Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1906-06-26

% largely true OF meat racks and meal
Eonveyors of every sort, which were
In nearly all cases inadequately
cieansed, and grease and meat scraps
were found adhering to them, even
after they had been washed and re-
turned to service.
Sanitary Conveniences- = Nothing
shows more str1kingly the general in
difference to matters of cleanliness
and sanitation than do the privies for
both men and women. The prevailing
type is made by cutting Off section
Of the workroom by thin wooden
partition rising to within a few rest
of the ceiling. These privies usually
ventilate into the workroom, though q
few are found with window open
ing into the outer air. Many are To-
Gated In the inside corners of the work.
room, and thus have no outside OPEN
Ing whatever. They are furnished
with a row of seats, generally without
even side partitions. These rooms are
sometimes used as cloakrooms by the
employees. Lunch rooms constructed In
the same manner, by boarding Off
section of the worl1room, often adjoin
the priyies, the odors of which add to
the general insanitary state of the at
nosphere.
Abominable as the abcve-named con-
ditions are, the one that affects most
directly and seriously the cleanliness
of the food products is the frequent
absence OF any lavatory provisions in
the prtvies. Washing sinks are either
not furnished at all or are small and
dirty. Neither are towels, soap OF toll
let paper provided Men and women
return directly from these places to
plunge their unwashed hands into the
meat to be converted ints such food
products as sausages, drief bee6, and
other compounds. Some OF ths prfvSss
are situated at a long distance from
the workrooms, and men relieve them
selves on the killing floors or in
corner of the workrooms. Hence, In
some cases the fumes OF the urine
swell the sum of nauseaung odors
arising from the dirty blood-soaked,
rotting wooden floors, fruitful culture
beds for the disease germs OF men and
animals.
New Buildings.-1t is stated that
many of the unsanitary conditions are
due to the fact that these buildings are
old and have been built by piecemeal,
and that in the newer buildings, be-
ing erected from time to time, the de-
fects of the earlier structures are be-
ing remedied. This contention Is not
borne out by the facts. One of the
large plants erected within recent
years has most of the defects of the
older buildings. 1t is true that three
large model buildings have been erect
ed, but one is an office building, while
the other two contain only cooling,
storage and sales rooms. No model
building for the preparation Of food
products has been built In the stock
yards OF Chicago.
Treatment Of Meats.
Uncleanliness in Handling Products.
AN absence Of cleanliness was also
found everywhere In the handling of
meat being prepared for the various
meat-food products. After killing,
carcasses are well washed, and up to
the time they reach the cooling room
are handled In . fairly sanitary and
clearly manner. The parts that leave
the cooling room for treatment in
bulk are also handled with regard to
cleanliness, but the parts that are
sent from the cooling room to those
departments Of the packing houses in
which various forms Of meat products
are prepared are handled with no re-
gard whatever for cleanliness. In
some Of the largest establishments
sides that are sent to what Is known
as the boning room are thrown In a
heap upon the floor. The workers
climb over these heaps Of meat, Sc
lect the pieces they wish, and FREE
quently throw them down upon the
dirty floor beside their working bench.
Even in cutting the meat upon the
bench, the work is usually held
pressed against their aprons, and
these aprons were, as rule, indescrib-
ably filthy. They were made in most
cases Of leather or Of rough sacking
and bore long accumulated grease and
dirt. In only few places were suit
able oilcloth aprons worn. Moreover,
men were seen to climb from the floor
and stand, with shoes dirty with the
refuse of the floors, on the tables
upon which the meat was handled.
They were seen at the lunch hour Sit
ting on the tables on the spot on
which the meat product was handled,
and all this under the very eye of the
superintendent of the room, showing
that this was the common practice.
Meat scraps were also found being
shoveled into receptacles from dirty
floors where they were left to lie I'M
til again shoveled into barrels or into
machines for chopping. These foorz.
1t must be noted, were in most cases
damp and soggy, in dark, ill-venti-
lated rooms, and the employees in ut.
ter ignorance Of cleanliness or danger
to health expectorated at will upon
them. In a word, we saw meat show
eled from filthy wooden floors, piled
on tables rarely washed, pushed from
room to room In rotten box-carts, in
all Of which processes it was in the
way OF gathering dirt, splinters, floor
filth and the expectoration Of tuber.
culous and other diseased workers.
Where comment was made to floor
superintendents about these matters,