Thus at Stoke-on-Trent the children for whom free meals are granted are sent to eating-houses.[259] These houses are often, if not always, small bakers' shops, not general restaurants. They are usually situated at an easy distance from the school. The numbers attending each are small, amounting to not more than twenty or so. At the one we visited[260] the conditions seemed to be as good as could be expected under the circumstances; the caterer was a motherly old woman who took an evident interest in the children, and the food was hot and palatable. The disadvantages inherent in the system, the impossibility of supervision and the lack of control over the dietary, are, however, observable here as elsewhere. Probably in few cases would the children get an insufficiency of food. The difficulty lies rather in securing good quality and the proper kind of meal. Thus it was found that one caterer had substituted, for the regulation fish pie, bread and jam, because the children preferred it. "I have inspected several of these [eating-houses]," reports the School Medical Officer, "and although I found one instance in which the children were treated on exactly the same lines as the contractor's own children, in fact sat at the same table, and were regarded quite as members of the family; in most instances the surroundings, the manner of serving and the dietary left much to be desired.... I would strongly urge the advisability of getting the catering in all instances into our own hands. I do not think that the full benefit of the Act can be secured in any other way; it is doubtful, as things are, whether the intention of the Act, as a remedy for malnutrition, can be carried out at all."[261] Footnote 259: At one school, the children have the meal in the school, the food being sent in by a caterer, the head-mistress preferring that arrangement. Footnote 260: In April, 1913. Footnote 261: Annual Report of the School Medical Officer for Stoke-on-Trent, 1912, p. 23. At Acton the meals are given at a dingy eating-house which is intended primarily to serve the needs of the women working at the laundries in the district.[262] There is only one room, so that the children have to have their meals with the other customers, and the hour at which the children come in, between twelve and one, is, of course, the busy hour for the restaurant. At one time a rota of ladies attended voluntarily to supervise the meals, but this plan has been given up; the School Attendance Officers now take it in turn to be present. The children come and go as they please and there is no attempt to teach table manners. Footnote 262: