THE CITY'S MILK.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2149, 15 May 1914, Page 8

THE CITY'S MILK.

ITS CARRIAGE BY RAILWAY CAUSES OF POLLUTION THE BATTERED CAN TROUBLE WHOSE IS THE BLAME ? IBy a L-AYiuN,] Never before have problems relating to tiw milk supply of the city of Wellington received so much public attentioii as they havo been, receiving just lately. The biggest reform proposal, and probably the most remote, is the scheme for the establishment by tho niitmcj.pal.ity of a depot or clearing hoitso lor all milk for consumption in the city, or, at any rate, for all of tho milk that is rau-borne.' In this clearing-house it is. intended that the milk shall nndi*go some sort of inspection by proper officers. These officers should bo able to certify as to whether milk has been watered, whether the vessels in which it has been carried are clean, and siso whether the milk is fresh enough to be supplied to householders. They will not be able to suy en the spot whether it contains disease germs. But even this inspection will give the housewife svho expects to find her day's supply of the previous fluid on the doorstop every morning some guarantee tijat the milk site has to use is wholesome. At present she has no adequate protection, a.nd she has had her attention drawn to the need of it. Tho Admitted Facts. Outstanding through all the controversial statements which usually favour tho point of , view .of the man who makes them are certain admitted fitets, especially relating to the carriage of milk "into the city from the .eotmti-y, which certainly go to show that there is roam for improvement in the system, or .jack of system, -of inspection attd supervision. (1) Milk is sometimes carried in • vftns along with jneat, fish, poultry, „ and other general produce, which " rtiay be malodorous. The ventilation these vans is insuilicient, and milk deteriorates in transit. « (2) Tho handling ai milk cans at . . the farms or at tile railway stations," or en the trains, is so rough as to batter tho cans, and mak-g them difficult to cleanse thoroughly. • {8} Under the present law and the present railway regulations, no re- . spensibility -for the care of milk or empty cans iii transit, or at the sta- . tioii of origin or destination, attaches to the Railway Department. Thero are of course o#her facts, not generally admitted. Adulteration of milk With water is practised, A few Weeks ago a Magistrate at Auckland fined a man convicted ; of the offoiico of watering milk £20, and mulfitedl htm , in £4 costs. For- tile same offence some weeks later a milk vendor in Wellington was fined £1, with 7s. easts. This ■practice of adulteration no amount of inspection at the places of origin or in transit -can ' prevent.. It can bo preventetl only by the diligence of inspectors or special police iu capturing sain-, ptes of milk actually offered for sale, and by the imposition by this Courts ef adequate penalties, It is also alleged that certain suppliers orv-eiidoys illegally add to milk and cream- boric compounds, which arc very umvlwiosomo "condiments." This can bo prevented only by th© vigilance and individual effort of the I'ublie Health insixwiMfs iu watching every niiik vendor individually. The Dirty Trucks. But to get hack to tho more easily preventable ilis arising fto-m careless transport. Tho worst complaint of farmers and vendors -ali-ko is against the carriage of milk in dirty trucks, along with ill-smelling freight liable to contaminate, it. Tho facts about this are that th 6 Railway Department provides properly constructed ffiilk vans on trains which regularly carry a largo quantity of miik,' but on trains by which only comparatively small quantities usually are sent,, the- milk' cans . havo to bo put in tho "roadsider," as tho van for the carriage of <>ddments of pro--duce or other pack-ages 13 called. It may happen, aiid frequently dot's hap-, pet) that parcels or carcasses of meat, crates of live poultry, and bundles or sacks of inalodomus vegetables are carried in the -same van. in these days wften the temperature is suii-Antaretiq,... and the merest cHiuk gives all tho ventilation that. is comfortable, thb- need for fresh aif in. iliese vans is not sa urgent, kit a yery few days ago the ;ba4 ventilation in tho "roadsider" vans, was ji, cause of deterioration of milk. The farmers and dairymen havo urgetj that the doors .of' these vans should hi left open while the' train is uaimitig.' The Railway Department say that to fea.ro the sloors wkje open is contrary to regulations and impossible, and tlio usual practise is : to compromise by hooking tlie doors at ■each side a few inches open. In hot weather this apparently does not servo to keep the air in the van fresh, nor does it serve to keep the temperature- sufficiently low. Milk 3us to be cooled-at the farm to a temperature of 55 degrees, awl if it is placed in a. warm , truck for two hours or so, even if it d<?os not' tutu sour at oiicfij its keeping qualities are reduced. It is alleged also that tho trucks are not-clean. The special'milk vans are rcgukriy wasted out and niade reasonably sanitary, but the other trucks-are only swept out. They are' mmfc ele.au enough, thftt is to say, for the stowage in them of general freight Irat tram a dairyman's point.'of view they are dirty, The Department's answer to tho ocsmplitint that' miik ought fto-t, tmdtfr any circumstances, to be carried m general freight vans, is that the Department eosiM not' profitably haul a special miJk van mi .1 train 100 .gallons of latHj. And, as the Ely is distributed now some milk, would not red tie c.ty at all miles-s it «mld oofiie in a "roadsidef." The Handling of Gafts. As U> tho handling of the cans at the Nations it is a, fact .'that thev ve-rv quickly Wome.sadly battered. .Not only does tho battermg cause thb cans' which by the way, are t|U.ite cspeasiye to wear out much too quickly, but it makes them impossible to clean thoroughly. A bat-tej-cd can is really more insanitary than a r«sty one. Ahnest no amount of scrubbitjß or steaming will y ean j tj om j the presence of any dirt or' decdmnosod matter wilt spoil milk iu a , very short twno. Ihe farmers, to , whom the fans belong, sny that they do not damage the cans, aiul m support of thie statement they point oiit that it is,in their own interest to take care of them. But the farmers send their cans away 'from their way station in the morning, and do- hat see them until, the afternoon. Meantime they,have travelled from 40 to 80 miles by tr-ain, they have been carted away by the isiil]f vendors in tho city, teen returned to'tho city station, been carried Imiup again empty iis a raihra.v van, and been unloaded on to their lionte platform. Soinewlipro they ai-i! battered. The farmers blame tjw railway men, Saying amoHigst other tilings that the guards or porters cawlosslv kick Uie ciuts out of"tho vans to i'isll liigglcdy-piggledy by klw side of tho road, vel-y often noi? on to tlip plntibriii. If this occurs all J he.'damage would he accounted l«r. i'ho dfliry t'nnuers sa.v now, however, that their vigorous complaints on this scare have caused the railtfaj , i«?n tc be more' safe-ful. The Bsilway Department esj,.oh the other

