The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-08-30
The Municipal
Abattoir
By D. O. Browning. D. Z. NJ.
City Healtl, Officerl.

City Health Ohicer).
There has been a great deal sale
about the municipal abattoir which
has developed from uninspireG
sources giving out facts which are
not in keeping with the proposed
policies of managing the abatton
that if is deemed wise at this
time to make a statement of what
these policies are and how they
will affect the patrons of the abat-
toir and everyone else concern
ed.
The abattoir has only two OBJ
jects in view. The first and most
important is to provide clean and
inspected meat for the city and tc
eliminate the present unsupervised
meat supply. The second object is
for the abattoir to provide suffi-
cient financial returns on the in
yestment in order that it will not
be a burden on the taxpayers to
provide the inspection.
Contrary to general opinion,
meat inspection and the supervis-
ion of the handling Of meat by le-
gal procedure is not recent thing
For a more detailed account of the
history of meat inspection the read
er is referred to references on the
subject. The ancient Egyptians
had ceremonial forms and rituals
governing meat which were car
ried out by the priests. and NO
doubt Moses was Influenced to
some extent by Egyptian customs
in giving the law governing sacri-
fetal and other animals (See Lev.
Oh. xI and Duet. CHI X1V) since
swine were forbidden by the Egyp-
tians on account. of being unclean
and the COW was. also forbidden be-
cause it was considered sacred.
The Greeks and Romans develop
ed inspection from the sanitary
standpoint and pork was held IN
high favor. The supervision OF
meats in Europe started about the
middle ages and has developed
steadily until at present practical
ly the entire meat supply for Eu-
ropean countries is supervised. In
1881 Italy discovered Trichinae in
American pork and excluded our
pork products from their country
The other European countries
quickly followed suit. Later Eng
land excluded all American meats
except those, on the hoof. These
acts were a hard blow to the meat
Industry of the United Sattes. as
meat had become an
enormous industry. In 1891 con-
gress enacted meat inspection
law governing exports which was
soon extended to cover meat in in
terstate traffic. The present meal
inspection law dates from 1906
and is the result Of congressional
Investigations brought about by the
meat poisoning episode OF the
Spanish-American war and Upton
sinelair's book The Jungle" which
was an exposure of the method IN
which meat. packers handled meat
at that time. Previous to 1906
federal inspection had little author
ity over sanitation in packing plants
and their Injunction practicallJ
ended after they had passed on the
condition. of the animal as to health
and fitness for food. Although the
bureau of animal industry had fre.
auently asked congress for author
ity and appropriations to make in
speetion cover the esta blishments
in which meat is handled as well
Ias the ante and post -mortem' in
spection of meat producing ami
mails, only country wide criticism
in the press awoke them to then
duty.
The above would indicate that
congress thought the meat of this
nation should be inspected and ap-
propriated sufficient funds and en-
acted laws for the purpose, which
are enforced through the United
States bureau OF animal industry
The law. of state rights does no,
permit the government to supervise
meats produced and consumed
within a state. Only when one
state ships meat into another state
do they have any authority to su-
pervise and control the method Of
handling and quality Of the meat
The duty of the inspection OF
meats handled within the state
then falls to the state and mu-
nicipal authorities. The state OF
South Carolina does not supervise
the meat supply of the state and
if any supervision is necessary any
where within the state, it becomes
a local or municipal problem.
Should Meat for Public Consump-
ton be Supervised in>Sumter??
If diseased meats so on the mar
ket. If animals are slaughtered
in such a way they do, or are likely
to, infect animals of their species
or other species, then there is need
Of inspection.
If there is ever a case where
meat is handled in an unsanitary
manner and meat due to this TN
sanitary handling is likely TO af-
feet public health, then there is
need for meat control.
In answer to the above the
board of health wish to place be-
fore the public a few facts which
have happened in Sumter. These