uRde? apd H 
OF THE 
.Board of Health 
OF THE 
Town of We st field. 
WESTEIELU, A'.ASS.: 
Clark i Story Co., Book a.nd Job Printers. 
189 8. apcl 
OF THE 
BOAl<Dof HEALTH 
OF THE 
Town of Westfield. Men 
WESTFIELD, MASS.: 
Clark & Story Co., Book and Job Printers. 
1898. Joules apd Hegdlafiops. 
The Board of Health of the town of Westfield hereby makes and 
publishes, as required by the Public Statutes of the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts, the following Rules and Regulations for the public 
health and safety :- 
Extract from the Public Statutes, Chapter 80, Section 18. 
"The Board shall make such regulations as it judges necessary for 
the public health and safety. Whoever violates such regulations shall 
forfeit a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100.00)." 
CONTAGIOUS DISEASE. 
Ex. P. S. Chap. 80, Sec. 78. 
When a householder knows that a person within his family is sick 
of small-pox, diphtheria, scarlet fever, or any other infectious or con- 
tagious disease dangerous to the public health, he shall immediately 
give notice thereof to the Board of Health in writing, of the City or 
Town in which he lives, and upon the death, recovery or removal of 
such person, such of the rooms of said house and such of the articles 
therein as in the opinion of the Board of Health have been subjected to 
infection or contagion shall be disinfected by such householder to the 
satisfaction of said Board of Health. 
Any person neglecting or refusing to comply with either of the above 
provisions shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dol- 
lars ($100.00). 4 
Rule I. The Board of Health considers the following diseases dan- 
gerous to the public health within the meaning of the statute: Asiatic 
cholera, yellow fever, small-pox, varioloid, diphtheria, membranous 
croup, scarlet fever, measles, typhoid fever, typhus fever, epidemic 
cerebro-spinal meningitis and contagious ophthalmia. 
Rule II. (a) Any house in which any of the above diseases shall 
occur may be declared in quarantine by the Board of Health, or its 
authorized agent or agents. When a house has been declared in quar- 
antine, all persons residing therein shall be subject to the rules of the 
Board of Health relating to quarantine. 
(ft) All persons residing in a house that has been declared in quaran- 
tine shall confine themselves to said house or its immediate grounds and 
shall not hold communication with well persons. Communication with 
said house shall be limited to physicians, nurses, and undertakers, and 
such persons as may be needed to supply its inmates with the neces- 
saries of life, and in such a manner as the Board of Health may direct. 
Rule III. Householders as well as attending physicians must im- 
mediately notify in writing, the Board of Health, of the occurrence of 
any of the above-named diseases of which they may have knowledge. 
Rule IV. In all houses where a contagious disease is found to exist 
a placard must be displayed in a conspicuous place informing the public 
of the presence of such disease. 
See Public Statutes, Chap. 80, Sect. 76: "And whoever obstructs the 
Selectmen, Board of Health, or its agent, in using such means to pre- 
vent the spreading of the infection, or willfully removes, obliterates, 
defaces or handles the red flags, or other signals so displayed, shall 
forfeit for each offence not less than ten dollars nor more than one 
hundred dollars." 
Rule V. All rules and regulations relating to contagious diseases 
shall be in full force until the Board of Health removes from the prem- 
ises the placards which notify the public of the existence of the disease. 
Rule VI. No person shall remove or permit to be removed from 
any house any clothing or other property that may have been exposed 
to infectious or contagious disease, without written permission of the 5 
Board of Health, nor shall any occupant take up his residence else- 
where without the written consent of the Board of Health. 
Rule VII. Upon the death, recovery or removal of any person sick 
of any disease dangerous to the public health, the Board of Health 
shall require such disinfection of the house and such articles therein 
contained where such sickness has occurred, as may be deemed advisa- 
ble by them, and such disinfection shall be done by a duly authorized 
agent of the Board of Health. 
