The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1906-06-13
DIRTY PACKING HOUSES.


Officials Report q Most Re-
vOlting state Of Affairs.
The report made by Messrs. Neill
and Reynolds upon conditions in the
big packing plants at the Chicago
stocky ards, is q most ensational ex-
posure of the situ alton. It deals with
various matters connected with the
packing industry, the following ex.
tracts from the report indicating its
nature:
"Meat scraps were fouad being |
shoveled into receptacles from dirty |
floors where they we're left to lie until
again shoveled into barrels or into
machines for chopping. These floors
it must be noted, were in most cases
damp and soggy, in dark, i'll ventilat'
ed rooms, and the employees, in utter
ignorance of cleanliness or danger to
health, expectorated at will upon
them. In q word we saw meat shov.
eled from filthy wooden floors, piled on
tables rarely washed, pushed from
room to room in wooden box cars, in
all of which processes it was in the
way of gathering dirt, splinters, floor
filth and the expectoration of tuber.
culosis and other diseased workers.
Where comment was made to the floor
superintendent about these matters it
was always the reply that this meat
would afterwards be cooked and that
this sterilization would prevent any
danger from its use. Even this it may
be pointed out in passing, is not
wholly true. A very considerable
portion of the meat handled is sent
out as smoked products and in the
form of sausages which are prepared
to be eaten without being cooked.
IA particularly glaringOinstance OF
uncleanliness was found in room
where the best grade of sausage was
being prepared for export. 1t was
made from carefully selected meats
and was being prepared to be eaten
uncooked. In this case the employe
carried the chopped up meat across q
room in a barrow, the handles OF
which were filthy with grease. The
meat was then thrown out on tables
and the employe climbed upon the
table, handled the meats with his un.
washed hands, knelt with his dirty
apron and trousers in contact with
the meat which he was spreading out,
and after he had finished his opera.
tions again took hold OF the dirty
handles of the wheelborrow, went back
for another load and repeated this
process indefinitely. Inquiry developed
the fact that there was no water in this
room at all, and the only method the
man adopted for cleaning his hands
was to rub them against his dirty
apron or on his still tilthier trousers.
"As an extreme example of the en-.
tire disregard on the part OF the em'
ployes of any notion of cleanliness in
handling dressed meat, we saw a hog
that had just been killed, cleaned.
washed and started on its way to the
cooling room, fall from the sliding
rails to a dirty wooden floor and
slide part way into o mems filthy
privy. 1t was picked up by two en-
ployes, placed upon a truck, carried
into the cooling room and hung up
with other carcasses, no effort being
made to clean it. The radical de.
feet in the present system Of inspec'
tion is that it does not 60 far enough
1t is confined at the present by Law
to passing on the healthfulness
of animals at the time of killing,
but the meat that is used in sausage,
in the various forms of canned pro
ducts and other prepared meat foods
goes through many processes. in al
Of which there is possibility of con
tamination through insanitary handl
ing and, further, through the use O
chemicals. During all these processes
of preparation there is no governmen
inspection, and no assurance what
ever that these meat food products
are wholesome and fit for food, de
spite the fact that all these products
when sent out bear q label stating
they have been passed upon by gov
ernment inspectors"