The Daily News TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4. NEW PLYMOUTH MEAT SUPPLY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 81899, 4 December 1906, Page 2

The Daily News TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4. NEW PLYMOUTH MEAT SUPPLY

I'KOM what has been published latflyj it is c ear that the condition;! under which meat is slaughtered and distributed in New Plymouth requite .ooking into. The abattoirs manager complained to the Council on Monday of last week of the exposure of meat outside the butcher shops of the town, and mentioned that the dirt and filth blown from the loads and pavements lodge on the meat, which is uot conducive to wliolesumeness. He wanted the Council to do what s done in Auckland, i.e., make a by.aw preventing the butchers exposing meat outside t.ieii siiops, and protect-, ing from the din, etc., all meat lying oa the counters just inside tiie siiops. He added: "It scem-s a great mistake that after the Council had been to the of protecting the public by Having the meat slaughtered under good slaughtering conditions, that it should be liable to be contaminated after leaving their control.''

This letter was referred to the Abattoir.. Commi-tee fo r a repoit at luxmeeting of the Council. In Saturday's i-isue were published some statements from tue butchers concerning the shortcomings of the abattoirs authorities. In effect, the butchcis charged the inspeetors (1) with keeping pigs ill a difty state in close proximity to the meat hanging for human consumption; (2) with neglecting to construct a pioper pig. tye at the abattoirs; (3) with S'lidiiig out meat (ox tongues and tripe paitic!-la-ly) ill a filthy state; (4) witn fai'mg to kill cattle proper.y; (5) witn neglecting to wipe down the meat; (0) with not enforcing the wealing of clean clothes by the butchers carte:);.

These are strong and serious a legations to make. The public have virtua ly provided the abattoirs to ensure clean, healthy meal. They have been under llits imptw wion tiiat puipost* had been accomplished. The Department in charge of tno abattoirs has assured them that they get nothing but what is wholesome: tiiat every provision for the supply of wholesome meat is made, and that if there are any stray bacilli 011 the meat their presence is not the fau.t of the Department but of the butchers, whose shops are but open-mouthed receptacles for the gernn that ab-iund n the streets. According to the butchers, the public have been living ij a fool's paradise. They allege that clean v inesli is not a conspicuous feature of the conduct of the abattoir, and that a microbe-hatchery exists cntiguous to where the meat hangs before it is sent to the butchers.

As wc write, an intimation i handed in to the effect that an enquiry is to b? held by tie Abattoiis Committee of the Borough Council on \V. dnei.tlay evening next, when the wlwle matter is to be gone into exhaustively. We are. of course, pleased to hear that tin matter is to be sificd straight away, and suggest that while tne committee is on the job it should also go into the matter of hawking meat round the town. lu t'ome of tho larger centres by-laws are in existence making this fearfully insanitary system imposible. Instead of hawking the meat about the butcheis simply ;*nd to their customers fur orders, which they deliver in the usua) maimer. By this means there is no unnecessary handling of .lie meat by people whose digits are not always fpotlcssly clean, and represents a material saving to the butchers ihemselvc-', who in the present case, we are disposed tu think, will welcome such an ;n----novation. and consequently tiiere would be a reduction in tli e price of meat.

In any ca«, tho health of the community is the first, and chief cojii ideration, and measures should be taken to ensure wholcsomeness, not only 111 the butchers' shops and cart; but in the abattoiis themselves, if such is not already the case.. We hope to see the butchers of the town and the Department's officers present a: the enquiry. Without their presence und eyickneo. the enquiry would be ineffective and nut satisfying to the pub if, who want' t|ie truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about the m-at supple. We hope, too, the committee will re-

■ ■giu.sr the wisdom of Ihrowing the l> ■ cii-ilngs upcu Id tin: public, so Uia- ilu 1 latter can loim ih'.'ir own jucynvnt ol the evidence tendered.