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VILLAGE OF ONEIDA

ONEIDA, N. Y., July 16, 1898

To the Honorable the State Board of Health:

Gentlemen-The undersigned residents and taxpayers of the village of Oneida respectfully petition your honorable body to abate a nuisance in the Oneida village adjacent to a certain canning factory caused by the said canning company piling tons upon tons of waste vines from their factory in a heap, said vines causing unusual stench and odor this dry and sultry weather, causing sickness and also causing the attendance of physicians daily upon several cases. The local board of health has been appealed to, but in vain, and now we appeal to your honorable Board for relief.

Thomas E. Kennedy
Mrs. Anna Kennedy
Frances Kennedy
Grace Kennedy
Mrs. M. T. Roberts
John Lambert
Thomas Morgan
Mrs. E. S. Ellis
Mr. E. S. Ellis
Mrs. John Lanbert
Bertha Chamberlin

F. McCraith

H. L. Chamberlin

John F. Morgan
A. H. Button

Mrs. Martin Carroll

Mrs. M. Tillotson

Mrs. F. H. Jones

Chas. Lawton

Mrs. I. H. Lawton

I. H. Lawton

J. C. Lawton

A. C. Johnson
Louisa Johnson
William Hart

Mrs. C. F. Arnold
Mrs. Louisa Beebee
Wm. Bindjes

Mrs. Martin Bindjes
Miss Alice Brooke
Mrs. Margaret Brooke
Ulrica Cassill

Morris Wilson

Mrs. M. Wilson

Mrs. L. S. Skaelen

J. W. Armstrong
Henry Allen

Jacob Walrath

THOMAS E. KENNEDY, Oneida, N. Y.:

ALBANY, July 20, 1898

Dear Sir-I am in receipt of a letter signed by you and 37 other residents and taxpayers of the village of Oneida, in which complaint is made of a nuisance in said village caused by a canning company piling waste in a heap near its factory.

In reply, you are informed that a copy of your letter has been this day sent to Dr. E. R. Boden, health officer of your village, with instructions to investigate the conditions as stated in the complaint and to report upon the same to this department. Very respectfully,

T. A. STUART,
Assistant secretary

ALBANY, July 20, 1898

E. R. BODEN, M. D., Health officer Village of Oneida, Oneida, N. Y.: Dear Sir-I send you herewith enclosed copy of a letter signed by Thomas E. Kennedy and 37 other residents and taxpayers of the village of Oneida, in which complaint is made of a nuisance in said village caused by a canning company piling waste in a heap near its factory.

You are hereby instructed to investigate the conditions, as stated in the complaint and to report upon the same to this de partment.

Very respectfully,

T. A. STUART,
Assistant secretary

T. A. STUART, Assistant secretary:

ONEIDA, N. Y., July 22, 1898

Yours received. Thomas Kennedy and 37 others have just cause for complaint, but advice from your Board will be most gladly welcomed. When Olney brothers started this pea factory it was "the contract" with farmers, bringing peas, to remove the vines. The farmers failed to do so and no complaint reached me till 1000 tons were there in a heap. Then I could not

find Olney till at least 2000 tons had accumulated. Olney was brought before our board. He agreed to enclose the same and put on lime. The enclosure has not been made; lime has been applied but with little or no effect. At least 2500 tons of pea vines are in that stack. To open up the stack now would, in my mind, "stink out the village" and if in its present state it is unhealthy it certainly would be more so if disturbed. It will take twenty teams thirty days to remove the vines-hence of the two evils, since no one but the farmers are to blame, I have chosen the latter. However, I await most anxiously a suggestion from your honorable body. If you place your arm in the stack as far as you can reach you will be unable to hold it there on account of the heat. The odor is that of a "country swill barrel." The complainants, when the wind blows in their direction, are most woefully annoyed. I will act upon your suggestion with swift dispatch. I have the honor to remain,

E. R. BODEN,

Oneida's health officer

ALBANY, N. Y., August 3, 1898

E. R. BODEN, M. D., Health officer, Oneida, N. Y.:

Dear Sir-Your report upon investigation of the complaint made by Thomas Kennedy and others was duly received, but the conditions stated by you were so peculiar that we have delayed replying, hoping to advise some means of temporarily abating the nuisance, until cold weather sets in, when the material could be removed.

Thinking that possibly the chemist of this Board could advise a disinfectant to be used, your letter was sent to him. His reply is as follows:

ALBANY, August 1, 1898

Dr. B. T. SMELZER, Secretary State Board of Health of New York,

Albany:

Dear Sir-With reference to the communication of Dr. E. R. Boden, of Oneida, N. Y., referring to nuisance said to exist in that place caused by the decay of a large accumulation of pea-vines, I

am of opinion that no "disinfectant" can be economically or satisfactorily employed to remedy the difficulty. From the statements made in Dr. Boden's letter it is evident that the mass is in a state of active fermentation and I do not think that any chemical agent could be applied to so large a quantity of material which would check the process of decay and destroy the offensive products of decomposition. Relief might be obtained by the use of some absorbent or deodorizer like charcoal or earth. With so large a mass the former would probably be too expensive and I can only suggest that the refuse be covered with clean earth if it cannot be removed and disposed of at once. It should never have been allowed to accumulate in such quantity, and it is evident that sooner or later it must be carried away and disposed of.

Very respectfully,

WILLIS G. TUCKER,

Director

As Olney brothers are maintaining a nuisance in violation of the public health law, your board should require them to cause its abatement at once, suggesting to them as recommended by Prof. Tucker, the covering of the mass of decaying vegetable matter with a sufficient quantity of clean earth, until such time as the whole mass can be removed.

In connection with this subject, it is considered that the business as conducted by Olney brothers can be properly classed under the head of "noxious trades" as defined by section 6 of enclosed sanitary regulations which it would be well for your board to adopt, having a fixed penalty for its violation.

The enforcement of the above regulation would prevent a repetition of the present nuisance, as it prohibits the accumulation of offensive or deleterious waste substances.

Very respectfully,

T. A. STUART,

Assistant secretary

VIL

VILLAGE OF OAKFIELD

Nuisance caused by manufacture of plaster of paris

OAKFIELD, N. Y., June 30, 1898

To the State Board of Health, Albany, N. Y.:

Gentlemen-I wish to call your attention to a matter in this village of Oakfield. There is located in the south part of the village an establishment for the manufacture of calcined plasterplaster of paris-on extensive scale. It is run 24 hours every day, and sometimes seven days in a week.

With the steam from the kettles there is a constant escape of partially calcined plaster, which is carried by the wind a distance of a fourth of a mile or more. It is an exceedingly fine dust or powder. It settles upon the houses, trees, plants, foliage, fruit and flowers. It is driven into the dwellings and can be swept out in measurable quantities. It is breathed into the lungs night and day by all who are within its reach. The plaster adheres to the fruit and it is eaten by the children and some adults. Careful people will not use the fruit unless it is carefully washed. When the wind is blowing stiffly it looks like a miniature snowstorm. Of course, a heavy rain will wash off the greater portion of the dust. I am satisfied that it is very seriously affecting the health and spirits of the people. I do not know just what its physical effects are, but it is exceedingly depressing to those who have to endure it. I know of one most estimable lady living near the works who can scarcely speak of the matter without shedding tears. My wife spends a part of the summers abroad, when she is quite well and strong. Immediately after her return she is worse, and at the very season when she would expect to be better. I think it will be difficult for her to live here at all if this trouble continues. There are

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