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258
19111
The visits of inspection are made periodically, and fluctuations in trade and pay
would thus become systematically registered. A considerable saving in public time and
money might have been effected, and (this last by no means the least of the benefits gained) the
workpeople saved from the exasperation of overlapping officialdom.
Hotel and Restaurant Kitchens.— Owing to the increase of work attached to the
Outworkers' Department it has been impossible for me to make as many visits as in previous
years to places where food is prepared. The conditions found in the kitchens visited are
summarised in the first page of this report and are practically identical with those of the
preceding year. As 1 have before stated, the majority of those registered as " unsatisfactory "
are basement kitchens, and structurally unsuitable for the preparation of food. It is, therefore,
useless to expect a marked diminution in their numbers until the owners are compelled
to build kitchens (or adapt existing premises for this purpose) on or above the ground level.

The particulars for the intervening years were given in my report for 1910 (vide
p. 217 of the Medical Officer of Health's report for that year).
The chief cause of nuisance is the accumulation of garbage and refuse which is
still, as a rule, only removed once weekly. In every previous report I have tried to draw
attention to its seriousness, and each year's work serves to convince me that the danger from
these receptacles is a far greater one than most people know, or imagine. The matter
reached a climax, in one instance, when in October, 1909, Messrs. ]. Lyons & Co., Ltd.,
were summoned by the Council for such an accumulation, and I will close this report by
respectfully reminding you of a recommendation, made by the Public Health Committee,
which came before the Council at their meeting on the 11th December following, and also
of a resolution passed by the Council at the same meeting. The Committee's recommendation
was as follows :—
"We have carefully considered the matter in all its bearings, and whilst we realise
that the cost of more frequent removals from restaurants and other establishments of what
must now be regarded as house refuse may be considerable, we have, with deference to the
solicitor's opinion and with some reluctance, come to the conclusion that neither the Public
Health (London) Act, 1891, nor the London County Council bye-law justifies the Council
in refusing to remove house refuse, free of charge, as often as it is necessary to prevent
It becoming a nuisance."