The times., 1898-12-25
no6Su-tf
FRENCH COOKS.
Some of the Hardships In the Kitch-
of Paris.

CFrom the London Lancet)
In December 1891 the Societe Francaise
d Hygiene resolved 10 appoint commits
sion to inquire into the sanitary condi-
tions under wnicn the kitchen employees in
in Partisan hotels. restaurants and other
adjustments of similar character where
food Is prepared for public consumption
are compelled to carry on their work, and
in due course a report embracing the
whole subject was published in the Jour
AMI d'Hygiene over the signature of DIR.
Bruhat the secretary of the commission.
1t is not too much TO say that the condi-
ton of things disclosed in this exhaustive
report can only be described as deplora-
BILE. Until few years ago all kitchens,
with their offices and annexes, where eat
abes We're cooked for the use of the pup
lie, were under government surveillance
by virtue of several DEGREES dating back
upward of twenty years, but in July, 1894.
this important safeguard TO the general
health was Withdrawn. A ministerial cir
cular suddenly appeared directing the san
itary inspectors Of the municipality of
Paris to abstain in future from the in
spection of eating houses of every descrip-
ton, because 1t had been ruled that
such establishments were no longer TO be
regarded as trading places but rather as
partaking of the nature of private houses.
! And yet, to judge by the copious extracts
which DR.. Bruhat has cited from official
reports dated prior to the retrogressive
| circular, the need for efficient supervision
and control remained as urgent as ever.
| Writing to the minister of commerce in
| 1892, NJ. de Maroussen. with reference to
| the junior employees in public kitchens.
says: "a wretched existence: cooking
arrangements badly installed; hygienic
| conditions deplora bic
In July, 1855 NM. Hudelo and Napias
wrote the following description of the
| kitchen in one of the principal boulevard
restaurants: Everything Is on the mar
/ rowest scale, and one was consequently
roasted on all sides. The ceiling is
scarceiy tnree meters hien. while over
head the gas flares. Under foot are the
/ pipes from the range, between which anu
the grill the distance is so small that if
| two men want TO pass each other one OF
them has to squeeze himself uS against
the heated metal To the left is the spit !;
| alone the right end is unoccupied. Imagine
eight or ten people working together
| under such circumstances, Tnis is never
theless, the state of affairs in 50 per
cent of the kitchens not only in Pa IS,
hut also in our larger towns, even In AL
geria.' In report by NJ. Schaere the
| following passage occurs: The kitchen
is underground less than two and u half
and offices receives its light and air
through narrow sits, three opening at the
/ level of the street and two on the garden.
There are two ventilators, but they work
badly. The street sewer being on a
higher level than the floor. it is impossi-
been sunk which has to be emptied by
pumping. The smell from it is most Of
fensive. The sink drains into the sewer,
but sometimes the contents cf the latter
lr,s vol how a hNr Ia
in communication with the cess pit.
Another reporter writes: THE kitchen
is invariably the fithiest spot in the
house $ In some establishments
you will find n latrine in direct commune
cation with the kitchen, or else with the
larder, but this is g trifle, seeing that in
others the hands are obliged TO convert
provision tins into urinals. being forbid
den to obstruct the narrow space by
passing to and fro"
Working from to Q clock in the morn
Ing until 10 o'clock at night, with only
short intervals for eating, hut none for re-
pose ii is no wonder that the hapless peo-
pie whose fate has made them Partisan
cooks should suffer excessively from pre-
ventable diseases. chiefly tuberculosis and
gastro-h -hepatitis, and be the victims of an
abnormal mortality. Their surroundings
are insanitary to a degree almost beyond
belief, and in addition they have to
breathe an atmosphere heated mot mere
ly up TO IOi degrees Fahrenheit, which is
the ordinary temperature In Partisan
kitchens. but even az high as from l4C
degrees to 100 degrees" The number OF
cooks employed in the public eating es-
Establishments of Paris is estimated at 90
900, OF whom s,oOo are males and 1000 fe-
males. During the .quinquennium 1S9l-e5
the death rate among them was 26.9S pei
I mi I'M nr
the adult. population of the city. Tn.
same factors which are responsible for III
unhealthiness thus SO lamertahly exem
plited must also react disadyantageousl!