The following is the clause of the Public Health Act 1875 which empowers an urban authority to establish public slaughter-houses (or “abattoirs“[223] as they are sometimes called) for the purposes of the district they govern:

“Any urban authority may, if they think fit, provide slaughter-houses, and they shall make bye-laws with respect to the management and charges for the use of any slaughterhouses so provided.

“For the purpose of enabling any urban authority to regulate slaughter-houses within their district, the provisions of the Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847, with respect to slaughter-houses, shall be incorporated with this Act.[224]

“Nothing in this section shall prejudice or affect any rights, powers, or privileges of any persons incorporated by any local Act passed before the passing of the Public Health Act 1848, for the purpose of making and maintaining slaughter-houses” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 169).

The great necessity for the establishment of one or more public slaughter-houses in any town can only fully be realised by persons who will take the trouble to inspect those which are private; they are generally placed near the shops of the butchers for the sake of convenience, the result being that they are situated in the central portions of the town and are thus surrounded by closely packed dwellings. The private slaughter house often consists of a stable or shed which has been converted into an ill-designed slaughter-house, badly paved, with imperfect drainage; they are frequently not sufficiently lighted, ventilated or drained, and are utterly unfitted for the purposes for which they are used.

Their position also is often so badly chosen that the children in the vicinity resort there to see the animals killed, and the poor beasts have in some cases to be driven through a narrow passage into the slaughter-house itself, where, trembling at the sight and smell of the blood and carcasses of its dead companions, it remains tethered until its turn comes to fall a victim to the blow of the slaughter-man: a blow which sometimes has often to be repeated before its object is attained, owing to the bad light and cramped surroundings of the place.

As these slaughter-houses are generally rented by the butcher using them at large rentals (such accommodation being scarce), it is not to be expected that he will spend much money to improve property which is not his own; but notwithstanding the loss of weight incurred by the animal to be slaughtered thus fretting and sweating in its terror, the damage to the meat by its being dressed in the same locality with the live beast, steaming and smelling in the vicinity, and the exorbitant rents demanded, still there are great objections always raised by butchers in towns to the establishment of public slaughter-houses. These objections are based by them on the following grounds:

They contend that the carriage of the meat from the slaughter-house to their shop deprives them of some of their profits; that slaughtering their animals in the presence of other butchers leads to disparaging remarks and trade jealousies, and that they sometimes are robbed of fat, tools, &c.

These arguments are groundless if the public abattoir is properly designed, is in a suitable locality, and is well managed.

There are no powers by which butchers can be compelled to abandon private slaughter-houses, and use those provided by the urban authority, so long as the bye-laws of the authority are not infringed; but as the law stands at present, private slaughter-houses may be licensed (10 & 11 Vic. c. 34, ss. 125, 126) or registered (10 & 11 Vic. c. 34, s. 127), and the only manner in which they could be closed (which would then compel the butcher to use the public abattoir) would be by putting the 129th section of the same Act in force, which states that the justices before whom any person is convicted of killing or dressing cattle contrary to the provision of the Act, or of the non-observance of any bye-law or regulation of the local authority, in addition to the penalty may suspend the licence for any period not exceeding two months; or in the case of the owner of any registered slaughter-house may forbid for any period not exceeding two months, the slaughtering of cattle therein. For a second or other subsequent like offence, in addition to the penalty the justices may revoke the licence or absolutely forbid the slaughtering of cattle in the particular house or yard. In such an event the local authority may refuse to grant any licence whatever to the person whose licence has been revoked, or on account of whose default the slaughtering of cattle in any registered slaughter-house has been forbidden.

With reference to the establishment anew of the business of a slaughterer of cattle in London, the following particulars required to be deposited by the applicant with the Metropolitan Board of Works will be useful.

A plan of the premises and sections of the building drawn to a scale of ¹/4-inch to the foot and showing the proposed or existing arrangements for drainage, lighting, ventilation, and water supply, with a key plan of the locality, have to be deposited, as well as replies to the following questions:

(1.) State what place for the accommodation or poundage of the cattle about to be slaughtered is provided; if such place has an entrance way for the cattle otherwise than through the slaughter-house; if separated from the slaughter-house by a brick partition with a door; and also what provision is made therein for watering animals.

