Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

6. Every Cat Gut Maker shall, from time to time, as often as occasion may require, cause all garbage, filth, or refuse to be removed from his premises in properly closed vessels or receptacles constructed of galvanised iron or other non-absorbent material.

7. Every Cat Gut Maker shall cause the premises on which his business is carried on to be constantly provided with an adequate supply of water, which shall be received and stored in a cistern or other suitable receptacle, properly constructed; or, in the case of a constant supply of water, by a pipe communicating with a Water Company's main; and he shall cause every part of such premises to be thoroughly washed, from time to time, as often as may be necessary; and to be kept at all times thoroughly clean.

8. Every Cat Gut Maker shall cause every inner wall of the premises on which his business is carried on to be kept at all times thoroughly clean and in good order and repair. He shall cause every such wall and every ceiling to be thoroughly washed with hot lime-wash in the first week of each of the months of March, June, September, and December.

9. Every Cat Gut Maker shall cause every vessel, receptacle, utensil, or instrument provided or used upon, or in connection with the premises on which his business may be carried on, to be kept, when not actually in use, at all times thoroughly clean, so as to prevent the emission of any offensive smell from such vessel, receptacle,

utensil or instrument.

10. Every Cat Gut Maker shall, at the expiration of the time aforesaid, cause every room, chamber, or other place which may be used on or in connection with the premises where his business is carried on, and in which any offensive vapour, gas, or fume may be evolved, to be furnished with suitable appliances, so constructed and used as to effectually prevent the escape of any of such vapour, gas, or fume into the external atmosphere. He shall at all times adopt such precautions and employ such means as may be necessary to cause every such vapour, gas, or fume to be conveyed into or through a furnace fire, or to be condensed, so as to be effectually destroyed.

11. Every Cat Gut Maker shall afford access to every part of the premises on which his business is carried on to every Member and Officer of the Board, authorised in writing under the hand of the Clerk of the said Board, at any reasonable time during the hours within which such business may be carried on.

12. Every person who shall not comply with any of these Bye-Laws shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable, for every such offence, to a penalty of Five pounds, and in the case of a continuing offence, to a penalty of One pound for every day during which the offence may be continued after the conviction for the first offence.

13. Every Court of Summary Jurisdiction, as defined in the Slaughterhouses, &c. (Metropolis), Act, 1874, may, as a penalty for the breach of any of the foregoing Bye-Laws, by summary Order, suspend or deprive any person altogether of the right of carrying on the business of a Cat Gut Maker.

Bye-Laws for Regulating the Structure of the Premises, which shall be complied with as regards all Buildings now used for the Business, before the expiration of twelve Calendar Months from the date of the Publication thereof; and as regards Buildings to be used hereafter, before the Business shall be commenced therein.

14. Every Cat Gut Maker shall provide, or cause to be provided, upon the premises, a chamber or chambers in which the offensive processes of the business are to be carried on, and such chamber or chambers shall be constructed in the following manner, viz.

(a) The walls shall be of brick, stone, or concrete; and the walls and the ceiling shall be constructed in such manner that the atmosphere of the close chamber cannot escape into the external atmosphere.

(b) The windows or lights shall be of glass, not less than one-quarter of an inch in thickness, and shall be fixed in the walls or roof in such a manner as not to open, and to be air-tight, and such windows or lights shall be covered externally with a wire netting.

(c) There shall be only one doorway in a close chamber, and the door thereto shall be made to closely fit the doorway in such a manner that when shut the atmosphere of a close chamber cannot escape through such doorway. (d) The paving shall be asphalte, Yorkshire flagstone, Stourbridge paving bricks, closely set in cement, upon a bottom of four inches of good concrete, or other suitable material; and shall be laid with a proper slope and channel towards a gully, and shall be effectually drained by an adequate drain of glazed pipes communicating with the public sewer, and properly ventilated. The drain shall be properly trapped, and be covered with a fixed grating, the bars of which shall not be more than three-eighths of an inch apart. (e) The inner walls shall be covered with hard, smooth impervious material, to the height of four feet at the least; and such covering shall be always kept in good order and repair.

(f) There shall be provided one or more inlet valves for air, adequate for supplying a sufficient quantity of fresh air from the outside of the chamber for the persons employed and working therein, and so constructed as not to allow the atmosphere of the chamber to escape thereby ; and such valve or valves shall be always kept in good working order and repair.

(g) There shall be provided a shaft to lead from the upper part of a close chamber to a furnace, and such shaft shall be so constructed that any gas or air drawn through the shaft shall be consumed in the furnace fire. (h) There shall be no room or loft over any such chamber, other than a room used solely for the purpose of the business; and such room shall be provided with separate means of access from without, and shall not communicate directly or indirectly with any close chamber.

