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41
Lyon and myself, and examining the defendant, the magistrate
said:—
"I find the defendant guilty of the offence and a very bad
one, and far worse than when a person sells bad fruit, for then
one can see what he is buying. In this instance the defendant
can so disguise the pastry that the public are deceived, they
believe they are purchasing wholesome food, whereas they are
buying what is almost poison. I must punish the defendant
severely so as to teach him and others they cannot play such
tricks on the public. Defendant will have to go to prison for
21 days with hard labour."
This case has had a very good effect amongst a certain class
of bakers and pastry-cooks throughout the metropolis. It
appears to have been a custom for some bakers and small cake
makers to use what is known in the trade as spot eggs. These
are eggs which are not fit to be cooked for consumption in the
ordinary way, but they can be so disguised by baking with
flour, &c., as to conceal their condition, while of course they
are none the less injurious to health.
Another case was the seizure of a number of tins of meat
suspected to be unsound, in a small general shop. Mr. Lyon
and myself opened a number of the tins and had them conveyed
to the Thames Police-Court, where an order was made
by the magistrate to destroy them. A summons was subsequently
taken out against the wholesale dealer, and the case
was adjourned; so that for the present I am unable to enter
into further particulars with regard to this matter.
Milkshops.
Although we have only 20 dairies in our district, there are
294 milkshops which are registered under the Dairy and Milkshops
Order, an order which is enforced in London by the
County Council. This order is of great importance to the
general public, inasmuch as it insures the proper cleansing of
utensils used in the purveying of milk, and to a great extent
protects the public from the spread of infectious disease, which