988                              LAWS OF MARYLAND                      [CH. 572

funds to volunteer fire companies serving the town; to inspect build-
ings for the purpose of reducing fire hazards, to issue regulations con-
cerning fire hazards, and to forbid and prohibit the use of fire-
hazardous buildings and structures permanently or until the con-
ditions of town fire-hazard regulations are met; to install and main-
tain fire plugs where and as necessary, and to regulate their use;
and to take all other measures necessary to control and prevent fires
in the town.

[(26)2 (25) Food. To inspect and to require the condemnation
of, if unwholesome, and to regulate the sale of, any food products.

[(27)] (26) Franchises. To grant and regulate franchises to
water companies, electric light companies, gas companies, telegraph
and telephone companies, transit companies, taxicab companies, and
any others which may be deemed advantageous and beneficial to the
town, subject [,however,] to the limitations and provisions of Article
23 of the Annotated Code of Maryland. No franchise shall be granted
for a longer period than fifty years.

[(29)] (27) Garbage. To prevent the deposit of any unwhole-
some substance either on private or public property and to compel its
removal to designated points; to require slops, garbage, ashes, and
other waste or other unwholesome materials to be removed to de-
signated points, or to require the occupants of the premises to place
them conveniently for removal.

[(30)] (28) Grants-in-aid. To accept gifts and grants of Fed-
eral or of State funds from the Federal or State governments or any
agency thereof, and to expend the [same] funds for any lawful public
purpose, agreeably to the conditions under which the gifts or grants
were made.

[(31)] (29) Hawkers. To license, tax, regulate, suppress, and
prohibit hawkers and itinerant dealers, peddlers, pawnbrokers, and all
other persons selling any articles on the streets of the town, and to
revoke such licenses [for cause] for any action or threat of action by
such a licensee in the course of his occupation which causes or
threatens harm or injury to inhabitants of the town or to their wel-
fare or happiness.

[(32)] (30) Health. To protect and preserve the health of the
town and its inhabitants; to appoint a public health officer, and to
define and regulate his powers and duties; to prevent the introduction
of contagious diseases into the town; to establish quarantine regula-
tions, and to authorize the removal and confinement of persons having
contagious or infectious diseases; to prevent and remove all nui-
sances; to inspect, regulate, and abate any buildings, structures, or
places which cause or may cause unsanitary conditions or conditions
detrimental to health; [provided, that] but nothing herein shall be
construed to affect in any manner any of the powers and duties of the
State Board of Health, the County Board of Health, or any public
general or local law relating to the subject of health.

[(33)] (31) House numbers. To regulate the numbering of
houses and lots and to compel owners to renumber [the same] them,
or in default thereof to authorize and require the [same] work to be
done by the town at the owner's expense, such expense to constitute a
lien upon the property collectible as tax monies.