SPECIAL STATUTES RELATING TO THE CARE OF THE POOR IN EACH OF THE FORTY-FIVE CITIES OF NEW YORK STATE.

ALBANY, ALBANY COUNTY.

(Note.-Commissioner of charities appointed by the mayor for the term of two years at an annual salary of $2,500.)

Chapter 298, Laws of 1883.

TITLE XIV.

CITY PHYSICIAN.

§ 1. (Repealed by chapter 580 of the Laws of 1900.)

§ 2. It shall be his duty to visit the almshouse at least once in each day, to attend and administer medical assistance to the sick in the almshouse, hospital, pesthouse and other permanent or temporary buildings now or hereafter to be erected on the almshouse farm, and direct the manner of treatment of said sick. § 3. He shall have power to appoint one resident physician at a salary of not more than two hundred dollars per annum, payable monthly, from the fund raised for the support of the almshouse, to assist him in the discharge of his duties at said almshouse or hospital.

§ 4. He shall report on the first day of every month, and oftener if he deem it necessary, in writing, to the mayor, of the pauperism in the almshouse, the persons admitted to the pesthouse, lunatic asylum and hospital, when sent and by whom.

TITLE XV.

SUPERINTENDENT OF THE ALMSHOUSE.

§ 1. The superintendent of the almshouse shall reside at the almshouse in the city of Albany and shall receive a salary of two thousand five hundred dollars a year, and shall provide his own table and that of his assistants who reside at the almshouse, from the money appropriated to the support of the almshouse. shall give his undivided personal attention to the duties of his

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office and shall be engaged in no other trade, business, occupation or employment.

§ 2. He shall have the charge, care and control of the poor and insane committed to the almshouse and of the real and personal property now used for such purposes, and of the farm and appurtenances thereto belonging and appertaining. And all persons arrested upon the charge of insanity shall be sent forthwith to and confined in the asylum attached to the Albany almshouse, and it is hereby made the duty of the superintendent of the almshouse to transfer the said person or persons to and from the said asylum when directed so to do by either of the police magistrates or the chief of police.

§ 3. All moneys appropriated to the support and maintenance of the almshouse in the city of Albany shall be paid over to the chamberlain of the city of Albany, who shall pay the same out only after an investigation and audit, by the board of audit, as herein before provided, of the claims presented, and after the certificate of the superintendent shall have been given as hereinafter provided for.

§ 4. Said superintendent shall appoint a deputy, with the approval of the mayor, who shall receive a salary at the rate of one thousand two hundred dollars a year, and a clerk who shall receive a like salary. The said deputy and clerk shall hold their positions during the pleasure of the superintendent. The said clerk shall have his office in the rooms assigned to and occupied by the overseer of the poor in the city of Albany. The superintendent of the almshouse shall also have power to employ such assistants as will enable him to execute the duties of his office, whose respective compensation shall be fixed by him at a sum not exceeding in the aggregate six thousand dollars per annum. (As amended by chapter 302 of the Laws of 1885, and chapter 91 of the Laws of 1903.)

§ 5. He shall also employ, as far as possible and without compensation to them, the paupers confined in the almshouse, espe cially in the cultivation of the poorhouse farm. It shall be the duty of the superintendent to purchase all supplies for the almshouse in such quantities, at such times and from such persons as he shall decide to be most for the interests of the city; and he shall regulate the consumption and distribution of the same, and

direct the doing of all work and the making of all repairs incident to the duties of his office and the care of the property committed to his charge.

§ 6. All claims for such supplies and other expenditures by him shall be presented as herein before provided; provided, however, that no such account shall be audited or paid unless it shall be accompanied by a certificate of the superintendent to the effect that the work charged for therein has been actually done and the materials mentioned therein have been actually furnished, and that such work and materials were reasonably worth the price charged therefor. The bill or claim shall be verified by the claimant as other bills are required to be.

§ 7. It shall be the duty of the superintendent of the almshouse to make a quarterly statement to the common council, showing, in tabulated form, the age, sex, nationality and number of paupers, insane and sick in the almshouse, each day of the month, the total number of weeks' board and lodging furnished in the almshouse, almshouse asylum and almshouse hospital respectively, and the cost per day of maintaining each pauper, patient and insane person in the almshouse. The quantity and quality of each kind of food and provisions used in the almshouse, and the price therefor, and the persons or firms from whom the several articles were purchased. The kind and amount of repairs made, and by whom the same were made, and the cost thereof. The amount raised on and received from the poorhouse farm, and disposition thereof. The number of persons employed, their occupation and the salary, wages or compensation paid to each. Also such further statistical information as the superintendent is now, or may be required by law or the ordinances of the common council to furnish.