(2.) State if slaughter-house and its poundage is within 20 feet of an inhabited building; and if it has any entrance opening directly on a public highway.

(3.) State if the entrance to the premises is apart from and independent of any shop or dwelling-house; if from a street at the side or rear; and also the height of the entrance gates.

(4.) State the dimensions of the slaughter-house, length, breadth, height to eaves, and construction of the roof; and give similar information about the poundage.

(5.) State if slaughter-house and poundage are drained by glazed pipes communicating with public sewer, or how; how drains are trapped; and if gratings have openings greater than three-eighths of an inch across.

(6.) State if floors are below level of outside road or footway, and if paved with asphalte, or flag-stone set in cement, or how.

(7.) State how walls of slaughter-house are constructed, and if they are covered with hard smooth and impervious material to a height of at least 4 feet; and, if so, state what material is used, and to what height it is carried.

(8.) State how slaughter-house and poundage are lighted, if with lantern, sky, or side-lights, or otherwise.

(9.) State how ventilated, if by openings, windows, louvre boards, or otherwise.

(10.) State what provision is made for water-supply, the capacity of the cistern, and at what height it is placed above floor level.

(11.) State if any watercloset, privy, urinal, cesspool, or stable, is within, or communicates directly with the slaughter-house.

(12.) State if any rooms or lofts are constructed, or proposed to be constructed, over the slaughter-house.

(13.) State if the premises will be provided with all the necessary and most approved apparatus and tackle for the slaughtering of cattle.

Having thus far dealt with private slaughter-houses, I will now turn to the question of the provision of public establishments of the kind by the urban authority, for it is usually the duty of the town surveyor to advise his corporation upon such a matter.

First, as to the site of the proposed public abattoir, this depends greatly upon what sites are at the command of the town; it should if possible be near the cattle market to prevent the passage of animals through the streets, not only on account of the great public inconvenience, but also the loss of weight to the animal[225] and the heated and bad state into which its blood becomes from the exercise, and the violent blows of the drovers’ sticks.

The site would be isolated and yet not too far from the shops of the butchers, or the cost of carriage of the meat will be considerable; it is almost needless to say that it should be easily and effectively drained, and the more air with which it can be surrounded the better. It is imperative that the entrance for the live beasts should be separate from the exit of the dead meat, and the approach roads to the site should not be narrow.

In laying out the site every town surveyor must use his own judgment, but the following plan on which the site of the excellent public abattoir at Manchester is laid out may serve as some guide for this purpose, although of course this establishment is on a very large scale indeed, and is in connection with a carcass market more than 500 feet in length:

In designing an abattoir on a large scale provision for the following accommodation should be considered.

(1.) Lairs for cattle and pens for sheep.

These should be separated from the slaughter-house by a smaller temporary lair in which the beast whose turn has come can be fastened to the halter by which he is dragged into the slaughter-house, the sides of the door-way being lined with iron for this purpose. The paving of the lairs may be of asphalte, but care must be taken that near the door of slaughter-house, the paving is of pitchers or something that is not at all slippery, as here the frightened beast often struggles and draws back when he sees the “engines of destruction” in the slaughter-house, and smells the blood of those who have gone before.

The lairs must be thoroughly well drained, lighted, and ventilated, and troughs for hay and water placed for each beast, for although the animals are not expected to remain long in the lairs before being killed, still it is very important that they should be well and kindly treated, and rest, so that they may obtain their normal condition before being killed.

A door easily closed should shut off the lair from the slaughter-house, as it is open to question, if animals do not see with fear the hapless fate of their comrades; for this and other obvious reasons the animals must on no account be permitted to pass through the slaughter-house to reach the lair.

The lairs should be well lighted artificially, as a great deal of slaughtering is conducted before and after daylight.

(2.) The slaughter-houses.

These may be separate or in one long building used in common by the butchers; both systems have their advantages and disadvantages.

The long building has the advantage of greater economy in erection and of management, as one inspector can see from end to end of it. Where also a large site is not available greater advantage can be taken of a slaughter-house erected on this plan, as several butchers can slaughter in turn; the lairs, however, must be kept separate. The butchers do not like this plan, but prefer privacy, and a great deal of “horse play” is sometimes indulged in by the slaughtermen at work in a large building. The method of payment for the use of a slaughter-house of this description cannot well be by rent, but by head of animal slaughtered, and this is open to the objection of possible fraud. It is necessary also to have separate slaughter-houses for the sheep and the pigs.

