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41
It was also agreed that in the majority of general shops registered for the
sale of milk, contamination cannot be avoided owing to the crowded condition
of the articles sold; and it is undesirable that the storage or sale of milk
should be allowed under these conditions.
A large number of premises in this district registered for the sale of milk
consisted of a front parlour being converted into a shop. These small general
shops were usually quite unsuitable and could not possibly be kept clean. The
shop was generally so crowded that no attempt was ever made to dust the
shelves or the articles on them. The floor was usually washed or scrubbed
once a year only. In was generally considered satisfactory if the shop was
swept occasionally and the floor afterwards sprinkled with sawdust.
A supply of hot water and other conveniences for keeping the milk utensils
clean was generally most unsatisfactory.
In addition to the unsuitable condition of the premises, certain articles were
sold in the shop which had a tendency to make it difficult to keep the premises
clean.
In 420 registered milkshops paraffin was sold and in 54 vegetables were sold
as well. In 284 shops paraffin, dutch herrings and smoked fish were sold.
41 milkshops sold paraffin and coal, 5 selling paraffin, fish, vegetables and coal.
Milk was sold in 393 shops in which dutch herrings in barrels and smoked
fish were also sold.
Vegetables were sold in 63 milkshops either alone or with paraffin, dutch
herrings and coal.
Coal, coal blocks or coke were sold in 42 milkshops.
In 63 milkshops, a bedroom communicated directly with the shop; in 47
of these paraffin was also sold. Dutch herrings and smoked fish were sold in
50 of them ; vegetables in 16 and coal in 3.
Fish, such as plaice, soles, &c., was sold in one milkshop; old clothes and
furniture in another, and another milkshop combined the sale of tobacco and
wall papers.
32 shops though not selling any objectionable articles were so structurally
defective as to be quite unsuitable to be on the register.