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priated the first year to cover the necessary outlay. Allowances are also made for clerk hire.

By provisions of the act to regulate the practice of medicine in this State, passed at the same session, every new practitioner and every resident physician, who had not been in active practice in Illinois for ten years previous, was required to procure a certificate of his qualifications from the board, either upon the presentation of a genuine diploma, or, if not a graduate, upon passing an examination by the board. This law was amended in 1887, giving the board additional and more stringent powers. The board was organized with the following members: John H. Rauch, Chicago, president; Newton Bateman, Galesburg, R. Ludlum, Chicago, W. M. Chambers, Charleston, John M. Gregory, Champaign, Horace Wardner, Anna, with Anson L. Clark, Elgin, as secretary. In 1882, W. A. Haskell of Alton was appointed a member, vice Dr. Wardner, resigned; in 1883, John McLean of Pullman succeeded Dr. Chambers, and W. R. McKenzie of Chester succeeded Dr. Gregory. In 1884, A. W. H. Keen was appointed in place of Dr. McLean, whose term had expired, and Dr. Keen having resigned, Dr. George N. Kreider of Springfield was made his successor. The latter resigned in 1887, and Dr. H. V. Terrell of Carlinville followed him. Dr. Clark only discharged the duties of secretary for a short time, and was succeeded by Dr. Rauch, who has occupied the position ever since, and upon whose shoulders-without detracting from the well-earned credit due to his associates, who have heartily seconded and coöperated with him-has rested "the burden and heat of the day."

Dr. John H. Rauch has achieved a well-merited and national reputation as a leading member of the medical profession. He is as indefatigable in his labors as he is broad in his views. His whole heart is in his work, and his previous experience as a member of the Chicago Board of Health had amply fitted him to discharge the more arduous and responsible duties of his present office. His sanitary history of Chicago is a monument to his ability and research. This has been supplemented by papers on "The Yellow Fever in 1879," on "Chicago Sewerage," a "Report on Medical Education," and other valuable papers in the annual reports issued from his department, of which he is

the author. He can scent disease from afar, and his wise, precautionary measures have been of the greatest benefit to the people of the State.

Dr. Rauch, like all great men who have attained eminence in any one line of thought, is naturally a man of single, though clear, vision, and if in the dogmatism of truth he is sometimes despotic and dictatorial in his methods, he is none the less a faithful and able officer.

No better estimate of the value of the work of this important board has been made than that by Governor Oglesby, who, in his last message to the legislature, 1889, said:

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"The intelligent and faithful discharge of the duties imposed by the law upon the state board of health, and the benefits which accrue therefrom to the Commonwealth, sufficiently attest the wisdom of the legislature in the creation of this organization. ** It is a matter of record—a fact which, I understand, has now passed into the authentic history of epidemics in this country-that the labors of the board in this direction resulted in a saving of nearly $3,500,000 to the people of the State in 1881 and 1882, when small-pox was epidemic. Through the preventive and protective measures then established and since enforced, there has been no repetition of that disease in an epidemic form. The wise and intelligent policy of the board on the subject of quarantine has been of great value to the material interests, not only of Illinois, but of the whole Mississippi Valley. During the past few months, a striking illustration of the value of this policy was afforded by the action of the worthy secretary of the board, who refused to sanction any expenditure of money from the public treasury in the maintenance of quarantine restrictions which his wide and varied experience and scientific knowledge enabled him to pronounce unnecessary for the State. His firmness in this instance alone prevented the loss of thousands of dollars, besides great inconveniences to travellers and vexatious interference with business. In 1883, the board began a sanitary survey of the State with the object of preparing it against a threatened invasion of Asiatic cholera. This work, which is still being prosecuted, embraces a house-to-house inspection, which results in the abatement of private as well as public nuisances, in sanitary defects and unhealthy conditions.

"An important agency in the preservation of health is an abundant supply of pure water. With the growth of population and the increase of wastes and sewerage, our natural water supplies are being contaminated, and the question of the dis

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

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posal of these wastes and sewerage is a matter demanding serious consideration. The secretary of the board has made the pollution of streams and the character of water supplies the subject of personal study for many years, and an exhaustive investigation, involving hundreds of chemical analyses, microscopic and biologic examinations, and the engineering questions involved, is now being made by the board under his immediate supervision. The scope of this investigation embraces-the pollution of rivers and other water courses, both public and domestic, of cities, towns, and villages, and of all state institutions, it also includes the character, extent, and location of the subterranean reservoirs. There is reason to anticipate from these, in many localities, an abundant supply of pure water, not liable to contamination from sewerage or other pollution, and constant at all seasons. If these expectations are realized, not only communities, but individuals-farmers, stock-raisers, manufacturers, and others—will largely benefit by this work of the board,"

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of this State was created by the legislature in response to a demand of labor organizations and trades unions, which had sprung up all over the country as a result of the unfavorable conditions of the working classes and labor agitations in 1877-8. Reliable statistics are the indispensable basis of all intelligent, legislative, or industrial action, a fact which has been recognized the world over. The important questions of wages and its relation to capital can only be wisely treated when the facts relating to demand, supply, and cost have been correctly ascertained. These figures often reveal important truths and uncover long-concealed errors.

