Omaha daily bee., 1909-06-11
Alleges Gross Leniency Toward Pack
ers Characterizes Their Work.
ARD is TAKEN FROM SEWER
Secretary Wilson Called on to Inves.
tigste His Charges.
HIS TALE IS REVOLVING ONE
Gives Many Specific Details in Letter
20 Agricultural Department--Ac-
cused OmciaIs Say Charges Are
without Any Foundation.

ST. LOUIS. June 1o,-After eighteen
morths' service as United states meat
inspector in East st. Douis packing houses,
j. f. Harms has resigned and has writer
letter to Secretary of Agriculture J. F.
Wilson. demanding an investigation Of the
meat inspection system at the National
stock yards
Harms declares he resigned because he
could not tolerate the conditions Inspect
ors in charge of the bureau of animal in
dustry are too lenient with the packers, he
says, and asserts that no animus prompted
his letter
After asserting that the words United
States inspected and passed." as II ap-
pears on products OF all the packing
houses. is meaningless because OF the in
adequacy of the inspection, Harms says,
in part. in the lstter:
Inspection Is WORTHLESS.
The inspection at the National stock
yards, Illinois, Is costing the people ap-
proximately 100000 a year and It is not
actually worth 81 to them. / have seen
from 100 to 1,50O pounds of lard spilled on
the floor, and which ran down into an
open sewer in the floor the sewer outlet
being quickly blocked and said lard taken
up from the floor and out OF the sewer,
both Of which were uncean and unsanitary
from walking over and the sputum and
filth which naturally finds its way into
any sewer.
And your doctors, Clancy and Meadors,
passed same to the packers over the pro
test of the inspector an that floor and IT
went to the public markets u. s. in
spected and passed"
"On the morning OF April / was in
cooler and packing company superin-
tendent came in when his attention was
called to the eleven carcasses he said:
Yes, they are bad lot and had been on
the floor last evening l would not have let
them come down, but would have sent
them to the tank
Men holding good positions with the
packers see and know these things and
acknowledge they are wrong I have seen
animals in a dying condition dragged into
the killing beds and marked u. s. in
spected and passed
Describes Filthy Scenes.
Some Of the filthiest things imaginable
are practiced in the sausage departments,
such as using bladders for castings with
out thorough washing or cleaning, the use
OF filthy tripe in sausage, the use Of
slimy hog stomachs for casing or contain
erS tne using OF meats tnat nave tallen
on the floor and are taken UP and used
without any pretense Of cleaning.
These are all permitted by those in
charge. If an Inspector calls their atten-
tion TO any OF the wrongs, he says people
who eat this are too lazy to prepare any
thing for themselves and ought to have
such stuff.
Il will give you another instance that
happened elsewhere The meat Inspector
in the department held some 5000 or 1000
pounds of cured meats for being sour and
mind you, four or five other inspectors
were called in and they all pronounced
the meat sour. Your Dr. Meadows re-
leased II TO the packer"
Chief Inspector Clancey discussing the
charges, asserted that such cases were not
uncommon because the duties of the chief
Inspector called for decisions in matters Of
doubt.
THE conditions cited by Harms would
not be tolerated for an instant" said DR.
Clancy He has not complained to me
about my decisions nor to my Assistant,
DR.. William H. Meadors."