Rule VIII. In case books from the public schools are found in any 
household where contagious disease exists, they will be taken by the 
agent of the Board of Health, and will be either disinfected or de- 
stroyed under his direction. An inventory of the same will be sent to 
the teacher of the school to which the books belong and also to the 
Superintendent of Schools. The householder must pay for all disin- 
fectants and all other expenses incurred by the Board of Health. 
Rule IX. No child from a family in which there shall occur a case 
of Asiatic cholera, yellow fever, small-pox, varioloid, diphtheria, 
membranous croup, scarlet fever, or typhus fever, shall attend 
any school, public or private, or any member of the household attend 
any school or church in the town, during the continuance of the disease, 
or for a period of two weeks, or in case of measles three days, after 
the death, recovery, or removal of the person or persons sick. 
Rule X. No pupil who, by reason of the foregoing rule, has been 
debarred from school attendance, shall be readmitted to any school in 
the town without a written permit from the Board of Health. Such 
permit may be issued when the attending physician has certified in 
writing to the Board of Health that in his opinion the child or person 
may attend school or church without danger of communicating any 
dangerous disease, and after proper disinfection of the premises. 
Rule XI. No child affected with whooping-cough, mumps, chicken- 
pox, or German measles, shall attend any school in this town. 
Rule XII. No child shall be admitted to a public or private school 
in this town unless it shall have first presented to the teacher of the 
school it desires to attend a certificate of vaccination or exemption 6 
from vaccination from the Board of Health. Such certificates will be 
issued by the Board upon the satisfactory evidence of any reputable 
physician in accordance with the provisions of the statutes. 
Rule XIII. No person from a family wherein a contagious disease 
exists shall take any book to or from the public library. The Board 
will inform the librarian of all cases of the above-mentioned diseases, 
and will take charge of all books and cards found in such cases. Until 
the librarian is notified that all danger of contagion is passed he shall 
deliver no books or magazines to any member of said family. 
Rule XIV. No person or article liable to propagate a dangerous 
disease shall be brought within the limits of the town without special 
consent and direction of the Board of Health; and whenever it shall 
appear to any person that such person or article has been brought into 
the town, immediate notice thereof shall be given to the Board specify- 
ing its location. 
Rule XV. No person sick with any contagious or infectious disease 
shall be transported in any public vehicle used in the carrying of 
passengers. 
Rule XVI. When children are absent from school on account of 
illness, and whenever the teacher has reason to. suspect the existence 
of a contagious disease in any household, he is authorized to exclude 
pupils from school until the case can be properly investigated. The 
te&Uiers are required to exercise caution in sending pupils to the 
houses of absent pupils to ascertain the reason for such absence, 
specially forbidding them to enter the house to which they are sent. 
Pupils are not permitted to be sent where contagious diseases are be- 
lieved to exist in the household of absent pupils. In any doubtful case 
the authority of the Board of Health should be consulted, as with them 
rests the power of causing any child to remain out of school so long as 
it might be a source of danger to the other scholars. 
Rule XVII. a. The body of any person dying of cholera, small- 
pox, membranous croup, diphtheria, diphtheritic croup, measles, or 
scarlet fever, shall within twelve hours be interred to the satisfaction 
of the Board of Health. It shall be the duty of the undertaker to keep 7 
such funeral strictly private, and to permit no other person or persons 
excepting the adult members of the deceased person's family and the 
officiating clergyman or minister, to be present thereat; and to convey 
such dead body directly from the place of death to the place of burial, 
and in no other vehicle than a hearse. All bodies shall be encased in a 
metallic air-tight casket, if so ordered by the Board of Health. 
b. The dead body of any person who has died of any infectious or 
contagious disease shall be thoroughly disinfected, and shall not be ex- 
posed to the view of any person who is not necessarily engaged in the 
preparation of the same for burial. 
c. The dead body of any person who has died of any contagious or 
infectious disease shall not be placed in any receiving vault in any 
cemetery, unless by written consent of the Board of Health. 
d. No dead body of any person who has died of Asiatic cholera, yel- 
low fever, typhus fever, measles, small-pox, diphtheria, or scarlet 
fever, shall be shipped or carried into or from said town by any means 
of conveyance whatsoever, without written permission of the Board of 
Health. 
