Henderson history: ‘Smelling party’ led to closure of slaughterhouse in 1922

Henderson’s top officials and most prominent citizens went on a “smelling party” a century ago – which sent a local slaughterhouse to the killing floor.

“Immediate steps will be taken to close the Hartman slaughterhouse at which much of the killing for the Henderson meat trade is done,” is how The Gleaner began its Sunday lead story of Feb. 26, 1922.

“It will be closed as a nuisance and a menace to the health of the city. The initiative is taken by the City Board of Health.”

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The Hartman slaughterhouse was on the road to Madisonville in Weaverton, not far from the banks of Canoe Creek.

The problem came to light when authorities learned that a hog had died at the facility – instead of being slaughtered -- and the meat had been sold all over the city.

“It is claimed that the hog had been dead so long that it would not bleed, and that it had been made into sausage which was unwholesome. The city Board of Health found it and condemned it.” The newspaper never named the operator of the Hartman slaughterhouse.

According to court records, however, the grand jury indicted William Presley Feb. 14 because he had sold the “unwholesome” dead hog to Jim Miles. A jury heard the case against Presley May 5 and found him not guilty.

That indictment led to further investigation and a “smelling party” took place Feb. 25. It included the entire Henderson City Commission, the city Board of Health, and various other prominent citizens. In all it totaled about 30 people.

The “smellers” went to the slaughterhouse and got both an eyeful and a nose full.

“The Hartman slaughterhouse is violating nearly every section of the state law governing slaughterhouses,” said one member of the health board.

Here are the problems the investigators found: Offal (organs and waste material) was not disposed of in a sanitary manner. Offal was fed to animals contrary to law. Offal was not cleaned up daily as provided by law. Liquids were permitted to run under the slaughterhouse and not drained away.

“The visitors say they saw piles of entrails and offal and general high-smelling conditions.” The city commissioners and the health board agreed they needed to immediately take steps to more tightly regulate the local butchers’ trade, prohibiting the sale of meat from unsanitary facilities.

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“Should the Board of Health be successful in its fight against the Hartman slaughterhouse it means that there must be a radical change in killing meats for the Henderson trade. A new slaughterhouse will be necessary to conform to health requirements. All killing will have to be done at the Eckert government-inspected plant” on the road to Corydon.

The Eckert Meat Co. plant, a portion of which still stands off the 1600 block of South Green Street and for many years was Blue’s Surplus, was the community’s only slaughtering facility that was inspected by the federal government.

“The Eckert plant does not covet commercial killing, but a member of the firm said Saturday night it would gladly cooperate in a campaign for better meat.”

The Tuesday edition of Feb. 28 saw quick action by the Henderson City Commission. Mayor Clay Hall notified the Hartman slaughterhouse it was to cease selling meat. The commission also instructed City Attorney John Worsham to draft an ordinance regulating the slaughter of animals and the selling of their meat.

The city health inspector, Dr. William V. Neal, told the commission the new regulations should prevent local merchants from selling unsanitary meat. Local butchers and retailers would be required to have their killing done at plants that were inspected by the federal government.

The Feb. 28 edition also carried a large advertisement that had been bought by Friedrich’s Meat Market, which attempted to scotch a rumor that it had been selling meat from Hartman’s.

“We handle nothing but government inspected meat,” the advertisement prominently declared.

“We have always protected our trade with the best of meats that are slaughtered and cured in the most sanitary way, and you can rest assured when you buy from Friedrich, who has been serving the people of Henderson for the past 30 years, that you are getting the best that can be bought.”

The March 1922 issues of The Gleaner were never microfilmed, so I can’t give you many details about developments during that month other than from the minutes of the city commission. It passed first reading of the slaughterhouse ordinance March 20 and final reading a week later.

That ordinance prohibited the operation of slaughterhouses within the city and regulated the sale of their products inside the city. Meat merchants were required to get a license from the city health inspector, which would be issued only after an investigation of the operation.

