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148
UNDERGROUND BAKEHOUSES.
The number of Underground premises in use at the end of the year
was 24.
CLEANSING AND LIMEWASHING.
The cleansing and limewashing was regularly done in accordance
with the regulations, and any defect or insanitary conditions immediately
remedied on discovery. The number of inspections was 246,
and in 17 cases notices were served.
No legal proceedings were necessary. The bakehouses throughout
the borough are kept in a satisfactory condition.
With a view to ensuring that the cleansing of bakehouses is carried
out periodically as required by the Factory Act, and to avoid the
necessity of repeated visits by the Inspector, a circular is sent to the
occupier of each bakehouse when such cleansing is due to be carried
out to the effect that:—
" All the inside walls of the rooms of a bakehouse, and all the
ceilings or tops of those rooms whether those walls, ceilings, or tops
are plastered or not), and all the passages and staircases of a
bakehouse, must either be painted with oil or varnished, or be limewashed,
or be partly painted or varnished and partly limewashed;
and (a) Where the bakehouse is painted with oil or varnished, there
must be three coats of paint or varnish, and the paint or varnish
must be renewed once at least in every seven years, and must be
washed with hot water and soap once at least in every six months;
and (b) Where the bakehouse is limewashed, the limewashing
must be renewed once at least in every six months."
Delivery of Bread.
No one will be bold enough to say that the present means of bread
delivery to houses are perfect. It is almost a daily occurrence to see
bread exposed to the wind and dust, or handled by a man whose
personal appearance is none too cleanly.
At the time a loaf leaves the oven it may be regarded as one of the
purest of all foodstuffs. The process of baking will have destroyed
any germs which may by chance have been incorporated in the dough;
but after this stage little or no care is taken to preserve this standard of
purity. The bread is packed in baskets, barrows, or vans just as it
is, and passed from hand to hand until it reaches the consumer. True
enough the consumer's hands may not be clean when she accepts delivery,
and her bread-store might with advantage be scrubbed out more frequently
; but with this the baker has little concern. What he should