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72
The figures given in the third column of
table on page 67 shew a slight increase for
1897 upon the quantity seized in 1896 as unfit
for human food, viz.: 914 tons, 14 cwts., 3 qrs.;
but, on the other hand, the greatest weight ever
dealt with in one year prior to 1896 was only
608 tons, 9 cwts., 3 qrs., in 1893. Going
back to 1870, only 56 tons, 3 cwts., 1 qr., were
reported,so that the weight recorded in 1897,viz.,
918 tons, 3 cwts., 3 qrs.—was upwards of fourteen
times larger than in that year [1870], a
fact of some interest and significance in relation
to the growth of the meat deliveries at Smithfield.
It would be futile to pretend that a work of
this magnitude could be performed by five
Meat Inspectors in a way to satisfy scientific
critics, and the time will assuredly come when
considerable additions to our present staff of
officers will be forced upon the attention of the
Public Health Department; nevertheless, as I
explained in my evidence given before " The
Royal Commission on Tuberculosis," we have
to deal with meat slaughtered and dressed for