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74
It would appear from the report of the medical officer of health of Hackney that medical
practitioners are not generally aware that it is obligatory upon them to notify to the Chief
Inspector of Factories at the Home Office all cases of poisoning from lead, phosphorus, or arsenical
poisoning, or of anthrax resulting from employment in any factory or workshop. The communication
he has addressed to medical practitioners in his district has no doubt sufficed to bring this
provision of the Act of 1895 to their knowledge, and there would be undoubtedly advantage if
the medical officers of health of other districts were to adopt the same course.
Cases of arsenical poisoning from employment in colour works occurred in Hackney, and
cases of phosphorus poisoning from employment in a match factory occurred in Poplar. Proceedings
were instituted in the latter case by the Home Department, and a conviction obtained.
In Paddington, 51 workshops were measured and entered in the register. In Kensington,
there were on the register at the beginning of the year G63 workshops in which women were
employed. During the year 92 new premises were entered, and 83 removed from the register.
The premises where women were employed were inspected by Miss De Chaumont. With respect
to workshops where men only were employed, the medical officer of health writes—" These
establishments should be taken in hand, but it is impossible with the present limited and reduced
staff of sanitary inspectors." In Hammersmith, other claims on his time (observations on chimney
shafts) have prevented the factory inspector from performing his duties to the extent that is
necessary. In St. George, Hanover-square, 104 workshops and workplaces were inspected. In
Marylebone, there are 580 distinct businesses on the register. In Hampstead, 262 premises were
inspected. In St. Pancras, 1,030 premises are on the register. In Islington, 3,284 workrooms were
inspected. Ten cases of infectious disease occurred in dressmakers' homes, and 13 in homes where
wearing apparel was made up for wholesale houses in the City. In Hackney, 120 workshops were
registered during the year; a female inspector was appointed during the year.
In St. Giles, 119 workshops were inspected, and 77 registered during the year. In the Strand,
there are 204 workshops containing 693 workrooms on the register. In Holborn, the medical officer
of health says many factories and workshops were inspected. In St. Luke, 919 workrooms were
inspected. In the City, improvements were effected in 65 workshops. In Shoreditch, the medical
officer of health states that " a large amount of sanitary work has been done in connection with
workshops and workplaces." In Bethnal-green and St. George-in-the-East, the complaints of
H.M. Inspectors of Factories received attention. In Mile-end Old-town, the number of inspections
was 589; one occupier was summoned and fined for permitting overcrowding. In St. George,
Southwark, 369 workshops have been registered since 1892, 31 being added during 1898. The
medical officer of health states that the outworkers' order is only partly enforced in the district,
and he recommends the appointment of an inspector for this purpose. In Bermondsey, there are
770 factories, workshops, and workplaces on the register, 271 of which were inspected. In
Lambeth, all the workshops which are known, 634 in number, have been inspected and the rooms
measured. The question of the appointment of a female inspector was under consideration. In
Battersea, a report of the work of the female sanitary inspector is given which states that 337
premises were inspected. The number of premises on the register in Clapham was 117. In
Putney, all the workshops, and in Wandsworth, 109 workshops were inspected. In Deptford, the
workshops, &c., have been inspected. In Plumstead, 20 workshops were inspected.
The inspection of bakehouses.
The reports of the medical officer of health show that bakehouses have been inspected
during the year. Information as to the number of bakehouses in the districts is afforded by many
of the reports. In Paddington there were 92 ; Kensington, 134 ; Chelsea, 54, of which 11 are above
ground; St. George, Hanover-square, 45, of which 44 are in use; St. James, Westminster, 27, of
which 26 are in use, one underground bakehouse having been closed; Marylebone, 105 ; Hampstead,
39 ; St. Pancras, 196, of which 15 are not in use ; Islington, 265 ; Hackney, 124; St. Giles,
25, of which 6 are above ground ; Strand, 27 ; Holborn, 22 ; St. Luke, 34 ; City, 40 ; Shoreditch,
88, of which 25 are above ground; Bethnal-green, 102; St. George-in-the-East, 32 ; Limehouse,
88; St. Saviour, Southwark, 15, of which 4 were above ground; St. George-the-Martyr, 52, of
which 36 are above ground; Newington, 70; St. Olave, 7, of which 2 are above ground;
Bermondsey, 80, of which 14 are not in use, and 42 are above ground; Lambeth, 248;
Battersea, 104; Wandsworth (Clapham 47, Streatham 44, Wandsworth 40); Lewisham, 123;
Woolwich, 40; Lee (Charlton 9, Eltham 7, Lee and Kidbrooke 15).
The Preparation in London of Food for Sale.
The conditions under which food in London is prepared for sale had for some time been
under the consideration of London sanitary authorities, and at the end of the year 1897 the
Council had been addressed by the Strand District Board as to the need for further powers to
ensure the maintenance of wholesome conditions in all places where food was prepared for the
purposes of sale. The Strand District Board had been in communication with other London
sanitary authorities, nineteen of whom concurred with the district board in the view that further
powers of control were necessary. In several districts, moreover, attention had been directed to
alleged injury to health from the consumption of ice cream sold in the streets, and in 1891 Dr.
George Turner, in an enquiry, made on behalf of the Council, into the circumstances of an outbreak
of enteric fever in South-east London, had shown that this was due to the sale of ice creams
manufactured by Italians under grossly insanitary conditions in Deptford.
Dr. Hamer was therefore, in 1898, instructed to enquire into the conditions under which
food was prepared for sale, and for this purpose he visited the premises of ice cream
vendors ; of the manufacturers of Polish or Russian cheese; restaurants, eating-houses, and diningrooms
; fried fish and eel pie shops; and butchers' and sausage makers' premises. The result of