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All other Respects.
10. Flour Store. Proper provision has been made for storage of flour "elsewhere than in the
bakehouse."
11. Sanitary In every case "a suitable sanitary convenience separated from the bake-
Conveniences. house," has been provided.
12. Cellars, etc. Every coal cellar in connection with a bakehouse has now been provided
with "a close fitting door," and no "washhouse, or area, or unpaved
yard liable to cause contamination by foul air, dust or dirt," is in "direct
communication with the bakehouse."
13. Water supply. In every case the water supply is obtained "direct from the rising main."
14. Drainage. Every drain that did not stand the hydraulic test has been reconstructed.
15. Dough-troughs. In every case the dough-troughs, and other moveable fittings, have been
"mounted on castors or wheels, so as to allow of the whole of the floor
and walls of the bakehouse being cleansed."
At every underground bakehouse a lavatory for ablution, and a clothes room for the use of the
employes, have been provided.
The Council's certificate has been (or will be) granted in 78 cases, refused in none. But
instead of 95 underground bakehouses, as at the beginning of the year, there are now only 78.
The remaining cases are accounted for as follows:—The premises in 6 instances have been devoted
to other uses; in 6 cases bakehouses above-ground have been substituted, whilst in 5 cases the
bakehouse has gone out of use, the occupiers having decided, for one reason or another, to defer
carrying out, or not to make, the necessary alterations.
The Council may, I think, be congratulated on the success which has attended the prolonged
labours of the sub-committee, for whose assistance, and considered approval of all representations
addressed to them, I cannot be too grateful. The sanitary inspectors are justly entitled to thanks
for the intelligent and conscientious manner in which they caused effect to be given to the instructions
of the Council; the Chief Inspector especially, upon whom fell the heaviest share of a laborious
task. I should not do justice to my own feelings did I not bear testimony to the excellent spirit
in which the bakers, generally, co-operated with the sub-committee in giving effect to the provisions of
the law, and to the good feeling they, as a rule, displayed towards the staff in the Public Health
Department. To some of them the outlay involved by the extensive improvements effected must
have been a serious matter. But it was borne cheerfully, and, if I may say so, they have their
reward in the possession of the Council's "certificate," and the advantage, shared by their employes,
of now carrying on their arduous and trying occupation in bakehouses which, in the words of the
Act, may honestly be described as "suitable as regards construction, light, ventilation and in all
other respects."
In order that the several premises may be maintained in their present satisfactory condition,
provision should be made, by by-laws, for regulating the conduct of the business, a subject to which
reference is made in the following section.
THE NEED OF BY-LAWS FOR REGULATING THE STRUCTURE OF BAKEHOUSES
AND OTHER PREMISES WHERE FOOD IS PREPARED FOR SALE,
AND THE CONDUCT OF THE BUSINESS.
In 1902, I addressed a report on this subject to the Public Health Committee, as follows:—
"Bakehomes.— .... I should be glad if the Committee would consider, with a view
to advising the Council, as to the desirability of legislative power being obtained to enable the
County Council to make by-laws for regulating the construction of bakehouses and the conduct of
the business of a baker. Obviously it is desirable that some uniform standard of construction
should be adopted for the Metropolis, as a whole, and this could be brought about were the
County Council, as central authority, empowered to make by-laws, in consultation with the
Borough Councils, such by-laws, of course, to be subject to confirmation by the Local Government
Board."
I recommended that a communication be addressed to the County Council expressing the
view that by-laws for bakehouses, uniform for the Metropolis, were desirable, and inviting them
to take steps to acquire power to enable them, as Central Authority, to give effect to the suggestion.