Los Angeles herald., 1906-06-14
STRANGELY ElvOR
CITY ABATTOIR
MEAT CONDITIONS DISCUSSED
AT COUNCIL
Generally Admitted That Some Dis
eased Animals Are Killed by In
dependent and Inscriptions
Butchers

Speedy action in reassuring Los An
geles residents that the meat they pur-
chase for their tables is wholesome
food is promised by the special COM
mittee Of the city council, which held
a meeting yesterday morning in the
council chamber. This committee
listened to about twenty packers,
butchers and men i'm all branches of
the meat business and will hold an
other meeting Monday evening with the
board Of health and the board of public
works, at which time some definite ac-
tion will be taken.
This will probably result in the estab-
lishment of municipal abattoir, which
the board of health has been trying to
install in this city for the last ten
years.
Almost without exception the packers
butchers and Others familiar with the
handling of meats who spoke before
the Investigating committee yesterday
morning were heartily in favor of the
idea of public abattoir 1t will re-
quire many thousands of dollars to
establish complete abattoir such as
the board of health is anxious to have
just how many has not yet been esti-
mated, but those who spoke in favor
of it yesterday are convinced that the
money Will De IOTlnCOHlluB.
Or. Powers Speaks
No effort was made to use the muck
rake" While the city meat inspectors
are familiar with conditions in the
slaughter houses that supply Los An
geles with meat and frankly stated that
some of the sanitary conditions were
not all they should be, they refrained
from going into narrowing details.
Councilman Smith, chairman of the
special Investigating committee, told
the assembled packers that it was not
the intention to cast any reflections on
either the packing houses or the health
department, but that he was convinced
the city did not have enough meat in
spectors
DR.. L. M. Powers, city health officer,
was the first one to speak
"The health board has expressed it.
self so often on this subject that 1t
hardly seems necessary to say any
thing in addition" said Dr. Powers. I'VE
believe this city needs a public slauSh-
ter house where all animals must be
slaughtered and inspected We have
had great difficulty in keeping meat out
outside the limits and brought in here
for sale.
Difficult to Detect Fraud
animals are removed and it is next to
impossible for the meat inspectors to
decide whether or not this meat is fit
for food. With the parts removed
there is nothing to show disease"
f. 7. Hughes, chief meat inspector,
warmly seconded DIR. Powers in the
demand for a public abattoir.
This city has only two meat in
spectors to cover all killing done in
the city and outside as well. We should
have at least five or six. But until we
can increase the inspecting force and
build a municipal slaughter house we
must have some means of transporta-
tion that will enable us to get from one
place to another. 1t is almost neces-
sary that two inspectors travel to-
gether for it is sometimes dangerous
for one man to meet husky butcher
who is killing a beef or hog that he
does not want inspected. 1t is utterly
impossible for the two inspectors to
be everywhere at once and it frequent
ly happens that killings are going on
in several different districts at the same
time.
Says Condition Filthy
"The chief trouble the meat inspector
has to contend with is the peddlers VINO
kill diseased cattle and hogs and sell
them to the cheaper class of restaur-
ants. They will kill at night and have
the meat delivered before daylight. The
conditions of the markets in this city
are excellent. 1t is almost impossible
TO find bad meat in the local markets" ;"
DR.. Ward B. Rowland, county stock
and meat inspector, believed a public
abattoir an absolute necessity.
II don't propose to use the muck
rake here said DIR. Rowland, "but
conditions in the county are something
filthy There is no reason to believe
that all of the meat slaughtered OUT
side the city finds its way to Los An
geles, but it is certain that some of
this meat does come here and it should
be kept out, for it is utterly unfit for
food. All government inspected meat
is good and wholesome but meat that