than ninety days or both; but no person shall be imprisoned under this section for the first offense, and the prosecution shall always be as and for a first offense, unless the affidavit upon which the prosecution is instituted contains the allegation that the offense is a second or repeated offense.

SEC. 1261-15. It shall be the duty of said inspector of plumbing upon receipt of the knowledge that any part of this act has been violated, to go before any justice of the peace within the county, or a justice of the peace, mayor or police judge of the municipality where the offense was committed or the offending person resides, and cause the arrest and prosecution of all persons of whom he has reason to believe are guilty of such violations.

COURT UPHOLDS BLOOD TEST REQUIREMENT, AFFECTING MILK DEALERS.

A recent decision handed down by Hon. A. J. Rodenbeck, justice of the supreme court of the state of New York, is of special interest. The Rochester (N. Y.) health bureau required a specimen of blood from all persons engaged in the production and handling of milk to be sold in that city. This is for the purpose of discovering typhoid fever carriers. One dealer refused to comply with the requirements, and the following decision (in part) is the result of the prosecution. The justice said:

"The health authorities of the city are not required to wait until an epidemic of typhoid has broken out before taking precautions against it, but in the exercise of a reasonable judgment may anticipate such a condition and may and should make all reasonable efforts to perform the duty imposed upon them by statute and to take all reasonable precautions to protect the public health before the emergency arises.

"The degree of precaution necessary to protect and preserve the public health under normal conditions, in the absence of an emergency calling for extraordinary measures, is to be determined by circumstances, and each requirement must be passed upon in the light of the circumstances and conditions existing at the time of its adoption.

"The requirement of a blood test as a condition for a license to sell milk in the city is a reasonable condition, since it imposes no serious inconvenience upon the applicant, and it is a matter of common belief that typhoid is a contagious disease and that such a test will reveal whether or not the person whose blood is examined has had typhoid and is a carrier of typhoid, and the transmission of this disease may thus be avoided by suitable precautions.

"The requirement of a blood test is one of the conditions for a license. Among others is one resting in the sound discretion and good. judgment of the commissioner of public safety in the absence of an ordinance of the common council limiting his authority, and is not subject to review by the courts where the requirement appeals to the courts as reasonable and just, necessary to protect the public health, and neither capricious, arbitrary or unjust."

WHAT OHIO TUBERCULOSIS HOSPITALS ARE DOING.

Plans for the new hospital building to be erected at the Ohio State Sanatorium at Mt. Vernon have been approved and advertisements for bids have been made. The building is expected to cost 50,000.

County commissioners of Champaign, Clark, Greene and Madison counties met on May 4 in joint session at the District Tuberculosis Hospital at Springfield, and organized for the year with F. H. Mills, of Clark County, as chairman, and R. D. Williams, of Greene County, as secretary. The budget for the year was fixed at $18,000 for maintenance, and $2,000 for repairs.

The board of trustees and the joint board of county commissioners of Allen, Auglaize, Mercer, Shelby and Van Wert counties met at the District Tuberculosis Hospital, Lima, on May 9, and appropriated $30,000 for the maintenance of the institution for the ensuing fiscal year. Ben Foster, of Shelby County, was elected chairman, and C. G. Kirwan, of Shelby County, was elected secretary. The board was made defendant in a suit filed on May 14, in the Allen County common pleas court, by the Allen County commissioners. The suit is a friendly one to determine the apportionment of expenses among the counties supporting the District Tuberculosis Hospital at Lima, Ohio.

Tuberculosis dispensaries may be established by county commissioners in Ohio. The recent legislature passed a law giving such authority. A copy of the law is contained in a pamphlet just issued by the Ohio Society, which will be sent you free on request.

MAY MEETING OF STATE BOARD OF HEALTH.

At a meeting of the State Board of Health held May 16 plans were approved for proposed sewerage and sewage disposal for the Hancock county infirmary. The proposed improvements are to be completed by January 1, 1918. Because the new sanitary sewer is in close proximity to a well located north of the institution, use of water from this well for drinking purposes is forbidden.

The board also approved a plan for proposed sewerage and sewage disposal for the Hancock county children's home at Findlay, received May 7, 1917 from A. R. Taylor, county surveyor, requiring the works to be installed by January, 1918. The order of approval also provides that the tank shall be abandoned if the city of Findlay should install sanitary sewers in this district and that devices for secondary treatment of the sewage shall be installed whenever deemed necessary by the State Board of Health.

Approval was given of plans for proposed sewerage for Sewer District, Marion No. 1, Franklin county, and detail plans for Kian avenue and Marion road trunk sewer of the same district, which plans were received May 10, 1917 from E. G. Bradbury, county sanitary engineer. The board of county commissioners shall control the establishment of connections to the proposed sewers and adopt

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and submit to the State Board of Health, regulations to provide proper use of sanitary and storm sewers. Detail plans for future. sewers within the district are required to be submitted to the State Board of Health prior to their installation.

Plans were approved for the proposed water purificaton plant for San Toy. It is to be constructed and maintained by the Sunday Creek Coal Company subject to approval and supervision by the division of sanitary engineering of the State Board of Health.

At its meeting May 16 the State Board of Health amended its previous order to the village of Maumee, adopted May 5, 1914, requiring the village "to install and have in operation prior to January 1, 1916, a system of sanitary sewers and a sewage treatment plant" to read as follows:

"Be it ordered by the State Board of Health of the State of Ohio that the village of Maumee shall, within two years from the date of approval of this order by the Governor and the Attorney General of the State of Ohio, install and have in operation the necessary sewers to prevent the pollution of the Maumee River and the public water supply of the city of Toledo."

The following village health officers, appointed by their respective councils, were approved: Ansonia, William Wren; Beaver, Robert Gillenwater; Carrollton, J. S. Heidy; Jacksonburg, Charles E. Guntle; Millbury, Leroy C. Grant; Perrysville, Dr. L. D. Hyatt; Rarden, L. R. South; Seville, William Myers.

PLAN FOR 1917 RED CROSS SEAL SALE IN OHIO.

The Ohio Society for the Prevention and Cure of Tuberculosis has signed a contract with the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis for the sale of the 1917 Red Cross Christmas seals and is urging local societies to begin now to lay plans for the 1917 campaign. Ten million seals is the goal for Ohio this year.

The seventeenth annual meeting of the Ohio Society for the Prevention and Cure of Tuberculosis was held in Cincinnati May 9, in conjunction with the meeting of the national society. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year: President, Dr. A. C. Bachmeyer, Cincinnati; vice presidents, Dr. C. B. Bliss, Sandusky, and Miss Alice Bennett, Chillicothe; treasurer, A. W. Mackenzie, Columbus; auditor, Charles L. Lamonte, Columbus; secretary, R. G. Patterson, Columbus; trustees, (five years), Dr. C. G. Souder, Toledo; Mrs. S. L. Black, Columbus; Mrs. James T. Pickering, Lancaster; Mrs. H. W. Bloomfield, Shelby; Dr. S. A. Douglass, Mt. Vernon; A. A. Gibson, New Philadelphia. Members of the executive committee in addition to the officers were elected as follows: Dr. R. H. Bishop, Jr., Cleveland., Chairman; Dr. D. F. Garland, Dayton; Dr. C. G. Souder, Toledo; and Mrs. Neal Waddell, Greenfield.

Officers of the national society elected were: president, Dr. Charles L. Minor, Asheville, N. C.; vice presidents, Frederick L. Hoffman and Dr. David R. Lyman; treasurer, Dr. William H. Baldwin; secretary, Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs.

OHIO DEATH RATE BY COUNTIES,

For February, 1917.

Statistics Furnished by J. E. Monger, M. D., State Registrar.

The following table shows the number of deaths and the monthly death rate per one thousand (1,000) population in each county of Ohio, for the month of February, 1917.

The following table shows the number of deaths and the monthly death rate per one thousand (1,000) population, in each of the thirty-seven largest cities in the State of Ohio, for the month of February, 1917.

DR. MCDOWELL CALLED TO COLORS.

Dr. John R. McDowell, Director of the Division of Public Health Education of the State Department of Health, has been commissioned. captain in the medical section of the officers reserve corps, U. S. A., and assigned to duty at Fort Benjamin Harrison near Indianapolis. During his absence Dr. McDowell's position is being filled by H. J. Southmayd, director of the public health exhibit. Earl W. Baird, formerly legislative correspondent and state house reporter for The Associated Press has been appointed publicity director, succeeding Gordon Davies, resigned.