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71
Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
(B) That it is desirable that all places where food is prepared for sale should be regulated by
by-laws made by the London County Council and administered by the sanitary authorities, and should
be subject to annual licensing by the sanitary authority.
Notification of Births Act, 1907.—That in view of the adoption of the Notification of Births
Act, 1907, throughout London, and the provisions of the recent orders of the Local Government
Board with regard to the compulsory notification of consumption, the appointment of one or more
women health visitors, or women sanitary inspectors, in each metropolitan borough is eminently
desirable.
Chapels of rest.—That it is desirable that chapels of rest, apart from mortuaries for bodies
awaiting inquest, should be established by sanitary authorities.
That all private mortuaries should be registered and regulated.
Rag Flock Act, 1911.
An Act entitled the Rag Flock Act, 1911, was passed during the year, and has for its object the
prevention of the use of flock made from rags unless such flock conforms to a standard of cleanliness
prescribed by regulations to be made by the Local Government Board. The possession, use, or sale,
of flock in contravention of the Act renders a person liable on summary conviction to a penalty of £10
for a first offence or to a penalty of £50 for any subsequent offence. At the end of the year the Local
Government Board had under consideration the question of making regulations under the Act prescribing
a standard.
Homeless persons.
On the instruction of the Public Health Committee the sixth census of homeless persons in
London was undertaken on the night of the 17th February, 1911. The following table enables comparison
to be made of the figures obtained for the several years from 1904.

In explanation of the above table it should be mentioned that in each case where the sets of
figures are shown in brackets for any one year, the uppermost set denotes the number of persons, presumably
homeless, found actually in the street on that particular night. The figures marked with a
dagger, relate to persons who most probably would have been in the streets were it not for charitable
effort. Thus, on the night of the 17th February, 1911, there were 160 men receiving food in a Salvation
Army shelter in Great Peter-street, Westminster. In the King's Tents belonging to the Church
Army, there were 41 men at work, and in two shelters used in conjunction with the tents, there weere
101 men, and 298 men respectively. In the school room of the Primitive Methodist Mission in Whitechapel-road,
there were 94 men, and in a shelter in Paul-street, Shoreditch, under the control of the
Willow-street Mission, there were 65 women. These figures together make up the 694 men, and 65
women referred to in the table. The people found actually in the streets, included 768 men, 256 women,
1 boy of about 16 years of age, 1 baby in arms ; in all 1,026 persons. Therefore for comparison with
the figures obtained in previous years, the total number of homeless persons is 1,785. This is the lowest
recorded number, and is less by 962 than the total for 1910.
/ %/
* 160 of these men were in a shelter consuming soup and bread, but would be turned out immediately on
the conclusion of their meal.
† Men or women accommodated for a few hours in shelters but unprovided with beds.
‡ A smaller area than in later years. Estimated total about 2,000 persons.