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29
MUNICIPAL MILK DEPOTS.
In August I received a communication from Dr.
Carpenter, one of the physicians to the North Eastern
Hospital for Children in this Borough, enclosing a print
of an article by him on the subject of excessive infantile
mortality. The article is a very suggestive one and
points out that amongst other measures for the reduction
of waste of child life, milk depots on the lines of
the one at Battersea, should take a most important
place. Dr. Carpenter suggests that the Borough
Council, in conjunction with the authorities of the
North Eastern Hospital for Children, should establish
such a milk depot, and that the medical officers of the
Hospital and the district should jointly be authorised
in suitable cases, to prescribe milk food properly prepared
and diluted. The suggestion was laid before the
Public Health Committee and was discussed by them
at some length. A general opinion was expressed that
the municipalization of the milk supply is as important
as the public control of the water supply; but that a
milk depot on the Battersea lines could never be
entirely satisfactory, inasmuch as to ensure an
absolutely clean and pure supply, the milk must be
kept under observation from the cow to the feeding
bottle. With bought milk this would be impossible
and a dairy farm in conjunction with the depot would
be necessary—a project not likely to be adopted by the
Council.
The Committee were advised of the possibility of
sterilizing or pasteurizing dirty milk by heat, but in
view of the conflict of medical opinion as to the