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houses were in a very unsanitary condition. In Mr. Battram's
District it appeared that there are 38 bakehouses, and 23 of them
were found to be dirty and ceilings broken; 8 were badly paved,
and in one the drainage was defective, the soil oozing up into the
bakehouse. In another it was ascertained that a man suffering from
fever had been sleeping for some nights on flour sacks belonging to
the bakehouse, whilst in another the structure was in a dangerous
condition. Mr. Wrack reports that there are 37 bakehouses in his
District, and that several of them were in a dirty state. The Inspectors
have been further directed to visit, from time to time, all the bakehouses
in the District, and report on the existence of any nuisance injurious
to health which may exist on the premises, and to take the necessary
proceedings to obtain the removal of such nuisances. The opinion
which I expressed several years ago as to the best mode of regulating
bakehouses, was, that they should be annually licensed, like cowhouses
and slaughter-houses; for since the power of the local Boards
has been transferred to the Factory Inspectors, the Sanitary Officers
of this District have no reason to congratulate your Board on the
improvement effected in the bakehouses.
Notification of Infectious Diseases.
The following case shows the importance of the early notification
to the Sanitary Authorities of cases of infectious disease:—
The Inspector, Mr. Wrack, reports that, on visiting the premises
No. 2, Finch Street, Whitechapel, he learnt that a girl, 11 years of age,
was suffering from small-pox in a severe form. The patient had been
attended by a private medical practitioner for several days. The
premises are used as a laundry, and several persons are engaged
therein in washing, ironing, and mangling clothes belonging to
several families in the neighbourhood; and in the room occupied by
the patient it was found at the time of the Inspector's visit, that there
was a large number of articles of clothing which were ready to be
taken away by their respective owners. The child was promptly
conveyed to the Small-pox Hospital, and no person was allowed to
remove any of the articles of clothing from the house until they had
been disinfected by Mr. Wrack at the disinfecting apparatus. This
case affords exemplification of the desirability of early information
being given to the Sanitary Officers of the existence of contagious
disease in the District. Other cases illustrating the importance of