View report page

219
[1907
It is a common occurrence to find Eating-houses and Restaurants without any open space
at the back, every available foot of ground being built upon to provide dining accommodation;
consequently in most basement kitchens the air is poisoned still more by the storage
of refuse, waste fat, and pig-wash (wet vegetable refuse and broken food).
In conjunction with the above facts, it should be remembered that longer hours are
worked in the catering trade than in any other, and that women frequently work in these
kitchens for fourteen hours per day, Sundays included.
The following table shows the comparative general conditions existing in the basement,
ground floor, and first and second floor kitchens, when first inspected :—
Satisfactory.
Unsatisfactory.
Basement
41
47
Ground floor
288
143
First floor
54
8
Second floor
9
3
392
201
In Coffee-house kitchens the storage of food presents a difficult problem, owing, generally,
to the want of suitable accommodation. The stairs and passages of the house are
mostly used for this purpose, and meat, fish and milk (frequently in uncovered vessels) are
kept all day exposed to dust and other contaminations.
Some proprietors have been persuaded to provide a cupboard or safe in the open air,
with proper ventilation, but where there is no yard or garden it is not easv to arrange for
cool, clean storage. Furthermore, should the proprietor object to making any alteration in his
arrangements there would be great difficulty, under the existing Public Health Acts, of proving
a legal nuisance existed.
In Fried Fish shops, the condition of the floors where frying is done, and the hoods
over the furnaces have been the most troublesome. In a great many instances the floors were
never cleansed (that is scrubbed), merely receiving a sprinkling of sawdust, which the
accumulated greast gradually hardened into a firm surface. The ordinary methods of cleansing
were quite inadequate to deal with this, and in several instances a pickaxe had to
be used to break it up, but once removed and the floor subjected to frequent scrubbing,
the proprietors have acknowledged the improved conditions as of benefit to themselves and
their business.
The foul conditions of the hoods over the frying furnace is responsible for much of the
nuisance common to Fried Fish shops, as the accumulation of stale fat gives out a strong and
disagreeable smell when heated by the rising steam. In every instance these have been
cleansed, either at the request of the Inspector, or by the service of a notice.
The difficulties of refuse disposal have already been referred to in regard to Basement
Kitchens. They exist in all places where food is prepared for sale, and are greatly
augmented by the use of gas fires, which prevent the rubbish being burned.
On reporting this matter to you early in the summer, you caused a circular letter to
be forwarded to all persons engaged in the above occupations, offering a clearance of refuse,
at any time (over and above the ordinary weekly clearance), on payment of sixpence. The
occupiefs of the premises in question do not appear to have availed themselves of this offer,
as they object to any further payment for refuse removal than that already included in the
rates, and a considerable and constant nuisance is caused by the accumulation of refuse
awaiting a weekly clearance. Your Inspector would respectfully urge the pressing need of
a bi-weekly clearance of refuse from all places where food is prepared for sale.
Q