmonious working secured in all parts it ills to a position of labor and responsibility and whatever er qualities may or baynot may not be de bitable in the ane me nils fills it a sine aine qua non is a clear conception of the work to be accomplished and an earnest interest in its success provisions are made against epidemic mic contagious and infectious diseases disease av such as will it is coped greatly diminish the chance of their occurrence and in case of actual presence prevent ahat confusion uncertainty and ill ad action which so often arise among the unprepared vaccination is made a condition of attendance at the schools and will perhaps antagonize the prejudices of some but if bovine virus is used the ground of such prejudice is cut away and ll it to is eminently unfair that the prejudice of the law in such a matter should be allowed to jeopardize the lives and health of the many the same reasoning will apply to compulsory vaccination during prevalence of smallpox one of the most important matters provided for is the securing of greater purity 1 of air and soil by regulating cesspools ces spools and privies this means very much more than most of us realize in the limitation of sickness and mortality and in the promotion of a higher average of healthfulness it is a fact verifiable by the evidence of senses that there is no quarter of the city in which the air is as not net polluted by emanations from cesspools ces spools and privies they exhale in the summer noontime noon time and load thee ool flow of air from the canyons at evening this clear soft mountain air which should be the purest on the globe is everywhere contaminated and needlessly so the samy same is true of the soil but the danger here is even greater many regions are so saturated with filth that it oozes into collars cellars with overpower overpowering in stench nearly everywhere the ground ground air is laden with poisonous products aud and in many places it is in concentrated where we are unaware of its presence except from its fatal results to remedy this it is absolutely necessary that these chief sources of filth privies cesspools ces spools should no longer be allowed to remain unclean or drain into the soil they should be constructed as the ordinance provides of brick and cement and so made that they can be readily cleaned there will doubtless bee be a prejudice on the part of many against the wide sweep ing innovation that will invade every mans man Is promises premises and put him to lo trouble and expense but after all how small a thing it is in the individual case and how absolutely and ina voidable voi vol dably essential is it to any proper sanitary work the city cannot be clean without it with a cleanliness that health requires if we stop at the ur mr i face our city will indeed be like unto the chures which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead mens bones and of all unclean cleanness ness it is not a great burden to keep cess pools properly cleaned when once the work is systematically undertaken with pump and hose and covered wagon the work is quickly and easily done cheaply to the householder and profitable to the contractor it is earnestly hoped that the regulations regarding garding cesspools ces spools and privies will not be made less comprehensive and effective than they are here drawn it is provided that a suitable office shall be furnished for the health de apartment part rement ment and a clerk who shall keep the e records of its rules acts acta and proceedings ce its accounts and monies received attend to the wants of citizens citizen 8 who call upon business and act generally under the direction of the board and health commissioner it seems probable that there will be sufficient clent work to fairly occupy the entire time of a clerk the office of health inspector is also provided for whose duty it shall be to superintend the work of men and teab engaged in sanitary work to inspect 1 and report upon streets alleys public and private premises as occasion may require and in general act under the direction of the board and commissioner Commisa ioner the remaining work can be done mainly by the police force in connection with their regular duties though it will be necessary to make occasional details for special work a and I 1 appoint one or two members with special a ti c lal reference to this duty under this ordinance with the data at hand from a thorough sanitary survey of the city it is believed that a board of health can begin at once a ive work that will place this city in bar mony with its surroundings and great natural advantages among which will be prominent its attractions to them the health seeker when once the present evils are overcome respectfully Respect full J P F HAMILTON M D A C 0 M D Q G W M D C 0 GOODWIN the ordinance provides for a board of health to be composed of ef the mayor as chaiman a health commissioner and three citizens two of whom shall be physicians the board shall havea clerk clark for keeping records of inspections and such other business as shall be deemed necessary it shall have power to protect the city from contagious diseases and to establish hospitals and an nd pest houses and to remove or quarantine all persons afflicted with contagious or infectious diseases the health commissioner COMMiSS iODer is au an ex officio member of the board its jurisdiction shall extend for five miles when a patient cannot be bd removed it shall have power to engage age all police assistance necessary to enforce said provision in case of an epidemic proclamation shall be made in at least two daily papers to expose infectious persons esons or to screen them from the more