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34
It was proved that defendant had been previously warned by the Fishmongers'
Company that some o£ his pits were contaminated. The defendant
was fined £20 and costs, including £5 for expenses of analysis.
As an illustration of the character of the local surroundings I quote the
following description from an article discussing the prosecution in the " Fish
Trades Gazette" :—
"The town of Wyvenhoe has a population of 2,700, and its sewers
"empty themselves at various points on the foreshore from the ship"building
yard on the West, to the gasworks on the East, creating
"what is nothing else than a filthy public nuisance. On the opposite
"side of the river higher up is Rowhedge, with sewers on its foreshore.
"On Wyvenhoe foreshore defendant has a yard adjoining the pit
"compulsorily closed four years ago, and on either side of the yard are
"two sewers not many feet apart, one of which is connected with a
"slaughter house. As the mouths of the sewers are high up on the
"foreshore, their contents at low water gullies and pools. Such we
"are told is the unenviable situation of this place ! "
Upon the facts becoming known, the Fishmongers' Company were communicated
with, and it was ascertained that steps had been taken to prevent any
shellfish being sent to the City that had been taken from the place where the
condemned oysters were stored.
Such a state of things as that described above should be an impossibility,
and it reflects little credit upon our Governing Bodies, that although the need
for legislation with regard to shellfish became so pressing so long ago as 1898,
that a deputation from the authorities of twenty-seven large towns, to the
President of the Local Government Board, urged the necessity of legislation in
order to minimise the dangers to which the public are exposed through the
consumption of sewage contaminated oysters, and other shellfish, without
however committing itself to the particular lines which such legislation should
follow—yet the only evidence of any movement in the required direction is
the Report of the Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal previously referred to.
As the present office holders are pledged to effect improvements in the
domestic welfare and governance of the people, the present may be an
opportune time to again urge upon the Local Government Board the
importance of dealing with this question as speedily as possible. The longer
the matter is delayed, not only does the danger become greater, but also more
difficult to deal with.