CHAPTER XXIII.
MORTUARY REPORTS AND VITAL STATISTICS.
Sec. 380. Register of births and deaths.
The Board of Health shall provide suitable books in which they
shall register, in the manner hereinafter directed, the returns
made to them of the births and deaths which may occur within
the city, together with the reported cause of death in each case.
Sec. 381. Death certificates.
Whenever any person shall die within the city limits, it shall
be the duty of the physician who attended such person during his
or her last sickness, or of the Coroner, when the case comes under
his notice, to furnish, within twenty-four hours after the
same comes to the knowledge of said physicians or Coroner, a
certificate to the Board of Health, setting forth so far as can be
ascertained the name, age, color, residence, place of birth, occupation
and condition—whether married or single—of the person
deceased; also the date and cause of death. Any physician or
Coroner who shall neglect or refuse to make the reports herein
required, shall be fined not less than $2 nor more than $10 for
each offense.
Sec. 382. Burial permit.
No interment of the dead body of any human being, or disposition
thereof in any tomb, vault or cemetery, shall be made within
the city without a permit granted therefor by the Board of
Health, nor otherwise than in accordance therewith, and no permit
shall be issued by the said Board for burial in private or in
places other than those provided and recognized as public cemeteries;
and no sexton, undertaker or other person shall assist
in, assent to, or allow such interment for which such permit has
not been given authorizing the same, and it shall be the duty of
every person having such permit, to preserve and return the same
to the Board of Health. Any person violating this section shall
be fined not less than $2 nor more than $10.
Sec. 383. Permit for removal of dead bodies beyond city
limits.
No undertaker or other person shall remove the body of any
person who has died within the city limits to any place beyond
the city limits for the purpose of burial, without first procuring
a permit to do so from the Board of Health, or some member
thereof, under a penalty of not less than $2 nor more than $10
for each offense.
Sec. 384. Retaining or exposing dead bodies.
No person shall retain or expose, or allow to be exposed or retained,
the dead body of any human being to the peril or prejudice
of the life or health of any person, under a penalty of not
less than $2 nor more than $10.
Sec. 385. Burial of bodies having died of contagious diseases.
There shall not be a public or church funeral of any person
who has died of smallpox, scarlet fever, yellow fever, typhus
fever, Asiatic cholera, diphtheria or cerebro spinal meningitis;
but the funeral of such person shall be private, and no undertaker
shall retain or expose, or assist in the retention or exposure
of the dead body of any such person, except in a coffin or
casket properly sealed, nor shall he allow any such body to be
placed in any coffin or casket unless the same be immediately and
permanently sealed; nor shall he assist in a public or church
funeral of any such person. Any person violating the provisions
of this section shall be fined not less than $20 nor more than $100.
Sec. 386. Duty of sexton in charge of cemetery.
Every sexton or other person or official in charge of any cemetery
or burial ground within the city, shall, in each week, make
a report to the Board of Health of the number of bodies buried
by him during the preceding week, and shall also return to said
board the permit required by section 382.
Sec. 387. Death of persons unattended by physician.
In case any person shall die within the city without the attendance
of a physician, or if the attending physician neglects or refuses
to furnish the certificate required, it shall be the duty of
any undertaker who may have charge of the burial, and the right
of any other person acquainted with the facts of the case, to report
the same to the Health Board, who shall thereupon be authorized
to give the required certificate; provided, it be not a
case requiring the attendance of the Coroner.
Sec. 388. Still-born child.
In case of a still-born child it shall be the duty of the physician
or midwife in charge to report same, and permit for burial must
be obtained as set forth above. Any violation of this section shall
be punished by a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $10.
Sec. 389. Physicians and midwives to register.
It shall be the duty of all physicians and midwives practicing
in the city of Charlottesville to register their names with the
Health Officer.
Sec. 390. Report of births; births without attendance of
physician or midwife.
Every practicing physician or midwife in the city, under whose
charge or superintendence a birth shall hereafter take place, shall
keep a true and exact register of such birth, and shall enter the
same on a blank to be furnished by the Board of Health. This
schedule shall contain a list of the births which have occurred
under his or her charge during the month, and shall set forth,
as far as the same can be ascertained the full name of each child
(if any name shall have been conferred), its sex, color, the full
name and occupation of its parents, the date and place of its
birth; and the said schedule shall be duly signed by the practitioner
in the form of a certificate, between the first and third
day of each month, to the Board of Health. In case the birth
of any child shall occur without the attendance of a physician or
midwife, or should no other person be in attendance upon the
mother immediately thereafter, it shall become the duty of the
parent or parents of such child to report its birth to the Board
of Health in the manner and within the period above required;
and any such person or persons who shall hereafter fail to comply
with the provisions of this section shall be subjected to a fine of
not less than $2 nor more than $5 for each offense.
Sec. 391. Register of births and deaths.
The registry of births and deaths shall be kept in separate
books, with general indexes to the respective records, and said
registers shall at all times be accessible to the public, under such
restrictions and regulations as may be imposed by the Board of
Health. Said registers shall be kept in the vault in the City Hall,
and, after having been filled with names, and after a reasonable
time, shall be filed with the Clerk of the Corporation Court as
part of the city records.
Sec. 392. Same—form of.
In order to secure uniformity and dispatch in the registration
herein provided for, the books shall contain, on the margin of
each page, printed titles, with corresponding blanks suitable for
entries for births and deaths, in the following order: Births.
Full name of child (if any shall have been conferred), sex, color,
full name of father, full name of mother, day, month, and year
of the birth, street and number of house where born, name of the
physician or other person signing the certificate, and his or her
residence. Deaths. Full name of the deceased, color, sex, age,
married or single, occupation, birthplace, date of death, cause of
death; when an infant unnamed, the name of the father and
mother, ward, street and number of house, and date and place
of burial.
Sec. 393. Blanks for returns.
The Board of Health shall keep on hand at all times a supply
of blanks for gratuitous distribution to all persons whose duty
it shall be to make returns under this ordinance, the said blanks
to be prepared in the form of books, and the margins to correspond
with the printed titles in the books of the Board of Health
as required in the foregoing section.
