Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-04
PRESIDENT MESSAGE


Establishments we visited. In a few instances
electric fans mitigate the sitting air. but
usually the workers toll without relief in
a humid atmosphere heavy with the odors
of rotton wood, delayed meats, sinking
offal and entrails
Equipment.-The work tables upon which
the meat Is handled. the floor carts on
which 1t Is carried about and the tubs and
other receptacles into which 1t is thrown
are generally of wood. In all the places
visited but single porcelain-lined recepta-
Gle was seen. Tables covered with sheet
iron. iron carts and iron tubs are being In
troduced into the better establishments. but
esta blishment visited has as yet aban-
doned the extensive use of wooden tables
and wooden receptacles. These wooden re-
ceptacles are frequently found water
soaked, only half cleansed, and with meat
scraps and grease Accommodations adhering
to their sides, and collecting dirt. This Is
largely true of meat racks and meat con-
veyors OF every sort. which were in nearly
all cases inadequately cleansed. and grease
and meat scraps were found adhering to
them. even after they had been washed
and returned to service.
Sanitary conveniences. - Nothing shows
more strikngly the general Indifference to
matters OF cleanliness and sanitation than
do the privies for both men and women.
The prevailing type is made by cutting on
section of the workroom by thin
wooden partition rising to within a few
feet of the ceiling These privies usually
ventilate into the workroom, though a few
are found with window opening into the
outer air. Many are located in the inside
corners of the workrooms, and thus have
no outside opening whatever. They are
furnished with 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 a section
of the workroom, often adjoin the privies,
the odors OF which add to the generally
insantary state of the atmosphere.
Abominable as the above-named condi-
tions are, the one that affects most direct
ly and seriously the cleanliness of the food
products Is the frequent absence of any
lavatory provisions in the privies. Wash
ing sinks are either not furnished at all
or are small and dirty. Neither are towels,
soap or toilet paper provided. Men and
women return directly from these places
to plunge their unwashed hands into the
meat to be converted into such food prod
ucts as sausages, dried beef and other
compounds. Some of the privies sit
uated at long distance from the work.
rooms and men relieve themselves on the
killing floors in corner of the work.
rooms Hence, in some cases the fumes Of
the urine swell the sum of nauseating
odors arising from the dirty blood-soaked,
rotting wooden floors, fruitful culture beds
for the disease germs of men and animals.
New buildings.-It is stated that many of
the sanitary conditions are due to the
fact that these buildings are old and have
been built by piecemeal, and that IN the
newer buildings, being erected from time
to time, the defects of the earlier struc-
lures are being 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 build
ings. 1t is true that three large model
buildings have been erected, but one is an
office building, while the other two contain
only cooling storage and salesrooms NO
model building for the preparation of food
products has been built in the stockyards
OF Chicago