REPORT OF STATE DAIRY COMMISSIONER 429 



little or no conception of cleanliness, and there is enough authority 

 in our laws to eliminate such places completely, and officials are 

 derelict in their duty if they permit food to be produced under such 

 conditions. Another problem which the food officials have to con- 

 tend with is the foreign grocer and butcher in the foreign sections 

 of our larger cities. They are in most cases naturally unsanitary and 

 their customers being of the same or similar extraction are content 

 to let them operate in this manner. Frequent inspection and the 

 force of the law seems to be the only method which will maintain 

 any semblance of proper sanitary methods and surroundings with 

 this class of merchants. While the sanitary laws have improved the 

 country slaughterhouse which was overrun with rats and surrounded 

 with nauseating filth, such places should be eliminated, for such an 

 institution has no place in modern times. 



We can all remember when the butcher's wagon drove about the 

 city loaded with dressed meats and unprotected from the dust and 

 filth constantly stirred up by the wind. Bread was even transported 

 about unwrapped and in open delivery wagons, the driver handling 

 the horses and no doubt his person without any attempt at washing 

 his hands. The unwrapped loaves were corded up on his dirty coat 

 sleeve, carried into the grocery and dumped into an open basket to 

 be further exposed and handed to the customer by hands of doubt- 

 ful cleanliness. As usual, there was some opposition to protecting 

 these foods, but the white canvas cover is now in general use on 

 meat wagons and trucks and the baker has been quick to realize the 

 sale value of his loaf of bread wrapped in a decorated transparent 

 wrapper which advertised his product as well as protecting it from 

 all possible contamination. Viewing the past and the present the 

 efforts put forth by food officials to bring about these changes have 

 certainly been worth while and they can be justly proud that they 

 have had a part in this transition. 



The proper control of dealers in foods can be had, I believe, by 

 means of a licensing system, making the license fee nominal, but 

 placing with it the power of refusal and revocation. Our sanitary 

 laws should require every person who wishes to handle foods in any 

 way to have his place thoroughly inspected before he is permitted to 

 enter the business and his license withheld if the building or room is 

 not suitable for maintaining in a strictly sanitary manner and a 

 license only issued when it is possible to comply with the law in 

 every detail. I believe every official who had had the enforcement of 

 a sanitary law will agree that if we are to maintain a safe food sup- 



