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14
abolished, and the driving of cattle through the crowded thoroughfares of
London will no longer be necessary.
There is an evil arising from the existing mode of granting licenses
for private slaughter-houses which has not been so prominently brought
under the notice of the public as it ought to have been—I mean the lotting
out for hire a private slaughter-house to any person who is desirous of
slaughtering an animal, which he knows to be in a diseased condition.
The improper use of a private slaughter-house has been recently exemplified
in this District. The following are the particulars of the case:—
On Sunday, the 12th December, 1869, I accompanied the Inspector
Mr. Battram, to a butcher's shop in this District, where I saw a large
quantity of meat exposed for sale, which, in my opinion, was unfit for the
food of man. The meat, amounting to about 7 cwt., was, by my order,
removed to the Green Yard, and kept there till the following day, when
it was taken to the Thames Police Court for the inspection of the magistrate.
Upon the evidence adduced, the magistrate, after inspecting the
meat, ordered it to be destroyed. The two owners of the meat in question
denied that the meat was unfit for food, and they requested the Magistrate
not to order the meat to be destroyed until the following day when they
promised to bring forward evidence to show that the meat was good. Upon
this statement the magistrate consented to adjourn the further hearing of
the case until the next day; but the parties failed to produce any evidence
in support of their assertions. The magistrate, therefore, condemned the
meat as being unsound, and ordered it to be destroyed, which was accordingly
done in the presence of the Inspector. A summons was taken out
against the proprietor of the premises on which the meat was found, and
also against the two owners of the meat. The several parties were
fined £5 each.
The object of the legislature in permitting the slaughtering of cattle
in private slaughter-houses, was to afford facilities to butchers to carry on
their trade with convenience to themselves, but if such privileges are
abused, as was the case just described, then the sooner all private slaughterhouses
are abolished the better.
ANNUAL REPORT.
The number of deaths registered in this District, during the year 1869,
has been 2675, and the number of births 2571. The deaths in 1868 were
2519 and the births 2611. The deaths, therefore, are in excess of those in
1868 by 156, and the births are less by 40. The return of births and deaths
for this year is not very satisfactory. The deaths in the Workhouse have
been 328 against 376 for the previous year, and the deaths in the London
Hospital 504 against 536.
If the population of this District be estimated at 76,000, which is nearly