Swill Milk
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SWILL MILK.
From the remarks of several friends we are satisfied we have been misunderstood in the matter of the swill milk discussion.1—Some of the most scathing articles that have been written on this subject have appeared in the columns of the Times, and it is not our intention to retract now. If the present stir shall end in the complete discontinuance of the vile traffic it will give no one greater pleasure than ourselves. Par Parenthesis, we are glad to learn that the stable at the foot of South Second street, and which was established in the teeth of the ordinance, has been "closed out," as the dry goods men say. The poor cows were driven out of the stables, up South 2d street yesterday morning, and the drivers were greeted with the shootings of the school-boys as they proceeded. These cows have been turned out on the neighboring commons on the Island, much to the disgust of the legitimate milkmen, who now say they will have to fence in the waste lands in order to keep off the emaciated and tailless denizens of the swill-milk stables.
What we wished to point out yesterday, was, that certain of the disgusting phenomena mentioned as attending the cows fed on swill milk, are said to be common to all cows when confined in large numbers, no matter what their food; and we should like to be assured whether this is really the case or not. If such be the case then the public should not only demand that the cows be not fed on swill, but that they be also not perpetually immured, as the extensive milk dealers in Orange County are wont to do.
We have received the following communication on this much agitated subject of swill milk. As our readers may be curious to see what answer can be made to the positions the press has generally taken (and we with the rest), we, as a matter of fairness, have no objection to let an opponent speak a few words for himself:
Editor Brooklyn Daily Times:
DEAR SIR.–I had hoped ere this to see some refutation in the local press of Brooklyn of (the so called) "Frank Leslie's exposure of the milk trade of the New York and Brooklyn.2" Such misrepresentation must evidently, if allowed to go uncontradicted, be ruinous to a large and industrious class of our fellow citizens. Whatever may be the object of Frank Leslie, whether for the benefit of pure milk corporation schemes, or a newspaper enterprise, I know not; but the citizens of Brooklyn who have had the opportunity, by every day observation, for some years past, of seeing those milk stables, and the cows that are kept therein, and have used the milk in their families, must necessarily bear witness that these reports, as pictured by Frank Leslie's artist, are gross exaggerations, and in most instances untrue. The character and quality of the swill is not probably correctly understood by a large portion of the public, and this, if properly explained, would of itself disabuse the public mind of a prejudice formed upon erroneous opinions, in consequences of its coming from the distillery.
The swill forms but a small portion of the feed given to these cows. I venture to say that there is as much hay and ground grain fed to these cows on an average, as there is in most of the country dry-fed dairies, and the cattle on an average are as healthy. So far as the poisonous tendency of the milk is concerned, I think it can be demonstrated beyond a doubt that, by taking any district in the city of Brooklyn where swill-fed milk is used (and that will not be hard to find), that there is less mortality among the children than in any similar district in the city of New York or Brooklyn where milk from the river counties is supplied by the New York venders; and I doubt if a physician would any sooner recommend a nurse to feed a sick child upon milk carried by railroad or steamboat several miles exposed to heat, and a churning-jolting for twenty-four or thirty-six hours (as the milk from the river countries invariably is), than he would on the so-called swill fed milk.
I doubt also if the artist will find the dairy maids in the country dairies, where they raise milk for the New York market, any more attractive by the absence of bear, or dressed in crinoline and kid gloves, than those maids so graphically described by his pencil, and at such immense risk, as described in this week's number of Frank Leslie. I see by the New York Times,3 of to-day, that he is endeavoring to draw Mayor Tiemann into the squabble, in order to give more effect to his enterprise, or help on the speculation.4 I hope our Mayor and Common Council will also move into the matter, by appointing a committee from their body to examine into the truth or falsity of these statements, and make a thorough investigation of all things connected with these stables, feed, &c., and I feel confident that the official result will be such as will confirm the unsullied character that the milkmen of Brooklyn have heretofore enjoyed for integrity and honesty. Such a committee is necessary either to disabuse the public mind or lead to a correction of the evil, if there really be evil. I hope they will not suffer the character and business of our fellow-citizens to be smitten down with impunity in passive silence.
I am, dear sir, yours, &c.,
Albany, May 12th, 1858. J. LINKSKY
Notes:
1. "Swill Milk" refers to milk produced under unsanitary conditions, often relying on waste products for cow feed and toxic additives to disguise discolorations and odors. Papers at the time estimated that thousands of children died from swill milk in New York City alone. Whitman appears to allude to this cavalier attitude on food safety in his 1852 novella Jack Engle, in which he describes the benevolent milkman Ephraim as having "a wise way of never getting excited, nor overworking [himself], nor crying over spilt milk#8212;or as Ephraim professionally used to say, sour milk." For context on Whitman’s contemporary theorizing of "robust health," see his "Manly Health and Training." [back]
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3. The New-York Times was a leading daily newspaper, then published by Republican Henry Jarvis Raymond (1820–1869) but aiming for a neutral tone of reporting. Whitman contributed a number of writings to the paper. For more information, see also Walter Graffin, "New York Times," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998) and Susan Belasco, The New-York Times. [back]
4. Daniel Fawcett Tiemann (1805–1899) was mayor of New York City from 1858 to 1860. He won against ousted Democratic mayor Fernando Wood on a fusionist ticket (Independent Party), supported by Republicans and Know Nothings. [back]