legal standard for condensed milk this can not be considered as an adulterant. No preservatives (except sugar) were found, except in one sample labeled "Evaporated Cream," which contained boric acid.

GARBAGE AND DEAD ANIMALS.

The amount of garbage collected during the past year was 18,928 tons, an increase of 1,658 tons since last year. The average collection per thousand inhabitants per annum was therefore 68.34 tons, and the average collection per day 51.84 tons.

The number of dead animals collected was 7,161, being 551 less than during the year 1895–96, and an average of 19.62 per day.

The total number of complaints of improper collection of garbage or dead animals was 763, an average of 2.09 per day. In view of the fact that approximately 40 per cent of these complaints were found to originate from causes over which the garbage contractor had no control, the service, so far as collection was concerned, has been very satisfactory. The same can not be said, however, in reference to disposal. The Brown garbage crematory, at the foot of South Capitol street, the operation of which, from a sanitary standpoint, has been satisfactory, has been closed for about six months because of business differences between the contractor for the collection and disposal of garbage and the builder of the furnace; and the Smith crematory which was erected on square 63, and began operations January 26, 1897, has been the source of much complaint, some of which, in the opinion of this department, have not been altogether without foundation. The result has been that during a greater part of the year garbage which should have been cremated has been disposed of by the method formerly in vogue, viz, removal in open scows to the banks of the Potomac, beyond the limits of the District of Columbia, for use by the farmers, it is alleged, as a fertilizer. And while the smaller dead animals have been burned, no serious attempt has been made to do this with the larger sorts.

The cost of the above service as by the contract has been $57,000, of which $55,974 has been paid to the contractor, $1,022 to inspectors appointed by the Commissioners for duty in connection with the garbage service, and $4 deducted for neglect. The cost, therefore, to the District for the collection and disposal of garbage and dead animals per thousand inhabitants per annum has been $205.80, and the cost per collection over the entire collection area has been approximately $260. The cost per thousand inhabitants per collection has been but 94 cents.

TABLE P.-Offal removed during the year ended June 30, 1897.

TABLE Q.-Offal removed for fifteen years ended June 30, 1897.

TABLE R.-Statement of garbage and dead-animal service from July 1, 1896, to June 30,

Mention having just been made as to the collection and removal of garbage and dead animals, attention may properly be invited at this point to the urgent necessity for the collection of all sorts of refuse by the government. The health of a community depends quite as much upon municipal cleanliness as does the health of the individual upon personal hygiene, yet this District makes no provision for the removal or disposal of refuse other than garbage, dead animals, and street sweepings (except, of course, as is provided by the system of sewers). There remains a large amount of material over and above these, as night soil, ashes, general refuse from dwellings and stores, etc., for the removal and disposal of which each citizen is left more or less to his own devices. Night soil. The collection of night soil is entirely a matter of private enterprise, the only restriction being the requirement that it shall be removed and transported so as to prevent it from being agitated or exposed to the open air, and that it shall not be deposited in any place not approved by the health department. The business is at present entirely in the hands of a single individual, who collects such material and disposes of it in pits located at an isolated point on a branch of the Potomac some distance below the city. The usual amount charged for removal is $1 per barrel, which usually represents the contents of a single box. There were removed during the year just ended 7,759 barrels, which, as shown by the reports of the collector, is the smallest

the preceding year having been 11,300 barrels. It is of course difficult to determine to what extent this decrease is due to the replacement of existing box privies by water-closets, but it is probably partly accounted for in this manner.

It is interesting to compare the amount of night soil removed annually with the number of box privies in the District of Columbia as indicated by the house-to-house inspection made in 1893-94 under direction of Health Officer Hammett. If, as shown by that inspection, there were 8,959 privies within the city of Washington, and a total of 14,092 within the entire District, the number of barrels of night soil reported as removed during that year, 11,284, indicates that a very considerable number were not cleaned more than once during the year, even if a certain amount of such work was done by persons other than the regular collector. The same condition apparently prevailed both before and after that period.

The very general neglect of persons using box privies to cause the same to be properly cleaned, except under compulson, is further shown by the fact that during the year 1894-95 there were 9,720 barrels of night soil removed, of which 4,372, or 45 per cent, were removed as the result of notices from the health department. During the following year, of 11,300 barrels removed, 5,189, or 46 per cent, were removed as the result of notices, and during the year just ended, of 7,759 barrels removed, 4,637, or 60 per cent, were removed under compulsion.

The general character of the structures themselves used for privy purposes is shown by the inspectors' reports, which indicate that during the past year 4,897 were filthy and 555 had leaky boxes.

