Present State of the Cattle Plague. 505 



little use or security where the disease is latent. Precautions arc now 

 taken with regard to the conveyance of lucifer matches, gunpowder, 

 and other combustibles on railways, and companies must treat cattle 

 pretty much as they do other articles which are liable to conflagration. 

 Something has been said about the Government taking upon itself 

 the cleansing of railway trucks; but the province of Government 

 probably would be not to undertake any such duties, but to see that 

 the railway companies do their own work effectually in that respect. 



Dead Meat Markets. 



We come now to an important subject — the subject of dead-meat 

 markets. That system undoubtedly might be much extended, and 

 in cool weather there appears to be little diificulty in driving the 

 butcher to the ox. There is also little practical difficulty, as I have 

 seen from observation, in slaughtering on farms, and there is little 

 danger in slaughtering there. There are in England G 8,000 butchers 

 and meat salesmen v/ho have no doubt been greatly inconvenienced; 

 and I fear that, for some reason or other, there is very little sympathy 

 between the butchers and the farmers. Now, the state of Newgate 

 Market is most interesting to farmers, and it is equally interesting 

 to the public. The state of that market is, as I can testify from 

 personal observation, having spent a night there, a disgrace to our 

 civilization. Ten million pounds of meat per week now come into 

 that market, that being double the quantity that was sent before the 

 plague. This is interesting to the public. All are interested, from 

 those who eat the dishes made from the gouged ears of lambs which 

 I saw, or the fat from a cow-calf's udder, to the poor man's dinner 

 of cooked bullock's liver. Conceive this place at 4 o'clock in the 

 morning, flaring with gaslights — a great beehive of a place, like a 

 number of Wardour-streets rolled together, jammed up with meat of 

 all kinds instead of furniture ; sawdust scattered about in all directions, 

 sides of beef walking in on four legs, that is, carried in by two men. 

 This market is positively jammed with meat and men, and baskets 

 and vans. 



The proper idea of a great meat market for the metropolis is that 

 of a wide covered space, with spacious span roofs, the lightest possible 

 pillars, convenient side-walks for pedestrians, and a tramway for the 

 conveyance of the meat. There were at Newgate Market, on the night 

 to which I allude, large quantities of clearly unripe meat, and some 

 meat which looked very nasty and flabby. But the great crying evil 

 of the present system of slaughtering in the country is that the jioor 

 are depi-ived of the oflal on which so many live. The ofial is often 

 sold at a loss of one-third. Small quantities of it are brought up to 

 London in baskets, and arranged in such a manner as to be absolutely 

 disgusting. When I speak of oflal, I allude to hearts, livers, and 

 pluck. 



The next question is, whether veal ought not to be given up. And 

 here I am reminded of a saying which is of imiversal application in 

 all the relations of life, namely, that " where the carcase is, there 

 mil the eagles be gathered together" — that is to say, there is a 