Rule XVIII. No person shall bury a dead body, or cause one to be 
buried at any other time than between sunrise and sunset, except in ac- 
cordance with a permit from the Board of Health. 
Rule XIX. No person shall remove a dead body, or its remains, 
from a grave or tomb in the town, or disturb in a tomb or grave such 
body, or its remains, except in accordance with a permit from the 
Board of Health. 
Rule XX. No person shall open or dig a grave in any burial 
ground, except in accordance with a permit from the Board of Health. 
Rule XXI. No undertaker, sexton, or other person, shall bury in 
this town, or remove therefrom the body of a deceased person until he 
has received a permit so to do from the Board of Health. No such per- 
mit shall be issued until there has been delivered to the Board a satis- 
factory written statement containing the facts required by Chapter 306 
REGULATIONS FOR BURIALS. 8 
of the Public Statutes, together with the certificate of the attending 
physician. Any persons violating the provisions of this section shall 
be punished by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars ($50.00.) 
REGULATIONS OF GARBAGE, ETC. 
Rule XXII. Xo privy, cesspool or vault shall be opened in any 
manner or at any time than at such time and in such manner as the 
Board of Health may direct; and no person shall remove or carry 
through any public street, highway or square of the town the contents 
of any privy or vault, unless the person removing the same, and the 
cart, wagon or other conveyance in which the same is carried, shall be 
licensed for such purpose by the Board of Health. All such vaults 
shall be thoroughly cleaned out and the contents thereof removed once 
in each year, and oftener if the Board of Health so direct. 
Rule XXIII. All putrid, decayed or decaying animal or vegetable 
matter shall be removed from the cellars and outbuildings on or before 
the fifteenth day of May in each year. 
Rule XXIV. Every owner or occupant of any building in this town 
shall keep such building and yard belonging thereto free from all tilth 
and substances liable to produce offensive odors. 
Rule XXV. No person shall deposit or permit to be deposited by 
anyone occupying his premises, any house offal, brine, bones, dead 
animals, old leather, decayed fruit or vegetables, or any other rubbish, 
in any streams, ponds, catch-basin, street, lane, alley or public grounds 
of the town. 
Rule XXVI. No owner of land abutting on a private passage-way 
ami having the right to use such passage-way, shall suffer any tilth or 
waste or stagnant water to remain on that part of the passage-way 
adjoining such land. 
RUle XXVII. No person shall sweep into, or put or drop and suffer 
to remain in, any street or alley, any piece of hoop, board, wood, paper, 
or any sweepings, sawdust, soot, ashes, cinders, shavings, hair, manure, 
oyster shell, clam shell, lobster shell, fish bead, fish tail, fish entrails, 9 
or fish refuse, card, handbill, circular, pamphlet, or rubbish or filth of 
any kind, or any obnoxious refuse, liquid or solid matter or substance. 
Rule XXVIII. No person shall collect, remove or carry in or 
through any of the streets, lanes, avenues, places or alleys within the 
town of Westfield, the contents of any cesspool, vault, privy or privy 
well, the drainage of any stable, dwelling house, slaughter house, or 
other buildings in the town, unless expressly licensed therefor by the 
Board of Health, upon such terms and conditions and by such methods, 
as the Board may deem that the public health requires; and upon failure 
to comply therewith the license shall be forthwith revoked and can- 
celed. No privy vault or cesspool shall be cleaned between sunrise and 
8 P. M. 
Rule XXIX. No person shall collect or remove from any dwelling 
house, or other place in the town, any grease or refuse fatty matter, 
without first obtaining a permit so to do from the Board of Health, and 
in all respects complying with the conditions of such permit. All such 
permits shall expire on the first day of May annually, and may be re- 
voked at any time by the Board of Health; and no person shall receive 
such a permit without first paying to the clerk of said Board for the 
use of the town, the sum of 50 cents. 
Rule XXX. Every house shall be provided with a suitable metallic 
tight-covered receptacle to keep garbage or swill until the same is re- 
moved by the town scavenger, or person licensed to do the same. This 
receptacle shall be kept covered at all times except when depositing or 
removing garbage. It shall be kept on the ground floor, and be con- 
venient of access. 
