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267 [1906
Milkshops and Dairies.— These number 618 and they were all visited
during the year. The greater number may be said to be no better nor worse
than similar places throughout the metropolis. The majority, too, are places
from which milk should not be sold owing to the unsuitability of the premises
and to the character of the other goods sold in them, but so long as the regulations
made under the Dairies, Cowsheds, and Milkshops Order, and, indeed, the
Order itself fail to give power to prevent any huckster, who thinks he will, sell
milk, so long will it be more or less liable to contamination. A milkshop
should be a place entirely set apart for the sale of milk, and if anything else is
sold it should be only dairy produce, such as butter and eggs. It should have
hard cement or tiled floors and walls, and as little furniture, shelving or places
on which dust could rest as possible, so that it could be easily swilled down
with water. It is said that such dairies would not pay. Possibly that is so
at present, but if places intended for the sale of milk had to conform to proper
regulations before being licensed, and they ought only to be occupied subject to
an annual license, then they would be remunerative, for very many, indeed most,
shops from which milk is now sold would cease to sell milk, and then people
would be forced to deal at them. Many of the people who now sell milk over
the counter say that they sell only a few pints, and only do so to oblige their
customers who come to them for soap, candles, bacon, sugar, tea, and the like
articles, so that it would be no hardship on them to cease its sale.
There is no doubt that much of the milk sold at these hucksters or general
shops, subject as it is to dust and to the effluvia from the various food and
other stuffs sold in them, speedily turns sour, especially if brought into a close
ill-ventilated living room, and is, therefore, entirely unfitted for the feeding of
infants, the milk for whom should always be above reproach. The time was
when this was not of so much consequence, for the child was invariably reared
on its mother's breast, but now that such a large number of the wives of the
working classes do not suckle their offspring, it is a matter of the greatest
concern. The sooner, therefore, powers are given to Local Authorities to
require suitable places for the sale of milk, constructed as stated above, the
better it will be for every person who is compelled to use milk that is bought
at them.
Bakehouses.—These have been dealt with in Part IV. of the Report, in
connection with the Factories and Workshops Act, vide page 208.
Kitchens of Restaurants and Eating Houses.—These have also
been dealt with in Part IV. of this Report.