Whether the slaughter-houses are constructed separately or in one long building, the detail requirements are much the same.

The pavement of the floor should be placed on concrete and it should be constructed of some material that is easily cleansed, is impervious to moisture, and is not slippery either wet or dry. It must also be of sufficient durability, and be strong enough to bear the weight of the dead-meat carts which have to back in over it under the beams carrying the carcasses, should there be no dead meat market in connection with the slaughter-house as at Manchester, Dundee, &c.

The requirements of such a floor are met by good natural compressed or mastic asphalte. The necessary holes for the reception of the flaying sticks used in many parts of England can be easily managed by inserting either small brass sockets specially made, or more simply by pieces of gas-pipe cut into lengths of about an inch set tight in the asphalte.

The walls of the slaughter-house must be of sufficient strength to carry the beams or girders of the overhead hoisting gear, as well as some tons of hanging carcasses, as will presently be explained.

The inside of these walls must be lined to a height of about 6 feet above the floor line with some material which is impervious and easily cleansed. Glazed white tiles or bricks are sometimes used for this purpose, but are apt to get chipped or broken, and I have found that asphalte, although dark in colour, answers the purpose admirably, and is much cheaper.

With regard to the drainage of the slaughter-house, this should, if possible, be so arranged that there are no gratings or gully-pits in the house itself. The floor should fall about 1 in 30 from the lairs to the cart doors, so that everything should pass outside into a gutter in which the necessary gratings and gully-pits can be arranged. If this is thought to be objectionable, pits with double gratings, the lower one being only a plate with perforated holes, can be placed in the slaughter-house so as to prevent any solid matter whatever from entering the drains, and these pits can be united by short drains with gully-pits outside. The double grating should in any case be inserted, as by this means all solid matter is kept out of the drains: a very important consideration.

The cart doors should be made sliding, and not hinged, or great inconvenience will be experienced, and they must be made wide enough for the carts to back in easily.

In some slaughter-houses the killing ring to which the beast is attached whilst the blow from the poleaxe is given[226] consists of a strong horse-shoe shaped piece of iron projecting about 24 inches from the wall at a height of about 18 inches, and having a ring in the top curve, thus—

whilst in others the killing ring is on the floor, thus—

and in others an iron pillar standing up from the floor is used, which is considered the best plan, as the beast should stand in a natural and easy position at about a right angle from the feller.

The lighting of the slaughter-house should be effected from the roof, as a good and steady light is essential to the men engaged in this business. An awkward cut may seriously damage good beef or mutton. Care must, however, be taken to exclude the glare of the sun, and the ventilation should be carefully arranged by louvres easily manipulated.

Water should be plentifully laid on at a good pressure, so as to ensure thorough flushing, &c., and the necessary taps should be recessed in the walls, as everything in a building of this description should be kept as flush as possible, or it will be damaged. In some slaughter-houses hot water is laid on, and this is a great boon to the butchers and much appreciated by them.

Gas must of course be laid on, as much slaughtering takes place during the night.

The machinery for hoisting the beasts and slinging the carcasses requires to be effective, simple, and very strong, as it is subjected to the roughest treatment, and such machinery has been patented and is erected by Messrs. John Meiklejon and Son, of Dalkeith, on very reasonable terms.[227]

This machinery hoists the beast by simply pulling on an endless chain. It remains suspended at any height, and can be equally easily lowered. The divided carcass can be placed upon hooks at any point along the girders above without being touched, and it can be taken off again and lowered on to a man’s shoulders or into the cart direct, and in fact, speaking from my own experience, this machinery is very perfect.

The carcasses of the sheep are hung by hand upon hooks projecting from rails which are placed at a convenient height around the walls of the slaughter-house.

In some abattoirs the sheep slaughter-houses are distinct from those used for killing beasts, and this method has many advantages.

Before proceeding to describe the further requirements of an abattoir or group of slaughter-houses, I think the following plan will be of use to show the arrangement which I have described with regard to lairs and slaughter-houses:—

Large illustration (133 kB)