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time to time information reaches the Department of illness attributed
to the consumption of shell-fish. A number of enquiries have
been made in such cases, and sometimes apparently clear evidence
is forthcoming incriminating the shell-fish. These are generally
obtained from Billingsgate or some near sea-side town. In some
cases undoubtedly shell-fish fattened at sewage outfalls become
contaminated and poisonous. In other cases the contamination is
derived from their storage. Hawkers and stall-holders frequently
keep their little stock of shell-fish in dirty buckets in dirty yards,
and in this way it is possible that they may become polluted.
ICE-CREAM.
The sale of ice-cream as carried on from barrows in London
streets is largely in the hands of Italians, and the cream is for the
most part made upon the premises where the barrow men live. In
London there are, according to the Census (1901) Italians to the
number of 10,889. Of this total 1,005 live in the Borough of
Finsbury. In 1903 we found, as a result of enquiry, that about
1,400 Italians live in Finsbury. Most of these persons reside
in what is called the "Italian Quarter," and many of them are
engaged in the manufacture of ice-cream.
During 1904 the system of registration adopted in 1901 has been
followed out. At the end of 1903 there were 101 registered
premises in which this trade was carried on ; during 1904 one has
been removed, so that there are now 100 on the register. On
November 1st, 1903, the ice-cream clauses of the London County
Council (General Powers) Act, 1902, Part VIII., Sections 42-45,
came into force, giving this Council powers to enforce the following
requirements:—
(a) Ice-cream must be made and stored in sanitary premises,
(b) It must not be made or stored in living rooms.
(c) Strict precautions must he taken as to protection from
tamination.
(d) Cases of infectious disease must be reported,
(e) The name and address of the maker must appear on street barrows.
During the year these regulations have been enforced, 206 visits
of inspection having been made by the inspectors, and 48 intimation
and statutory notices served for nuisances, &c.