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once rendered unfit, and is a nuisance Since the granting of the licenses,
a notice has been sent to each cow-keeper, informing him that he must not
keep more than a fixed number of cows on his premises, and if that number
is exceeded, the Board will oppose the granting of a license at the next licensing
day; and if, in the mean time, an excessive number of cows arc kept on his
premises, the Board will institute such proceedings against him as they may
be advised
Slaughter Houses
At the last licensing day, 44 persons applied for a license for slaughtering
cattle, to all of whom the license was granted, the several premises
having been inspected by the Sanitary Officers, who reported that they were
clean, well drained and ventilated
A new application for a slaughter house was granted, notwithstanding
the enactment of the 55th clause of the Building Act, 1846, which expressly
prohibits the newly carrying on such a business as the slaughtering of cattle
The object of this valuable enactment was to entirely prevent the slaughtering
of cattle in London after a definite period In the year, 1857, the magistrates,
in Quarter Sessions held in Clerkenwell, refused to license a slaughter
house in "Whitechapel High Street, although it was better suited for such
purpose than many others, upon the ground that it Avas a new application,
and as such it was not in the power of the magistrates to grant the application
The magistrates for the St James's district refused to grant a
license for a slaughter house on the ground that it was a new application,
and that they had, therefore, no power to do so; the 55th clause of the
Building Act, 7 & 8 Vict , c 84, being unrepealed So long, however, as
there is a different mode of action by the magistrates in the several districts
-of the metropolis, as regards the enactment respecting new slaughter-houses,
it is a matter of chance whether or not the applicant obtains a license
The question of granting licenses either for cow-houses or for slaughterhouses,
should in each case be decided by the magistrates upon evidence
adduced before them The magistrates are alone responsible for the granting,
or otherwise, of the license; and even if the local Boards decline to offer opposition
to a renewal of any licence, the magistrates are not thereby relieved of
their responsibility Neither the local Boards nor the magistrates appear
to act with uniformity in these matters
Public Mortuary House
The question of erecting a public mortuary house has been brought
under the notice of the Board; and although a resolution has been passed by
the Board that a mortuary house ought to bo erected, yet no site for that
purpose has been selected I have pointed out four sites which, in my
opinion, would be suitable, viz : 1st, the burial ground of Spitalfields; 2nd,
the burial ground of Whitechapel; 3rd, a piece of ground embracing a portion
of the Stone Yard in the Whitechapel Boad, together with Bell Court and