Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-04-17
NEED URGED BY DEALERS
Health Department Not Responsible
for What Goes On.
DIFFICULTY OF OVERSEEING
Butchering Done at an Hour That
Makes It Impossible to Keep
Tab on Conditions.

| District Of Columbia Model regulations,
| incorporated in bill once introduced into
! Congress and never enacted into law,
| have not been revived for later consdera-
tion and probable enactment.
| Meat coming into the District of CO.
| lumbia is subject to the rigid require
ments of the interstate law. 1t has to
be inspected and stamped.
Householders who frequent the meat
| stands are familiar with the little pur-
pie stamp marks on beef. lamb and other
things which the butchers have for sale.
They. know that the meat that goes to
their table, when it has that stamp, has
undergone the scrutiny of the United
States inspectors.
But do all of them know that this
stamped meat. III nearly every instance.
comes from outside of the District Of CO.
lumbia, and that cattle meat slaughtered
In Washington has no such rigid inspec-
ton?
One Federal Inspector.
There are about twenty slaughter
houses inside the District OF Columbia.
According to a health department official
who has the inspection Of meat and food
in hand. only one Of these places has a
federal inspector on hand to watch the
Sl8u&ntef OF every duIuldi lHAL III
spector's salary is paid by the proprietors
Of the establishment. The other slaughter
houses are G Jnsidered by the health de-
partment as small establishments.
However, meat comes from these es-
tablishments. There Is at present no
regular method OF inspection OF each
slaughter. It is possible for cattle, hogs
or sheep 10 be slaughtered In them with
out the District ever hearing OF 1t. No
inspector is on hand to see that the AMI !
mails are fit for food
Tire last weekly report Of the health
department shows that out Of tfs eef--. :
twenty Slang; Ter hot,ss.s. ;o:'vseen .'sle
Inspected. Ine inspector happened to be |
sround when elereH calves at various
times were killed, and being on the |
ground. he mentioned them in his re-
port,
Does. that mean that ..ply eleven eaHe;
were killed In the District tr rhe wa6le Z
,s4eekg" he wah ?agsed I
l.B NJ means. fnas siiaps. indicates1
that : .-asy afesssd at fbe time the sill5
ing was going M II
Better Inspection Suggested. /
A big meat dealer In the Center Market |
recently told one OF the inspectors OF |
the health department that better in |
spection OF slaughter houses in the Dis
trict is needed There is no charge that |
bad meat or unfit cattle, generally, is |
handled in the slaughter houses. but |
the fact Is pointed out that because |
there is a lax slaughter house law here
1t is perfectly possible for unfit cattle. |
sheep or hogs to be slaughtered; and no |
one ever find ii out.
What the inspectors are doing from day |
to day is now a close secret with the
health department, under the close super |
vision which Commissioner Johnston ex-
ercises over the dissemination of the de-
partment's dOings. Health inspectors
reports are now hard to get before the
public, in some cases impossible The
best that can be obtained on the subject
Of SLAUGHTER houses and the inspection Of
meat is the admission from some health
department officials that there ought to
be a closer supervision"
All that DR.. Woodward has said about
the situation recently is short para
graph from report about to be pub |
lished. He says:
"fhe veterinarians have made irregu- |
lar inspections of the small slaughter
houses operating in the District. These |
places are visited once or twice a week, |
but the inspection OF the animals slaugh- |
tered is unsatisfactory, as they are sell |
dom seen, owing to the irregularity of
the slaughtering and the unusual hours 1t |
Is done.
1.-The inspectors require that these places |
be kept clean and that the slaughtering |
rooms be properly screened from flies. |
Most Of these slaughter houses now have
cement floors and quite few have sewer
connections.
So all that the inspectors of the Dis
trict are required TO do is to see that
there are no flies and that the place Is
clean.
Better Methods Proposed.
1t has been suggested by one in
spector that the matter could be regu-
lated with the present force If the Com
missioners ordered that no saughtering
be done in the District except at certain
hours, so that inspectors could watch the
proceeding A central or public slaughter
house would accomplish the same end.
Cattle driven into the District have to
be examined for signs of tuberculosis.
But hogs can come into the city full OF
disease. and there Is no regulation pre-
venting their slaughter. The only chance
that they will be held up depends on the
remote possibility that the farmer will
drive them along the road instead OF
carrying them in wagon.
II driven on the road policeman may
stop the farmer and send him back But
he cannot do anything IL the hogs ride In
a wagon.
The same thing applies to sheep. They
can come to the District in any condition
| at all and be slaughtered, sold and eaten,
and the health department will know
nothing about 1t.
What Proposed Law Would Effect.
The model slaughter house law, which
died somewhere In the Capitol three
years ago. would have had every .abattoir
as clean a place as the nature of the
business would permit. Cement floors
with cutters and drains and plenty of
running water would keep constantly
cleansing the place of blood and drip
pings. Proper facilities for the Inn
| mediate disposal of horns hides, tallow
and all manner OF refuse would have been
legal requirement..
| Persons suffering from tuberculosis or
any other form of communicable disease