board or any officer thereof in his official capacity, shall be paid over into the borough treasury monthly, together with all penalties which shall be recovered for the violation of any regulation of the board. Section 4 of the Act of 1893 defines the powers and duties of such boards with regard to infectious diseases, and, inter alia, empowers them 'to enforce vaccination.' The context leads me to the belief that these words do not mean compulsory vaccination in a general sense, but only under conditions of infection and contagion which render such enforcement necessary. Section 7 of the same act provides that it shall be the duty of the Board of Health to submit annually to the council before the commencement of the fiscal year an estimate of the probable receipts and expenditures of the board during the ensuing year, and the council shall then proceed to make such appropriation therefor as they shall deem necessary.'"

"Under provisions of this act it is within the discretion of the borough council to fix the amount of an appropriation of funds to meet the estimated annual expense account submitted by the Board of Health or make provision for payment of bills already contracted by said board. I am unable to find any other Act of Assembly which defines the extent of the discretionary power of council with regard to expenses contracted by Boards of Health, nor can I find any decision of the courts under this act. Neither do I find any act of assembly which in terms renders the borough liable for the expense of vaccinating school children whose parents are in indigent circumstances and unable to pay for the same, where the borough council neglects or refuses to appropriate the necessary funds to meet such expense.”

"In my judgment, if it should be shown as a fact that a borough had received funds from fines and penalties which had not been appropriated to the support of the Health Board, and if it should be further shown that the Health Board had submitted an annual estimate of its probable receipts and expenditures, then it would become the duty of the councils to make an appropriation or at least show reasonable cause for not doing so. I do not believe that the Borough Council can arbitrarily refuse to make an appro

priation or successfully shield itself behind the plea that the matter is entirely within its uncontrolled discretion. The duty of making an appropriation is quite clearly stated in the act, provided the reasonable means of information for the intelligent exercise of judgment have been previously supplied."

"The question can be raised by mandamus issued at the instance of the borough Board of Health through its solicitor, or if there be no regular solicitor, a solicitor specially authorized to act in this instance.”

"Besides this, the matter could also be tested in an action of assumpsit by the doctor against the borough to recover the sum of money due him for services rendered at the instance of the Board of Health of the borough, relying upon the authority of the following cases: Allegheny County vs. Watt, 3 Pa. 462; Commonwealth vs. Harman, 4 Pa. 269; County of Northampton vs. Innes, 26 Pa. 156; County of Allegheny vs. Shaw, 34 Pa. 301."

"I am not advised how far the action of the Health Board in the borough of Shippensburg was caused by any action of yours, or whether you took any official action in the premises. The Act of April 27, 1905, P. L. 312, ‘Creating a Department of Health and defining its powers and duties,' in Section 8 provides that 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 means for the prevention and suppression of disease, etc.' In Section 17 of the same act it is provided that 'all necessary expenses under the provisions of this act, shall, after approval in writing by the Governor and the Commissioner of Health, be paid into the State Treasury upon the warrant of the Auditor General in the manner now provided by law.' If, from your knowledge of the facts, you can certify that the expense of vaccinating these school children in Shippensburg was a necessary expense under the provisions of the act just quoted, the local physician to whom the debt is due, can be paid without resorting to mandamus proceedings, but it will be unnecessary for me to point out to you the danger of allowing expenses,

which ought to be borne locally, to be paid out of the funds of the state."

"The Governor of this Commonwealth, on April 27, 1905, approved an act, P. L. 317, 'to establish an emergency fund to be used as occasion may require in the suppression of epidemics, prevention of disease, and protection of human life in time of epidemic diseases or of threatening disease, · and making appropriation therefor." It is quite clear that the conditions contemplated by this act were those of such extraordinary danger to public health as to be beyond the ability of the local authorities to check or relieve. Unless the conditions contemplated by this act existed and were made manifest in the manner indicated in the act, I cannot advise you that the expenses of vaccination contracted by the Board of Health in the borough of Shippensburg, or in any other borough, are payable out of the emergency fund appropriated by the Act of April 27, 1905."

"Under the Act of 27th of April, 1905, P. L. 312, creating your department, and defining its powers, it is clear that the rules and regulations of your department may be promulgated by sending printed copies to all local Boards. of Health, school boards, and clerks of councils of cities and boroughs, and the rules and regulations shall be printed in circular form and given to anyone who demands them. The 16th Section of this act provides that 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, 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."

School board should adopt rules.

632. When an infectious disease is prevalent within a school district, the school directors, acting as a Board of Health, have the authority to adopt rules and regulations to control the disease, to impose a penalty for the violation of those rules, and to maintain an action for the penalty;

but though an action of assumpsit will lie, that action is in the nature of a summary conviction, and the record of such an action before a justice of the peace must show sufficient to give jurisdiction, and should disclose every fact essential to the issue: i. e., the nature of the rules or regulations, and the penalty for violation thereof, and especially the particular rule which was violated and the amount of the penalty.23

Appointment of sanitary agent.

. 633. Judge White said:

"The school board of West Wheatfield Township have presented their petition for the approval of their appointment of a sanitary agent to aid in enforcing the rules and regulations of the board. This application is made under the Act of April 11, 1899. This is the first application of the kind that has been made to this court. We find the recital, 'being notified and are aware of the typhoid fever in Garfield and vicinity in said township, and in our judgment deem it necessary that immediate steps be taken to have said town and vicinity put in proper sanitary condition,' and thereupon appoint John W. Huston, as sanitary agent, to act in said township during the school term at a compensation of $1.50 per day for the time actually employed. The act requires the court to consider the matter as follows: And if the said court, or judge thereof, shall approve the reasons given by the said board for the appointment of such sanitary agent, and shall also approve the compensation. deemed proper therefor, said board shall have the authority to appoint such sanitary agent for such term as may be designated by the said court or judge thereof, the said compensation to be paid out of the school fund of the respective townships.' We have nothing before us but the petition of the school board. We have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the statements and request of the school board. In all such applications we should regard the statements of the school board as prima facia correct, and, of course, their

23. Wayne Twp. School Directors vs. Rosencrans, 30 Pa. C. C. 9, 1904.

suggestions of the person and the compensation will be ordinarily accepted and approved by the court." 24

Sanitary regulations of school or college buildings in cities.

634. Whereas, infectious and contagious diseases are very largely disseminated through the agency of the schools, from the want of proper disinfection of school buildings, the following act was passed.

School directors, trustees and others having control of school buildings to adopt method of disinfection.

635. On and after the passage of this act, it shall be the duty of the board of school directors, trustees, or other person or persons having control of any school or college building, in any city of this Commonwealth, to adopt and immediately put into operation a modern method and system of disinfection, for the disinfection of such school or college buildings. 25

Duty to disinfect.

636. It shall further be the duty of such board of school directors, trustees, or other person or persons having control of any school or college building in any city of this Commonwealth, at regular intervals of not exceeding two weeks, to cause all of the school or college buildings under their control to be thoroughly disinfected, by means of the method and system which they may adopt in compliance with Section 1 of this act.26

Approval of method by board of health.

637. Whenever there exists in any city a local board of health for such city, the method and system of disinfection adopted by the board of school directors, trustees, or other person or persons having control of any school or college building in such city, shall be approved by such local board of health; in any city where no such local board of health exists, such method and system of disinfection, as aforesaid, shall be approved by the state board of health of this state.27

24. West Wheatfield Township, 10 D. R. 76, 1900.

25. Act April 14, 1903, Sec. 1, P. L. 172. 26. Act April 14, 1903, Sec. 2, P. L. 172.

27. Act April 14, 1903, Sec. 3, P. L. 172.