The Colorado statesman., 1906-06-02
BREEDS DISEASE
CHARGE THAT TUBERCULOSIS
CATTLE ARE SOLD.
MEAT SERVED TO THE PUBLIC
Astounding Revelations That Call for
Searching investigation and Strin-
gent Legislation by Congress.

gent LS9lSidtloH ny SoI9rSSS'
Washington.-Th public of the
United States and the world is amazed
preparation of meat, as set forth by
Upton Sinclair and verified in part by
other witnesses. Sinclair claims that
he has proved, among other things,
that diseased, particularly tuberculous,
cattle, and those suffering from actino-
mycosis, or lumpy jaw, are served to
the public as fresh, pure meat. He
also charges that the filth around the
slaughter houses is appalling; that con-
sumptive employees eXpectorate and
commit other unspeakable nuisances
that the meat falls upon this tainted
floor and is not afterwards cleaned.
Another serious charge is that chick
ems and other poultry are kept in cold
storage until they fairly rot to such an
extent that they will not hold together.
they then are minced, deodorized and
canned for public consumption. De-
composed meat, it is said, is dyed and
smoked to remove the traces of decay
and treated with chemicals to destroy
the stencil, after which it is canned
and disguised with a pretty label.
While Sinclair does not charge the
big packers with deliberately dealing
in meat that is known to be diseased,
he makes it clear that there has
grown up around the stock yards
vast industry confined almost exclus-
lively to the handling of rejected meat.
1t is even said there is testimony at
hand to show that diseased and Grip
pied animals, killed because unfit for
food or even the rendering tanks, are
dug up after being buried under the
supervision of inspectors, hurried to
one of the diseased meat factories and
converted into food.
Dispatches from Chicago go far to
confirm these statements. DR.. William
A. Jacques, who has contributed stir
ring articles on the terrible conditions
prevailing in the packing house district
to medical journals, said to-day:
Upon invitation of Commissioner
Reynolds, who was sent out here to
make an investigation by President
Roosevelt, | showed him many things
in the stock yards that were worse than
anything which he could imagine, and
which sickened him.
Together, we watched employees of
the packing house skimming grease oil
the surface of 'bubbly creek the fetid
stream which carries off the refuse OF
the slaughter houses. We learned that
this rotten grease was to be converted
| into a sort of lard for cooking pur-
poses.
81 wish to say" continues DR.
| Jacques, that / can take the carcass
of a badly decomposed dog or other
animal, decayed to the point where one
can hardly breathe, and by treating 1t
with poisonous deodorizers and little
coloring matter, rig the foul mass up In
manner that would deceive the eye
as well as the olfactory organs of an
expert meat buyer. In minor respects
| Upton Sinclair has exaggerated, but
am convinced that all his most serious
charges can be backed up with con
vincing proof"
One of the most horrible of Sinclairs
charges is that men and women who
operate the sausage machines ire
luently sacrifice fingers to the sausage
and no attempt is ever made to pick
out the mangled member, but the pub
llc gets IL In country Sausage.
''It is decidedly to the interest of the
American National Live Stock Asso
citation to have as rigid an investiga-
tion of the methods in use at the large
packing houses as the government can
perform" says Murdo Mackenzie
president of that organization, last
night.
"If the confidence of the people in
tbo ,,uritv of tho meat they are getting
/ is destroyed, it will do the stockmen
great harm. However, that is beyond
the province of our association, and
though we would like to make sure
that the meat sent from the packing
houses is pure, we must depend on the
government to see to that"