The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1920-03-18
LOCAL MILKMEN
SELLING HERDS
Result Fair Price and Health
Crusade, Assert Cream
cry Operators.
COMPLAIN TO FRAZIER

The dairymen Of Chattanooga are
excited over the crusade on milk that
has been started by the city depart
ment of health. Following the at
tack on the dairymen several months
ago by the federal fair price com
mittee several dairymen sold their
herds and went out of business, and
IL is stated that others are contem-
plating this action.
with a large amount OF the milk
coming into the city daily being con-
demned and returned to owners
dairymen declare that ii will only be
a question of time when Chattanooga
will experience a milk famine. They
charge that instead of trying to en-
courage them, the authorities OF
Chattanooga have been discouraging
them in every possible way. With
the government fair price committee
and the city health department to
contend with, on top of the labor
problems, one dairyman declared
Thursday morning that it was al
most impossible to operate his busl-
ness.
These facts developed when Fletcher
Morgan, OF Hemlock Creamery. and
Frank o. Rettig, of the Peerless Cream
cry company, called on Commissioner
Fred B. Frazier OF the department of
health, Thursday morning and pre-
scented their troubles. They told the
commissioner that 1t is a perfect out
rage for the health authorities to take
the drivers from the milk wagons to
police court because a little sediment
happened to be in one or two milk bot
ties.
Attack Soft Drinks.
Mr 70 10 r.
ret, Dr.. Elmore and the commissioner,
who were all three present at the con-
ference, that more soft drinks are be-
ing sold IN Chattanooga today than
sweet milk, and that bacteria multi
plies just as rapidly in the syrup Of
these drinks as 1t does In milk, but
that the authorities are not after the
bottling people. Dr. Barrett declared
that the health crusade had Just started
and that soft drinks would be gone
after the same as milk Mr.. Rettig then
declared that 1t was an injustice to
the dairymen to pick them out first, on
top of their other troubles, and. as he
termed It. continually nagging at them
about something" He said that the
dairymen wanted to cooperate with
the health department.
The two creamery operators told the
health officials that quite n number of
the leading hotels and restaurants in
are SOtNinR pOWutitu
over the counters and tables. They de-
clared that this is not only true Of the
hotels and restaurants, but of prac-
tically all drug stores. Mr.. Morgan
said that q large number of the milk
drinks mixed in the drug stores are
made from the milk powders.
Barrett Firm.
DR. Barrett told the milk dealers
that the department OF health had to
be exceedingly careful in its milk in
vestigations, because OF the number
OF human lives involved, He mentioned
the number OF deaths caused in cities
throughout the United States the size
OF Chattanooga as n result of impure
milk. AT this point Mr.. Morgan chal-
lenged DIR. Barrett to give him the
name of one. person that died in Chat
tanooga during the past year as the
result of impure milk. Dr. Barrett did
not point out any specific case, but said
that the health department had only
an Indirect report of such cases.
Roth Mr.. Morgan and Mr.. Rettig said
that the milk business had fallen off in
Chattanooga. This was due TO the in
creased sale OF powdered milk and the
agitation against milk dealers, they
charged.