Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-05-30
PACKER MAKES REPLY
Armour's Man Tells the Pack
ers' Side of the Meat lnspec-
ton Charges
CLAIMS REPORTS ARE ABSURD
Cites Instance That Decomposed Meat
Is Canned and Says If That We're
True the Cans Would Explode -
Other Charges Taken UP and Dis
cussed by Upton Sinclair.

Chicago. May So.--Aroused by recent
sensational charges against the pack
ers, emanating from President Roose-
velts commission and Upton Sinclair,
the author u representative OF one oil
the large packing houses of Chicago
has for the first time undertaken their
defense.
The charges which have appeared III
dispatches from Washington were taxi
en- up in detail by an official of Armour
& Co, who says he speaks for all the
other large houses. He denied practice
ally all the accusations. Some. he eX-
planned, were found on ignorance. and
in others he found material for amuse-
ment. The charges and their defense,
from the representative OF Armour s.
Co, are:
Charge--I saw one of the trusts em-
ployees doctoring a spoiled ham in a
cellar of one of the packing houses.
The stencil that arose from the ham
was overpowerins. The man was work
ing a pump with one foot. Attached
to the pump was a tube, on the end
of which was 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 sa@ peter mixture employed
curing it, some call tit is impossible
to distribute the preventative equally
without using needle.
Charge-Dyes and cooring 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
preservative." These are to be ground
burger steak.
Answer-Of course, I have seen the
advertisement of three preservatives
in trade journals, but we don't use
them. What is the use of our using
preservatives when we have cold stor-
age warehouses and refrigerator cars?
The only Hamburger steak we make is
ham Hamburger. 1t may be colored
by the butchers.
Bad Meat Would Explode.
Charge Decomposed meat is
canned.
Answer-If it was, the cans would
explode. They'd go off like 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 one 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 a hog more than
eight or nine months. The farmer
would be out of pocket We don't
make head cheese.
Fingers in Sausage.
Charge-There is no such thing as
stopping a sausage machine when one
of the operators loses finger or,
hand. The member goes in human flesh
and comes out sausage.
Answ er-'Whoever made that charge
never saw a sausage machine. The
machine consists of a large circular
table. Suspended above it are num-
Der of heavy knives, semicircular in
shape. The whole thing is a good deal
like the fashioned chopping bowl
on large scale. Any one Of those
knives can be stopped instantly. The
workman pushes the mat under the
knives with a paddle. I never heard
of an operator losing finger.
Charge Condemned cattle are man
ufactured into food at the Standard
slaughter house.
Answer-AlF cattle condemned on
the hoof are placed in quarantine at
the STANDARD slaughter house for the
owner or his agent. The Standard
slaughter house is outside the yards,
and it is operated by the Livestock
Exchange. Condemned cattle are in
custody Of inspectors of the United
States, of the state of Illinois and of
the city of Chicago. They are slaugh-
tered under the supervision of the
three sets of inspectors and Secretary
Baker of the Chicago Livestock Elk
change Then the carcasses are fur
Their examined, and, if the progress of
the disease has been arrested they are
sold for the account Of the owner. If
they are unfit for food, they are
tanked.
Leaky Floors.
Charge-Some of the slaughtering
floors in the old buildings are so old
that the blood and offal drips thru,
falling on meat being packed below.
Answer-The slaughtering floors in
our plants are concrete, granitoid, as
phalt or composition.
Charge-Meat is dropped on the
floor where workmen have expector-
ated.
Answer-Not in our plant nor in any
ofh of tho hip nlantS