Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1906-06-08
A ST ARTLING REPORT.

The President transmitted to Congress on
Monday the preliminary report Of James p.
Reynolds and Charles P. Neill on conditions
in the stock yards.
In message accompanying the report the
President states that the conditions which
are shown to exist In the Chicago stock
yards are revolving, and that II 10 necessary,
in the interest of health and decency, that
they be changed. l! is wholly impossible,
he says, under the exlstlng law to secure
satisfactory results.
The President declares that law is need
ed TO enable Government officials to inspect
meat from the hoof to the can, the expense
of the inspection to be levied on each ami
NAL slaughtered. He urges the Immediate
enactment of the Beveridge amendment,
which is intended 10 secure rigid inspec-
ton.
In the Reynolds Neill report the packers
are charged with absolute disregard of the
elementary rules of sanitation and cleanli-
ness and even decency Very plain Ian
guage '".used in describing conditions that
are sicke1ing.
Absence of cleanliness, says the report,
was found everywhere in the handling of
meat under preparation for various food
products. The workers climb over heaps
of meat and frequently throw them upon
the dirty floor \ In many of the rooms the
floors are soaked Nnd Shiny.
an word" says Messrs. Reynolds and
Neill, I'VE saw meat shoveled from filthy
wooden floors, piled on tables, rarely wash
ed, pushed from room to room In rotten box
carts, in all of which processes 1t was in the
way Of gathering dirt, splinters and filth.
It was always the reply to questions that
this meat would afterward be cooked, and
that this sterilization would prevent any
danger from its use.
"a very considerable portion of the meat
80 handled Ia sent out as smoked products
and 10 the form of sausages, which are pre-
pared to be eaten without being cooked. A
particularly glaring instance of uncleanl-
ness was found in room where the best
grades of sausages are being prepared"
The report says that the meat that Is used
In the various forms OF canned products and
other prepared foods goes through many
processes, 10 all of which there Ia posi-
bility OF contamination through unsanitary
surroundings. Although there is no Gov
eminent inspection of these products, when
they are sent out they bear label stating
that they have been passed upon by Gov
eminent inspectors.
Men and women, It Is stated, plunge their
unwashed hands into the meat to be con-
yerted into food products. tuberculosis
victims expectorate on the spongy wooden
floors, from which falling scraps of meat are
later shoveled up 10 be converted into food
products.
1.-THE ordinary decencies Of llfe," says the
report, "are completely ignored. The whole
situation tends Inevitably to the moral deg
radiation of thousands OF workers, who are
forced TO spend their working hours under
conditions that are entirely unnecessary and
objectionable condtlons which are men,
ace not only to their own health, but to the
health of those who use the food products
prepared by them"
The report urged compulsory examine
ton after slaughter; inclusion OF goats now
exempt from inspection for foreign or inter
state commerce increase of inspectors for
night inspection and special work; legisla-
ton prohibiting declarationso Of Government
inspection on food products unless subject
to Government inspection at every stage OF
preparation; prohibiting Interstate trans
portation of any meat or meat-food pro-
ducts not inspected and labeled.
The report also urges considering the
question of specific labelling Of all carcasses
sold as fresh meat, which, upon examina-
ton after Strengthening, show signs OF dis
ease, but are still deemed suitable Tor food.
and recommends study OF inspection stand
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