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 X.

That the internal surface of the roofs and upper portions of the wall of the Slaughter-houses and Pounds above the 7 feet 6 inches of impermeable surface be washed with quicklime at least once every month.

Objections.

That the requirements for the limewhiting are excessive, and that, if insisted upon, would be “oppressive and useless.”

Reply.

I am of opinion that this Bye-law may be relaxed, and that it will suffice if the monthly limewhiting be required in the summer only, say from May to October; and once in three months in the colder seasons, say November to April. The necessity for this periodical cleansing with lime would be made abundantly clear if the Local Government Board would send one of their own Medical Inspectors to see the places as now existing; who would be astonished, as your Committee were, to observe the foul, black, sooty, and greasy state of all that is left of the ruins of the timbers originally forming the roofs of some of the Slaughter-houses in Aldgate, and perhaps concur in remarks freely expressed by outsiders, that no regulations can be too stringent for the management of a business, which under the most careful supervision and with every intelligent precaution, is repulsive and offensive to the senses.

Assuming that the observance of the proposed Bye-laws will unavoidably compel a partial reconstruction of the Slaughter-houses in Aldgate, and substantial repairs in the adjacent structures, the washing with quicklime was ordered with a view of providing a suitable and inexpensive coating for the new wood-work of the roofs, &c., for, owing to the constant presence of Sulphuretted Hydrogen in Slaughter-houses, paint is inadmissible from the circumstance that it would speedily be turned black by the action of such gas upon any mineral pigment employed. The limewhiting if used hot would act as a powerful disinfectant and deodoriser, as well as having the effect of greatly reflecting the light in the Slaughter-house, and giving the place a cool and clean appearance.

The Metropolitan Board of Works in their 6th Bye-law require that “the occupier shall keep the inner walls of every Slaughter-house always thoroughly clean and in good order and repair, and shall cause the internal surface of the roof and upper portions of the walls to be thoroughly washed with quicklime at least once in every three months.”

The Butchers have probably overlooked this Bye-law in quoting the action of the Metropolitan Board of Works.