CHAPTER XXIV.

Health.

ORDINANCES OF THE CITY.

PART I. RELATING TO NUISANCES.

[34] Duty of City Marshal as regards the health of the City. [35] Consulting physicians to be appointed.

[36] Sick persons to be removed and houses vacated. [37] Every tenement to have a vault, &c.

[38] Penalty for not having the same.

[39] Mayor, &c. upon notice and refusal may cause the same to be made.

[40] Tenements not having vaults, &c. or crowded with occupants to be vacated.

[41] Vaults, how to be made. [42] Vaults, how

ited.

to be

emptied and when.

[43] Drains for Waste water to be under ground.

[44] Vacant lots, &c. nuisances to be removed from.. [45] House offal, how to be kept.

[46] House offal, by whom

to be removed.

An Ordinance prescribing Rules and Regulations relative to nuisances, sources of filth, and causes of sickness, within the City of Boston. [Passed Oct. 7, 1833.]

[34] SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of the City of Boston, in City Council assembled, That the department of internal and external police,

as far as it regards the preservation of the health of the City, be placed under the superintendence of the City Marshal; whose duty it shall be, and he shall have power, to carry into execution, all the ordinances, rules and laws made by the City Council, relative to causes of sickness, nuisances, and sources of filth, that may be injurious to the health, or may affect the comfort of the inhabitants of the City, which do or may exist within the limits thereof; subject always to the direction, authority and control of the Mayor and Aldermen ; and it shall be the duty of the City Marshal to cause all such nuisances, sources of filth, and causes of sickness, to be prevented, removed, or destroyed, as the case may require, conformably to the ordinances of the City Council, as aforesaid, and the laws of the Commonwealth; and to this department shall belong the care of the streets, the care of the common sewers, and the care of the vaults, and whatever else affects the health, security, and comfort of the City, from causes or means arising or existing within the limits thereof.

[35] SEC. 2. Be it further ordained, That in the month of May or June annually, there shall be appointed, by concurrent vote of the City Council, five consulting physicians, whose duty it shall be in case of an alarm of any contagious, infectious, or other dangerous disease occurring in the City or neighborhood, to give to the Mayor or either Board of the City Council all such professional advice and information as they may request, with a view to the prevention of the said diseases, and at all convenient times to aid and assist them with their counsel and advice in all matters that relate to the preservation of the health of the inhabitants.

[36] SEC. 3. Be it further ordained, That the Mayor and Aldermen shall have power to remove or cause to be removed from any dwelling-house or other place within said City, any person or persons, sick with any contagious or infectious disease, or any person who may have been exposed to such contagious or infectious disease, to any hospital or place within the City, or to any island within the harbor, proper for the reception of such sick and exposed persons: Provided a majority of the consulting physicians shall give their opinion in writing, to said Mayor and Aldermen, that such removal is necessary and expedient, for the safety of the inhabitants. And in case any person sick with such contagious or infectious disease, in any house or other place within said City, cannot in the opinion of said physicians, be removed, then the Mayor and Aldermen shall have power to cause any house or tenement contiguous thereto, to be vacated, by the removal of the occupants thereof, for such time as said physicians or a major

ity of them shall think expedient, and the safety of the inhabitants may require.

[37] SEC. 4. Be it further ordained, That each and every tenement within the City of Boston, that is, or may hereafter be used as a dwelling-house, shall be furnished with a sufficient drain under ground, to carry off the waste water, and also with a suitable privy, the vault of which shall be sunk under ground, and be built in the manner hereinafter prescribed; and of a sufficient capacity in proportion to the number of inhabitants of such tenement-which privy and vault and drain shall be in common and subject to the use of all said inhabitants.

[38] SEC. 5. Be it further ordained, That for any offence against the provisions of the foregoing section, the owner or owners of each and every tenement so used, as aforesaid, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than five dollars nor more than twenty dollars, for each and every week during which said tenement or any part thereof shall be used as a dwelling-house.

[39] SEC. 6. Be it further ordained, That if the Mayor and Aldermen shall at any time be satisfied that any tenement used as a dwelling-house, is not provided with a suitable privy and vault and drain, or either of them as aforesaid, they may give notice in writing to the owner thereof or his agent, if either be an inhabitant of the City, or if otherwise, public notice in two newspapers printed in Boston, requiring such owner or agent, within such time as they shall appoint, to cause a proper and sufficient privy and vault and drain to be constructed for such tenement, to be common and subject to the use of all the inhabitants thereof; and in case of neglect or refusal to obey such notice, the Mayor and Aldermen shall have power to cause such privy and vault and drain to be made for such tenement, the expense of which shall be paid by such owner or agent.