15. Every Cat Gut Maker shall provide, or cause to be provided, upon the premises on which his business is carried on machinery or appliances for effectually drawing the atmosphere from a close chamber or chambers, and from every room or place in which any offensive vapour or gas may be evolved, through a shaft and into a furnace fire.

16. He shall cause all needful works and repairs to the premises to be forthwith done and executed as and when the same shall become requisite, and shall not allow any alteration whatsoever to be made in respect of the structure of the premises without the consent of the Board.

17. Every person who shall not comply with any of the foregoing Bye-Laws relating to the structure of the premises shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable, for every such offence, to a penalty of Five pounds, and in the case of a continuing offence, to a penalty of One pound for every day during which the offence may be continued after the conviction for the first offence.

Bye-Law for Regulating the Mode of Application for Sanction to New Establishment of the Business.

18. Every person who may apply to the Board for their sanction to establish anew the Business of a Cat Gut Maker shall furnish with the application a plan of the premises and sections of the buildings in which it is proposed to carry on such business, such plans and sections being drawn to a scale of a quarter of an inch to the foot, and showing the provision made, or proposed to be made, for the drainage, lighting, ventilation, and water supply of such premises, and for the construction of close chambers thereon, and shall also furnish a key plan of the locality, showing the buildings and streets within one hundred yards of the premises, drawn to a scale of five feet to the mile.

(185) The Boiling of Tripe.

The nuisance (and its remedy) from the boiling of tripe is sufficiently detailed in the following byelaws in force in the Metropolis:

LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL.

THE SLAUGHTERHouses, &c. (METROPOLIS) ACT, 1874, 37 & 38 Vic., c. 67. BYE-LAWS for the regulation of the conduct of the business of a Tripe Boiler, the structure of the premises on which such business is carried on, and the mode in which application is to be made for sanction to establish such business anew, within the limits of the Metropolis (except the City of London and the liberties thereof.)

In pursuance of the above Act by which the Metropolitan Board of Works1 is constituted the Local Authority for the Metropolis as defined in the same Act (except the City of London and the liberties thereof), the said Metropolitan Board of Works (for the purpose of these Bye-Laws called the "Board") doth hereby make the following Bye-Laws :

[ocr errors]

Bye-Laws for Regulating the Conduct of the Business.

1. Every Tripe Boiler shall cause the premises on which his business is carried on to be constantly provided with an adequate supply of water, which shall be received and stored in cisterns, or other suitable receptacles, properly constructed, and he shall cause such premises at all times to be well and thoroughly ventilated by suitable openings, windows, Louvre boards, or otherwise. He shall cause every part of such premises to be thoroughly washed from time to time, as often as may be necessary, and to be kept at all times thoroughly clean.

2. Every Tripe Boiler shall cause every inner wall of the premises on which his business is carried on to be kept at all times thoroughly clean and in good order and repair. He shall cause every such wall to be thoroughly washed with hot limewash in the first week of each of the months of March, June, September, and December.

3. Every Tripe Boiler shall provide a sufficient number of tubs, boxes, or vessels, constructed of galvanized iron or other non-absorbent material, and furnished with tight and close-fitting covers, for the purpose of receiving and conveying away all manure, garbage, offal, and filth. He shall, from time to time, as often as occasion may require, cause such manure, garbage, offal, and filth to be placed in such tubs, boxes, and vessels, and to be removed from his premises without delay.

4. Every Tripe Boiler shall cause every boiler or other vessel from which any offensive or noxious vapour or gas may be evolved in the operation of boiling, or otherwise, to be properly covered, and in all other respects to be so constructed and used as to cause all such vapour or gas to be effectually conveyed into, or through, a furnace fire, or otherwise to be prevented from escaping into the external atmosphere.

5. Every Tripe Boiler shall cause every tub, box, vessel, boiler, or receptacle provided or used upon, or in connection with, the premises on which his business may be carried on, to be kept at all times thoroughly clean, so as to prevent any

offensive smell.

6. Every Tripe Boiler shall cause all offal, or other materials used in his business, when delivered on to the premises across a public footpath, to be conveyed in vessels properly covered and constructed.

7. Every Tripe Boiler shall remove, or cause to be removed, from the premises on which his business is carried on, every bone, fat, offal, garbage, or other similar article before it has become putrid or offensive.

8. Every Tripe Boiler shall afford access to every part of the premises on which his business is carried on, to every Member and Officer of the Board authorised in writing under the hand of the Clerk of the said Board, at any reasonable time during the hours within which such business may be carried on.

