The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1906-06-15
Lightlng.-The buildings have been

LlEHlinE.-l lie buliuluBS nuNt DtCT
constructed with little regard to either
light or ventilation. The w~orkrooms,
"a a rule, are very poorly lighted. A
few rooms at the top of the build
ings are well lighted because they can
not escape the light, but most of the
rooms are so dark us to make artif-
cial light necessary at all times. MANY
inside rooms VII ere food Is prepared
are without windows, deprived of sun
light and without direct communica.
ton with the outside air. They may
be best described as vaults in which
the air rarely changes. Other rooms
which open to the outer air are so
large, the windows so clouded by dirt,
and the walls and ceilings so dark and
dingy that natural light only pene-
trates 30 or 80 feet from the windows,
thus making artificial light in portions
of ever these outside rooms necessary.
These dark and dingy rooms are nat
urally not kept suitably clean.
Ventilation.-Systematic ventilation
Of the workrooms is not found in any
of the establishments we visited. In
a few instances electric fans mitigate
the sitting air, but usually the workers
toll without relief in a humid atmos-
phere, heavy with odors of rotten
wood, decayed meats, sinking offal
and entrails.
Equipment. The work tables upon
which the meat Is handled, the floor
cars on which it is carried about, and
the tubs and other receptacles into
which it Is thrown are generally of
wood. In all the places visited but
q single porcelain-iined receptacle was
seen. Tables covered with sheet IRON
iron carts and iron tubs are being in
troduced into The better establish
ments, but no establishment visited
has as yet abandoned the extensive
use of wooden tables and wooden re-
c~eptacles. These wooden ~receptacles
are frequently found w~ater-soaked,
only half cleansed, and with meat
scraps and grease accumulations ad'
herring to their sides, and collecting
dirt. This is largely true of meat racks
and meat conveyors of every sort,
which we're in nearly all cases made
Qnately %cleansed, and grease and meat
SSAolS "Sl iouilu uuiClihS ~ lSlh
even after they had been washed and
returned to service.
Indifference TO C1eanlinss.
Sanitary Conveniences. Nothing
shows more strikingly the general in
difference to matters Of cleanliness
and sanitation than do the toilet
rooms for both men and women. The
prevailing type is made by cutting off
a section of the workroom by a thin
partition rising to within a few feet
of the ceiling. These toilet rooms
usually ventilate into the workroom,
though a few are found with a window
opening into the outer air. Many are
located in the inside corners of the
workrooms. and thus have no outside
opening whatever. These rooms are
sometimes used as c%loakrooms by the
employees. Lunchrooms constructed
in the same manner, by boarding off
a section of the workroom, often ad.
join the toilet room, the odors OF
which add to the generally unsanitary
state of the atmosphere.
Abominable as the above-named
conditions are, the one that affects
most directly and seriously the clean.
Illness Of the food products is the fire.
quent absence Of any lavatory pro-
visions. Washing sinks are either not
furnished at all, or are small and
dirty. Neither are towels or soar
provided. Men and women return di.
rectly 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. The fumes 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 h unsanitary conditions are
due to the fact that these buildings
are old and have been built by piece.
meal, and that in the newer build
ings, being erected from time to time,
the defects of the earlier structures
are being remedied. This contention
is not borne out by the facts. One
of the large plants erected within re
cent years has most of the defects Of
the older buildings. 1t is true that
three large model buildings have beer
erected. but n is an office building
while the other two contain only cool
ing, storage and sales rooms. Nc
model building for the preparation O.
food products has been built in the
stock yards of Chicago.
Treatment Of Meats and Food Prod.
ucts.
Un~cleanliness in Handling Prod
ucts.-An absence of cleanliness was
also found everywhere in the hand
ling of meat being prepared for the
various meat-food products. Aftel
killing, carcasses are well washed
and up to the time they reach the
cooling are handled in a fairly
sanitary and clearly manner The
parts that leave the cooling room fol
treatment in bulk are also handled