[40] SEC. 7. Be it further ordained, That whenever upon due examination it shall appear to the Mayor and Aldermen, that the number of persons occupying any tenement or building in the City is so great as to be the cause of nuisances and sickness, and the source of filth; or that any tenements or buildings are not furnished with vaults constructed according to the provisions of this ordinance, and sufficient privies, and drains under ground, for waste water; it shall be the duty of the Mayor and Aldermen, and they are hereby authorized and empowered to remove such persons or occupants, or any of them, from such tenement or building. And the Mayor and Aldermen shall thereupon issue their notice, in writing, to such

persons or any of them, requiring them to remove from and quit such tenement or building within such time as the Mayor and Aldermen shall deem reasonable. And if the person or persons so notified, or any of them, shall neglect or refuse to remove from and quit such tenement or building within the time mentioned in such notice, the Mayor and Aldermen are hereby authorized and empowered, thereupon forcibly to remove such person or persons from the same.

[41] SEC. 8. Be it further ordained, That all the vaults or privies shall be so constructed that the inside of the same shall be at least two feet distant from the line of every adjoining lot, unless the owner of said adjoining lot shall otherwise agree and consent, and also from every street, lane, alley, court, square, or public place, or public or private passage way; that there shall be no communication between any vault or privy and any common sewer or drain, by which the solid contents of such vault or privy can pass into said sewer or drain; that every vault shall be made tight so that the contents thereof cannot escape therefrom; and that said contents shall never be within two feet of the surface of the earth: Provided, however, that the Mayor and Aldermen are hereby authorized to permit, under such restrictions as they shall deem expedient, the construction of sufficient passage ways or conduits under ground, for the purpose of conveying the fluid contents of any of the vaults aforesaid into a common sewer or drain. That whenever any vault or privy shall become offensive, the same shall be cleansed. And the owner, or his agent, or the occnpant of the land, in which any vault or privy may be situated, the state and condition of which shall be in violation of the provisions of this ordinance, shall remove, cleanse, alter, amend, or repair the same, within a reasonable time after notice in writing to that effect, given by the Mayor, any Alderman, the City Marshal, or the Commissioner of Health. And in case of neglect or refusal, the same shall be performed by the Mayor and Aldermen, at the expense of the owner, agent, or occupant aforesaid.

[42] SEC. 9. Be it further ordained, That no vault or privy shall be emptied, without a permit from the City Marshal, or his deputy; nor in any other mode, or at any other time, than he shall direct and appoint, conformable to such regulations as the Mayor and Aldermen, from time to time shall make on the subject. And no vault shall be opened between the fifteenth day of June, and the fifteenth day of September, in each year; unless on inspection caused to be made, the Mayor and Aldermen shall be satisfied that the

same is absolutely necessary for the health or comfort of the inhabitants. And in such case, no more of such contents shall be taken away, than shall be deemed absolutely necessary for present safety and relief, and with such precautions relative to the preventing of any offensive effluvia, as the Mayor and Alderinen shall direct; all the expenses of which shall be borne by such owner, agent, or occupant, and which shall never be less than double the amount charged during any other months in the year.

[43] SEC. 10. Be it further ordained, That all waste water shall be conveyed through sufficient drains under ground, to a common sewer, or to such reservoir, sunk under ground, as shall be approved by the City Marshal. And no person shall suffer any waste or stagnant water to remain in any cellar or upon any lot or vacant ground by him owned or occupied.

[44] SEC. 11. Be it further ordained, That whenever it shall appear to the Mayor and Aldermen, that any cellars, lots, or vacant grounds are in a state of nuisance, or so situated that they may become a nuisance, and the health of the inhabitants be endangered, it shall be their duty and they are authorized to cause a notice in writing to be served upon the owners or occupants thereof, and if there should be no occupants and the owners should not reside in the City, then to give public notice by advertising in two of the newspapers printed in said City, directing said owners or occupants to have said nuisance or cause of nuisance removed, by draining, filling up, or otherwise, in the manner as may be prescribed in such notice; and in case of neglect or refusal to obey said notice, the Mayor and Aldermen shall have power to remove the same by filling up, draining, or otherwise, as they shall deem expedient, and said owners or occupants shall defray and pay the expense thereof.

[45] SEC. 12. Be it further ordained, That all house offal, whether consisting of animal or vegetable substance, shall be deposited in convenient vessels, and be kept in some convenient place, to be taken away by the City scavengers, which shall be done not less than twice in each week, and as much oftener as the Mayor and Aldermen shall direct.

[46] SEC. 13. Be it further ordained, That no person shall remove or carry through any of the streets, squares, lanes or alleys of the City, any house dirt, offal or animal or vegetable substances from any of the dwelling houses or other places, in any cart or other vehicle, unless such person so removing the same, together with the cart or other vehicle, in which the same shall be carried, shall be duly licensed for that purpose by the Mayor and Aldermen, upon such terms and conditions as the