officers of the law is punishable by fine the board shall have power to compel the vaccination of I 1 any ny and all persons in the city when occasion shall require it provision is made for the egami natios and vaccination of school schoel children when an infectious person Is iff discovered on any conveyance or train coming to this city notice of detainment must be sent by wire ire or otherwise until proper steps can be taken when the came presence cresence of any infectious disease is discovered it shall be the duty of any and all persons making such discovery to report the same atthe City hall hal Leaving dead bodies adies above the ground contrary to the provisions of of the proposed ordinance ordina uce shall be punishable by fine it shall be the duty of the health inspector to inspect the entire city and engage all the necessary assistance to remove garbage decaying animal or vegetable matter to such places as described by ordinance and forthe for die faithful performance of his duty he shall ahall give bonds in the sum of he shall have power to destroy all property that Is Is infected with disease and call all needed police aid for that purposed purpose resistance being punishable 9 by fine he shall also be empowered to suppress all bustness business detrimental to public health physicians and midwives mid wives shall keep k a record of all births aud deaths death lee ai report re rt monthly to the health cot co artt rho fhe coroner is also required to re 1 port all quests inquests in held by him and in inter ferments ments shall not be made without a permit from the commissioner A chief inspector of health shall be appointed by the mayor and he shall make daily reports to the commission COMMISS IOD as to how all refuse matter is being removed from the city he shall give bonds of 2000 for the performance of his duty and shaa receive a salary of 1600 1500 a yeat the latter sections of the ordinance are devoted entirely to 1 nuisances and the disposition thereof more than an hour was spent in reading the document governor west said the measure was drafted under the au auspices of the chamber of commerce to fill a longfelt long felt want we have a rate of mortality that is alarming in its nature the adoption and enforcement of this ordinance will reduce it to a lower standard all ali that is desirable in nature as a promoter of health we are by providence endowed with yet we know that our graveyards are filled with departed dear ones who would not be were there had bad we in the past been provided with proper sanitary regulations it will entail but little additional expense upon our city and if it should health cannot be estimated in dollars and cents with a climate like ours the enforcement of this ordinance will do more for us than the enforcement of a similar measure in the city of nashville tennessee where the rate of mortality decreased in two years from thirty four to fifteen per thousand while in Memphis under the adoption of a similar measure the decrease was even greater dr foster president of the university club and one of the authors of the proposed ordinance spoke in favor of the adoption of the rules and regulations contained in the measure just read he said the expense will not necessarily be great salaries chemicals and dis infect ants only would have to be borne by the elty city the construction of vaults and cesspools ces spools as prescribed in the ordinance must be done at private expense secretary GHI lespie ot of the chamber of commerce was in favor of a thorough san sanitary italy system and he thought the council was in dut duty bound obligated to adopt the ordinance ordinance it would do more he thought to boom and bring people to this city than anything that could be done he said be had not dared to teli tell the truth to applicants applicant for information from other states and territories when written to about abou tour our sanitary condition to do so would keep people away this thing should be overcome on motion of ur mr pembroke a vote of thanks was accorded the framers of the ordinance mr mahall hall said if brevity is the vow of wit I 1 do not think the gentlemen gent leinen who framed this bill are entitled to a thanks laughter as in my opinion the measure is entirely too and sweeping while we need protection from nuisances in many instanced Instance sas ae suggested and pro proposed by this erdl ordinance nance I 1 believe there are many things here that we do not need or rather cannot get without invading the rights to of the citizens and meeting resistance thereby to describe in detail and fix by ordinance the manner in which every person who is 18 a resident of the suburbs of our large garden and farm like city ahll be compelled to construct barnyard vaults and other requirements on a similar plan to residents who art arc centrally located I 1 believe will work a hardship I 1 am dotin not in sympathy with the article as it now stands I 1 am in favor of educating ourselves to that standard by degrees there are many requirements in the measure that should be carefully considered cleanliness Is next to godliness and we are in need of good sanitary regulations but I 1 think we should proceed carefully As to secretary gillespies GiU espies statement that he has not truthfully truth truthfully full y answered the questions asked of hi him in with reference to our sanitary condition I 1 do not approve of such action and think the gentleman should be censured laughter A motion to adopt the ordinance was considered unwise and hasty legislation and the measure went to the sanitary committee with the mayor and city physician associated to come up at the next regular meeting |