UNCLEAN AUCTION ROOMS.

NZ Truth, Issue 151, 9 May 1908, Page 6

UNCLEAN AUCTION ROOMS.

The Urgent Need of Supervision.

'A casual inspection of auction premises In ChristchurSh where perishable produce is disposed of under the hammer leaves something considerable to be desited. Reference is made particularly to the horrible surroundings of the places where meat is exposed for sale, mauled about and knocked down to the highest bidder. In a reasonably clean city like Christ- . church it might be expected that meat meant for human consumption., should be under supervision consistent with common cleanliness and a due regard for the public health. There are two meat marts m Christchurch that cry aloud to the city inspectors for supervision, and they are Devereux and King's m Lichneld- . street, and Wilson's nondescript premisi es ip Tuam-street. Here all sorts and m. conditions of men and women roll upon ™. Saturday morning, and f° llo Ji§j§£|| _ IU . C " py&s&eer about as he yells tj&pP^*^^? ,

mulation of miscellaneous articles which hurl variegated odors through the atmosphere. Overhead the grimy rafters and skylights hold the ddst of . years, and the aged cobwebs give shelter to an assortment of germs. In Tuam-street Wilson's meat emporium has a hardly less attractive environment, and shoulders and legs And sirloins are exposed for sale m an atmosphere of onions and decayed vege^ tation, while the indescribable perfumes from countless poultry pens is wafted m the doorway and-^weighs down the atmosphere like a bad dream. Around and abput both marts are animals and animal droppings ; tobacco smoke adds a new body to the general reek • the perspiring public breathes on the meat with violence, and the breaths of some of the frequenters would supply power to work a traction engine. Then there are the shickered persons who go out frequently and have their hands m most disgusting places and who come back and maul the meat about and leer at the man m "Shay, Mister, what 'you want for this?" Casual buyers who don't shicker finger the poultry with discriminating digits, and test the soundness of suspected produce with their hands, then go and maul the meat about m a critical manner. An ordinary person who watcljes that meat for half an hour and notes the variety of microbes deposited thereon would have a very strong stomach if he. purchased any., of it for his dinner subsequently. No regular butcher would permit a customer to put nis hands on any meat m his shop, and he is compelled to exercise the moist stringent sanitary precautions m the .way he handles it himself. -Also, the inspectors jsee to it ■ that '' there is nothing m the surroundings of the meat to convey a taint to the same, and it .steems, reasonable to demand that similar supervision should be insisted upon m the case of public auctions, which ENTER INTO UNFAIR COMPETITION with the clean tradesmen, and serve no good economic purpose, for when meat is scarce and dear the sale of carcase parts by auction is discontinued. Talk about the Chicago jungle ! The local inspectors are cordially invited to put m a few hours some Saturday morning on. the premises mentioned.