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51
schools are being erected at Orchard Place, and on the Old Palace
site St. Leonard's Street.
During the exceedingly severe weather at the commencement of
the year my urgent attention was called to the need of warming
the class-rooms at the Byron and Bright Street Board Schools. I
visited the School, and found that some of the rooms were very inadequately
heated—so much so that several were not able to be used;
the children, more especially the infants, were crowded together into
other rooms which were not sufficiently warmed. I was informed
that many parents refused to send their children to the School. One
of the Managers gave me a copy of the report of the Inspector of the
Educational Department, and from this report it appeared that the
Inspector had complained in 1893, and again in 1894, of the defective
warming. I wrote an urgent letter to the Clerk of the School Board,
calling his attention to the report of the Inspector. New stoves were
procured and fixed in the Infant School, and the heating of the
class-rooms was thereby much improved. I requested the Inspectors
to inspect from time to time the latrines, etc., of all Board Schools,
Voluntary Schools, and Sunday Schools. Visiting some of these
places I found the latrines and their seats not over clean; soil was
smeared over the seats, and remained on the back of the latrine above
the water. I suggested to the Committee that a letter should be sent
to the School Board requesting that authority to order all their
School care-takers to daily mop and cleanse the latrines, and where
necessary scrub the seats.
ICE CREAM.
A communication was received at the begining of the year from the
Vestry of Islington, respecting the manufacture and sale of ice cream.
The samples collected by their Medical Officer were found to be a
compound of flour, milk, eggs, sugar, and flavouring essences, none
of which were of an unwholesome character, the eggs were blown by
the mouth, the empty shells being used as objects to be shot at in