"ABOVE CRITICISM.”"

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7848, 10 July 1911, Page 1

"ABOVE CRITICISM.”"

I CHRISTCHURCH FOOD SUPPLY | MR TAYLOR’S COMPARISONS. j PBEBS ASSOCIATION. i CHRISTCHURCH, July 8. Tho Mayor and tho city’s chief inspector have spent the last two days in paying unannounced visits to tho din-ing-rooms and kitchens of those establishments whore the city tood supply is prepared and retailed. In an interview with a reporter this morning the Mayor gave the results of his tour of inspection:—“l received a copy of tho report j from Auckland to which public attention was directed a week or tw'o ago, in which tho chief inspector of Auckland Cily Council detailed tho conditions under which food supplies were handled in pork butchers’ establishments, hotels, restaurants, dining-rooms, bakehouses, and similar places in the city. Tho state of things described was almost incredible, and as the officer (Haynes) dealt with tho conditions in great detail, ono lias to assume that his statement is accurate. With a view of reassuring tho public of Christchurch, those who reside m tho city and those who have to lake meals in various establishments occasionally when away from home, and also those who are visitors to the city, I decided to pay an unannounced visit of inspection to tho establishments in Christchurch which correspond to those dealt with by the Auckland inspector. In company with tho chief inspector I have visited a very considerable number of hotels, restaurants, bakehouses, and pork butchery’ and fishmongers’ esfcablisliments. AVc started with tho Federal Hotel, in Colcnilio street, one of tho best-appointed private hotels in Australasia, and finished up this morning at the other end of the hotel business, viz., sixpenny eatinghouses. Our inspection included a number of leading licensed hotels. In every case wo found that the arrangements under which tho food supplies for the patrons of tho various establishments are handled are entirely clean and wholesome, and almost above criticism. Soma of the places suffered a little from want of space, but there was not one in tho whole rang© of hotels, private or licensed, where inspection did not leave a feeling of complete satisfaction so far ns cleanliness is concerned. Wo visited several typical butchery establishments where small goods are manufactured, and in each case it was impossible to find any ground for adverse criticism. There was a general air'of cleanliness pervading tho establishments, and the chief inspector appeared more than onco tempter! to make purchases of tempting dishes in various stages of preparation. We inspected the kitchens, storerooms, and culinary arrangements of most of the cheap dining-rooms, and found them, with one exception, most scrupulously clean. The exception I refer to is not one that affects tho wholesomeness of the food supply, but ono kitchen bore an untidy appearance. Perhaps that was excusable from the fact that the establishment supplies meals at all hours, from morning till nearly midnight. Tho proprietors of tho places wo visited were pleased to offer us tho fullest opportunity of inspection. The kitchens attached to tho fish shops were in a similarly satisfactory condition, and seemed to be as cool and fresh as it is possible to make them, seeing the work that is carried on there. There was an almost complete absence of any accumulation of scraps, and tho recently improved service for the removal of refuse from the public establishments if tho city seems to be working fairly satisfactorily. Tho bakehouses wo saw were on the whole well-arranged and tidy, but I have always had a feeling in connection with, these establishments in different cities in New Zealand that in spite of the hard work to which most bakers seem to bo subjected in earning their livelihood, the equipment of the modem bakehouse is not what it should be in the interests of tho general public. I believe-that the day is not far distant when the largo number of small bakehouses will be replaced by a few finely-equipped bakehouses in which the structure and the appliances used will bo designed with all care and expense. In connection with tho model establishments wo arc now building for people in ill-health, I have in my mind particularly the now children’s ward at tho Christchurch Hospital, and a modem bakehouse should be just as perfect in details and just as completely sanitary as is that remarkable addition to the hospital. I am pleased to bo able to report tho result of our inspection in such definite terms, because it will not only give (satisfaction to our own people who purchase their food supplies and consume their food in the city, but it enables me to say to those outside Christchurch that anyone visiting tho city may roly upon being fed under conditions which leave no suspicion as to tho quality of tho food or tho cleanliness of tho methods adopted in its preparation. We saw two or throe kitchens both in licensed and private hotels that are probably not to bo exceeded in their airiness and excellent arrangement in this part of the world. I don’t want to gloat over the unhealthy condition of things that exist in Auckland, but 1 have always regarded Auckland as one of the most .beautiful cities in New Zealand, and also one of the most untidy. Tho persistence with which the plague clings to Auckland suggests that, in addition to being beautiful and untidy, it is shockingly unclean. It is due to the Dominion that Auckland should remove the reproach that now rests upon it as being e place where visitors can have no feeling of security that they aro not being poisoned while thoy arc being fed.”