THE Thames Advertiser. Favour to none; fea0r of none; jutice to all. WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER 16, 1896. PUBLIC ABATTOIRS.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8612, 16 December 1896, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. Favour to none; feaor of none; jutice to all. WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER 16, 1896. PUBLIC ABATTOIRS.

A scheme for the protection of the health of the community lias been; initiated by the appQintment of an inspector of the meat and milk offered for sale for'human consumption, but we cannot look upon it as completed until our.local authorities have decided upon tho erection of public abattoirs which, however, is a big work and cannot bo expected to bo carried out contemporaneously with the present arrangements, but .being: a growing community with growing ideas we have no doubt the authorities in the near future will see eye to eye with Us in our contention as above stated, and which to repeat is that adequate inspection cannot be guaranteed until public abattoirs are erected. A Wellington corporation official, Mr Doyle, in giving the New Zealand Times a note of his observationsl during a recent visit tq%dneyandMolbourne, mentioned' the excellent system in Yogue in the latter city in connection with the inspection of moat, but he did not think even there it was carried far enough. Ldcf dm he Said every facility and inducement should be afforded to tradesmen to have their cattle slaughtered at the public abat* toirs under ellicient and scientific inspection, provided by the Government at a cost that would cover the expanses, and what is most important, the Government■ should stamp all meat leaving the abattoirs. The consumer would thon have some guarantee as to the, healthy condition of the meat. It is only reasonabio to suppose that a consumer would prefer to purchase meat sold at a shop which had the guarantee of tho Government stamp, If this were not sufficient, the Governmeiit could go a step further, and make it a penal oflence for anyone to sell meat, or have in: his possession for sale, meat which had not been stamped This may appear rather drastic, but Wo must consider the great amount of harm that is likely to be caused to the health of tho people through the sale of diseased meat. In Melbourne onesixth of the total deaths in 1893 were attributed by the public analysisb to tuberculosis." Mr Doyle went on to spaak of the systems of JiVauqe and Germany.'' At the last Congress in Paris on this, all-important question it was decided that meat laving any symptoms of tuberculosiß should be condemned. This is an advance on the system of Berlin—reputed to have one of the finestabattoir systems In the world—whero they sell meat effected by tuberculosis under certain conditions, that is, if the disease is localised. They eeil the marking it as " tuberculosis beef," with instructions as to its thorough cooking. Lator developments show that the " made in Germany" system is wrong, and that the meat should be condemned if any symptoms 1 , citherlocal Or general, wore discovered. According to the system in Melbourne, good as it is, a : butcher or farmer is not bound to send his cattle to the abattoirs to be slaughtered,- There is nothing to prevent them slaughtering their own cattle. Mr Doyle is a firm believer in che establishment of public abattoirs under the system lie has suggested, and he thinks it is quite possiblo that within a measurable time tuberculosis could bo stamped out. He intends to make some recomraandations to the Wellington City Council on the subject. I