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66 Parish of St. George the Martyr, Southwark.
"Our description, however, has by no means exhausted the evils incident to a
bad underground bakehouse. In many of these places the unhappy journeyman is
actually shut up for twelve hours or more at a stretch, and during that period adds
his quota to the general impurity. At times he-smokes, or uses tobacco in the still
more objectionable form of chewing. Now and then dogs and cats are found in the
cellars. Other forms of animal life include rats, mice, black beetles, cockroaches,
ants and spiders, the smaller insects often being present in almost incredible
numbers. Then the moist and heated atmosphere is favourable to the rapid decay
of vegetable matter, and this takes place in the scraps of dough and refuse flour
which collect in the hollow sides of and beneath the kneading troughs. The same
conditions act on the coal, and cause it to give off various injurious gases.
"Bread, as everyone knows, is peculiarly liable to absorb moisture and gaseous
substances. When stored in a badly arranged bakehouse, therefore, it can hardly
escape deterioration. Moreover, when prepared under these conditions, it is liable
to be injured at every step of its manufacture. The flour becomes damp, musty,
and sour, the "sponge" and dough contaminated by the sweating arms of the
journeyman, while on all sides it is exposed to the risk of sewage and of other noxious
emanations. Lastly, the water with which the flour is mixed is often obtained from
the same cistern which supplies the water closet, a system which is nothing less than an
open invitation for the entrance of sewage matter into an important and universally
used article of food.
"In London there are between thirty and forty "model bakeries," that is to say,
places where baking is carried on in a cleanly and scientific way, amid wholesome
surroundings. This number does not include the wholesale factories, of which there
are several of large size. It will be sufficient here if I briefly lay down the principles
which should guide the construction and management of a sanitary bakery.
"First, the building itself should be specially built for the purpose with strong
walls and a plentiful supply of windows. Separate and lofty rooms should be
provided for storing flour, for mixing and kneading the dough, for baking, and for
storing the bread. The flour-loft should be placed at the top of the building, aud all
the sacks should be conveyed thither by means of a lift, so as to spare the workmen
as much as possible from the laborious and dangerous work of hauling about heavy
weights. The mixing and kneading room should be provided with movable iron
troughs, the kneading as well as the mixing to be conducted by means of machinery
wherever possible, in order to avoid the handling of the dougb or flour by the workmen.
Then a special provision should be made for thoroughly cleansing the empty
sacks before they are returned to the miller.
"These various rooms should be light, airy aud lofty, and be kept with the most
scrupulous regard to cleanliness. Much will depend on the construction of the
rooms. The walls, ceiling aud floor of each room should be of smooth and nonabsorbent
material, such as glazed tiles for the walls and roof, and hard wood or
tesselated pavement for the floor. The windows should reach to the ceiling, and be
kept permanently open at the top. Additional ventilation could be provided by
means of Tobin's tubes and other appliances, but in all cases it is imperative that all
such apparatus should act automatically and be beyond the control of the workmen.
As much daylight as possible should be admitted to every part of the building, and
no part of the bakehouse must be below the ground level. Where artificial light is
wanted, it would be best obtained from electric lamps. The water used for mixing
the dough must be provided from a special and separate cistern, or better still,
direct from the main. All sanitary conveniences, including wash-basins and baths,
should be placed in a basement, or in some place quite apart from the main building.
"The ovens themselves may be heated in various ways. Some of the most
cleanly and convenient means are by gas or by wrought iron tubes containing superheated
steam. If coal or coke be used, it is important to insist that the furnace room
be freely ventilated, and that on no account is the flue to be closed by a damper.