The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-05-29
PACKERS DEFENSE
By AR OUR MAN
He Says Pump Treatment of
Hams Is to Preserve"
the Hams.
Journal Special Service.

Journal Special Service.
Chicago, May 29-Aroused by recent
sensational charges against the pack
velt's commission and Upton Sinclair,
the author, a representative of one Of
the large packing houses of Chicago
has for the first time undertaken their
defense. .e.-
The charges which have appeared in
dispatches from Washington were taken
up in detail by an official of Armour
& Co., who says he speaks for all the
other large houses. He denied practic-
ally all the accusations Some, he ex-
planned, were founded on ignorance, and
ment. The charges and their defense,
from the representative of Armour &
Co., are:
Charged saw one of the trust s en-
ployees doctoring a spoiled ham in a
cellar Of one of the packing houses.
The stencil that arose from the ham
was overpowering. The man was work
ing a pump with one foot. Attached
to the pump was tube, on the end
of which was a big hollow needle. He
would jab the needle into the ham and
then pump it full of chemical to take
away the dreadful odor.
was preserving Ham.
Answer-He was preserving the ham,
There was no odor. In preserving ham
with the saltpeter mixture employed
curing it, some call tit is impossible
| to- distribute the preventative equally
without using a needle.
Charge-Dyes and coloring matter
! which give to sausage the "smoke'
color Of commerce and bring back
| tainted meat to it's original hue, are
openly advertised. There is a stuff
called "bull meat POWDER and "zero
preventative. These are to be ground
up with sausage meat and timed Ham
| burger steak. :.-
| Answer-Of~ course, I have seen the
advertisement of three personalities
in trade journals, but we don't use
them. What is the use of our using
preservatives when we have cold stor-
The only Hamburger steak we make is
a ham Hamburger. It may be colored
by the butchers.
Bad Meat Would Explode.
Charge meat is canned.
Answer-If it was, the cans would
explode. They'd go off like a cannon.
Even if the meat were spoiled only
slightly, the process of decomposition
would go on in the can. Gases would
generate and the can would blow up.
Charge Skinned hams, which are
supposed to be special product, are
only hams of old hogs with skins SO
thick and tough that no one will buy
them. The skin is removed and ground
up with spices and potatoes and called
head cheese.
Answer-Who ever heard of an old
hog? No one keeps hog more than
eight or nine months. The farmer
would be out Of pocket. We don Il
make head cheese.
Fingers in Sausage.
Charge-There is no such thing as
of the operators loses a finger or q
hand. The member goes in human flesh
and comes out sausage.
Answer Whoever made that charge
never saw sausage machine. The ma
chine consists of a large circular table
Suspended above it are, a number OF
heavy knives, semicircular IN shape
The whole thing is good deal like the
d-fashioned chopping bowl on large
scale. Any one of those knives can BE-
stopped instantly. The workman
pushes the meat under the knives will
a paddle. I never heard of an oper
ator losing finger.
ge-Condemned cattle are man
ufactured into food at the STANDARD
4 slaughter house.
4 Answer-All cattle condemned on tn
hoof are placed in quarantine at thu
I Standard slaughter house for the owne
I or his agent. The Standard slaughte
Z house is outside the yards, and it i
4 operated by the Livestock Exchange
4 Condemned cattle are in custody of in
snectors of the United States, Of tn
state of Illinois and of the city o
y Chicago. They are slaughtered und1
the supervision of the three sets o
insnectors and Secretary Baker of tn
Chicago Livestock Exchange. Then tn
carcasses are further examined and, /
the progress of the disease has bee
arrested, they are sold for the accoun
q of the owner If they are unfit flo
a food, they tanked-
\ Ieaky Floors.
Charge-Some Of the slaughterin
a floors in the old buildings are so Of
y that the blood and offal drips thru, fall
\ ing on meat being packed below.
a Answer-The slaughtering floors l
u our plants are concrete, granitoit
q asphalt or composition.
81 Charge-Meat is dropped on the fioc
a where workmen have expectorated. =.
u Answer-Not in our plant nor in an
3 other of the big plants.
When adjusted close to the foo