Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-06-07
THE REPORT

mostly of brick which invariably fill
with manure and refuse, so that they
cannot be properly cleaned, and are
Shiny and malodorous when wet,
yielding clouds of ill-smelling dust
when dry" Calves, sheep and hogs
that have died en- route are thrown
on the platforms, and the only excuse
the investigators heard given for de-
lay in removal was the expense.
The interior of the buildings they
found to be mostly constructed of
wood. The floors, usually of wood,
were soaked and Shiny and the rooms
poorly lighted and lily ventilated.
Many of the inside rooms where food
is prepared are without windows, and
are described as vaults where the
air rarely changes"
Systematic ventilation was not
found in any of the establishments
they visited, During the entire inves-
tigation they saw but a single porce-
lain-lined receptacle for meats.
Sanitary Conveniences.
Taking up the subjects of sanitary
c~onyeniences for the men and women
employees, the report says nothing
shows more strikingly the general in
difference to matters of cleanliness
and sanitation. The retiring rooms
adioin the working rooms, usually be-
ing cut off from the latter by a low
/ no ptiti0p NToru rn located u, Tho
inside corners of work rooms and
have no outside opening whatever.
Continuing, the report says:
"Abominable as the above named
conditions are, the one that affects
most directly and seriously the clean
Illness of the food products is the fire.
quent absence of any lavatory pro-
visions in the outhouses. Washing
sinks are either not furnished at all,
or are small and dirty. Neither are
towels, soap or toilet paper provided.
Men and women return directly from
these places to plunge their unwashed
hands into the meat to be converted
into such food products as sausages,
III leu UCGl dAu ojltl COIlDOullu6.
Some of the outhouses are situated at
a long distance from the work rooms,
and men do not take the trouble to
go to them. Hence, in some cases,
the resulting fumes swell the sum
of nauseating odors arising from the
dirty blood-soaked, rotting wooden
floors, fruitful culture beds for the dis
ease germs Of men and animals"
Here the report suddenly switches
to q brighter picture. 1t speaks Of the
contrast observed by Reynolds in an
establishment visited by him in New
York where the rules of sanitation
and cleanliness are most s~crupulously
observed, and where the ventilation
was excellent and the light abundant.
The Handling of Meat.
The investigators found that there
also absence of cleanliness everywhere
in the handling of meat. On this
point the report says:
THE workers climb over heaps of
meat, select the pieces they wish, and
frequently thrown them down upon the
dirty floor beside their working
bench. IN cutting the meat upon the
bench the work is usually held pressed
against their aprons, and these aprons
were, as a rule, indescribably filthy.
Moreover men were seen to climb
from the floor and stand with shoes
dirty with the refuse on the floors, on
the tables on which the meat was han
died. They were seen at the lunch
hour sitting on the tables on the spot
on which meat product was handled,
and all this under the very eye of the
superintendent of the room.
1--WE saw meat shoyeled from filthy
wooden floors, piled on tables, rarely
washed, pushed from room to room in
rotten box carts in all of which pro
cessos it was in the way Of gather.
ing dirt, splinters, floor filth and ex,
, pectoration Of tuberculosis and Other
diseased workers.
GIaring Unc1eanIiness.
A particularly glazing instance of lin
cleanliness was found in a room where
) the best grade of sausage was being
prepared for export. In this case the
I employe carted the chopped-up mea
across in a room in a barrow, the han
dies of which were filthy with grease
: The meat was then thrown upon ia
{ bles, and the employee climber upol
the table, handled the meat with hi
Y ~unwashed hands, knelt with his dirt.
apron and trousers in contact witt
D the meat he was spreading out, ant
? after he had finished his operation
again took hold of the dirty handle