The remedy for the condition described above appears to be the collection of night soil by the government, either under contract or by day labor, combined with a system of registration of privies. Each privy should be emptied regularly, whether full or not, just as in the case of garbage receptacles; and if the work were done under the supervision of the government, each such place would be inspected as often as cleaned, and its maintenance in proper condition could be enforced. The cost of such service might, if necessary, be raised by a tax on the privies themselves, but, in view of the fact that the use of the sewers for a similar purpose is granted without cost for such as make connections therewith, a more equitable basis of payment would appear to be from the general taxes, to which an exception might be made in the case of premises maintaining box privies after sewer facilities were available. The plan above outlined is respectfully submitted for consideration.

The regulation of privies themselves is provided for in a bill to regulate the disposal of certain forms of refuse in the District of Columbia (S. No. 1258) which is now pending in the Senate.

Ashes. The keeping of ashes and the frequency and method of removal and disposal are at present entirely without control or supervision. While not in themselves nuisances if properly cared for, it is believed that they as well as other forms of refuse should, in the interest of cleanliness and for the convenience of citizens, be removed by the government either under contract or by day labor. The cost of such service to the citizen would probably be no greater than at present, when he must pay the ash man from time to time for removing such ashes as accumulate.

Miscellaneous refuse. In addition to the various forms of refuse which have heretofore been considered, there remains a large amount which accumulates about dwelling houses, stores, offices, and shops, such as waste paper of all sorts, sweepings, packing from boxes, etc., for the

collection and disposal of which no provision is made. The removal of this is, effected in the same manner as that of ashes, viz, by occasional calls of the ash man. It is also disposed of in the same manner as ashes, viz, by deposit upon lowlands. But while ashes so deposited form a fairly good filling and do not cause nuisance, the same is not true of this class of refuse, which, if not burned, makes a spongy, elastic soil; that is, as much of it as is not strewn over the streets and adjacent premises by the wind and not carried away by the men, women, and children who visit the dumps for salvage, and, if an attempt be made to burn it, causes a widely diffused nuisance by the foul smoke resulting therefrom.

An effort has been made for the past two years to obtain an appropriation for the purpose of securing the erection of furnaces for the reception and destruction of this material, but thus far without success. The recommendation for such an appropriation is therefore respectfully renewed. It is respectfully submitted, however, that the duty of the Government will not be performed until provision has been made for the collection of this material as well as for its disposal.

It is believed that there might be organized a system for the collection and disposal of all of the before mentioned forms of refuse with greater economy and convenience to the citizen than the present method, and with advantage to the community from a sanitary standpoint. The disposal of sweepings and ashes might be continued as at present, the garbage either cremated or reduced, and the night soil cremated or disposed of by the method now in vogue. The general refuse, which should in any case be collected separately, would appear from recent reports to form a valuable fuel for use in connection with either the cremation or reduction of garbage and night soil. The cost of the service outlined above, in excess of the expense incident to the service now rendered, might, if necessary, be paid by a graduated house tax, probably without entailing greater expense upon the householder than the present method.

The foregoing is a bare outline of the needs of the District in the way of public scavenger service. To fill in the details requires an amount of time and labor which is not at the disposal of the health department. If, therefore, the plan seems to be worthy of further development it is suggested as one of the reasons why addititional clerical aid should be afforded this department, as has been requested in the estimates submitted.

POUND SERVICE.

There have been impounded during the year just ended 2,962 dogs, 60 horses, 12 mules, 13 cows, 1 hog, 9 goats, and 7 geese-or 3,064 animals of all kinds. Of these, 2,710 were killed, 72 were sold, and 282 were redeemed by their owners. The total amount received from the pound service in the way of fees and proceeds from sales was $526.25, while the expenses, exclusive of salaries, were $485.14. Both of these amounts include the cost of feeding impounded horses, mules, and cows; as, although it is necessary for the owners of such animals to pay this amount before the animals can be released, or for the health officer to deduct it from the proceeds of their sale, under the present system of accounts it must be deposited in the United States Treasury as one of the receipts of the office. The expenses and receipts of the pound service are, therefore, both made to appear larger by this system

Month.

A detailed statement of the work of the pound during the past year and a comparative statement covering the past fourteen years is given in the following table:

TABLE S.-Operations of the pound for the year ending June 30, 1897.

December

TABLE T.-Animals impounded during the fourteen years ending June 30, 1897.

There were issued by the collector of taxes during the year licenses for 7,345 dogs. There were impounded during that time 2,962 dogs, nearly all of which were unlicensed. Presuming that half of the unlicensed dogs were impounded, there were in the District of Columbia during the year 12,269 dogs. The number of cows kept for dairy purposes in the District, as shown by the applications for permits to keep dairy farms, was 1,356. No estimate of the number of other domestic animals can be made.

Under section 4 of an ordinance to amend "An ordinance to prevent domestic animals from running at large within the cities of Washington and Georgetown," passed by the board of health May 19, 1871, and legalized by Congress by a joint resolution approved April 24, 1880, and by an act approved August 7, 1894, all proceeds from the sale of impounded animals over and above the charges and expenses, if