MONMOUTH COUNTY-Continued.

city-37-exceed that for any preceding year, 1890 excepted, in the history of the town. This fact does not necessarily prove an increase in the non-resident population death-rate, but it is undoubtedly due to the fact that never before in the history of Asbury Park has the population of the locality been so large as during the past summer. The non-resident population is estimated only, and it so fluctuates from year to year that it is altogether probable that the figures used for sanitary purposes, in estimating the non-resident population, are far from accurate and cannot be relied upon to give a true death-rate. It is shown by the records of vital statistics for the State, published in the annual report of your board, that the death-rate has gradually de creased from 21.62 per 1,000 in 1892 to 15.10 per 1,000 in 1898, and as the year just closed has been marked for its healthfulness in this locality it is altogether probable that the death-rate, among the non-resident population, has not increased, and that it has in fact decreased in proportion to that of the resident population. It is fully realized by this board that people who leave homes, in which the sanitary arrangements are known to be complete, to seek health and recreation at a pleasure resort, are entitled to the protection which it is the purpose of the health laws to bestow. In order that such persons may learn the conditions which exist on the premises where they make their homes, while in Asbury Park, a sanitary record of the dwellings in this city is kept in the health office, and information is furnished, regarding the sanitary condition of any property, upon application at the office of the board of health.

There has been no change in the city's water-supply during the past year, and the supply, which is derived exclusively from artesian wells, has been equal to the demand. Some alarm was created among householders, at one time during the summer, when the water in the supply-pipes failed to rise above the first floor. This condition, which was not due to any failure in the source of supply, however, but to some mishap to the machinery or appliances at the pumping station, was speedily corrected, and the inconvenience caused by the temporary shortage was of short duration. The average daily consumption during the summer months has been about 800,000 gallons. There are but twelve dwellings in the city which are not supplied with water from the public water-works.

Specimens of Defective Plumbing Work in Asbury Park Health Office, Gathered by the Inspector during the Performance of his Official Duties.

MONMOUTH COUNTY-Continued.

The map upon which is recorded the number and character of the wells which now exist in Asbury Park, shows:

No supervision being exercised by any public department of the city over the connection and construction of water-pipes in dwellings, householders are free to connect the water-pipes to any available source of supply. During the sanitary inspection of hotels and boardinghouses, conditions are sometimes shown to exist in the water-supply on such premises which show that the proprietors are not solely influenced concerning the quality, but sometimes by the cost, of this commodity when manipulating water pipes, as is shown by the following report: To the Board of Health of Asbury Park:

GENTLEMEN-Inspection of the hotel ......, number

st., shows

that a surface well has been recently made on said premises and connected with the water-supply pipes, in the manner herein described:

The well is a driven well and has been sunk beneath the cement floor of an area at the rear of the hotel. A force-pump is attached to the well and water is pumped into an uncovered, copper-lined, wooden cistern, holding about 745 gallons, erected upon the back veranda on the fourth floor of the building. Said cistern has also been connected direct with the public water-supply pipes which distribute water through a meter from the street mains, to every drainage fixture and faucet on the hotel premises. The discharge pipe, from said cistern, has been fitted with a stop-cock near the cistern. The stop-cock is necessary, owing to the manner in which the pipes are connected, otherwise, when the water in the public standpipe is at a greater height than that in the tank (about thirty-five feet from the ground surface), water would be forced from the street mains into the tank in quantity sufficient to cause overflow. On the other hand, when the water in the standpipe falls below the level of the tank, with stop-cock open on the supply, well-water from the tank would be forced back, through the meter, into the street mains.

The visible sources of contamination about the well above referred to are as follows:

1st. The well, as before stated, is sunk beneath the cement surface of an area 24 feet deep, 6 feet wide and 35 feet long, extending across the rear of the hotel. Garbage receptacles, rubbish and general refuse matter are stored in said area.

MONMOUTH COUNTY-Continued.

There being no drainage connection to carry off filthy fluids which gather in said area, three holes have been broken in the cement floor and two three-feet lengths of six-inch tile pipes have been sunk beneath the surface of the floor through which filthy fluids flow and percolate into the sandy soil about the well. One of the said tile waste-pipes enters the ground within two feet of the well.

2d. Two refrigerators in a room in which meats and provisions are stored in the basement discharge waste fluids upon the ground within five feet of the well, and the surface of the ground about the area has been polluted for several years past by filthy fluids.

3d. There is one privy vault, two catch basins, one tile sewer and an old disused tile drain within fifteen feet of said well.

July 24th, 1899.

Respectfully submitted,

D. C. BOWEN, Inspector.

Subsequent analysis made of a sample of water taken from the well referred to in the above report, showed that the water was badly polluted and unfit for potable use.

The sewers have continued to work without interruption. They extend to all parts of the city and are within reach of every building. There are but twenty-nine premises in the city which have no connection with the sewers, and they can be classified as follows:

Ninety plans and specifications, for the construction of plumbing and drainage work in buildings, have been approved during the year. This work required 461 inspections, 109 air tests, and 83 smoke tests to be made. In addition to the above, 113 notices for minor alterations and repairs in drainage systems have been filed and inspection of the work, in each case, has been made. The use of a smoke machine, in connection with the inspection of plumbing and drainage work in this city, has been found to be indispensable in securing tight construction in the case of new plumbing work, as well as in conducting sanitary inspections of premises where it is desired to apply a reliable test to detect leaks in old plumbing and drains. The following sketch, taken from the inspector's note-book, shows how a smoke test is used, with good results, during the sanitary inspection of premises: