Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
FRITH, Eugene E.
FRITH, Eugene E. (Dubuque, IA, Apr. 5, 1859--Dubuque, IA, Nov. 19, 1923). The son of Thomas E. FRITH and Amelia (Borden) Frith, Eugene attended the public schools in Dubuque. He was first employed at PEASLEE & COMPANY, but soon joined his father and uncle with the FRITH RENDERING WORKS also known as the Frith Fertilizer Works. (1) He eventually purchased both his father's and uncle's interests in the company and operated it himself. (2)
Until 1906 Frith operated on the fertilizer plant. In that year, he purchased the slaughter house belonging to the DUBUQUE BUTCHERS' ASSOCIATION. This became FRITH'S UNION SLAUGHTER HOUSE. By-products of the plant were sent to his rendering company. (3)
For twenty-six years, Frith represented the Fifth Ward on the Dubuque City Council. He was also a past president of the Rendering Association of Iowa and a past grand noble of the I. O. O. F. (4)
It was his presence on the council that led the Telegraph-Herald to editorialize in 1910.
If this community wants to be assured that the
meat it buys is wholesome, the first step necessary
is to put Alderman Frith out of the city council.
The paper went on to state that Frith owned the only slaughter house in Dubuque not under government inspection because none of the meat processed there went into interstate commerce. If the slaughter house were to be licensed, according to the newspaper, a great deal of money would need to be spent to clean up the plant.
Meat shipped from another state and sold in Dubuque had to be slaughtered in a sanitary plant and be inspected by the government. The city council of Dubuque, convinced by Frith, simply required that the meat be inspected by an officer of the city. Councilman Frith worked to see that the city inspector, at city expense, check all stock before it was slaughtered. Once dressed, however, the meat could be transported throughout the city with no further inspection. (5)
The discovery leading to the closing of the fertilizer plant came decades later and after his death.
---
Source:
1. Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, History of Dubuque County, Iowa. Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1911, p. 737
2. "E. E. Frith," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, January 27, 1922, p. 12
3. Ibid.
4. "E. E. Frith, Former Alderman is Dead," Telegraph Herald, Nov. 19, 1923
5. "The Menace of Alderman Frith," Telegraph-Herald, March 29, 1910, p. 4
"E. T. Frith." Citizens Historical Association of Indianapolis, Jan. 27, 1940, Vertical Files, Carnegie-Stout Public Library