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38
from whom I received the following copy of a circular letter addressed to the
Leigh cocklers:—
"Fishmongers' Hall,
"London, E.C.,
"October 14th, 1903.
"Sir,
"On Saturday last three samples of cockles from Leigh were
"taken at Billingsgate Market by one of the officers of the Medical
"Officer of Health of the City of London, and submitted for analysis to
"Professor Klein, who has reported that the cockles could not have been
"cooked properly, as most of them were semi-raw inside, and that they
"were so polluted with sewage that they were unsafe for human con"sumption.
"The Fishmongers' Company, in the interest of the cockle industry,
"have endeavoured throughout to suggest means by which the trade in
"cockles might with safety to the public be maintained; and the con"tinued
assurances of the Leigh cocklers at Billingsgate Market that
"their cockles had not been relaid in Leigh Creek and had been boiled
"the time indicated as necessary by the Fishmongers' Company have
"been accepted, and the sale of the cockles hitherto allowed.
"The Fishmongers' Company very much regret that they are now
"compelled to inform you, in common with all Leigh cocklers, that in
"view of Professor Klein's report, the sale of cockles from Leigh will be
"from this date absolutely prohibited in the London markets.
"Yours faithfully,
"(Signed) J. WRENCH TOWSE."
With a view to ensuring the supply of uncontaminated cockles, a person
established a cockling business at Southend, his intention being to procure
cockles from the mother beds at West Shoebury, and cook them at Southend
without relaying.
A sample of these cockles was purchased at Billingsgate Market on the
19th October, and the bacteriological examination of them showed that they
were distinctly sewage-polluted, and that obviously the cooking had been
inefficient.
This result is only what might have been expected, as on the 27th January,
1902, I reported that " the result of Professor Klein's experiments clearly
"points to extensive pollution of the whole estuary of the River Thames and
"the consequent contamination of such shellfish and fish as are found
"therein."
These facts were also brought to the notice of the Fishmongers' Company,
who at once prohibited the sale in London of cockles from this source.