Rule XXXI. No person shall deposit in the garbage to be taken by 
the town scavenger any tin cans, water (dish water not excepted), 
ashes, glass, oyster or clam-shells, saw-dust, cork-dust, old boots or 
shoes, dead animals, lawn clippings, hair, and all poisonous substances. 
Any garbage containing foreign matter of the kind enumerated above 
must be cared for by the owner at his own expense. 
Rule XXXII. All such refuse collected or carried through the 
streets, square or highways, shall be put and carried in a close covered 10 
vehicle, box, or other vessel from which no odors can escape, and 
which shall at all times, when not necessarily open for the purpose of 
depositing such refuse, be kept securely covered. If any of the con- 
tents thereof shall be spilled or fall upon any street, walk or premises, 
it shall be the duty of the driver to replace the same immediately and 
remove all traces thereof. 
UNWHOLESOME FOOD. 
Acts of 1894, Chap. 491, Sec. 15. 
Whoever knowingly sells, or offers or exposes for sale, or has in his 
possession with intent to sell, for food, any diseased animal, or any 
product thereof, or any tainted, diseased, corrupted, decayed or un- 
wholesome carcass, meat, fish, vegetables, produce, fruit, or provisions 
of any kind, or the veal of the calf killed under four -weeks old, shall be 
punished by imprisonment in jail not exceeding sixty days, or by a fine 
not exceeding one hundred dollars (§100.00), or by both such fine and 
imprisonment. 
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES AMONG DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DEAD 
ANIMALS, ETC. 
ACTS OF 1894. 
Chap. 491, Sect. 29. 
Every person, except the members of the board of cattle commis- 
sioners, who has knowledge of or has good reason to suspect the exist- 
ence of any contagious disease among any species of domestic animals 
within the limits of this Commonwealth, or that any domestic animal 
is affected with any such contagious disease, whether such knowledge 
is obtained by personal examination or otherwise, shall immediately 
give written notice thereof to the Board of Health of the city or town 
where such diseased animal or animals are kept, and for failure so to 
do shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars 
(§500.00), or by imprisonment in jail not exceeding one year. 11 
ACTS OF 1894. 
Chap. 491, Sect. 37. 
Contagious diseases under the provisions of this act shall include 
glanders, farcy, contagious pleuro-pneumonia, tuberculosis, Texas fever, 
foot and mouth disease, rinderpest, hog cholera and rabies. 
Rule XXXIII. Persons having the care and custody of animals 
diseased or infected with pleuro-pneumonia, farcy, glanders, or rabies, 
or any other contagious or infectious disease, whether their own prop- 
erty or otherwise, and having received an order for their isolation, 
shall neither sell, swap, trade, give, nor in any way dispose of such 
animals; nor drive, nor work, nor move, nor allow them to be moved 
away from the place of isolation, nor allow other animals, not already 
exposed, to come in contact with them until otherwise ordered by the 
Board of Health of the Town of Westfield, or the State Cattle Com- 
missioners. 
Rule XXXIV. No person shall deposit or cause to be deposited 
in any street, lot, lake or river, or other body of water in said town, 
any dead animal or part thereof. It shall be the duty of any owner or 
other person having charge of any animal at the time of its death to 
remove or cause to be removed the dead body of such animal within 
six hours after death, and properly buried, unless permission to do 
otherwise is given by said Board in writing. 
Rule XXXV. No person shall abandon or leave in any street, alley, 
lot or other public place within said town, any sick or injured horse or 
other animal. It shall be the duty of the owner of such sick or injured 
animal to make provision for the care and shelter of the same, or, if 
such sick or injured animal shall be adjudged past recovery, to kill or 
cause to be killed, the same and remove under the rules and regulations 
of the Board of Health. 
Rule XXXVI. No person shall keep any fowl or animal in any part 
of a dwelling-house, or in anyplace in the town where the Board of 
Health may deem such keeping detrimental to the health or comfort of 
the residents of the neighborhood, or to those who may pass thereby ; 12 
and said Board shall have the power to remove or cause to be re- 
moved therefrom, any such fowl or animal so kept. 
