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Legal proceedings were taken in two instances:—
(1) Ten rabbits, exposed for sale on a barrow in Berwick Street,
were seized by Inspector Dee and ordered to be destroyed, and the
owner was subsequently convicted, but was only ordered to pay
the cost of the prosecution, the Magistrate, Mr. Denman, giving him
the benefit of the doubt as to their being intended for human food,
but held that the seizure and destruction was necessary.
(2) Caviare.—On the 2nd November I received information that
some caviare and other foodstuffs in bad condition had been
deposited at the premises of Mr. George White, a merchant in
Russian produce, at 10, James Street, I Haymarket, and that it was
intended to be packed and sold for food. I immediately visited the
premises with the Medical Officer of Health, and found in the basement
one cask and seven tins of caviare and 116 bottles of anchovies;
the whole were in a putrid condition, and were seized and taken
before Mr. Fenwick, at Great Marlborough Street Police Court, who,
after seeing them, made an order for their destruction.
From inquiries it was discovered that in July Mr. White received
an order from a well-known firm to supply 10 casks of caviare; after
delivery, two casks were found to be unfit for use, and were returned
to Mr. White (the value of the two casks, if good, would be about
£80). White kept one cask on his premises, and sent the other to
the Union Cold Storage Company at Blackfriars. At the beginning
of October he received an order for 25 gross of tins of the best