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14
by fire during the year. No such business can, now the trade is
an " offensive trade" in Ilford, be established without the consent
of the Ilford Council.
The sewage disposal system of the Council has been under
consideration during the year, and there is no doubt that, in the
near future, schemes for dealing with the large increase of houses
in the district will become urgently required. In the rural area
an extension of the sewage system became necessary in order to
replace the cesspool which had been established to receive the
sewage of no less than 88 houses.
The milk of the district has been under close supervision by
the Department. It will be satisfactory to note from page 50
that out of 30 samples of milk which were analysed (the samples
constituting the supply of all the dairymen in the district) in no
instance was Tuberculous milk found to be sold, and the results
of the analysis show that, as regards cleanliness and the freedom
from contamination with intestinal organisms, the milk in Ilford
appeared to be very satisfactory, especially as the samples were
taken during the warmer months of the year. The call for Grade
" A " milk is increasing in the district. In 1924 there was a sale
of 150 gallons of this milk daily. At the end of 1925 there was
an increase to 239 gallons daily in the sale of this milk. Slowly
but surely the average person is beginning to realise that unless
he buys milk, bottled and sealed, and under the designation of
" Grade A " or " Certified " Milk he has little protection against
the vendor of dirty milk.
During the year the Public Health (Meat) Regulations came
into operation. Some difficulty has been experienced in many
districts by the varying interpretations which can be given to
the regulations as issued by the Ministry of Health. Most Local
Authorities considered that the only satisfactory means of dealing
with the question was the provision of fixed glass windows to
both butchers' and grocers' shops. The Ministry of Health,
however, issued a circular explanatory of the regulations in which
they stated that they did not consider this to be essential. They,
however, said that failing the provision of such windows, the
meat, etc., must be kept as far within the precincts of the shop
as possible, and any meat exposed near an open window be kept
covered with muslin, or other suitable material. The position
was therefore dealt with in Ilford in two stages. First a circular
was issued calling the attention of the butchers and grocers in
the district to the necessity of withdrawing meat exposed for sale
on the forecourts of their premises. This request met with a
response from all the retailers in the district except one. Second,