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defective as regards their general conditions, some of the butts in use being
old and dilapidated, some without either covers or taps, while others were
in the bake-houses adjoining the privies. In 19 instances the brick or stone
floor of the bake-houses was defective.
The total number of persons employed in the bake-houses was 158, and
the number of ovens was 81. Tho number of bake-houses in which Sunday
bakings are carried on is 42.
There was no evidence of overcrowding in any of the bake-houses.
In no instance was it ascertained that persons were found making a
sleeping room of the bake-house; neither were persons under the age of 18
ascertained to be at work longer than the hours prescribed by the Act. In
no case, however, was a proper lavatory provided for the men to wash before
commencing or leaving work.
The men are required to be in the bake-house about 14 hours daily, but
they are said not actually to work more than eight hours.
From the above return there will scarcely be a difference of opinion
regarding the desirability of effecting a sanitary reform in the bake-houses.
In those bake-houses which are situated under-ground, where there is a
want of daylight, where gas is burned to a great extent, where ample
provision is not made for carrying off the products of combustion and the
heated air which is combined with the sulphurous acid gas which is given
off from the oven-fires; and especially where adequate means are not
provided for the admission of fresh air, it may reasonably be expected that
men remaining in such places for 14 hours daily will suffer in their health .
In addition to these evils the men are exposed to the inhalation of the fine
particles of flour, which act as a mechanical irritant to the lungs. We need
not therefore be surprised to find that consumption is a common complaint
among the journeymen bakers. Nearly all the men whom I saw at work
were pale and unhealthy looking. On entering the bake-houses I found in
one or two instances such a difficulty of breathing, that I could not remain
in them longer than a few minutes ; and I learned that, whenever a window
was opened to let in light and air, the men, who are generally in a state of
perspiration, cannot bear the cold draught which then poured in upon them;
and they find it more comfortable to work in a heated and ill-ventilated place
than to expose themselves to the painful effects of draughts of cold air.
Habit appears to so reconcile the journeymen bakers to the injurious effects
of working in ill-ventilated places, as to render them indifferent to them.
I was exceedingly grieved to find, during the recent strike among these
men, that, owing as I suppose to their ignorance of the laws of health, no
public complaint was made of the unhealthy condition of the bake-houses in
which they worked for so many hours daily. This indifference to the causes
of ill health is, I am sorry to say, not confined to journeymen bakers. As
regards Sunday bakings, it would in my opinion be alike advantageous to
masters, journeymen, and the public, to discontinue such work; for if the