Rule XXXVII. Ownersand occupants of livery and other stables 
within the town, shall not wash or clean their carriages or horses, or 
cause them to be washed or cleaned in the streets or public ways. 
They shall keep their stables and yards clean, and not allow large 
quantities of manure to accumulate in or near the same at any one time 
between the first day of May and the first day of November, and no 
manure shall be allowed to accumulate or remain uncovered outside of 
a stable building. 
SWINE LIMITS 
Rule XXXVIII. No person shall keep or maintain or suffer, allow 
or permit to be kept or maintained on any premises of which he is the 
owner or occupant, any swine between the first day of May and the 
fifteenth day of October of each year, within the district herein de- 
scribed and bounded, viz.: 
Beginning at a point on Main street at the southeast end of Moseley's 
Park, thence along Main street to Cross street; thence along Cross street 
to East Silver street; thence along East Silver street to West Silver 
street to South Maple street; thence along South Maple street to a point 
where the line of Linden avenue produced meets South Maple street; 
thence along Linden avenue to Myrtle avenue; thence along Myrtle 
avenue to West Silver street; thence along West Silver street to Mill 
street; thence along Mill street to Oak street; thence along Oak street 
to Paper street; thence along Paper street to Mill street; thence along 
Mill street to Crane avenue; thence along Crane avenue to Highland 
avenue: thence northerly along Highland avenue to Western avenue: 
thence easterly on Western avenue to Court street to High street ; 
thence northerly on High street to King street; thence easterly on 
King street to Grand street; thence along Grand street along a line of 
Grand street produced to Franklin avenue; thence along the line of 
Franklin avenue to Great River dike; thence easterly on the line of the 13 
dike to Kellogg street; thence northerly across Westfield river in a 
straight line to Atwater street; thence along the line of Atwater street 
to Prospect street; thence easterly along the line of Prospect street to 
Crown street; thence northerly along the line of Crown street to Notre 
Dame street; thence easterly along the line of Notre Dame street to 
North Elm street; thence southerly along the line of North Elm street to 
Harvard street; thence along the line of Harvard street to Dartmouth 
street; thence along the line of Dartmouth street to Union street; 
thence easterly along the line of Union street to Katherine street; 
thence southerly along the line of Katherine street; thence southerly 
across the Westfield river in a straight line from Katherine street 
to place of beginning. 
Any premises abutting on any of the above described lines on either 
side thereof, are and shall be considered and deemed to be within the 
district of which such line is a bound. 
Any and all swine in any pen or other enclosure in which swine are 
kept outside of said districts shall be kept in a condition of neatness 
and cleanliness acceptable to the Board of Health. 
SPECIAL VOTES. 
By virtue of the authority given in Chapter 80, of the Public Statutes, 
the Board of Health of the Town of Westfield hereby forbids the exer- 
cise or the trade or employment of rendering tallow (other than fresh 
tallow), lard, grease, bones, or other refuse animal matter within the 
limits of the Town of Westfield, except at such places as have been or 
may hereafter be assigned by said Board ; such trade or employment 
being in the opinion of the Board a nuisance hurtful to the inhabitants 
and the exercise of which is attended by noisome and injurious odors. 
At a meeting of the Board of Health held August 16, 1897, the fol- 
lowing order was passed: 
Voted, That no cesspool or privy-vault be allowed on any land abut- 
ting on a street in which there is a public sewer. Unless otherwise ordered by the Board of Health, owners of proper- 
ty affected by this order will be allowed until August 1, 1898, to com- 
ply with the same. 
At a meeting of the Board of Health held to-day, the above Bules and 
Regulations were adopted. 
14 
L. H. BEALS, Chairman, 
C. H. ABBE, 
JAMES W. HOLLAND, M. D., Clerk, 
Board 
of 
Health. 
Westfield, Mass., May 2, 1898. 
The meetings of the Board of Health are held in the Police Court 
Boom, Town Hall. Mondays, at 2 p. m.