The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-06-27
bob VEAL TRADE
IS FLOuRISHING
IN THIS COUNTY
And It's Relation to the I'm.
portant Food Problem
Quite Interesting

Quite Interesting
Redding, June 27-Those desiring
! to buy. young calves for the legiti-
mate purpose of raising or of develop
| ing into sound, wholesome veal find
| it hard to do so because hucksters
intent on supplying the demand for
"bob'' veal pick up the little animals
! about as fast as they are dropped and
| besides in their eagerness to effect a
purchase, have raised the prices to
almost prohibitive figures. They are
| offering for calves three days old or
! Whereabouts and weighing from go to
| 80 pounds from 50 to $f2 each. These
calves they take to Bridgeport and
| other cities for immediate slaughter.
! There is plainly a demand for the
meat or the competition for the baby
stock furnishing it 1would not be SO
keen. Reputable butchers would not
of course, offer. the meat to their GUS
toners and no person possessing nor
NAL gastronomic impulses would think
| of putting the stuff into his stomach
| except possibly as an alternative to
starvation The trade must be carried
on in a furttve manner because Of
| the danger of criminal prosecution
and naturally this danger tends to
1 boost the price. Therefore the TACT
BECOMES apparent that certain pecu-
| liar people not only bob veal put
regard it as a special deicacy.
The law makes it an offense to
| sell for food the meat Of a calf less
than three weeks old and having a
net dressed weight of less than So
pounds Liability rests with the sell
err or the person having in his pos
session a contraband carcass with in
| tent to sell and is not shared by the
one supplying him with the animal
alive or the person from whom the
latter. purchased it.. This person Is
usually dairynaan who .hastens to
F get rid of the newly born calf in or
der that its keeping may not lessen
his output of milk. The dairyman
| may disclaim even moral RESPONSE
bility for his share in the bob veal
| traffic on the ground that he did not
! know the use to which the calf he
| sold is. to be put. Nevertheless the
circumstances enable him to surmlse
| the object with reasonable accur-
acy. Granting this, however, it would
be almost too much to expect of the
average individual that he should
permit the scrup1es he may feel in
| the matter to operate to his finan-
Icial disadvantage. On the contrary
he sells for the best price obtainable
and this almost invariably comes from
| the visiting huckster having relations
with the bob veal trade.
| Occasionally city health boards get
after the bob veal violators with re-
sulting prosecutions leading to fines
Eof $40 to $50 in the event of convic-
| ton. Such prosecutions have tenn
porarily a paralyzing effect on the in
dustry, but after awhile it revives
again. Four or five years ago several
convictions in Bridgeport of this
character stopped the fiuckster
branch. of theg trade in this locality,
but now it is probably more active
than. in any preceding period. Why
| the health authorities do not keep
| up the good work it is. difficult to
| understand. Besides their own in
vestigators they have police aid at
| their command and it would seem
| that the securing Of the required evil
dence does not necessitate especially
skillful detective work. A young
| calf is quite tangible object and
therefore not easy to successfully keep
/ under cover during the transportation
of several miles from the country, its
slaughter and the sale to the con-
! sumner. N06OISSSs to say aLnaEe the
smuggling Of such commodities as dia,-
monds or drugs under the laws ban is
ute a different proposition. Can it
be that the theory that the veal vio-
lators enjoy comparative immunity
because of political pull or influences
has any foundation In fact? Perish
the thought.
/ In connection with this bob veal
4 matter news item in last Friday s
/ Farmer to the effect that the coun-
ttry's Food Mobilization committee
would cooperate with the Federal
authorities in proposed plan to stop
/ the slaughter of young calves, sheep
and pigs, has particular interest. II
is obvious that the full grown ami
NAL will furnish more food than the
i same animal in the early stage of its
/ being. but how, one naturally In
uires, can this development to ma
turity be brought about by methods
| practicable of enforcement. The own
| er Of the infant stock, exercising his
property right in the same can kill
the young animal if he considers the
raising of it inexpedient. Perhaps he
may lack the facilities to raise it
What then? Will the government
agents take possession of the young
animals and provide the means fol
bringing them forward to the state OF
growth and general condition to make
i them satisfactory for food purposes
That would appear to be about the
only way out. but it also appears te
be a way beset with difficulties.
COMMITTED GIRL
/ WILL BE ALLOWED
- z { s.s-.
TO RETURN HOME