Warrants. Means for protection of health. Nuisances. Power and authority. Quarantine regulations. Abatement of nuisances. Expenses. Lien. witnesses, and compel them to testify in any matter or proceeding before him or his authorized agent. He may issue warrants to any sheriff, constable, or policeman to apprehend and arrest such persons who disobey the quarantine orders or regulations of the Department of Health. Every warrant shall be forthwith executed by the officer to whom directed, who shall make due return of the execution thereof to the Commissioner. Section 8. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Health to protect the health of the people of the State, and to determine and employ the most efficient and practical means for the prevention and suppression of disease. The Commissioner of Health shall cause examination to be made of nuisances or questions affecting the security of life and health in any locality, and for that purpose the Commissioner, and any person authorized by him so to do, may, without fee or hindrance, enter, examine and survey all grounds, vehicles, apartments, buildings, and places within the State, and all persons so authorized by him shall have the powers and authority conferred by law upon constables. Section 9. The Commissioner shall have power and authority to order nuisances, detrimental to the public health, or the causes of disease and mortality, to be abated and removed, and to enforce quarantine regulations. If the owner or occupant of any premises, whereon any nuisance detrimental to the public health exists, fails to comply with any order of the Commissioner of Health for the abatement or removal thereof, the Commissioner, his agents or employes, may enter upon the premises to which such order relates and abate or remove such nuisance. The expense of such abatement or removal shall be paid by the owner or occupant of such premises, or by the person who caused or maintained such nuisance, and such expense shall be a lien upon the lands upon which the nuisance was maintained; for which a claim may be filed by the Commissioner, in the name of the Commonwealth, in the court of common pleas for the county in which the lands are, within six months from the date of completion of the work of abatement or removal, subject to the same proceedings for entry or revival of judgment and execution as are provided by law for other municipal liens. The Commissioner may also maintain an action against such owner or occupant, in the name of the Commonwealth, to recover the amount of such expense, in the same way as debts of like amount are by law recoverable; and the same, when recovered lien or personal either by enforcement of the lien or by the personal Enforcement of action, shall be paid to the State Treasurer, to be action. held and used as the funds of the Department of Health; but a final recovery of the amount, in one proceeding, shall be a bar to the further continuance of the other: Provided, however, That this act shall not Proviso. apply to waters pumped or flowing from coal mines or tanneries. Births, mar riages, deaths and diseases, regis tration of. Section 10. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Health to have general supervision of the State registration of births, marriages, deaths, and diseases; of practitioners of medicine and surgery; of midwives, nurses and undertakers, and of all persons whose occupation is deemed to be of importance in obtaining complete registration of births, deaths, marriages, and disease. He shall prescribe and prepare the necessary methods and forms for obtaining and preserving such statistics, and shall secure the prompt and faithful registration of the same in a Bureau of Bureau of Vital Vital Statistics, to be maintained as a part of his department. Statistics. Section 11. The Commissioner of Health may, with the advice and concurrence of the advisory board, make appropriate regulations for the thorough organi- Regulations. zation and efficiency of the registration of vital statistics throughout the State, and the Commissioner shall have the power and authority to enforce such regulations. tion. In order to insure the official registration of vital Official registrastatistics and the management of the sanitary affairs in the different parts of the State, the Commissioner of Health may apportion the State into ten districts; Districts. and in each district he shall appoint a health officer, who shall, under the direction of the Commissioner of Health, have supervision and control of the sanitary Health officers. shall be a physician of at least five years' professional Eligibility. Orders and regulations of local revoked, etc. Section 12. The Commissioner of Health may revoke or modify any order, regulation, by-law, or ordi- boards may be nance of a local board of health, concerning a matter which, in his judgment, affects the public health beyond the territory over which such local board has jurisdiction. Annual report of the Commissioner. Contents. Commissioner to have all the powers of State Board of Health. ceedings. Section 13. The Commissioner of Health shall, annually, on or before the first day of February, make a written report to the Governor, upon the vital statistics and sanitary conditions and prospects of the State. Such report shall set forth the action of the department and of its officers and agents, and the names thereof during the past year; a detailed statement of all moneys paid out by, or on account of, the department, and the manner of its expenditures, during the year, and other useful information, and shall suggest any further legislative action or precaution deemed necessary for the better protection of life and health. Section 14. The Commissioner of Health, in addition to the powers conferred by this act, shall have all the powers conferred, and perform all the duties here. tofore imposed, by law upon the State Board of Health, or any member, committee or officer thereof, including the secretary. This act shall not affect pending actions or proceedings, civil or criminal, brought by or against the State Board of Health or its officers; but such actions or Actions and pro- proceedings may be prosecuted or defended, in the same manner and to the same effect, by the Commissioner of Health as if originally begun by or against him. Nor shall any provision hereof affect in any manner any order or recommendation made by, or any other matters or proceedings before, the State Board of Health, and all such matters and proceedings pending before the board when this act takes