The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-07-17
TOO BAD TO TELL.
Kansas Jungle Puts ChicagO's
Ia the Shade.
Erightful Condition Of Yelling
ton Packing House.
A CLEAN UP ORDER.
State BOARD of Health Will
Prosecute.
Mr. Crumbine Reveals Sickening
Results of Investigation.
A CLEAN UP ORDER.

As A result OF horrible disclosures
concerning the condition of a small
packing house at Wellington, DR.. S. J.
Crumbine today sent out to every
county board of health in the state in
structlons to at once make an inspec-
zion Of any and all packing houses
which may exist in the various coun-
ties, to determine whether they are be-
Ing conducted on sanitary principles.
y have no doubt" said Dr. Crum-
oine, that the conditions Of the small
packing houses, which are operated
TO supply the local trade in the coun-
-ies where located, are many of them
IN a much worse condition than was
ever dreamed of in the most horrible
descriptions of Chicago packing
houses. L don't believe that any of
them are worse than the Wellington
packing house. because 1 don't believe
conditions could be worse than We
found them in that place
Ny order. which goes out today to
every board of health in the state, is
the direct result Of personal investiga-
tons made at Wellington 1 was sum-
moned there by telegraph on Saturday.
ana arrived there in response TO the
telegram on Sunday morning. I went
"-- ~ AA4E kdEhAllE llOlSE GOHlUldln6Q
OF, and words utterly fail to describe
conditions as I found them. The ar
ucles which appeared in the yelling
ton papers while they are bad enough.
70 make person sick, fail TO do jus
uce to the situation
II urged the people in charge of the
affair there i'm Wellington TO bring
legal proceedings against Garland &
Knowles. the prOprietors Of that pack
ing establishment, and prosecute them
TO the fullest extent of the law In
stead Of doing so, however they de-
cided 10 go into court Monday and get
an Injunction against further Use Of
the packing house in its present con
dltion. an injunction against the slaugh-
ter or sale Of the 80 hogs which nave
been fed on the refuse from the
slaughter house, and TO serve notice
upon Garland & Knowles that unless
they cleaned up their place within 1ve
days that rigorous prosecutions would
follow. They said they did not want
TO stir Up 2 fight against Garland 4
Knowles. but told them that they
should show no mercy to a concern
which has been doing business there
presumably in this same fashion sor
many years. and has grown rich selling
people such meat a s they prepare at
that packing house This firm o. Car
land & Knowles have a big butcher
shop in Wellington and supply prob
ably two-thirds of the trade of that
city and have very large business in
Sumner county generally.
IT am informed that Garland and
Knowles deny that the hogs which we
found fattening on entrails and dis
eased carcasses We're intended for the
LEGAL trade One of the men employed
at the packing house said to me-
/ m going to tell the truth a bout this
thing If they put me on the witness
stand, and I will say to you that these
hogs are intended for the local trade.
and are being slaughtered and sold
here right along However. the uues-
tfon of where they were sold makes
no difference. They were being fat
tened for market, and it was easy to
see that they were in frightful phys
ical condition as result of taking so
much toxin poisOns into their systems.
This Garland and Knowles pack
ing house stands on the sloping side
OF ravine. It is built UP on piles.
and the refuse from the packin p
house is dumped through the floor into
sort of chute. The chute is dis
mantied. however. and consists siuDlv
of a series of terraces, each terrace
being a hog wallow. in which the
hogs lie and eat the refuse. The
blood and other refuse accumulated
under the building in q fostering heap.
and the hogs wade into It until only
their snouts are visible When I
arrived there on Sunday the pronri-
etors seem to have been somewhat
stirred up by publicity given them in
the Wellington papers. and they had
man at work inside the building
with hoe, trying to scrape IN som q
of the debris. But it was A homeless
task. The stuff had been aceumu-
latng Tor years. Tn some places the
I dried blood, fat and refuse was sew
eraI inches deep on the floor.
"OVer in one corner of the hog lot
We found pile OF about twenty car
casses of beeves, which were sfnanlvr a
decayed tumble, and the hogs were
busy eating this foul mass. We
learned that Garland and Knowles
have the contract for hauling dead
animals away from the stock Yards
and they are placed here for the hogs
TO devour.
"Of course the odor OF all this i,
something terrible It can be smeIle6
for mile. and it was this odor thai
finally caused the investigation. The
slaughter house is mile from town
An q secluded place.
The state law relating to cleanli.
aess in packing houses is strict i
"If any owner or owners. eccunie,
or occupiers, Of any slaughter house
or OF any premises where hogs
beeyes, or other animals are slaueh.
tered, shall permit the same to re.
citizens OF this state. OF any of them
every person so offending shall bs
fined for every such oTense any sun
not less than five nor more than hft,
dollars; and II such nuisance he No
removed within five days thereaffer
it shall be deemed a second offenss
against the provisions Of this act. anf
every like neglect OF each succeedins
FIVE days thereafter shall be consid
cred an additional offense against tn,
provisions of this act'
weather Indications
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