Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-07

worth asked who sent MIR. Reynolds and
himself to Chicago.
Mr. Scott (Kan.) wanted to know the
training Mr.. Nefll had previously had to
Simply claim sD g Sc ss mann Of
intelligence, he replied" He said he had
worked in a Chicago packing house for
six months In university settlement.
you are q specialist along economic
unas?"
'sModesty forbids me to say" replied Mr..
Neilf. He said he was and had been Tor
year and half commissioner OF labor.
with DR.. DYSON consulting veterinarian m
Chicago. representing the packers. DR.. Dy-
son. he said, suggested that NELL and Key
nolds go to Washington, make no report.
but inform the packers OF the conditions
found and suggestions for remedies, then
to walt thirty days and come back and see
If conditions had not been bettered. This,
he indicated, was to prevent injury to the
trade
Mr.. Neill said he replied that he was not
authorized to make any trade or deal, that
he did not know what the Presidents plan
was. but believed 1t was to secure adequate
legislation. Mr.. Neill followed this state
ment with letter he had received from
DR.. Dyson, in which was suggested sani-
tary committee and that It be given thirty
days to accomplish improvements pending
which no reports should be made.
Dirty Floors Common.
Mr. Nein rather discouraged a visit Of
the committee to Chicago at this time, as
many of the conditions complained of were
due to negligence and could have been rem
edied Immediately.
Mr.. NeiI denied the statement of Mr..
Wilson that the floors were scrubbed daily.
The dirt on some of the rooms was caked
on the floor and had not been washed for
weeks.
WAS this in any of the houses represent
ed by Mr.. Wilson," was asked.
Yes, sir"
Mr.. NELL said he at first began making
notes of the conditions, but after several
days, seeing no change In conditions from
day to day. he abandoned the practice. He
felt justified in saying that the dirty floors
were a common condition. There were some
dirty rooms and some clean rooms, but
clean room seemed to be accidental. and
gave the impression that sanitation was not
q matter that was looked after In those
plants. This included all the large plants.
Again Mr.. Neill was asked: you take d.
rect issue with Mr.. Wilson on the fact that
these rooms were not cleaned?
Yes. sir, do"
There were floors there that were black
There was no ventilation"
Representative Lorimer asked: do you
mean to say that you saw rooms where the
canned meat is put up that were not
washed every day.
II can't remember exactly the canning
rooms. but there were rooms where food
products were being put up that were not
clean. In one particular room. remember.
there were pools of water on the floor and
the girls had to stand on boards. am not
prepared to say we did not find canning
rooms that were not washed.
How about the cooking rooms?" asked
Mr.. Lorimer.
Mr. Neill said he remembered In par
tieuiar one cooking room was dirty, and
he remembered walls, particularly in the
entrances. that were sticky with dirt and
a pillar that you could scrape dirt from
with your knife. There were rooms with
refters from ceilings which had not been
whitewashed In months.
Dirt In the Boning Room.
In the boning room Mr. NenI said he
had seen dirt. In this connection he took
issue with Mr.. Wilson'S statement yester-
day.
One instance he remembered specifically
in the Nelson Morris house He saw one OF
the men who had just finished his boning
walk over the dirty floor to pile of meat
on the floor climb on to the pile with his
feet, knees and hands, pick up piece and
throw 1t fifteen feet on the floor to his
bench: and as the dinner signal sounded at
that time he saw men climb upon their tab
lest get their lunches and sit down on their
tables to eat. This. he said. was directly
under the eye of the superintendent.
Asked again about the bone conveyor by
Mr.. Lorimer, Mr.. NELL said the conveyor
was covered with grease black with dirt
Chairman Wadsworth took up the state
ment In the report: I'VE saw meat show
eled from dirty floors into rotten boxes and
pushed from room to room"
How do you know they were rotten? Did
you test them?''
1--WE felt them and smelt them. There are
floors there he continued. which all the
seas could not wash the dirt from"
Hearing Yesterday Afternoon.
afternoon. Mr.. Thomas E. Wilson, repre-
senting the packers, took up the Beveridge
amendment
1--WE should very much prefer" he re-
marked. III the date on the labels of cans
might be omitted" He also suggested that
some carcasses might be found unsound,
and at the same time might be fit for food
or some portion Of them.
He wanted the language to condemn car
casses only when the carcasses ''are found
to be unfit for human food"
To illustrate he said, a carcass might be
bruised on the shoulder and otherwise all
right
DR.. Melvin was asked for an opinion and
said that as applied to live animal, IL
might be "unsound" but fit for food. but
applied to a dead animal carcass that
was "unsound" might not be fit for food.
Mr.. Wordsworth said the whole thing was
whether the animal was was not fit for
human food.
He said that in the pickle four ounces
of saltpetre was used on 100 pounds of
meat. The meat perhaps used up two
ounces of saltpetre. which, he said, was
not injurious. although under the amend
ment an inspector might condemn meat to
which this pickle had been applied.
There would be no objection, he said to
q sanitary regulation as strong as practi-
cable. He admitted that the names of
their products did not describe the article.
AS an example, he said his firm sold "Ox-
ford" sausage, which was a pork sausage
sold under the name Of Oxford" An
other article named Brown" was simply
beef stew.
Mr. Wilson objected to the shipping re-
striction. which he believed would prohibit
reshipments from a branch establishment
He did not object to the restriction that the
common carrier might refuse shipments un-
less they contained the inspection stamp
but thought the restrictions should stop
there. and not be extended to the sanitary
condition of the packing house. as provided
In the Beyeridge amendment.
The Wordsworth substitute for the
Beverage amendment differs from the
amendment OF the Senate, first, in that It
leaves the matter OF inspection discretion
airy with the Secretary of Agriculture. It
omits the adjectives descriptive of meat At
"for human food" these adJectives being
sshaaIthfr11 ar Tho "a