View report page

56
not cooked in it. The cats'-meat which in this instance consists of lungs only
—is kept in the shop in a special box duly labelled. I am still of opinion,
however, that cats'-meat should not be prepared on the same premises as
human food, nor sold in the same shop.
The basement of the premises of another tripe-dresser was in a filthy
state. In this basement on June 12th of this year there were nearly two tons
of meat—fresh and pickled—consisting of sheep's heads, tripe, livers, brawn,
etc. The boilers were also in the basement. The water closet is situated in
this room without any partition or wall surrounding it. When I entered the
basement I detected a foul sewer smell, which was due to the fact that the
drains were exposed, and one of the pipes was broken. The owner not only
stored his own meat here, but accommodated a neighbouring butcher as well.
The basement was a most unsuitable place in which to store human food of
any kind, and I gave instructions that the meat should be at once removed.
On going to another part of the basement, I found 60 ox tails, which were
evidently put on one side, and not intended for human consumption at the
time of my visit. The tripe-dresser informed me that he had bought them
about four hours previously at the meat market from representatives of the
American Beef Trust, and when he returned home he found that they were
quite unfit for human consumption. He immediately wrote to the vendor
stating their condition, and that he was going to return them the following
morning.
At the time of my visit the ox tails were not therefore deposited for the
purpose of preparation for sale, and on this account they were not liable to be
seized, in such a way that Police Court proceedings could be successfully
instituted against the Beef Trust. I caused them to be destroyed at once.
This is another instance of a retailer who tries to be honest and scrupulous,
but by his action shields a dishonest and unscrupulous wholesale trader.
In these tripe dressers' shops, sheep's heads and livers are mostly sold.
Tongues are seldom sold in these shops. It is a curious fact, but a fact for all
that, that one part of the carcase of a horse is so seldom seen exposed for sale
as cats'-meat. I mean a horse's tongue. I have looked at hundreds of
barrows and shops at which cats'-meat is sold, but I have never yet seen the
tongue of a horse exposed for sale therein. What becomes of the tongues of
all the horses that are slaughtered in London every year ? They are quite
different in appearance from the tongue of the Ox. The former has a smooth
upper surface, and has a broad end. The tongue of the Ox on the contrary
has a rough surface and a narrow extremity. It ought therefore to be easily
recognized.