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188
injury arising from any processes, or the neglect of reasonable
precautions or sanitary requirements. During 1902 a special
enquiry has been devoted to underground Bakehouses, and also
an enquiry of a much less formidable character into some cases
of Anthrax. Report on these matters has been made in due
course to the Borough Council, and it is only necessary to place
the main facts on record here:—
(a) Underground Bakehouses.
In October, I submitted a Special Report on the Bakehouses
at present existent in the Borough of Finsbury. It was drawn
up in accordance with the instructions of the Committee in view
of the powers conferred upon the Local Authority by the
Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, Sections 97-102. By that
Act it is required that no underground Bakehouse shall be used
after January 1st, 1904, unless certified by the Borough Council
as suitable for that purpose. It shall not be considered suitable
unless the Council is satisfied that it is suitable as regards
construction, light, ventilation, and in all other respects. There
can be no doubt that the object of this legislation is, if not the
closure of all underground Bakehouses, at least the closure after
January 1st, 1904, of all unsuitable underground Bakehouses,
and such alteration of remaining underground Bakehouses as
will bring them into compliance with the requirements of the
Act. Out of 69 Bakehouses in Finsbury 46 are underground.
It is my duty to state that there are not a few of them which
fail to meet the requirements of the Act, or indeed any
ordinary common-sense requirements of a Bakehouse, and it
seems to me inevitable that certain underground Bakehouses
must now be closed. In other cases I am of opinion that the
premises are capable of such alteration and improvement as will
justify the Council in certifying them as suitable.
A copy of this report was sent with the necessary forms of
application and certificate (see p. 205), to each owner of a Bakehouse,
and we received 41 applications from owners of underground