The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1906-06-14

IN Wnlcn 1t was to be shipped out to
the public would be marked with a
label that their contents had been
government inspected" It is not al
legged here that such use was to be
made OF this stuff. The case is point
ed out as one showing the glaring OBJ
portunity for the misuse of q label
bearing the name and the implied
guaranty Of the United States govern
ment
Another Instance of abuse in the use
or the labels came to our notice. In
two different establishments great
stocks Of old canned goods were being
put through washing process to re-
move the old labels. They were then
subjected to sufficient heat to 'liven
up the contents-to use the phrase
Of the room superintendent. After this
fresh labels with the government
name upon them, were to be placed
upon the cans, and they were to be
sent out bearing all the evidence of
being a freshly put up product. In
one Of these instances, by the admis-
sion of the superintendent the stock
thus being relabeled was over two
years old. In the other case the SUI
perintendent evaded a statement Of
how old the goods were.
Treatment of Employees.
Inc lack of consideration for the
health and comfort of the laborers in
the Chicago stock yards seems to be
a direct consequence of the system Of
administration that prevails. The va
rious departments are under the direct
control of superintendent who claim
to use full authority in dealing with
the employees and who seem to ignore
all considerations except those of the
account book. Under this system
proper care Of the products and OF the
health and comfort Of the employees is
impossible, and the consumer suffers
IN consequence. The sanitary conditions
In which the laborers work and the
feYerish pace which they are forced
to maintain inevitably affect their
health. Physicians state that tubercu-
losfs is disproportionat ely prevalent in
the stockyards and the victims of this
disease expectorate on the spongy
wooden floors Of the dark work rooms.
from which falling scraps of meat are
later shoveled up to be converted into
food products.
Even the ordinary decencies Of life
are completely ignored. In practically
all cases the doors of the toilet rooms
open directly into the working rooms.
the prfvies Of men and women fire.
quently adtoin and the entrances are
sometimes no more than a foot or two
apart. In other cases there are no
privies for women In the rooms in
which they work, and to reach the
nearest it is necessary to go up or
down a couple Of flights Of stairs. In
one noticeable Instance the privy for
the women working IN several adioln-
ing rooms was in a room in which men
chiefly were employed, and every girl
going TO use this had to pass by tie
working places Of dozens OF male or
eratives and enter the privy, the door
of which was not six feet from lie
working place Of one of the men on
eratiyes. AS previously noted, in tie
priVies for men aud women alike there
are no partitions, but simply a long
row Of open seats. Rest rooms, where
tired women workers might go for a
short rest, were found as rare excep
tons and in some establishments
women are even placed in charge Of
privies chiefly for the purpose, 1t was
stated, to see that the girls did not
absent themselves too long from their
work under the excuse of visiting
them. In some instances what was
called rest room was simply one end
of the privy partitioned off by six
foot partition from the remaining in
closure A few girls were found using
this not only as a rest room, but as
the only available place in which to
sit to eat their luncheon.
Disregard for Comfort.
Much Of the work in connection with
the handling of meat has to be carried
on In rooms of low temperature but
even here callous disregard was
everywhere seen for the comfort of
those who worked in these rooms.
Girls and women were found in rooms
Registering a temperature of 80 degrees
r. without any ventilation whatever,
depending entirely upon artificial light
The floors were wet and soggy, and
in some cases covered with water so
that the girls had to stand in boxes
of sawdust as protection for their
feet. In a few cases even drippings
from the refrigerator rooms above
trickled through the ceiling upon the
heads Of the workers and upon the
food products being prepared. A very
slight expense would have furnished
drier floors and protected them against
the tricklings from the ceiling It was
asserted by the superintendent Of these
rooms that this low temperature was
essential to the proper keeping Of the
meat but precisely similar work was
found in other establishments carried
on in rooms kept at a fair tempera-
ture. In many cases girls of IS, II
and 18 years stand ten hours a day at
work n11rh of which cOl1ld ho carried