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51
Before leaving the discussion of the effect of the war on the work of the
department, it may be mentioned that each month particular note was made, and a
report submitted to the Public Health Committee and the Local Government Board,
as regards distress. The investigations were made by the inspectors in connection
with their ordinary work, but very little real evidence of distress was found.
STAFF MEETINGS.
The practice of holding Staff Meetings was continued and a number of matters
were discussed. Amongst them may be noted the following: Dampness of Walls;
Housing of the Poor: Weight and Composition of Lead Pipes; Smallpox
Contacts; Dangerous Structures; Paper Linings to Dustbins; Pneumonia
Enquiries; Schools for Mothers; Demolition Orders; Fried Fish Shops, and
Deaths in Tenements.
PROTECTION OF THE FOOD SUPPLY.
The main duties in relation to this matter were carried out by Inspector Smith,
who made inspections of premises in which food is sold, stored or prepared, and
acted as inspector under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts. He also assisted greatly
in the examination of food, intended for the troops, prepared or packed in the
Borough.
Food Inspection.—'There was no change in the method of carrying out the work
of food inspection during the year. The special Saturday night and Sunday
inspections in market streets, etc., were continued, and in carrying them out
Inspector Smith received the assistance of other members of the staff having the
necessary qualifications and experience.
On a great many occasions the inspector was called by vendors to examine
articles of food under Section 47 (8) of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, and
to accept surrender of such as were unsound or unwholesome or unfit for food.
Amongst the articles dealt with in this way were—
3 Pigs' Heads (Tuberculosis) ¼crate Bananas
3 cwt. Beef 3 baskets Cherries
½ cwt. Mutton 2 baskets Strawberries
½ cwt. Bacon Quantity of Pineapples
3 Ox Livers (1 Flukes, 1 Echinococci) 3 trunks of Cod
Quantity of Fowls, 1 unsound 1 trunk of Fish Roe
1 Sheep's Liver (Flukes) 1 trunk of Plaice
250 lbs. Tomatoes 1 trunk of Mackerel
1 basket of Apples Quantity of Crabs
3 baskets Pears 55i cases of Eggs
The presence of so large a quantity of eggs in the list is undoubtedly one of the
outcomes of the war, the delay in transit caused by the disturbance on sea and
elsewhere giving the eggs an opportunity of going bad before they reached their
destination. The only seizure of food made during the year as noted below was of eggs.