Supervisors Are Puzzled

SUPERVISORS ARE PUZZLED

About Keeping Down Contagious Disease Bills

CARE OF THE INSANE

The County Is Up Against Problem for Their Temporary Care -- Old Ypsilanti Dispute Settled

The Board of Supervisors have spent much of their time so far on the bills for contagious diseases. These bills are growing and there is a feeling among the supervisors that many of them are higher than they should be. Up to Tuesday evening bill for contagious diseases amounting to $750.65 had been considered and of this amount $173.10 were disallowed. Of the amount disallowed, however, $81.65 were allowed Wednesday morning. The disallowed bills were mostly for property destroyed and cut on nurses' bills. Two physicians' bills were cut an aggregate of $19.

Wednesday bills for contagious diseases from Ypsilanti amounting to  $1,113.49 were allowed and bills for $76 were disallowed. Included in these bills was a bill from Ypsilanti city for $626.58, for contagious disease bills, which the city itself had paid. This settles an old matter of dispute between Ypsilanti and the county. The Ypsilanti charter requires the justices to pay in fines to the city treasurer and they did not get into the county treasury. A committee of the board investigated and payments to Ypsilanti were held up. Ypsilanti city fathers found they had been paying contagious disease bills which the county should pay. With the allowance of these bills by the board the account about balances and will be settled up.

When the other bills for contagious diseases were read, Chairman Harriman of the committee on contagious diseases thought that a portrait of Dr. Willcoxson, of Ypsilanti, should be secured and hung up in the supervisors' room. He presented a bill of $22 for 22 visits in a diphtheria case.

The undertaking bills of J. E. Moore, $18 and $55, were disallowed.

Justice Gibson's bills for $595.55 and $121.05 have been allowed.

The prosecuting attorney has been requested to report on the powers and duties of the building committee during the recess of the board. It is claimed by some that the committee ceases with the adjournment of the board.

The new supervisors, Walter Bilbie and Newton Felch, have been given the committee places held formerly by County Treasurer Braun and the late George H. Rhodes.

The school commissioner has had the clerk hire for the 8th grade examinations increased from $90 to $200.

The health officer of Pittsfield presented a bill, but as the supervisors seemed to think that each township should pay its own health officers the bill was withdrawn.

The matter of caring for the insane was brought up Wednesday on the suggestion of Judge Harriman that some rooms might be fitted at the county house for the temporary care of them. There is at present a case in Ypsilanti of a violently insane woman. The state asylums are full and Wayne county has notified the county that she will no longer care for Washtenaw insane temporarily as under previous arrangements. A committee had visited St. Joseph's retreat, but they were averse to taking patients temporarily to be sent later to state asylums. They would take patients for not less than three months unless sooner cured.