During the past few days the Illinois Staats-Zeitung has received numerous complaints that the Health Department of our city is very negligent about posting notices on homes where there are cases of smallpox. For instance, the house (in North Larrabee Street) occupied by the rich American Weed family that has been visited by the terrible disease, bears no yellow sign to warn that it is dangerous to enter. Several members of the Weed family have suffered from the disease for more than six weeks. Still the house has not yet been quarantined; even the postman who is duty-bound to visit the house nearly every day, knew nothing about the illness of these people until yesterday when he learned by accident (and then convinced himself) that a yellow sign is nailed to the rear door. The same condition is prevalent at 41 Goethe Street and at other places. In recent times several foreigners have been severely dealt with by the city authorities for not placing yellow signs at the place prescribed by law.

They deserved to be punished. But the wealthy should be no exception to the rule. The Health Department will do well to look into this matter. It will do no good whatever to force people to submit to vaccination, if thoughtless spreading of the plague is encouraged. A postman could easily transmit the germs of the disease from home to home. We advise Mr. Weed to immediately attach the yellow sign to the front door of his palatial residence.

And the Reverend Robert Laird Collier who is well informed on the matter, as we positively know from a very reliable source, and who even voted twice on November 4, (no doubt for the purpose of giving special expression to his pious convictions) would do something really humane and Christian, if he raised his holy voice against such flagrant transgressions of the law.