Bread, bakehouses and bacteria : reprints of various papers / by F. J. Waldo and David Walsh.

  • Waldo, F. J.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Bread, bakehouses and bacteria : reprints of various papers / by F. J. Waldo and David Walsh. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Bermondsey. She last saw him alive at midnight on Sunday, when he went to his work. He had been twice previously to the bakehouse during the day. Last Friday he started work at midnight, and reached home at nine o’clock on Saturday night. This occurred every week. His wages were twenty-seven shillings per week and two loaves of bread. He was unable to eat his meals regularly, as the bakehouse was so hot.—A Juryman : Did he have to work the twenty-four hours right off?—Witness : Yes, he was in the bakehouse the whole time. Evidence having been given as to the deceased suddenly falling insensible in the bakehouse on Sunday night, and dying soon after, William Pound, coroner’s officer, stated that he had measured the bakehouse. It was 16 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 8 feet high. The only ventilation was a grating, 9 feet wide, and a staircase leading to a shed.— Henry Thomas, Chief Sanitary Inspector to the Vestry, stated that he had examined the bakehouse, which was an ordinary underground one. It was clean and fairly well ventilated. There was plenty of air space for one man to work in.—The Coroner: But there were two working there. Do you think it safe for a man to work in such a place twenty-one hours right off ?—Witness : It was much too long in my opinion.—The Coroner : Is this a fair specimen of the Bermondsey bakehouses ?—Witness : It is superior to some, and inferior to others.—The Coroner: Is it fit for two people to work in?—Witness : I think not. The master baker said that the deceased had worked for him three months.—The Coroner: What hours did he work ?—Witness : It all depended on his own management. —The Coroner: What were his average hours a week ?— Witness: About thirteen hours a day.—The Coroner : We hear he worked twenty-one hours right off on Fridays ; is that so ?—Witness: It might have happened.—The Coroner: