Omaha daily bee., 1906-07-07
REPORT ON PACKING HOUSES
Experts Employed by Chicago Business
Men Find Conditions Generally Good.
MANY IMPROVEMENTS UNDER WAY
Critieism of Sanitation and HyEiene
fin some of the Plants
Inspection of Carcasses
Emcient.

! CHICAGO, July 6.-The report OF the Joint
committee of the Chicago Commercial asso-
citation and Illinois Manufacturers sssocl-
alton. appointed to investigate the packing
Industries Of Chicago. together with the re-
port Of the experts who accompanied them,
was made public today.
The committee says:
| That board of experts Of the character
employed, with professional ideals and
| guided and influenced by an aesthetic sense,
which embodies something of necessity and
something more of luxury should find the
product wholesome, the yards generally
clean and the inspection efficient seems
/ to your committee to cover the situation
AS a result of this Investigation we our
1 selves have no hesitancy I'm stating that the
| meat products at the yards are wholesome
We find that the companies have been i'm
| proving the conditions and products from
/ year TO year, that improvements are con-
stantly being made and will be made. and
we believe that the conditions and sur
| roundings at the plants carefully protect
| the quality OF the product.
Experts on Committee.
The experts who accompanied the COM
/ mittee were:
DR.. w. A. Evans, professor of pathology
| University of Illinois; DR.. Macmillan Her
Eog, late pathologist Bureau of Science
Manila, p l.; DR. M P. Rayenal path
S RdGf Prof fn A. nPPe Peters e. g. Tni
versty of Nebraska and Prof. NJ. II. Rey-
nolds. d. V. s., University OF Minnesota
/ all eminent specialists. Their investigation
/ occupied two weeks. during which they
made as thorough a study OF conditions in
the yards and packing houses as they could
/ that part of the most of the plants are up
! to-date, vet in each of these there are
some sections that are indifferently good
! and in most of them some things that they
| cannot approve Of
The committee can cite no better evil
dence OF the truth of this statement than
| the very extensive Improvements that are
now under way elsewhere. These better
/ ments relate in some places to minor things.
| building of old plants Generally speaking
! the more recently built plants are the best,
| and much of the adverse criticism has had
| its origin at old buildings which have been
| added to and adapted to expanding BUS
! mess.
served in opera ton i'm all of the houses and
! very considerable amount OF time has
| been spent. in some cases Tor hours IN sue
/ department of the work. There are, un-
! questionable, certain features regarding
icisms might fairly be made. but in gem
| eral Il was found that the inspection Of
| the dead animal, up TO the time the car
from the killing room was reasonably
careful thorough, and in general, effic-
The committee believes that the ante
! mortem inspection is of far less import
/ ance than the inspection of the dressed
| funds could be released I'm part from this
| inspection and expended for additional post
| mortem work, an increased efficiency might
| result,
The committee considers it Of the utmost
| Importance that greatly improved facilities
! be provided In the United States for the
training of men in the important speciality
! of meat inspection.
1t is the opinion Of the committee that
get into the stock yards Strengthening
houses.
After carefully considering the procedure
/ directed by the government officials the
| committee thinks II fairly certain that no
improper use is made of unborn calves In
II is our opinion that the dressed meat
Of the yards Is wholesome and proper
article for human food ss,-. -,
l. HYgiene and sRnttatIOn. "A y ;
\ Regarding hygiene and sanitation, the
! committee says. some Of the water closets
| are not of modern or proper construction
not well located, often deficient and often
| ventiate into the work rooms. This they
regard as dangerous and unhygienic. In
few houses they found satisfactory mod
ern water closets entirely new. In most
Of them there were signs requesting the
operatives to wash their hands before re-
turning to work. Some supervision is ad-
vised The medical members of the COM
mttee paid especial attention to the health
Of the operatives, particularly in regard to
tuberculosis. They were not able to de-
tect In the superficial examination any of
the disease.
ut is certainly not true" the committee
says, that much splitting goes on, with con-
sequent contamination of the food prod
ucts." 90.
In closing the report the committee refers
to the new United States meat inspection
bill and says that. its provisions are so
stringent that If in its enforcement any
unwholesome meat unfit for human con-
sumption gets into interstate or foreign
commerce the responsibility for such a cir
cumstance must rest with the federal au-
thorities.