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underground; the medical officer of health writes, "Additions may have to be made to the list, as
the new Act includes the manufacture of biscuits, confectionery, etc., as well as bread"; the bakehouses
were regularly inspected. In Shoreditch the bakehouses numbered 86, of which 53 were
underground, 16 required attention. In Bethnal-green 103 bakehouses were periodically inspected.
In Stepney 314 bakehouses were inspected and 176 cleansed. In Poplar 113 premises were used as
bakehouses, notices were served where necessary. The number of bakehouses in Southwark was
126, and towards the end of the year the medical officer of health made a special report on every
bakehouse in the borough, showing the position and condition of the premises; in 64 instances
defects required to be remedied. In Bermondsey there were 110 bakehouses, of which 46 were
underground; all were inspected twice. In Lambeth there were 222 bakehouses, of which 84 were
underground; the necessary periodical cleansing was carried out. In Battersea the bakehouses
numbered 94, and of these there were 57 wholly or partially underground; in 21 instances notices
were served. The medical officer of health of Wandsworth gives in his report, in tabular form,
the number of bakehouses in the district; these numbered 153; those above ground 97, underground
48, semi-basement 8; the report states that there are several where it will be difficult to
grant certificates unless alterations are carried out; all these bakehouses were inspected and the
necessarv cleansing carried out. In Camberwell there were 395 inspections of bakehouses. In
Deptford there were 145 bakehouse inspections; action was taken where necessary. In Greenwich
there were 76 bakehouses, of which 29 were underground; 221 visits of inspection were made
and various improvements effected. In Woolwich the bakehouses numbered 73, of which 35 were
underground. They were inspected twice, 13 were unsatisfactory as regards cleanliness, and
several defective as to ventilation and light; cleansing was effected in all cases, but in view
of the probable closing of some bakehouses, improvements involving much expense were not
insisted on. In Lewisham 89 bakehouses were visited.
Unsound Food.
The report of Dr. Collingridge shows that the general supply of meat to the Corporation
Markets, Smithfield, was in 1901 equal to 415,510 tons, and that the amount seized was 1,271
tons. In streets situated on the borders of the City and included in the Metropolitan Borough
of Finsbuiy since the passing of the London Government Act a considerable meat trade is carried
on and a special meat inspector is employed; in this district the amount of meat seized is much
greater than in other districts, except the City. The report of Dr. Newman shows that 7,282 lbs.
of diseased meat and 60,533 lbs. of decomposed meat was seized during the year. In Islington a
special meat inspector was employed during the first six months of the year, but on his being
subsequently appointed an inspector in the Deptford Cattle Market much difficulty was experienced
in finding a competent officer to succeed him, and the inspections of the Islington
slaughterhouses devolved upon the district inspectors. Later, a special inspector was appointed.
The medical officer reports that during the third and fourth quarters of the year no serious work
of meat inspection was undertaken. The total weight of food condemned was 3 tons 7 cwt.
3 qrs. and 4 lbs., the whole or part of 243 carcases having been destroyed in the first six months of
the year. Seizures of meat are also recorded in the annual reports relating to Paddington, Hammersmith,
Westminster, St. Pancras, Hackney, Shoreditch, Bethnal-green., Stepney, Poplar,
Southwark, Lambeth, Battersea, Greenwich and Woolwich.
Seizures of other articles of food are recorded in the reports relating to a number of
districts. These include seizures of fish, poultry, rabbits, tinned food, fruit, vegetables, eggs, and
sweetmeats. In the City 252 cartloads of unsound vegetables, fruit, tinned food, etc., were surrendered.
Large quantities of frozen rabbits were seized on the wharves and in the central markets,
and 888 tons of fish were condemned in Billingsgate Market. The reports as to other
districts show that fowls and rabbits were seized in Holborn; fish in Paddington; fruit in Chelsea;
fish, caviare, rabbits and fruit in Westminster; fruit, vegetables, rabbits and fish in St. Pancras;
fish, fruit, vegetables, and tinned food in Hackney; fruit and fowls in Finsbury; fish, fruit,
vegetables, rabbits and fowls in Shoreditch; fruit, eggs and fish in Bethnal-green; fish
rabbits, vegetables, fruit and tinned food in Stepney; eels, rabbits, fruit and eggs in Southwark,
one large seizure of 2,441 frozen rabbits having been made on the wharf; in Bermondsey tinned
food and fruit, etc., were seized; in Lambeth fruit pulp; in Battersea mussels and fruit; in
Wandsworth fish, vegetables and fruit were surrendered; in Deptford fish, eggs and lemons were
seized; in Greenwich fish and toffy apples, and in Woolwich fowls, rabbits, and fruit.
In several reports mention is made of prosecutions of persons selling unsound food. In the
City there were nine convictions, and penalties to the amount of £195 were recovered, one person
being sentenced to two months' imprisonment with hard labour. In Paddington there was 1 conviction;
in St. Pancras 11; in Hackney 2; in Finsbury 27 prosecutions, in 2 cases the vendors
being sentenced to six months' imprisonment; in Bethnal-green there were 11 convictions;
in Stepney 15; in Southwark 3; in Lambeth 1; in Battersea 7; and in Woolwich 3.
In Westminster a merchant in Russian produce was sentenced to two months' imprisonment
for using the contents of two casks of caviare which had been returned to him as bad for
placing at the bottom of tins which were subsequently filled up with good caviare. Twenty-five
gross of tins which had been sent to South Africa were recovered and destroyed, the contents of the
whole of them being in a putrid condition.
A series of occurrences of poisoning from the eating of cheese was observed during the
year, of which account is given in the annual reports of the medical officers of health of the City,
Finsbury and Poplar. On the 21st October Dr. Newman, the medical officer of health of Finsbury,
was informed by Dr. Bate, the medical officer of health of Bethnal-green, that certain cases of
illness had occurred in Bethnal-green which were supposed to be due to the eating of Dutch
cheese obtained from a local vendor who had been supplied by a wholesale firm in Finsbury.