No water closet to com municate directly with a bakehouse. Section 81 provides that, if a factory or workshop is not kept in conformity with the Act, the occupier is to be liable to a fine of £10, or instead of which a court of summary jurisdiction may order certain means to be adopted for the purpose of bringing the premises into conformity with the Act. Non-compliance involves liability to £1 a day or less. By the 15th section of the Factory Act, 1883, no room or place which was not so let or occupied as a bakehouse before 1st June 1883 is to be occupied as a bakehouse unless the following regulations are complied with: (1) No water-closet, earth-closet, privy, or ashpit shall be within, or communicate directly with, the bakehouse. (2) Any cistern, for supplying water to the bakehouse, shall be separate and distinct from any cistern supplying water to a water-closet. (3) No drain or pipe for carrying off foetid or sewage matter shall have an opening within. the bakehouse. Contravention of the section is punishable by a fine not exceeding 40s., and a further fine for continued offence, after conviction, of 5s. a day. Section 16 of the Factory Act, 1883, provides Penalties for using or Occupying unfit that where a court of summary jurisdiction is satis bakehouses. fied that any room or place used as a bakehouse (whether the same was or was not so used before the passing of the Act, viz., 1st June 1883), is in such a state as to be on sanitary grounds, unfit for use or occupation as a bakehouse, the occupier of the bakehouse shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 40s. The Court may, however, order means to be adopted to remedy the ground of complaint within a certain time, the order may, upon application, be enlarged by subsequent order, if the order is not complied with there is liability to a fine not exceeding £1 per day. The last-quoted section is one of great value, the most convenient way to put the section in force is, first of all, to give the occupier notice of the defects which render the bakeshop unsuitable; if the defects are not remedied then to apply for a summons. ment of women Medical officers of health do not appear to have Illegal employany express duty cast upon them of searching for and children. the employment of children, women, or young persons in workshops, but should in any way the medical officer of health become aware of the employment in a workshop of any child (that is, any one under the age of fourteen), any young person (that is, persons aged 14-18), or women (that is, females 18 years and above), he is to give written notice to the factory inspector, P.H. (London), sect. 27; Factory and Workshops Act, 1891. (8) Street scavenging, and the removal of house, trade, and stable refuse. Under old laws, the occupier of any premises was required, during frost or snow, to cleanse and sweep the foot pavement in front of his premises before What is house refuse? 10 A.M. At the same time the sanitary authority were required to sweep and cleanse footways generally, but this did not relieve occupiers of their liability (57 Geo. III., c. 29, sect. 63; 2 and 3 Vict. c. 47, sect. 60; 18 and 19 Vict. c. 120, sect. 117); these enactments have been repealed, Duty of metro- and it is the duty of each local metropolitan politan authori and footways. ties as to streets authority to keep the streets of their district, out. (9) House and Trade Refuse. 'House refuse' is defined as ashes, cinders, breeze, rubbish, night-soil, and filth, but does not include trade refuse. While trade refuse' means the refuse of any trade, manufacture, or business, or of any building materials. 6 There is endless contention about the real meaning of these terms. The same thing may be under one set of circumstances, trade; under another, house refuse; for example, if an ordinary householder entertain his friends, and the straw casings of the champagne bottles be cast in the dust-bin, the straws are so much rubbish included in the definition of house refuse;' but, should a wine merchant at his place of business have similar waste material, it would be considered trade refuse.' In the leading case of St. Martin's Vestry v. Gordon, it was St. Martin's decided that clinkers were ashes, and therefore house Gordon." refuse that the sanitary authority was bound to remove. A Magistrate has recently decided that the refuse from a London theatre, including torn scenery, broken bottles, shavings, and so forth, is house refuse a doubtful judgment. Vestry v. " The settlement of disputes as to what is trade and what is house refuse is to be referred to a Petty Sessional Court, and the decision of the Court shall be final,' this, however, only means that the nature of the subject-matter is a question of fact, and as to fact the decision is final, but whether the subjectmatter comes within the words trade refuse involves a question of law, and therefore may be revised by a Superior Court. (R. v. Bridge (1890) 24 Q.B.D. 609.) It is the duty of the sanitary authority to secure Duty of a sanitary authority to remove house refuse. the due removal of house refuse at proper periods from premises within their district, and, on receipt of a written notice from an occupier, they are bound to comply within forty-eight hours, exclusive of Sundays and public holidays, under a penalty of £20, unless there is a reasonable excuse (P.H. (London) Act, sect. 30). The reasonable cause of excuse would be, I should imagine, such occurrences as a heavy fall of snow, or the freezing of any waterway along which refuse was conveyed away by boat, or the sudden outbreak of influenza among the horses belonging to the authority or its contractor, and so forth. The authority can, of course, if a contractor is employed, put all or any of these penalties in the contract, so that though, in each and every case, the authority is primarily liable, the penalty will really fall on the contractor. Sanitary authority to Trade refuse the sanitary authority are also remove trade compelled to remove if the occupier requires such refuse on payment. removal, but he is bound to pay a reasonable sum, such sum, in case of dispute, to be settled by the order of a Petty Sessional Court. In at least one contract between contractor and vestry, provision is made that any case of dispute shall be, with the consent of both parties, referred to the medical officer of health, who is to settle the matter by arbitration-a sensible, speedy, and costless proceeding. As for the removal of other matters, such as accumulations of dung and filth, the law in London is now pretty well the same as in the country under P.H., 1875, see Sections 35 and 36, P.H. (London), Removal of dung. |