The law establishing the board was passed by the legislature of 1879. It provides for the appointment of five commissioners -to hold office two years-three of whom shall be manual laborers and the others employers of labor or manufacturers. The duties of the board, as the name imports, is to collect, assort, systematize, and present, in biennial reports to the legislature, statistical details relating to labor in this State, especially in its relations to the commercial, industrial, social, educational, and sanitary conditions of the laboring classes. The sum of $3000 per annum was appropriated to pay the salaries of the commissioners-$5 per diem for 30 days and expenses-and $1200 per annum for the secretary.

The first board of commissioners, appointed July 2, 1879, consisted of the following members: Charles H. Deere, Moline, president; Joseph C. Snow and A. A. Kingsland of Cook; Thos. Lloyd of St. Clair; and George F. Brown of Sangamon County. F. H. B. Mc Dowell was appointed secretary. Other commissioners have since been appointed; the board at present is composed of the following members: Mr. Deere, continued as president, and David Ross of LaSalle County, Wm. S. Cherry of Streator, P. H. Day of Springfield, and Ethelbert Stewart of Decatur. Col. John S. Lord, who was appointed secretary in 1882, has remained in charge of the department up to the present time.

The biennial reports, four of which have been issued in large octavo volumes, contain statistics relating to convict labor, coal mines, lead mines, manufacturers, strikes and lockouts, wages, rent, cost of living, and the mortgage indebtedness of each county. The published reports have been prepared by the present secretary, and evince great painstaking, industry, and research. The various tables are intelligently arranged for reference, and are accompanied by interesting explanatory remarks. The law in relation to the suppression and prevention of the spread of contagious and infectious diseases among domestic animals was amended, in 1887, by creating the Board of LiveStock Commissioners, whose duties are very important to the people. The board consists of the following members, John M. Pearson of Madison County, chairman; H. McChesney of Cook, and Edwin Watts of Sangamon. C. P. Johnson is secretary and John Casewell state veterinarian.

In 1879, the legislature created a Board of Fish Commissioners, whose duty it is to select suitable locations for state fishhatcheries and breeding establishments, and provide for their propogation and culture in the public waters of the State. The board is doing a valuable work, and their annual reports are of great interest. The present members are Nathaniel K. Fairbank, S. P. Bartlett, and George Bruening.

CHAPTER LII.

Illinois Railroads - The Railroad Commission - Transportation Companies-The Railroad-and-Warehouse Commission.

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AILROADS, as at present constructed and operated, were the outgrowth of tram-ways built as quarry- or coal-roads. Originally of wood, they were afterward improved by covering the sleepers with a flat iron rail.

The idea of using steam-locomotive engines for the propelling power on these roads was first suggested in this country by Oliver Evans, an inventive, mechanical genius of Delaware. In 1812, he proposed to make a steam-carriage that would run fifteen miles an hour on good level railways; and in 1813, he left the prediction upon record that "the time will come when people will travel on stages from one city to another, almost as fast as birds fly, fifteen or twenty miles an hour."

A steam-locomotive, rude and imperfect in construction, was built by Richard Trevithich and used on a tram-road in Wales, as early as 1804. The honor, however, of improving and perfecting this invention, as at present used, belongs to the eminent British engineer, George Stephenson. Those previously constructed by himself and others having failed to accomplish what had been confidently expected, in October, 1829, under the stimulus of a reward of £500 by the Liverpool-and-Manchester Railway, the first locomotive-the "Rocket"-successfully used in drawing both freight and passengers, was completed by himself and his son, Robert.

The first attempt in the United States to operate a railroad by this motive power was made upon the Carbondale-andHonedale Railroad in Pennsylvania, August 8, 1829. The locomotive, called the "Stourbridge Lion," was imported from England by Horatio Allen, but proving too heavy had to be abandoned.

The first railroad built in the United States for the transportation of both freight and passengers was the Baltimore-and