The Tupelo journal., 1906-06-15
Lighting.-rhe buildings have been

A
constructed with little regard to either
light or ventilation. The workroOms,
as a rule. are very poorly lighted. A
few rooms at the top of the build
ings are we'll lighted because they a
not escape the light, but most of the
rooms are SO dark as to make artifl-
cial light necessary at all times. Many
inside rooms VII ere food is prepared
are without windows, deprived of sun
lieht and without direct communica-
ton with the outside air. They may
be best described as vaults in which
the air rarely changes. Other rooms
which open to the outer air are SO
large, the windows SO clouded by dirt,
and the walls and ceilings SO dark and
dingy that natural light only pene-
trates 20 or 80 feet from the windows.
thus making artificial light In portions
of even these outside rooms necessary.
These dark and dingy rooms are nat
urally not kept suitably clean.
Ventilation.-Systematic ventilation
of the workrooms is not found in any
of the establishments we visited. In
a few instances electric fans mitigate
the sitting air, but usually the workers
toll without relief in a humid atmos-
phere, heavy with odors of rotten
wood, decayed meats, sinking offal
and entrails.
Equipment.-The work tables upon
which the meat is handled, the floor
cars on which it is carried about, and
the tubs and other receptacles into
which it is thrown are generally OF
wood. In all the places visited but
a single porcelain-iined receptacle was
seon. Tables covered with sheet iron,
iron carts and iron tubs are being in
troduced into the better establish
ments, but no establishment visited
has as yet abandoned the extensive
use of wooden tables and wooden re-
~ceptacles. These wooden r~eceptacles
are frequently found ~water-soaked,
only half cleansed, and with meat
scraps and grease accumulations ad'
herring to their sides, and collecting
dirt. This is largely true of meat racks
and meat c%onveyors of every sort,
which were in nearly all cases made
qnately cleansed, and grease and meat
scraps were found adhering to them
ever after they had been washed and
returned to service.
Indifference to Cleanlinss,
Sanitary Conveniences. Nothing
shows nor strikingly the general in
difference to matters of cleanliness
and sanitation than do the toilet
DON for both men and m The
prevailing type is made by cutting off
a section of the workroom by a thin
partition rising to within a few feet
of the ceiling. These toilet rooms
usually ventilate into the workroom,
though a few are found with a window
opening into the outer air. Many are
located in the inside n of the
workrooms. and thus have no outside
opening whatever. These rooms are
sometimes used as cloakrooms by the
employees. Lunchrooms constructed
in the same manner, by boarding off
a section of the workroom, often adj
join the toilet room, the odors of
which ada to the generally unsanitary
state of the atmosphere.
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. Washing sinks are either not
furnished at all, Or are small and
dirfy Nathan orN fnuyntc or cnon
provided. Men and women return di-
rectly from these places to plunge
their unwashed hands into the meat
to be converted into such food prod
ucts as sausages, dried beef and other
compounds. The fumes swell the sum
of %nauseating doors arising from the
dirty blood-soaked, rotting wooden
floors, fruitful culture beds for the
disease germs of men and animals.
New Buildings.-It is stated that
many of the unsanitary conditions are
due to the fact that these buildings
are old and have been built by piece
meal, and that in the Fewer builG-
ings, being erected from time to time,
the defects of the earlier structuI es
are being remedied. This contention
is not borne out by the facts. One
of the large plants erected within re-
cent years has most of the defects of
the older buildings. It is trr1e that
three large model buildings have been
erected but one is an Office building,
while the other two contain 9 ly cool
ing, storage and sales rooms. No
model building for the preparation of
food products has been built in the
stock yards of Chicago.
Treatment Of Meats and Food Prod
ucts.
Uncleanliness In Handling Prod
ucts.-An absence of cleanliness was
also found everywhere in the hand
ling of meat being prepared for the
various meat-food products. After
killing, are we'll washed,
and up to The time they reach the
cooling room are handled in a fairly
sanitary and clearly manner. The
parts that leave the cooling room for
treatment in bulk are also handled
with regard to cleanliness, but the
parts that are sent from the cooling
room to those departments of the
packing houses in which various
forms Of meat products are prepared
are handled with no regard whatever
OF cleanliness.
In some Of the largest establish
ments sides that are sent to what is
known as the boning room are thrown
in a heap upon the floor. The work
CTS climb over these heaps of meat,