(9.) State how ventilated, if by openings, windows, louvre boards, or otherwise.
(10.) State what provision is made for water-supply, the capacity of the cistern, and at what height it is placed above floor level.
(11.) State if any watercloset, privy, urinal, cesspool, or stable, is within, or communicates directly with the slaughter-house.
(12.) State if any rooms or lofts are constructed, or proposed to be constructed, over the slaughter-house.
(13.) State if the premises will be provided with all the necessary and most approved apparatus and tackle for the slaughtering of cattle.
Having thus far dealt with private slaughter-houses, I will now turn to the question of the provision of public establishments of the kind by the urban authority, for it is usually the duty of the town surveyor to advise his corporation upon such a matter.
First, as to the site of the proposed public abattoir, this depends greatly upon what sites are at the command of the town; it should if possible be near the cattle market to prevent the passage of animals through the streets, not only on account of the great public inconvenience, but also the loss of weight to the animal[225] and the heated and bad state into which its blood becomes from the exercise, and the violent blows of the drovers’ sticks.
The site would be isolated and yet not too far from the shops of the butchers, or the cost of carriage of the meat will be considerable; it is almost needless to say that it should be easily and effectively drained, and the more air with which it can be surrounded the better. It is imperative that the entrance for the live beasts should be separate from the exit of the dead meat, and the approach roads to the site should not be narrow.
In laying out the site every town surveyor must use his own judgment, but the following plan on which the site of the excellent public abattoir at Manchester is laid out may serve as some guide for this purpose, although of course this establishment is on a very large scale indeed, and is in connection with a carcass market more than 500 feet in length:
