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77
Ice and Cold Storage.
Inquiry was made during 1903 and 1904 by Dr. Hamer into the question of the use of natural
ice and its manipulation in London and, further, into methods adopted in the manufacture of artificial
ice. In the report which he prepared and which I presented to the Committee at the end of 1904 (See
appendix I.), account is given of the growth of the ice industry within recent years (in 1899 more than
500,000 tons of natural ice were brought to this country from Norway) and of a feature more remarkable
than the extended use of natural ice, namely, the great development in the last fifty years of the use
of refrigeration in various industries, a development which has clearly by no means reached its limit
The report deals further with the records of ice-borne disease and the bacteriology of ice, and incidentally
reference is made to the important conclusion arrived at by Professor Abba to the effect that the water
bacteria in ice are not so much destroyed as extruded in the process of freezing. In Germany twenty
years ago Professor Fraenkel urged that only ice made from distilled water should be allowed to come
in contact with beverages and with food and, inasmuch as the source from which natural ice is derived
can never be known with certainty by the consumer, this recommendation is undoubtedly sound.
In America it has been suggested that there is need of supervising cold stores in the interests of public
health, and Dr. Hamer gives account of the vast extension of the application of cold storage methods
in recent years and points out that consideration should be given to the need of securing that questions
of structure and arrangement which are of importance for ensuring freedom of food stuffs from contamination
should be duly considered in designing cold stores.
By the direction of the Public Health Committee, a copy of Dr. Hamer's report was forwarded to
the Local Government Board.
The Pollution of Watercress Beds.
Attention has from time to time been directed to possible risk of spread of disease, and more
particularly of enteric fever, by consumption of uncooked vegetables which have come in contact with
sewage-contaminated water. Watercress has more than any other vegetable fallen under suspicion
in this connection; and indeed, in London, Dr. Verdon, in 1894, and Dr. Warry, in 1903, have specially
drawn attention to excessive prevalence of enteric fever, in Lambeth and in Hackney respectively,
which may conceivably have been associated with watercress eating. The question of risk to
health associated with use of raw vegetables and fruit produced on sewage farms was made the subject
of study by a French Commission in 1902. The most interesting point brought out by their
investigations was the absence of any evidence that certain pathogenic organisms can grow in living
vegetable tissues. If cress acts merely as a carrier of sewage-contaminated water it must
necessarily be a less serious source of danger than would be the case if the enteric fever bacillus
found opportunities for development in the stalk or leaves of the cress. With the object of gauging the
extent to which the watercress consumed in London is exposed to risk of contamination, the Council's
Inspectors have visited all the known watercress beds within 50 miles of the county supplying the
London market, and samples of the water supplying the beds and in some instances samples of the cress
have been examined chemically and bacteriologically. The results of the topographical examination
of the watercress beds correspond fairly closely with the results obtained by chemist and bacteriologist.
Particulars concerning those beds to which objection might specially be taken have been communicated
to the Local Government Board. In the report presented to the Public Health Committee in
connection with this inquiry the beds have been broadly grouped in four classes according to their
extent of departure from a satisfactory standard and particulars concerning them are appended.
The report also contains the Chemist's report and a report by Dr. Houston giving the results of
his bacteriological inquiry. It should be borne in mind that, as Dr. Houston observes, danger
accruing to the consumer of unwashed watercress is enormously reduced by careful washing of the
cress, but, he adds, "even an excess of care devoted to the washing of cress from polluted sources does
not always entirely free the cress from objectionable microbes." (See Appendix II.)
Disinfection.
In the last annual report, it was pointed out that of all the London sanitary authorities only those
of Kensington and Paddington had no disinfection station of their own, but relied on the services of a
contractor for the purpose of disinfection of infected articles. The council of the borough of Kensington
has now decided to provide a station at Wood-lane, Shepherd's Bush. The council of the
borough of Paddington has been represented to the Local Government Board by the County Council
as making default in respect of this duty under the Public Health (London) Act, and has since submitted
to the Local Government Board plans of a disinfecting station in their district. A new disinfecting
station has been provided in Bethnal Green and in Wandsworth. The Medical Officer of
Health of Westminster states that the disinfecting station in Denzil-street has been acquired by the
County Council for the purposes of the new street from Holborn to the Strand, and the Medical
Officers of Health of Southwark and Battersea urge the need of a laundry in connection with
the work of disinfection of clothes. In the City of London the disinfecting station was destroyed
by fire in October, 1904, and plans for re-arranging the buildings on improved lines have been
prepared.
Shelters.
The shelter in Battersea, which in 1903 was in course of erection, was ready for occupation at
the end of the year. The shelter comprises two tenements, each containing two rooms and a scullery,
and one tenement containing three rooms and a scullery. No shelter had been provided for the use of
6106] L