Report of the Sanitary Committee of the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London, together with a report of the Medical Officer of Health on the objections raised by the Butchers' Trade Society to the bye-laws proposed for the regulation of slaughter-houses

by W. Sedgwick Saunders; City of London . Commissioners of Sewers. Sanitary Committee

Bye-law IX.

That each Slaughter-house and Pound be thoroughly washed over the entire surface of the walls to the height of 7 feet 6 inches, and over the whole surface of the floor directly after slaughtering is completed, or at least once in every twenty-four hours.

Objections.

The substance of the objections raised is that the requirements for washing are too stringent, with a reiteration of the grievance of a dado 7 feet 6 inches; also the Butchers find it “difficult to imagine why the walls and floor of the Pound, as well as those of the Slaughter-houses, are to be washed after slaughtering,” and seem to imagine that the washing is required every twenty-four hours, including Sundays, whether slaughtering is going on or not.

Reply.

The provision for thoroughly cleansing, once in each twenty-four hours, Slaughter-houses and Pounds that are in constant use, is too obviously necessary to require any defence, and the quibble raised by the Butchers about Sunday cleaning is, I presume, intended as a joke.