590 



NEW YORK CITY. 



and 910 sick children were visited. The disin- 

 fecting corps visited 29,568 houses in which con- 

 tagious diseases were reported, fumigated 27,866, 

 and disinfected 94,588 rooms ; 1,049 patients suf- 

 fering from contagious disease were removed to 

 hospital, and 18 dead bodies were removed to the 

 morgue; 34,950 pieces of infected goods were 

 removed for disinfection, 8,116 pieces were de- 

 stroyed, and the rest returned to owners after 

 disinfection. The veterinarian of the depart- 

 ment had charge of 538 cases of contagious 

 diseases in animals, made 1,536 inspections, and 

 examined 34,240 head of cattle. Sixty-six 

 glandered horses were destroyed, and 136 post- 

 mortems on cattle were made. 



The total number of orders issued by the 

 board for the abatement of nuisances was 25,- 

 232; attorneys' notices issued for non-compli- 

 ance with orders, 15,054; civil actions begun, 

 2,435 ; arrests made, 95 ; judgments obtained in 

 civil courts, 288 ; judgments obtained in crim- 

 inal courts, 224 ; permits issued, 4,330 ; persons 

 removed from overcrowded apartments, 3,308. 



The inspections by officers of the Sanitary Bu- 

 reau were 664,801 (171,058 more than in 1890), as 

 follow : By sanitary inspectors, 58,494 ; sanitary 

 police, 292,701 ; division of contagious diseases, 

 26,128 ; plumbing and ventilation inspectors, 55,- 

 117; milk inspectors, 94,670; fruit and food in- 

 spectors, 41,606 ; meat and fish inspectors, 66,- 

 391 ; offensive trades inspectors, 29,133 ; assistant 

 chemists, 21. 



Night inspections of tenements to report 

 overcrowding numbered 53,570, and 3,308 per- 

 sons removed from overcrowded apartments. The 

 inspectors of plumbing and ventilation reported 

 2,748 houses begun during 1891, of which 2,629 

 were finished, and there are at present 2,474 in 

 process of construction. There were examined 

 144,870 specimens of milk offered for sale, and 

 1,744 quarts of adulterated milk were destroyed. 

 There were 184 persons arrested for offering 

 adulterated milk for sale, of whom 166 were 

 tried and 3 were discharged. The amount col- 

 lected in fines was $4,336. As a result of the 

 inspections by the fruit and food inspectors, 1,- 

 341,244 pounds of stuff unfit for food were con- 

 demned and seized, an increase over 1890 of 

 285,168 pounds. There were 2 arrests for offer- 

 ing this stuff for sale, and the accused were fined 

 $10. The meat and fish inspectors condemned 

 and seized 1,595,497 pounds of meat and fish 

 unfit for food, an increase of 395,156 pounds 

 over the preceding year. Three arrests were 

 made in this connection, and $100 was imposed 

 as fines. Dead animals to the number of 48,914 

 were removed from the streets, an increase of 

 6,948 over the previous year. 



Law. The work in this division is divided 

 among four offices : (1) Corporation Counsel's 

 office (William H. Clark). The records of this 

 office for 1891 show that it has tried, at Circuit 

 and Special Terms of the different courts of rec- 

 ord, 98 suits, and 102 appeals and 760 motions 

 were argued. The Corporation Counsel exam- 

 ined and approved 935 contracts entered into 

 between the city and various contractors, wrote 

 399 opinions on questions submitted to him by 

 the heads of departments, and also collected and 

 turned into the city treasury $301,618.88. (2) 

 The office of the Attorney for the Collection of 



Arrears of Personal Taxes (John GL H. Meyers) 

 paid into the city treasury about $81,000. (3) 

 The office of the Corporation Attorney (Louis 

 Hanneman) collected over $12,000. (4) The Pub- 

 lic Administrator's office (Charles E. Lydecker) 

 paid into the city treasury $7,606.65, commissions 

 on intestate estates. 



The money sought to be recovered in " negli- 

 gence cases " from the city aggregated $224,000, 

 of which only $3,785 was obtained. 



Fire. This department is under the control 

 of a board of three commissioners, as follow : 

 Henry D. Purroy, President, S. Howland Rob- 

 bins, and Anthony Eickhoff. The headquarters 

 of the department is at 157 East 67th Street, and 

 the chief is Hugh Bonner. 



This department includes 1,035 officers and 

 men, 57 engine companies (including 3 floating 

 engines), 22 hook-and-ladder companies, 91 steam 

 fire engines, 3 fire boats, 37 hook-and-ladder 

 trucks, and 382 horses. 



During the year there were 3,925 fires, of which 

 3,559 were confined to point of starting ; 173 fires 

 confined to building ; 56 extended to other build- 

 ings ; 2,711 fires extinguished without engine 

 stream ; 814 fires extinguished with one engine 

 stream ; 400 fires extinguished with more than 

 one engine stream ; 1,252 fires resulting in nomi- 

 nal damage only ; 762 fires, building not dam- 

 aged ; 635 fires, building slightly damaged ; 209 

 fires, building considerably damaged, and 16 fires, 

 building destroyed; estimated loss, $6,618,517; 

 insurance, $77,402,837 ; average loss by each fire, 

 $1,686.24; number of fire alarms, 4,185. 



The Bureau of Combustibles received for li- 

 censes, permits, and penalties $47,430.33. 



In the Bureau of Inspection of Buildings 

 there were 1,616 applications for new buildings; 

 2,802 proposed new buildings ; estimated cost, 

 $56,001,681 ; 2,160 applications to alter, repair, 

 etc. ; 2,385 proposed to alter, etc. ; estimated cost, 

 $7,445,231 ; violations of law reported and acted 

 upon, 1,340 ; buildings reported for fire-escapes, 

 1,793; buildings reported unsafe, I,2i4; and 

 complaints investigated, 2,946. 



Of fire-alarm telegraphs there are 272 alarm 

 boxes, 47 fire-apparatus houses, 13 school-houses, 

 and 6 hospitals which are connected by under- 

 ground telegraph through the city subways and 

 subsidiary conduits by means of 59| miles of 

 cable, having 577 miles of conductors. During 

 1891 915 telegraph poles and 67 miles of wire 

 were taken down. 



The Chief of the Bureaii of Boiler Inspectors 

 reports making 6,471 inspections ; 6,381 tests of 

 boilers, of which 40 were condemned. There 

 were 6,651 engineers examined during the year, 

 and 5,942 certificates were granted. 



Education. The board having control of this 

 subject consists of 21 commissioners, who are ap- 

 pointed by the Mayor. The president is John L. 

 N. Hunt and the city superintendent is John 

 Jasper. The number of schools and departments 

 is now upward of 306, including a nautical school, 

 in which there were registered on Sept. 30 59.- 

 199 pupils in the grammar departments and 113,- 

 887 pupils in the primary departments. At that 

 time 6 new schools were in course of construction, 

 and would be opened during the coming year, 

 affording accommodation for 8,000 pupils. There 

 were refused 395 grammar pupils and 4,747 pri- 



