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Sanitary Authority calling upon them to disinfect. In case the owners failed to
disinfect or destroy—and it does not seem probable that large quantities of brushes
such as these in question would have been destroyed at the simple request of the
Local Authority—the duty would have fallen upon the Local Authority to carry
out the disinfection, in which latter case they would have been responsible for
any unnecessary damage and have been required to pay compensation if articles
were destroyed by them. To disinfect these brushes satisfactorily meant practically
destruction. I found it, therefore, necessary to ask the Sanitary Committee whether
I should undertake this disinfection and perhaps render the Corporation liable
to compensation, or deal with them otherwise as by re-exportation. A third
alternative was to leave these brushes in the hands of the retailers, at any rate for
the present, after having warned them that the consignment was infected and,
therefore, could only be traded in under risk of subsequent legal proceedings.
If in these circumstances a trader asks for disinfection, and brings the brushes
to the Disinfecting Station, which the Local Authority must of necessity provide,
there seems to be no requirement under Section 59 for compensation to be paid
if the brushes are damaged in this procedure. The question arises in this connection
whether any compensation would be payable, since one may reasonably
ask " What is the value of a shaving brush infected with Anthrax ? " Surely nil,
for no one would be willing to purchase such a brush. The only difficulty is that
it could not be proved that each separate brush was infected.
Difficulties in the way of requiring re-exportation of brushes to Japan also
arose, inasmuch, as neither the importers nor intermediate traders would in certain
instances accept the return of the brushes, and that, of course, was necessary
before re-exportation could be effected.
The Sanitary Committee were informed as to the possible extent of the liability
foreshadowed above, and the following details of each consignment as known to
me at the time were reported to them :—
SHAVING BRUSHES PATTERN No. 2590.—Samples of this pattern brush
on examination in the City were found to be negative, but I was informed by
the Authorities at Glasgow that samples of this brush gave positive results in
that City. I have ascertained that one City firm held about 80 dozen.
SHAVING BRUSHES PATTERN No. 119/146.—Samples of this brush
taken in the City gave positive results.
SHAVING BRUSHES PATTERN No. 1022.—Samples of this brush proved
positive on examination in the City. I have not been able to trace the origin of
this brush or any facts connected with its distribution other than that a City
firm held two dozen in stock.
SHAVING BRUSH PATTERN No. 1736.—This brush was apparently
heavily infected, and, I believe, gave rise to two or more cases of Anthrax. The
one sample of this brush found in the City gave negative results, but a positive
result was obtained in Glasgow in three instances, and, I believe, in other places
also.
SHAVING BRUSH PATTERN No. 1073.—Ten gross of these brushes were
imported by an outside firm. Of this consignment only two dozen could be traced
as being in the possession of a City trader.
SHAVING BRUSHES PATTERN No. 5238.—Samples of this brush have
been examined and found to be infected with Anthrax, in the City of London, the
City of Glasgow, and the City of Liverpool. Infection was very heavy in the City
samples. It is a common pattern and it has been found impossible to differentiate
the consignments of brushes of this pattern so as to indicate from which particular
consignment a positive sample was taken. As a consequence, all consignments
of Pattern No. 5238 have been regarded as infected. This brush was imported by
a City firm, and had been distributed all over the country and abroad. The
main intermediate dealer purchased considerable supplies for the Red Cross
Society. These were, however, received too late to be delivered, and were, therefore,
sold to different traders.