Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1906-03-31
L Aims at the Lives, the Health and
the Pockets Of Chicago
Citizens.
Frightful Food Thrown Into This
City While the Government In
spectors Sit Supinely BY.

ABUSES. SAID 10 eNlst WIFI luipuuits ~
the Chicago stockyards, are the theme
Of a daring novel called The Jungle"
published by Doubleday. Page Il Co.
The author, Upton Sinclair, lived for "a
time among the workingmen In Pack
ingtown, and his book Is meant to be
a searching and comprehensive indict.
meut of the way things are done there.
The publishers say that before they
accepted the manuscript they had the
charges investigated by a competent
lawyer. who confirmed the truth Of the
authors startling statements.
The hero Of the novel Is a Lithua.
nian immigrant named Jurgis. who
comes to this country with his family
TO find liberty and justice. and who
nnds only slavery, injustice and death
In the stockyards slums. According to
Mr.. Sinclair. the corporation that EN-.
pioyed Jurgis "was nothing but one 81.
ganuc lie from top to bottom" In the
course Of his story he charges that the
reckless abuses Of the packers are pro-
tected by the city government through
graft.
'.The packers had secret Mains" ne
sayA through which they stole bill.
lions Of gallons Of the clty's water. The
papers were full Of the scandal-once
there had even been an investigation
and an actual uncovering Of the pipes,
but nobody had been punished, and
the thing went right on"
The most serious charges are those
- to the packing Of diseased animals
and spoiled meat. Jurgis Is employed
In various slaughter.houses and comes
In contact with unsavory secrets,
which the author reveals In many
pages Of revolving details.
and then there was the condemned
meat industry" he says, with Its end.
less horrors. The people Of Chicago
saw the government inspectors In Pack.
ingtown, and they oil took that to
mean that they were protected from
diseased meat; they did not under.
stand that these 1913 inspectors had
been appointed ut the request Of the
packers, and that they were paid by
the United States government to Ger.
tify that all the diseased meat was
kept In the State. They had no author.
ity beyond that, for the inspection OF
meat to be sold In the city and State
and the whole force In PackingtOwn
consisted OF three henchmen Of the 10.
cal political machine.
"And shortly afterward one Of these.
q physician. made the discovery that
the carcasses Of steers which had been
condemned by the government inspect.
ors, and which therefore contained pto.
maines. which are deadly polsons,
were left upon an open platform and
carted away to be sold In the city. and
70 he insisted that these carcasses be
treated with an injection Of Kerosene
And was ordered to resign the same
week.
$50 indignant were the packers that
they went farther and compelled the
Mayor to abolish the whole bureau OF
inspection; so that since then there has
been not even q pretense OF any inter-
ference with the graft. There was
said to be $1,000 week hush money
for the tubercular steers alone, and as
much again from the hogs which had
died OF cholera on the trains, which
you might see any day being loaded
into box cars and hauled away to a
place called Globe In Indiana, where
they made a fancy grade OF lard.
There were cattle which had been
fed on whisky malt the refuse OF the
breweries. and had become what the
men called 'steerly'-which means COW
cred with boils. II was nasty Job
killing these, for when you plunged
your knife into them they would burst
and splash foul.smelllng stun into your
face. II was stun such as this that
made the 'embalmed beef that had
killed several times as many United
States soldiers as all the bullets Of the
spaniards: only the army beef, besides,
was not fresh canned, 1t was old stun
that had been lying for years in the
cellars"
Among the curious things that Jurgis
nouced on the first day Of his employ
mat In "Durham's" slaughter house
was 1.-THE sharp trick OF the floor bosses
whenever there CHANGED to come q
skunk calf" The author goes on to
describe how cows In condition unit
for food are regularly slaughtered
with the rest
1T was the law that cows Of that
sort came along with the others. And
whoever noticed II would tell the boss
and the boss would start up CONVEX
satiOn with the government inspector
and the two would stroll away. So In
q trice the carcass OF the COW would
be cleaned out, and the entrails would
have vanished II was Jurgis' task To
slide them into the trap, calves and all,
and on the floor below they took out
these skunk calves and butchered them
for meat, and used even the skins OF
them"
One day Jureis had 10 take the place
OF a man who had hurt his leg, and
after the inspector and nearly all the
wOrkmen had gone, select gang was
set to preparing the dead cattle that
Tad been gorcd or died OF disease on