hand, that the damage to cane is most probably done when the cans are Ml, when they ar-ti loaded, often very lutrriodly, into vans by tlu> formers or their servants. What the rights of the case are, however, does not vitally concern the people who consume the milk. The fact is thiit boeaiise of carelessness on the. part of somebody the eity milk is carried in damaged cans, in which it is liable to contamination, and the consumer has a right to insist that this carelessness shall cease. What are the Regulations? Nor is the case all against the Hailway Department, for, rts already stated, they! are under 110 liability if their regulations are valid. These regulations set. forth that "milk will be 'far* ricd only at tho owner's risk," and that he must take the responsibility for load' ing and unloading it. Tire regulations likewise provide- that empty eatis . will be returned free at -the- owner's risk, but that thfi owner most take the responsibility for loading and unloading them. Jt may be open to question v.-hetlrer tii-e Railway Department should bo allowed to contract itself out of its obligations as a carrier in this way, but as things are now the railway officers can «ot be said to be coat-ravening tlio regulations. It is true n'lso that tho milk suppliers do not carry out their part «f their special contract with the Department. Especially is this se in . regard to the carriers .of "empties." : The empty cans a.ro simply taken down to the station by the vendors in the eity and left there, ft is the task of ■ the railway nien 3 a task wliich may : occupy hours, to sort these cans, and load them oa the right trains to take them back to their homo stations. Oil arrival there the owner is scarcely ever on hand to reenive them, and the train men hare to put the cans off. 'J'fce rates charged to the consignors of milk aro id. per gaWftii for 11 miles, Jd. per gallon for 21 miles. a.nd Id. nor gslkin for 30 miles, and ljd, per «a])o« up to 61) htiles. The rates are probably as high as the dairymen can afford to pay, but the Depaittoent sa.y that the milic traffic does Hot pay ft-e railway. So that from everybody's point of vie* the present methods of carrying milk .appear to he bad. Certainly they are bad from tlio public's point of view.