Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1906-06-07
Especial to the Chicago Record-Her-
aid

add
NEW YORK-Reports which have
reached this city from Washington
alleging that President Roosevelt has
been prevailed upon by the beef
packers to suppress the official publ
cation of the report of the commits
sioners of labor, Charles p. Neill and
James B. Reynolds, regarding the
conditions they found in the Chicago
packing houses, have caused Upton
Sinclair, whose initiative in the inves-
tigation of the packers affairs was the
means of inducing the President to
send his commissioners to Chicago, to
write to Mr.. Roosevelt urging him to
give the public official knowledge Of
conditions in the Chicago stockyards.
while the facts contained in the
report were practically covered in
The Record Herald in Chicago this
morning" said Mr.. Sinclair, "its Off
cial publication at the instance of the
President will have the effect of clos
ing every avenue of escape for the
packers from the passage of 1egisla-
ton which would force them to
change their methods.
Urges Full Publicity.
81 have written the President beg
ging him to not allow any consider
ations to stand in the way of publish
ing the findings of his commission
ers. When the people of the United
States are fully acquainted with the
conditions in the packing houses pub
lie opinion will take care of any rem
edial legislation which may be need
ed.
when it is understood that the
situation in the stockyards and in
every large packing house is just
what it was in the insurance business
a year or two ago, there will be no
trouble to bring about reform.
"Things that would horrify the pub
lie if known are done there as a mat
ter of regular routine and under on
established system. The standards
that prevail there were best express
ed by Adolph Smith, who has made
a lifelong study of slaughter houses,
and besides being employed by the
German and Belgian governments as
an expert in such matters, has tray
eled all over the world for the London
Lancet. DR.. Smith said the Chicago
stockyards were worthy of medieval
barbarism and were a disgrace to
American civilization. He said the
methods of the packers are just as
they would have been if there was no
such thing as modern meteorological
science. Meat, he said, was treated
as if it were not a perishable article,
but, like dry goods, on the theory that
once good, always good
Inspectors Lack Power.
zone of the greatest evils of the
present inspection system is that in
spectors have no authority to enter
those parts of the packing houses
where the by-products are prepared
i mean where the canning, picking,
sausage making and preserving are
done. l saw one of the trusts en-
ployes doctoring spoiled hams on a
big table. The stencil that arose
from them was overpowering.
"The man was working a pump
with one foot. Attached to the pump
was tube, on the end of which was
big hollow needle. He would jab
the needle into ham and then pump
it full of a chemical to take away
the dreadful odor. A few days ago l
sent to the president several adver-
tisements and circulars in which deal
ers in packers supplies laud the vir-
tues of their wares One firm guar
antees that its patent preservative
will take away the odor from spoiled
meat, no matter how advanced it's
stage of moldiness or qualification.
Dyes for the Sausage.
Dyes and coloring matter which
give to sausages the smoke color of
commerce and bring back tainted
meat to it's natural hue are openly
advertised. There is stuff called
bull meat powder and zero preserva-
tive together NTH many other pat
ented preparations, accompanied by
elaborate directions for their use.
Most of these are to be ground up
with sausage meat and timed ham
burger steak.
Every supply house advertises H.
guilds to be rubbed over the surface
of meat to take away bad odors.
Borax, formaldehyde, salycilic acid
and all the other things found in the
undertaker's outfit are exploited in