9. Every person offending against any of the foregoing Bye-laws shall be liable for every such offence, to a penalty of Five pounds, and in the case of a continuing

1 To be now read "London County Council."

offence, to a penalty of One pound for every day during which the offence may be continued after the conviction for the first offence.

10. Every Court of Summary Jurisdiction, as defined in the Slaughterhouses, &c., (Metropolis) Act, 1874, may, as a penalty for the breach of any of the foregoing Bye-laws, by summary Order, suspend or deprive any person altogether of the right of carrying on the business of a Tripe Boiler.

Bye-law for Regulating Mode of Application for Sanction to new Establishment of

Business.

11. Every person who may apply to the Board for their sanction to establish anew the business of a Tripe Boiler, shall furnish with his application a plan of the premises and sections of the building in which it is proposed to carry on such business, such plan and sections being drawn to a scale of a quarter of an inch to the foot, and showing the provision made, or proposed to be made, for the drainage, lighting, ventilation, and water supply of such premises; he shall at the same time furnish the Board with a key plan of the locality, showing the buildings adjacent to the premises, such plan being drawn to a scale of five feet to the mile.

Bye-laws for Regulating the Structure of the Premises.

12. Every Tripe Boiler shall cause the premises on which his business is carried on to be well paved with asphalte, Yorkshire flag-stone, Stourbridge paving bricks, closely set in cement upon a bottom of four inches of good concrete, or with other suitable material, and to be laid with a proper slope and channel towards the gully, and to be effectually drained by an adequate drain of glazed pipes communicating with the public sewer, and properly ventilated. He shall cause such gully to be properly trapped, and to be covered with a grating, the bars of which shall not be more than three-eighths of an inch apart.

13. Every Tripe Boiler shall cause all works and repairs to the premises to be forthwith done and executed as and when required by the Board; and shall not make or allow to be made any alteration whatsoever in respect of the structure of the premises, without the consent of the Board.

(186) Slaughterhouses.

It is hoped the time is not far distant when private slaughterhouses in large population centres will be abolished. The public health cannot be protected, nor the sale of diseased animals controlled, except in abbatoirs.

Nuisances arise in private slaughterhouses from the keeping of the animals previous to killing them, from the operations themselves, and from the garbage and refuse.

The place where cattle are kept and fed for several days before killing is technically called a "lair," but where they are temporarily detained before slaughter is called "a pound;" but in small businesses the one shed or place serves for both lair and pound.

The neighbours of slaughtering places frequently-and with reason-complain of the bleating of sheep and the lowing of cattle. There may be also a good deal of odour from a number of animals being crowded together. Although noise, per se, does not come

within the scope of the Public Health and Sanitary Acts, it is at all events an annoyance, and aggravates other causes of complaint.

In slaughtering, the oxen in this country are usually poleaxed; in a few places they are shot, the gun being loaded with a marble (a bullet breaking up the tissues too much): through the hole in the animal's skull, thus produced, a cane is thrust down the spinal marrow. Death is not so rapid as is generally thought. The author has seen bullocks struggle for several minutes. Sheep have their throats cut; pigs are killed by cutting into the great vessels of the neck. The squeals, or almost human shrieks, of the latter are peculiarly distressing, and, from the high pitch of the sounds, are heard a long distance. Some butchers stun the pig first in order to avoid the noise.

The butcher in one way or another is able to dispose of almost all débris arising from the operation of slaughtering. The blood is used as a food for man or pigs, or it is defibrinated and utilised in Turkey-red dyeing, or it is sent to the manufacturer of blood albumen. The skins, hoofs, horns, all find buyers. Parts of the intestines and internal organs, not readily saleable, are converted into dogs' and cats' meat; the contents of the intestines are used

as manure.

Nevertheless, unless the slaughterhouse itself is constructed with proper tanks or receptacles for the blood, unless it is properly paved, lighted, and drained, and supplied with ample water supply, and above all if the greatest cleanliness be not observed, it is likely to become, more especially in summer time, an intolerable nuisance. Probably blood putrefaction is liable to produce septic diseases and puerperal fever; in medical literature general statements are to be found giving some support to this theory. That putrefying blood contains poisonous elements is capable of proof: witness the practice of many uncivilized tribes who smear their weapons with blood, such weapons acquiring specially dangerous qualities. Hence, pits used for the receipt of blood, or vessels generally which have been used in a slaughterhouse, should not alone be thoroughly cleansed, but also disinfected daily.

The methods to be adopted and recommended in the conservation and establishment of slaughterhouses cannot be better elucidated than by a perusal of the following Metropolitan Byelaws under the Metropolitan Slaughterhouse Act :

« AnteriorContinuar »