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201
question refers to the method in which manure is disposed of. At present the
practice is for market gardeners, farmers, and others, to remove the manure when
convenient; that time being at irregular intervals and dependent upon whether
they are sending a cart to London. If the farmers are busy, as during harvest,
the manure may not be removed for some weeks. It is proposed in the bye-laws
that unless dung-bins are to be emptied every 48 hours, they shall not be
constructed to hold more than one cubic yard, hence in either case it will not be
possible for the owners of stables and cow-houses to rely in future upon the
irregular collection at present in vogue. But even were the present system
satisfactory in that respect, it is not desirable that the same carts which bring
vegetables to market should also be used as dung carts on the return journey. If,
therefore, this particular bye-law be confirmed, it will devolve upon the Vestry,
under the powers given them by section 36 of the Public Health Act, to make
arrangements "for collecting and removing the manure and other refuse matter
from any stables and cow-houses within their district, the occupiers of which
signify their consent in writing to such removal."'
BAKEHOUSES.
The 104 bakehouses in Shoreditch have been personally inspected, and of
these only about 30 were found to be in a satisfactory condition in regard to
sanitary arrangements, ventilation, and general cleanliness. The bulk of the
bakehouses are underground, where necessarily proper ventilation is more
difficult to obtain than when they are above ground; but the objectionable
conditions I found were not by any means absent from those bakeries which
were above ground. Considerable improvement has been or is in process of
being obtained, water-closets and urinals (in some cases in a very foul state
and with no water laid on) have been removed from within the bakehouses
into the open air, defective drains and traps have been remedied, water supply,
separate from that directly supplying the water closet, has been provided straight
from the main; regular cleansing of walls and floors has been insisted on;
ventilation has been improved, but so long as the stoke hole of the furnace opens
in the same room as that in which the men work, dust and fumes must get
scattered about each time the furnace is attended to.
After viewing the conditions in which our chief food supply is prepared, it is
not a matter for surprise that bakers are a short-lived race, or that chest complaints
are prevalent among them. It was at one time a common practice for beds to be
made up in the bakehouse, but no evidence of this was to be seen in any Shoreditch
bakery, nor does it appear that lads under 18 years of age are now employed for
night work ; although a good deal may yet be done to render these places better
fitted for the purposes for which they are intended, and to secure healthier
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