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40
Slaughterhouses.—A pressing public need is the
establishment of public abattoirs, where the whole of
the butchers in the parish could slaughter at a nominal
rate, and the offal, &c., be removed daily. The number
of private licensed slaughterhouses is diminishing daily,
and the time is arriving when they should be wholly
abolished, not only for the purpose of removing a dangerous
nuisance from our midst (which they become in warm
weather from accumulations of offal, blood, &c.,) but also
in order that all the trade should be upon the same equal
footing as regards liberty to slaughter animals for food.
Bakehouses.—These premises should undoubtedly
be periodically inspected, and subjected to a system of
licensing similar to that which exists in the case of
dairies and slaughterhouses. This would remove any
doubts which may at present exist as to the sanitary
condition of the places in which the staple food of the
people is manufactured. This duty is at present cast
upon a special inspector, and the sanitary authorities
of districts have not, since 1878, been charged with such
inspections.
In conclusion a hope may be expressed that the
sub-district will continue to be an example of the possibility
of a high birth-rate and low death-rate co-existing.
The reason that this is so seldom found is that numerous
deaths always occur amongst the very young, and a
high death-rate is generally found wherever births are
unusually numerous.
W. H. KEMPSTER,
Medical Officer of Health for Eastern Battersea.