TITLE XVI.

Section 1. (Repealed by chapter 580 of the Laws of 1900.) § 2. (Repealed by chapter 580 of the Laws of 1900.)

§ 3. Whenever it shall become known to the said overseer of the poor that any person who is blind, lame, old, impotent, insane or decrepit, or is in any other way disabled or enfeebled' so as to be unable by work to maintain himself or herself, has no visible means of support, and is or is about to become a

charge on the public, it shall be the duty of the said overseer diligently to investigate and inquire as to the antecedents of such person, whether he or she has any relatives legally bound to support such person, what his or her last place of residence was, and from what place he or she came into Albany county, and for what time he or she has resided or been in Albany county. All of which facts, together with a statement of the relief granted or of the disposition made of the case, shall be entered fully in a book to be kept by the said overseer of the poor, in which shall be also entered the name, nationality, color and age of such person. If it shall appear that such person has relatives legally bound to care for and support him or her, the overseer of the poor shall take proceedings to compel them to support such person. If from such investigation and inquiry it shall appear that such person has no legal settlement in Albany county, it shall be the duty of the overseer of the poor, as soon as the condition of the applicant will permit, to take such proceedings as are authorized by law to relieve Albany county from his or her care and support. He shall have power, by a commitment in writing, to send to the several hospitals of the city of Albany such of the sick poor as he may think proper, provided that the expense of their care and support in such hospitals shall not exceed the amount appropriated for such purpose; and such hospitals shall be paid quarterly, upon the certificate of said overseer, accompanied by the commitment and an affidavit of the proper officer or agent of the hospital, showing the date when each person was received and the date when each person died or was discharged, and the time during which each person was cared for therein, such sum per week as may be agreed upon by said overseer, with the approval of the mayor of the city, with each of said hospitals, for the care and maintenance of the sick poor confided to their care. It shall further be the duty of each hospital to notify the said overseer of the poor, in writing, of the date of the death or discharge of each person committed to it under the provisions of this title, within twenty-four hours after such death or discharge, and for a neglect to do so shall forfeit any claim for compensation for caring for such person. (As amended by chapter 302 of the Laws of 1885.)

§ 4. The said overseer shall have power, within the limit of the amount allowed him under the provisions of this title, to give relief to the poor in cases of temporary emergency, but not in continuous or periodic aid or support of such poor, and no sum exceeding ten dollars shall be paid or applied to the use of any one person or his or her family in any one year, until the special circumstances of such case have each time, when further aid or assistance is afforded, been presented in writing to the mayor of said city, and he has indorsed thereon his approval thereof; whenever it shall appear to said overseer that any person applying for relief is in such condition as that such person cannot provide for himself or herself, or his or her family, and in the judgment of such overseer he or she can be more comfortably supported at the almshouse, it shall be the duty of said overseer to commit and cause the removal of such person and his or her family to the said almshouse or other proper place. (As amended by chapter 302 of the Laws of 1885.)

§ 5. (Repealed by chapter 580 of the Laws of 1900.)

§ 6. The said overseer shall make monthly, to the common council, a just, full and true report and account to be verified by him of all moneys and property coming into his hands, and of the manner of the expenditure and disposition thereof, and if any part of said expenditures are in coal orders or store orders, the amount of coal orders and store orders shall be stated and the names of the persons who are therein required to furnish the supplies. He shall also separately state the amount represented by orders issued more than three months prior to such report which are outstanding at the date thereof, and the amount represented by outstanding orders issued within the three months preceding the date of such report. No orders shall be issued on any store or place in which liquors are sold by the glass; and no orders shall be issued in excess of the amount for which the overseer's requisitions have been allowed, after deducting from such amount all other expenses, disbursements and liabilities contracted to be paid therefrom. The overseer shall retain in his hands sufficient money to pay such orders until the end and expiration of three months after the date of their issue, and thereafter he shall, at the time of presenting his monthly reports.