A Butcher’s Betrayal Cleared the Packing House
Tacoma’s Carstens Packing Company wins exoneration after a rogue employee bought diseased cattle behind their back, shipping them into the city.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Carstens Packing company of Tacoma has been exonerated by dismissal of the prosecution brought against it for the alleged killing and offering for sale of diseased meat. The facts, as brought out in the case at North Yakima, seemed to show that an employee named Brest, who was buying cattle for the Carstens, had betrayed his trust and bought two steers afflicted with lumpy jaw and paid $15 each for them, shipping them with a lot of good cattle to Tacoma. When the case was called, the Carstens company tried to get the prosecution to arrest Brest, but this was delayed until he skipped out of the state. The evidence did not indicate the company had knowingly committed any crime, however, and the case was dropped.
“The evidence did not indicate the company had knowingly committed any crime, however, and the case was dropped.”
Food safety scandals were a major flashpoint during the Progressive Era. This case illustrates the era's reliance on employer responsibility and the tension between corporate reputation and individual malfeasance.
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