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85
No. of milk shops where paraffin oil is sold 123 or 32 per cent.
Do. do. firewood is sold 264 ,, 68 ,,
Do. do. pickles are sold (otherwise
than in closed jars) 240 ,,62 ,,
Do. do. coal blocks, coal or coke are
sold 91 „ 23
Do. do. greengrocery is sold 31 ,, 8 ,,
Do. do. other dirty goods are sold
(hearthstone, &c.) 182 ,, 47 ,,
No. of milk shops with floor so lumbered with articles
or goods that it cannot be kept
properly clean 192 ,, 49 ,,
Do. do. with sleeping room in direct communication
25 ,, 6 ,,
Do. do. without fixed permanent ventilation 266 ,, 68 ,,
Do. do. with floor not structurally sound. . 44 ,, 11 ,,
Do. do. without a properly covered milk-
vessel 298 ,,76 ,,
An outstanding feature of these results is the fact that a very large
proportion of shopkeepers who sell milk do so on a very small scale. Nearly
a quarter (93) of the whole sell no more than one gallon a day, and more than
a half (202) sell no more than two gallons a day. The principal type of shop
in which milk is sold in this small way is the general shop, commonly known
as the chandler's or huckster's shop). It will be noticed that this kind of shop
makes up 63 per cent. of registered milk shops, and the same fact is indicated
by the small proportion of the total which have a milk-round attached to
the business (27 per cent.).
The ordinary general shop is well-known to be one which sells almost everything
that is required in a household, and is found principally in the poorer
parts of the Borough. They are crowded with a great variety of goods usually
sold in grocers' shops, oil shops, chemists', hardware, and even drapers' shops,
and many of them sell firewood, coal or coal-blocks, hearthstone, soap, soda,
greengrocery (potatoes, onions, &c.), vinegar, pickles (open as well as in closed
jars), paraffin oil, and other dirty, dusty, or strong-smelling commodities,
which are likely to lead to contamination of the milk. In the foregoing table
it is shown how that amongst the St. Pancras milk shops a large proportion
sell these various goods (firewood 68 per cent., open pickles 62 per cent.,
paraffin oil 32 per cent., coal or coal-blocks 23 per cent., &c.). Many of the
general shops are kept in a dirty condition, and even when the shopkeeper is
a clean and careful person, the crowded condition of the shop, and the fact
of the floor being permanently lumbered up with such objects as boxes, barrels,
firewood, &c., often effectually prevents proper cleanliness. One half of the
milk shops in the Borough have their floors lumbered up in this way.
It is now generally recognised that, milk, probably more than any other food,
requires special care in its handling. This is due to the circumstance that
on the one hand it readily takes up any kind of contamination to which it is
exposed, and on the other hand it is an eminently suitable medium for the