View report page

65
STABLES.
In the Report of your Medical Officer of Health to the Sanitary Committee
on the 28th June last, a reference was made to the sanitary condition of the
several stables in the City which had recently been inspected. Special
attention was given to the defects discovered, which were subsequently
remedied in each case.
In many of these places the stables are situated in basements, access to which
is obtained by inclined roadways, and, as the result of inquiries, it has been
ascertained that horses so stalled enjoy good health. As these underground
stables are generally well lighted, well drained, and well kept, the
animals doubtless benefit from the equable and warm temperature that exists
in such places.
Owing to the great value of land in the City, stable accommodation in
several instances is provided upstairs on first floors, which are reached by
sloping approaches. For the same reason in many cases the stables are without
any yards, all grooming being done in the stalls. It should be noted that
most of the stables in the City are well kept, and the horses generally seem in
excellent condition. This applies particularly to those attached to the fire
brigade stations.

These figures do not include a large Horse Repository in Barbican containing
111 stalls, where the number of horses stabled is constantly varying.
Under existing legislation stables come within the provisions of the Public
Health (London) Act, 1891, Section 16 (1) (c) of which enables Sanitary
Authorities to make Bye-laws for the prevention of the keeping of animals on
any premises in such place or manner as to be a nuisance or injurious or
dangerous to health.
Bye-laws for this purpose were made by the late Commissioners of Sewers,
on the 5th December, 1893, and confirmed by the Local Government Board,
8th February, 1894. These Bye-laws are identical with the model ones issued
for the guidance of Sanitary Authorities by the Local Government Board, and
were adopted by the City in order to secure uniformity.