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97
Itinerant Ice Cream Vendors.
In the coarse of the year 26 itinerant ice cream vendors were found in the
City, being 15 less than in the previous year. It was ascertained that in all
cases the material they were selling was made outside the City.
Upon making enquiries of authorities of outside districts it was found that
in three cases the addresses displayed on the barrows were incorrect, and that
in one instance the ice cream was made under unsatisfactory conditions.
As the police have no power of making arrests in cases where no notices of
place of manufacture is displayed, there will always be a difficulty in
exercising control over these itinerant dealers.
One prosecution was instituted during the year, for non-compliance with
the law with regard to exhibiting a notice on his barrow stating the name
and address of the person from whom the ice cream was obtained, viz.:—
Marney Rebeiras, 13, Providence Place, King's Cross-1s. and 3s. expenses.
MEAT SUPPLIES IN 1909.*
After two years of diminished supplies it is gratifying to find that the
swing of the pendulum again places the authorities of the Central Market in
a position to report an increase. The weight of meat and other produce
sent in for sale has amounted to a total of 420,060 tons, being, with
the single exception of 1906, the largest quantity of meat ever received
at Smithfield, and it is with great satisfaction we note that of the
10,000 tons by which this exceeds the weight of last year, over
7,000 tons was in the produce of our own country. We have repeatedly
advanced the opinion that the English farmer can produce meat at the
prices he now gets for it, and if only the price of corn could be maintained at
a level which would make it remunerative for him to produce meat at all,
we might look forward to making our country more self dependent in
the near future than it has been for a long time.
1. English Town-Killed.—Encouraged by the prices they obtained at
the close of last year, the beef producers seem to have shaken off their
lethargy, with the result that almost every week there has been a good
show of fat cattle at Islington for which our town slaughterers have paid
remunerative prices, especially at the Christmas market, which was one
of the largest and best witnessed there for many years. With diminishing
supplies from the United States, and even those held for prices greatly
in advance of those which formerly obtained, carcase butchers are forced to
turn their attention to English produce, and with a falling-off of some
27,000 tons in the total North American produce to Smithfield for the year, it
would seem only a question of time for them to give it their undivided
support.
• I am indebted to Mr. G. P. Terrett for the remarks on pp. 97 to 101.