New Britain herald., 1916-02-18
COMMUNICATED.
Board of Health Gives Some FnIjpht- ening Facts on the Proposed Project,
 A Municipal Slaughter House.

ciihis FdcLS on the Proposed 1'fOJcct, A Municipal Slaughter House. ] To the Editor of the New Britain Her. l aid:
 | The communication from a cattle
 dealer, signed Taxpayer, which was l published in last nights Herald, fur 1 ther tablishcs the recognized fact l that communica ca tiOns would rarely l appear if the writers first investigat- ed the subject upon which they debate. | It Is because of desire to enlighten l the cattle dealer, and any others who l may share his distorted idea of a nlu- 1 nicipal Slaughter house, that the board ] of health in this instance puts aside it's policy not tC answer public communi- l cations.
 First, the question of the municipal ice house not being, in Taxpayers | opinion, ain economical success, IS quite irrelevant to the subject or mu- , nicipal slaughter house. One is to pro- ! duce cheaper ice. the other to proVlde ! sure means of stopping the sale III l New Britain of diseased animals as | human food It is not conceivable that | a cattle dealer of many years experl- ence should not know that along with
  ] ain to be sold for food, are decrepit, | old cows; cows acutoly i'll. or suffering from chronic diseases also diseased swine: ma king them unfit for food. The cattle dealers and farmers, with ] whom the writer has conferred, called such stock "bolognas", signifying cast off animals.
 The statement that the city has a system of inspection which covers amply and carefully, the point of health is rather convincing. The board of health has charge of meat in specton and frankly admits that with the present system it is unable to ln- spect all animals brought into and slaughtered in New Britain. for the Strengthening is done at all hours of the day, in various places. and, by some of the butchers, in secret places. This, Taxpayer. being an experienced cattle dealer. can bear witness to. TO inspect native meat sold in New Brit ain, under the present system, would require at least twenty inspectors to cover the surrounding country, in- cluding New Britain-and we have but one meat inspector who is paid to serve the city but one-half of his time. He also inspects milk and food.
  butcher how helpless is the board of health in preventing the sale of dis eased meat under the "present sys- tem-which covers amply and care fully not the point of health" but the offender. Most of the butchers al- ready know that prima facie evid dence of slaughtering without a license is not sufficient to convict, and they also know that after diseased animals gre dressed even the most eXper- fenced meat inspector cannot always tell from appearance that the animal was suffering from, or had even died of, a malignant disease.
 No butcher or cattle dealer need have any fear of a municipal slaugh- ter house interfering with his legiti- mate business. If farmers fail to supply them with "bolognas" because they know they will not pass inspec- ton but will sell cattle in Hartford" the outlook is Hartford's. Just now we are interested in New Britain as, indeed, all taxpayers undoubtedly are.
 The question whether the munich pal slaughter house will pay is also irrelevant, for the board of health is concerned with protecting the health of the citizens and not with making Does anyone contend that be- 1 cause sewer beds, paved streets, schools, fire and police departments do not "pay" that they are useless?
 The statement that the cost of in a municipal slaughter house would be prohibitive is mislead- ing. The cattle which Taxpayer brings l in are undoubtedly slaughtered in a | licensed slaughter house; therefore, he | will know that the fees charged for the privilege of slaughtering in the | slaughter house are 25c, 15c and 1Oc, l according to the kind of animal slaughtered. In the proposed slaugh- 1 ter house the fees covering slaughter house and inspection will probably net exceed those fees by more than twice l and this will cover the use of the l cooler. It is true, as stated, that the Jewish race will not eat any meat but | that which is passed" by the rabbi. | They are indeed fortunate However, 1 the rabbi slaughters but a small part of the native animals brought here: The Gentle race would be fortunate if the animals found unfit for the Jew ish race, were destroyed The. advan- tages of municipal slaughter house are many. It's value from the point of Inspection i" hat meat sent out would bear the municipal stamp. Therefore, | all meat sold in New Britain would bear either thC federal or the muri- | cipal inspectors official stamp. Very |!