140 Construction of buildings. Commission to investigate sim in other states. APPOINTMENT OF CITY AND BOROUGH HEALTH OFFICERS. [Jan., SEC. 5. It shall be the duty of the commission to secure plans and specifications of such buildings as are necessary to start the institution, and to obtain bids from competent builders for the construction of the same. SEC. 6. It shall be the duty of the commission to investiilar institutions gate institutions of a similar character in other states and make recommendations regarding the methods of direction, maintenance, and supervision of the institution. Report of com- Appropriation. Appointment of city and borough health officers. SEC. 7. The commission shall report to the next general assembly all work done by it under authority of this act, together with such recommendations as it shall deem necessary, and shall advise what further sum should be appropriated for the establishment and maintenance of the institution. Said commission shall prepare and cause to be presented to the next general assembly such act or acts as may be necessary for carrying out the aforesaid purpose. SEC. 8. The sum of fifty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the aforesaid purpose. SEC. 9. This act shall take effect from its passage. [Substitute for Senate Bill No. 146.] CHAPTER 181. An Act concerning the Appointment of City and Borough Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Section 2531 of the general statutes is hereby amended to read as follows: The mayor of every city and the warden of every borough shall, unless the charter of such city or borough otherwise provides for the appointment of a health officer, nominate some discreet person, learned in medical and sanitary science, to be health officer for such city or borough, which nomination shall be confirmed or rejected by the common council of such city or by the burgesses of such borough within thirty days thereafter. Such health officer shall have and exercise within the limits of the city or borough for which he is appointed all powers necessary and proper for preserving the public health and preventing the spread of diseases therein. In case a vacancy exists for thirty days in the office of such health officer the county health officer for the county in which such city or borough is situated shall appoint a health officer for such city or borough. The county health officer may, for cause, remove an officer by him or by any predecessor in said office appointed, and the common council of such city or the burgesses of such borough may respectively, for cause, remove an officer whose nomination has by them been confirmed, provided such removal is approved by the county health officer, and, within two days thereafter, notice in writing of such action shall be given by the clerk of said city, or of said borough, as the case may be, to the county health officer, who shall, within ten days after he has received such notice, file with the clerk from whom he received the same his approval or disapproval. The compensation of such health officer may be fixed by said common council or burgesses, but, if not so fixed, shall not be less than three dollars for each day of actual service, with his necessary expenses. Approved, June 18, 1903. [Substitute for House Bill No. 88.] CHAPTER 182. An Act concerning the Conveyance of Children to High Schools. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in transportation urer. SECTION 1. Any town in which a high school is not main- Payment of tained shall pay the reasonable and necessary cost of railway or by town treasother transportation of any child who resides with his parents or guardian in said town and who, with the written consent of the school visitors or town school committee, attends a high school in another town; provided, that such high school be approved by the state board of education. Such necessary and reasonable cost of railway or other transportation shall be paid annually by the town treasurer upon the order of the chairman of the board of school visitors or town school committee. bursement of SEC. 2. Every town shall, annually, in July, receive from Partial reimthe treasurer of the state an amount equal to one-half of the town by state. aggregate of the sums which have actually been paid by the town for transportation under the provisions of section one of this act; provided, that not more than twenty dollars shall be paid by the state for each scholar conveyed. filed with SEC. 3. The number and names of the children so con- Certificates to be veyed to high schools in towns other than those in which they board of edureside, the names of the high schools which they have attended, cation. and the amount paid by the town for the conveyance of each child shall, on or before the first day of July in each year, be certified to the state board of education by an acting school visitor, under oath, of the town in which the children reside. On application of said board the comptroller shall draw an order on the treasurer of the state in favor of the town for the amount provided in section two of this act. Approved, June 18, 1903. Returns by mutual fire and life insurance companies. [Senate Bill No. 174.] CHAPTER 183. An Act concerning Returns of Mutual Insurance Companies. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Section 2444 of the general statutes is hereby amended to read as follows: The secretary or treasurer of every insurance company chartered by this state, and doing business in whole or in part upon the plan of mutual insurance, including every company whose policy-holders have a right to participate in its profits, shall, if a fire insurance company, on or before the twentieth day of January, and, if a life insurance company, on or before the fifteenth day of February, annually, render to the comptroller a sworn statement, showing the total amount of its assets on the preceding thirty-first day of December, with a detailed enumeration of such assets and the market value thereof, the amount of premium notes held by it, its ascertained and unpaid losses on that day, the assessed valuation of its real estate listed against said company in this state during the year ending on said preceding thirty-first day of December, and the amount of taxes payable thereon during said year, and, if a life insurance company, which is also in part a stock company, the stock whereof is by law taxable, the market value of the assets belonging to the stock department of said company, and, if a fire insurance company, with a statement of the balance remaining, after deducting from the total amount of assets the ascertained and unpaid losses, and the market value of any bonds owned by it, which have been heretofore issued by this state, or by any town or city in this state, in aid of the construction of any railroad, and which, by the laws of the state, are exempt from taxation, and the premium notes held by it. Approved, June 18, 1903. Tax on mutual life insurance companies. [Senate Bill No. 173.] CHAPTER 184. An Act concerning Taxes on Mutual Life Insurance Companies. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Section 2446 of the general statutes is hereby amended to read as follows: Every such mutual life insurance company shall, annually, on or before the twenty-fifth day of February, pay to the state a tax upon its corporate franchise, computed as follows: From the total amount of its premium notes and the market value of all its other assets shall be deducted the amount of its ascertained and unpaid losses, the market value of any bonds owned by it which have been issued by this state, or by any town or city in this state, in aid of the construction of any railroad, and which by the laws of this state are exempt from taxation, and, if said company be in part a stock company, the stock of which by law is otherwise liable to taxation, the market value of the assets belonging to its stock department; and such annual tax shall equal one-fourth of one per centum on the balance remaining, less the amount of taxes paid by such company upon its real estate in Connecticut during the year ending on the thirty-first day of December prior thereto, all of which real estate shall be assessed and taxed in the town or other taxing district within which it is located. Approved, June 18, 1903. [House Bill No. 493.] CHAPTER 185. An Act concerning Itinerant Vendors. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in itinerant vendor tinued. In case any person prosecuted for doing business in violation Action against of any of the provisions of sections 4662, 4663, 4664, 4665, may be con4666, 4667, and 4668 of the general statutes relating to itinerant vendors shall claim or testify upon his trial that he has commenced such business with a bona fide intent to conduct the same as a permanent business in the place where he has commenced the same, the court before which said action is prosecuted may, in its discretion, continue such action from time to time, not exceeding in the whole one year, taking a sufficient bond from the accused in a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, conditioned for the appearance of the accused at the trial of such action so continued, and, at the continued trial of said action, evidence may be introduced of any act, fact, admission, or circumstance arising since the institution of such action and affecting such claim or testimony of the intent of the accused. Approved, June 18, 1903. Removal of corpses from one town to another. [Senate Bill No. 178.] CHAPTER 186. An Act concerning the Removal of Corpses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Section 1871 of the general statutes is hereby amended by substituting the word "and" for the word "or" in the tenth line thereof between the words "hermetically sealed " and the words" has been," so that said section when amended shall read as follows: No person shall remove the body of any deceased person from or into the limits of any town in this state unless there shall be attached to the coffin or case containing such body a written or printed permit, signed by the registrar of deaths in the town in which such deceased person died, certifying the cause of death or disease of which such person died and the town in which such person is to be buried; and further certifying, in case said disease or cause of death appears by said permit to have been cholera, yellow fever, diphtheria, membranous croup, typhus fever, typhoid fever, scarlet fever, measles, leprosy, smallpox, or other pestilential disease, that said body is enclosed in an air-tight coffin or case, hermetically sealed, and has been disinfected in accordance with the method prescribed from time to time by the state board of health; such removal permit shall be sufficient to enable said deceased person to be buried in any town in this state other than the town in which such person died, without a burial permit from the registrar of the town where such person is to be buried. A certificate of death giving heart failure as the only cause of death shall not be deemed sufficient upon which to issue a burial or removal permit, and such certificate must be returned to the physician who made it for the proper correction and definition. Every registrar shall inscribe upon the back of each certificate of birth, marriage, or death received for record the date of its reception, and the registrar shall be entitled to a fee of ten cents for each endorsement so made. If the body of a deceased person is brought into this state from without for burial, and if it is accompanied by a removal permit issued by the legally constituted authorities of the state from which it was brought, such permit shall be received as sufficient authority for burial; but if it is not accompanied by such permit, then the person or persons in charge of it shall apply for a burial permit to the registrar of the town in which it is to be buried, and the registrar of the town shall issue such permit when furnished with such information as to the identity of the deceased and the cause of his or her death, as is required by law of a person dying in the state of Connecticut. Every person who shall violate any pro |