National Republican., 1888-03-25
CHOLERA HOGS FOR FOOD.
4 PORK PACKER TESTlfiES TO 4 MS
GUSHING IMPOSITION
which lie and others Have practiced
Uron an UnSuspccting public-Uni-
Ncrsal Criminality Charged Against
the Packing Houses.

The House committee on agriculture yes
tcrday morning resumed the hearing on the
lard question. Vim. q. Bartlc, of st. Louis,
testified that he had been in the pork pack
ing business for forty years, and had also
been engaged in shipping cattle to the east.
lie had recently been in Kansas City and
examined the stocl, yards and packing
houses there. At Jacob Dale ,S Sons he
had found them slaughtering great many
diseased hogs, most of them suffering from
what was known Us cholera. One Of the
finn told him that but little white grease
was made now. and also that his foreman
had recently bought 2,20O smothcrcd hogs,
which were put into the tanks aud went
into prime steam lard.
The witness said that he regarded the at
tack on the manufacturers of refined lard as
unjust and unwarrnntcd. lie thought that
the investigation ought to begin at the root
of the matter and show from what truck the
rcilner was compelled to make his refined
lard owing to the prevalence Of disease
among hogs at the stock yards. He could,
as pork packer and experienced farmer,
verify all the statements he had heard about
the manufacture of prime steam lard. He
had only gone out of the business because
he could not pursue his business any longer
and deal honestly. The tricks of the trade
had become SO corrupt during the past few
years that even in his order trade with the
south he could not compete with thcssmall
dealers of his own city.
On cross-eNamination the witucss stated
that whsn lie was in business he necessarily
packed cholera hogs because they We're
mixed in with other hogs. II was very dilli-
cult for Il man In purchasing two or three
thousand hogs TO detect the cholera hogs.
The stock yards were filled with cholera
hogs to-day. lie had cut hogs into hams,
Nc., knowing them To bc diseased, just as
every other packer did. Everything that
affected a hog was called cholera. Meat of
the cholera hog was not, In his Judgment,
poisonous If the meat Of cattle suffering
from Texas fever were poisonous, half the
people in st. Louis would have been dead
long ago. One of the crying evils Of the
time was the shipping of diseased hogs and
pregnant sOws to market by the farmer. lie
had tried To stop this, and had been instru-
mental in framing a bill for introduction
into the Missouri legislature imposing n pen
atty upon any farmer shipping that charac-
ter of swine.
The bill was not introduced because Chi
cagO would not ask for similar law, and If
Chicago would not Join with St. Louis upon
the question the current of trade would be
turned To Chicago and st. Louis would he
given the cold shoulder He was in favor
Of Il law which would prevent Il packer from
gcstion that he should come here came
originally from Mr., Burnett, of Fairbanks
& Co., whom he had met accidentally and
To whom he had said that there was more
filth in prime steam lard than in anything
else, and that anything the relncr could do
to il would purify it.
In response to II question from Mr. VIII
son, the witness declared that the man
would immOrtaliZe himself who would frame
legislation which would prevent the re-
ilnerics and packers from acting improperly
in tie manufacture of food products.
in response to a question by the chairman,
the witness stated that ont Of q car load Of
sixty animals the number Of boars, stags
ana pregnant sOws would sometimes be none,
Int at time, would run from five to twenty
The chairman said that while that might
hc liuc Of the st. Louis market, 1t was not
true OF northeast Missouri. Not one farmer
ont of a hundred IN that section would spoil
a nice lot of hogs by putting boar or Il
stag among them. He did not believe that
the shipments from Hannibal would average
one such animal in a hundred hogs.
The Chairman. Did you, while you were
packing hogs in ST. Louis, with large
southern trade, use cholera hogs and put
them in the food products9
The witness. | did, sir: and SO does every
other packer
In response to Mr.. Cromwell, the witness
stated that he knew Of no reason why an
inspector should he appointed to inspect
refined lard If the cotton seed oil and the
stcarine used were pure. The refined lard
was much better than the steam lard from
which IL was made.
In response To Mr. Laird the witness said
that he did not think that the farmer had
any guilty knowledge Of the use to which
his diseased hogs were put.
Mr.. Cromwell, of counsel for Fairbanks
Il Co.. stated that he had several witnesses
whom he had desired to call to testify us to
the manufacture Of packers lard, but it had
been suggested to him that the testimony
now before the committee was sufficient to
show that the industry which was asking for
protection was unworthy of the confidence
Of Congress. He would, therefore, this
morning, suspend the further prosecution of
that line of evidence, and would drop the
consideration of packers lard and call at
tcntion TO something more agrecable-re-
fined lard.
Carl Drcier, of Fairbanks & Co., read Il
synopsis of the testimony of Mr.. Fairbanks
before the Senate committee.
Continuing, he declared that refined lard
made from refined or purified hog fat, pure
beef fat. and pure cotton seed oil was u nu-
,ritiUus and wholesome food product which
he considered as good in quality rs most Of
the lard made from the fat of tile hog His
they were of the best obtainable quality.
the process of manufacture was careful and
clean. The opponents of the refined lard
admitted that beef fat and cotton seed oil
We're healthful; and II this were so, there
could he nothing wrong IN an admiyture Of
those articles with hog fat. There would
he no use IN putting a revenue inspector in
the tank room If none were placed IN the
slaughter house.
The manufacturers of refined lard were
opposed to taxation unless ii were made to
cover all fats rendered for culinary pur-
poses. To mjure the expectation Of refined
lard by legislation which had no other OBJ
cct than the protection of one article against
another should not he thought of, especially
us the total export of refined lard was about
80 per cent, more than that Of the natural
lard. If amy dccterlous substance was to
he found in refined lard the article would
have been taboOed long ago. As long as
foreign governments admitted refined lard
as an article of commerce, there could be no
foundation IN the trumped-up charges Of
injurious adulteratiOn. The witness read
letter from an importer at llavrc, France,
declaring that the quality of prime steam
lard had steadily deteriOrated, This lard,
he states, has a loud, hOggy llavOr, and the
people of France purchase refined lard in
preference to II.
In conclusion, Mr., Drelcr earnestly pro,
tested against any legislation which would
single out refined lard for repression against
amy other fat. A tax ON refined lard would
undoubtedly affect the manufacture very
seriously unless the same shaGkcs We're
placed on all refined fat, 1t would simply
result IN destroying one trade In favor Of
another, and in this case no evil would he
cradicNtcd and no good public policy would
he subseWcd. Adjourned,
Bogus Pension Claimants
The commissioner nj pensions has been ad.
,-I.nl Lhnt nnNll u, IntInn ~ MI lnilt..u.I