Annual Report of the State Board of Health and Vital Statistics of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1 (1885)

Annual Report of the State Board of Health and Vital Statistics of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1 (1885)

The State Board of Health notifies Moulden that his pigsty is a public health hazard. Later, the Board determines that poor drainage systems across the town were at fault as well.

1885

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English

"A special meeting of the Board was held on Wednesday, October 12 ...The Secretary stated the object of the meeting to be the consideration of the general subject of the powers of the Board as regarded the abatement of particular nuisances. The question was now a pressing one, since complaints of a very serious nature had been made to the Secretary of nuisances existing in the immediate vicinity of Philadelphia, imperiling the health of not only the inhabitants of the villages in which these nuisances existed, but of the entire city. Three cases were instanced... that of Rosemont, where typhoidal and malarial fevers of obscure type had been caused by filthy hog-pens, and cow yards, and defective drainage... In the case at Rosemont, the Secretary, as executive officer of the Board, had twice given the offender formal notice, and personally extorted from him a promise to abate the nuisance, but neither warning nor promise had been respected. It had, therefore, become necessary for the Board to act, if it wished to preserve its self-respect, and the respect of the community. The Secretary had obtained a formal opinion from an Attorney on the powers of the Board, and also an expression of opinion from Attorney Bickel, district attorney for Montgomery county, in which the nuisance referred to existed, both of which were read to the board (20-21).”

From the Minutes of the Second Regular Session: “The Secretary presented a report on the occurrence of eases of typhoid and malarial fevers at Rosemont, Montgomery county, attributed to bad drainage and filthy pig-styes, etc., detailing the steps which he had taken for the abatement of the alleged nuisances, involving much correspondence with legal officers of the State and county, in order to determine the exact powers of the Board in such cases, and the most expeditious and certain mode of procedure for the removal and abatement of nuisances in general. The report was accepted, and referred as in previous instances (24).”

From the Report of the Secretary: "Monday, August 3: Received complaint of nuisance existing at Rosemont, Montgomery county, through the secretary of the Philadelphia Board of Health, with report of cases of fever attributed to the same (39).”

From the Report of the Secretary: "Wednesday, August 12: Notified Daniel Kerrigan of Rosemont, Montgomery county, to abate nuisances on his premises. Sent similar notice to William Moulden in same village (40).”

From the Report of the Secretary: "Thursday, September 24: Had an interview by appointment at the executive office with residents of Rosemont, Montgomery county, in reference to nuisances in that village, supposed to be prejudicial to the public health (42).”

The Report on Typhoid and Typhoid-Malarial Fevers at Rosemont, Montgomery County, with Action of Board in Abatement of Nuisances, and Prosecution of the Offender (223-235) includes letters from neighbors calling attention to the issue. Though four neighbors identified Daniel Kerrigan's property as the root of the problem, a neighbor named W. C. Powell drew attention to “a saloon kept by a negro, and in a filthy condition (226)."

When a Board representative visited the site, he wrote: “The drainage of the immediate locality complained of is generally directed to a small creek or run, extending from a point south west and northward across the Lancaster Turnpike to and beyond Montgomery avenue, passing immediately in rear of a number of small houses erected on Robert’s road and a street in rear. Although the run is dry at present, the indications are that at time the sewage passing down this course is very foul, and as building improvements continue the nuisance will be aggravated. I would recommend that the owner of the property on the north side of the Lancaster turnpike and west of Roberts toad, be directed to continue the partially constructed sewer northward to the Pennsylvania railroad, and full up the low ground with earth ; that the owners of the properties between the Pennsylvania railroad and Montgomery avenue be directed to construct a sewer of the same dimensions as the one above referred to and on the same line northward to Montgomery avenue.

The premises owned and occupied by Daniel Kerrigan, corner of Montgomery avenue and Roberts road are, in my judgement, prejudicial to the health of the residents in that vicinity by reason of the keeping of hogs, and the accumulation of filth of various kinds dumped upon the lot surrounding a number of old shanties used as stables and hog-pens. The hog-pens are filty in the extreme, no attention whatsoever being given to cleanliness. The owner of should be directed to remove his hogs from this locality, together with all the filth on the premises, and cover the saturated soil with clean earth.

The hog-pens of William Molden, corner Lancaster pike and Roberts road, are in their present condition a nuisance, the owner not recognizing the importance of keeping the place in good sanitary condition. The owner should be directed to construct new pens farther removed from the public road, destroy the old pens and thoroughly clean and remove all filth, decayed garbage, and manure (227-228).”

On October 1, 1885, Daniel Kerrigan and William Moulden were both notified and given ten days to improve conditions on their properties. Moulden's notification reads, “You are hereby notified and required to abate and remove within ten days from the date of the service hereof, a certain nuisance on the above-described property, arising from filthy hog-pens, which nuisance has been declared to have a tendency to endanger and be prejudicial to the public health. On failure to do and perform which, the said notice will be re-moved at your expense, and a lien entered agreeably to the provisions of the act of Assembly (229).” It also included specific instructions for what to address. When the Board representative notified Moulden, Moulden "assured [him] that he would attend to the matter, and do what he could to prevent his place being a nuisance (230).”

By October 6, 1885, however, Board representatives had determined that the greater problem was a lack of proper drainage and sanitation under Lancaster Turnpike, at the time managed by the Lancaster Improvement Company (232).