effect shall be continued before the Commissioner of Health. Promulgation of rules and regulations. Violations of orders or regulations, etc. Section 15. All rules and regulations of the Department of Health shall be promulgated by sending printed copies to all local boards of health, schoolboards, and clerks of councils of cities and boroughs, and by printing, once a week for two weeks, in at least one daily paper of Philadelphia and Pittsburg, and the rules and regulations shall be printed in circular form and given to any one who demands them. Section 16. Every person who violates any order or regulation of the Department of Health, or who.resists or interferes with any officer or agent thereof in the performance of his duties in accordance with the regulations and orders of the Department of Health, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, Fine and penalty. upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding one month, or both, at the discretion of the court. Misdemeanor. Section 17. All necessary expenses under the provisions of this act shall, after approval in writing by the Governor and the Commissioner of Health, be paid by the State Treasurer, upon the warrant of the No. 219. AN ACT To establish an emergency fund, to be used, as occasion may require, in the suppression of epidemics, the prevention of disease, and protection of human life in times of epidemic disease or of disaster threatening disease, and making an appropriation therefor. Governor. Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That the sum of fifty Emergency fund. thousand dollars be and the same is hereby specifically appropriated and set apart, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose Appropriation. of creating an emergency fund, to be used, as occasion may require, by the State Board of Health in the suppression of epidemics, prevention of disease, and protection of human life in times of epidemic disease or of disaster threatening disease, beyond the ability of the local authorities to check or relieve. The money herein appropriated shall be held in the Treasury of the Commonwealth, and whenever the Secretary of the State Board of Health shall find that the public health is threatened, either by epidemic or as a result of great disaster, to such an extent that the local authorities are unable to meet the emergency, he shall prepare a statement to that effect, rehearsing Statement to the all the facts in the case, and the reason for considering that State aid is needed, and to what amount, and transmit the same to the Governor. If the statement and the reasons therein set forth shall meet with the approval of the Governor, he shall certify and file the Approval, statement and certificate of approval in the office of the Auditor General, who shall then draw his warrant upon the State Treasurer for the amount approved by the Governor, and place the same in the hands of the treasurer of the State Board of Health, to be used for the purpose set forth in the statement approved as aforesaid, and for no other purpose. If, after the said epidemic shall have been suppressed, or the sickness or danger averted, there shall still be a balance of the amount drawn left in the hands of the treasurer of the State Board of Health, he shall, without delay, return the same to the State Treasurer, and it shall become part of the said emergency fund. He shall also file with the Auditor General a specifically item- Itemized stateized statement, made under oath, of the expenditures of said moneys, as soon as possible. APPROVED-The 27th day of April, A. D. 1905. SAML. W. PENNYPACKER. ment. Preamble. State Highway Commissioner. Salary. Bond. Assistant Commissioner. Civil engineers. Draftsman. Chief clerk. No. 220. AN ACT Providing for the establishment of a State Highway Department, by the appointment of a State Highway Commissioner and staff of assistants, and defining the powers and duties thereof; authorizing the State Highway Department to cooperate with the several counties and townships, and with boroughs in certain instances, in the improvement of the public highways and the maintenance of improved highways; providing for the application of counties and townships for State aid in highway improvement and maintenance; providing for the payment of the cost of highway improvements, made under the provisions of this act, by the State, the counties and the townships, and making an appropriation for this purpose, and providing a penalty for maliciously destroying improved roads. Whereas, It is of great importance to the people of this Commonwealth that the public highways should be systematically improved, and that the several counties and townships should be given the aid and encouragement of the State in the building and maintenance of improved highways; therefore: Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That immediately upon the approval of this act, a State Highway Department shall be established by the appointment, by the Governor of the Commonwealth, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of four years, of a State Highway Commissioner, who shall be a competent civil engineer, and experienced in the construction and maintenance of improved roads. Said State Highway Commissioner shall receive a salary of five thousand dollars per annum, and shall be allowed his actual traveling expenses, not exceeding one thousand dollars per annum, while officially employed. He shall furnish a bond, in the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, for the faithful performance of his duty, said bond to be approved by the Governor, and he shall give his whole time and attention to the duties of his position. The said State Highway Commissioner may appoint, as the work of the department requires it, and subject to the approval of the Governor, one assistant, who shall be a capable and competent civil engineer, and experienced in road building, who shall receive an annual salary of three thousand dollars, and shall be allowed his actual traveling expense, not to exceed one thousand dollars per annum, when on official business; he may also appoint, as the work of the department requires it, six competent civil engineers, experienced in road building, who shall each receive a salary of two thousand dollars per annum, and be allowed their actual traveling expenses; he may also appoint two competent draftsmen, who shall also be civil engineers, who shall each receive a salary of fifteen hundred dollars per annum. He shall also appoint a chief clerk, at an annual salary of two thou |