The Gleaner of April 9 reported that George and Henry Vogel had leased the Hartman plant and were in the process of “making extensive improvements and building large additions to the original plant.

“Improved machinery will be installed and it will be an up-do-date slaughterhouse when completed.” The operators said, “the plant was being erected under the supervision of a government inspector and would be sanitary in every respect.”

The Gleaner of June 7 invited the public to have a look. Health inspector Neal had inspected it and made a report to the city commission.

“The slaughterhouse, which came under the fire of health authorities, has been leased by Vogel Brothers (and) has been remodeled and made to comply with the city and state laws regarding operations of slaughterhouses…. It is now open to the public.”

Another development was also in the news at this point in 1922. Police Chief Ben McKinney, who had earlier cracked down on gambling and liquor violations, announced that he had also instituted a ban on late night public dances.

“The police cannot legally interfere or stop private dances … but the law gives us the power to regulate public dances in the category of nuisances,” he said in The Gleaner of Feb. 26, 1922. “There will be no more dances in Henderson holding over the midnight hour while I am chief.”

Two areas that were favorites for public dances was the Atkinson Park pavilion and dancehalls on the Midway – that part of Second Street between Main and Water streets. The paper referred to one of those on the Midway as a “darktown hall of merriment” where “dances are said to be in perpetual motion.”

(A standard jazz tune called “Darktown Strutters Ball” had been published in 1917.)

McKinney said he could do little to regulate late-night dances at houses or private clubs. The Gleaner reported such dances at the Moose Club would continue, although the Elks Club was scaling back to midnight.

75 YEARS AGO

Two teenage accomplices of a 14-year-old who was shot and killed during a robbery attempt July 9, 1946, at Spottsville were sentenced to reform school, according to The Gleaner of March 2, 1947.

James Wesley Gunter, 17, and William Stull, 16, were sent to the National Training School in Washington, D.C., until they were 21. Another accomplice, Miles Hugh Bell, 29, was being held in Illinois.

The Mount Vernon, Indiana, gang had left that town in a stolen car and attempted to rob William Powers of Spottsville, but he fought back and shot Charles Albright, 14.

50 YEARS AGO

Keach Construction Co. of Henderson was the low bidder for constructing the current YMCA, according to The Gleaner of Feb. 26, 1972.

The Keach firm’s base bid was $592,600, but with the addition of all the alternates the amount came to $725,462.

A starting date for the project on Klutey Park Plaza was delayed until financing was arranged. Of the $745,000 pledged by that point, only $250,000 was available immediately.

A previous round of bids opened Aug. 17, 1971, were all near the $1 million mark – about $200,000 more than the amount budgeted – and were rejected as being too high. That prompted architect Davie Crawley to revise the building specifications.

The current YMCA on Klutey Park Plaza opened its doors at the end of April 1973.

25 YEARS AGO

Jailer Jackie Combest’s plea of innocent to a charge of neglect of duty had everyone scratching their heads, according to The Gleaner of Feb. 27, 1997.

Chief Regional District Judge Peter MacDonald of Hopkinsville was the presiding judge and he expressed puzzlement how the case had begun. Combest had never been arrested on the charge or been served a court summons. “One of those generally must occur to set in motion the standard chain of events in a criminal case.”

That also posed problems for setting bond. Combest offered to solve the problem. “Beings as I’m running the jail, I’ll just go down there and book myself in.” The judge said that was unnecessary. Instead, he ordered Combest be treated “as if he is under arrest,” although deputies need not take him into custody.

Combest resigned March 14, without admitting guilt, so he could keep his pension, which he would have lost had he been found guilty.

Readers of The Gleaner can reach Frank Boyett at YesNews42@yahoo.com or on Twitter at @BoyettFrank.

This article originally appeared on Henderson Gleaner: Henderson history: ‘Smelling party’ led to closure of slaughterhouse in 1922