, 1863-11-16
CHICAGO PROVISION TRADE.
lis Rise, Progress, and Present
Position. e.
LIST OF NEW PORK AND
BEEF HOUSES.

By refere1ce to the annual review OF the
trade and commerce Of Chicago for the yea.
1853, prepared BY one Of the editors of the
TRIBUNE, 1t Will be seen that in the season of
1928, there were cut and packed in this
city 1876 Hogs. This was considered in
those days q most wonderful achievement,
aid ne were much prouder Of the feat, and
dragged good deal louder about 1t, than we
do now about packing million. And this,
our readers must bear In mind, was only ten
years ago! In thoee days packing houses
were not considered nuIsance-and there
were no "sm Cling committees" Of aldermen
to be found "nosing'' around to see what
city ordinance was being violated. At that
tine We were proud Of our packing houses,
a.d proudez still Of those who had the enter.
prize to build and run them. Mess1s. Hub
bard, Hough, Steel, and lev others, who
comprised the packers 1t that time, had the
freedom Of the entire city, fnclndlng the
sweet village Of Bridgeport, and there was
no objection then to running the of1a1 Of the
hog or the steer into Chicago River. Indeed,
It WAS one Of the leading Inducements held
out by our citizens and property owners Of
those dsys to packers, that they could '1dump"
their offa1 into the rlver-it was 50 "handy."
Our real estate orners, when advertising
river property for sale, were sure always to
point ont to packers At q distance the "con.
venicnce" Of Chicago River for packing aud
slsughtering establishments. It vas indeed
wonderful what an affection there existed in
the heasts OF the citizsns Of those days for
packing houses-:LeY were visited by sight.
seers, aud ne waied about ia the mud knee
deep with an almost patriotic ardor, showing
them the beauties Of hog pen, slaughter
house, and packirg establishment. There
was no "stench'' In packing houses the1-
and our daily journals did net epeak Of the
much aoused river As they now dot Was
then pellucid stream-the pride Of Chicago
and the perpetual boast Of those who owned
water lots!
Truth is stranger than fiction. What
heamer Of 1852 IS Vas wild or c-azy enough
to predict that ten years hence, there would
be packed In this city ono million Ae3s? Who
would have presumed upon the csedulity Of
eyen tie most taDGuile property holder BY
prophesyfug that in 1861-8a Chlcago would
pack more hogs than Cincinnati, and that in
1862 6s SIZE would exceed her by nearly AGO.
600? And what alderman would then have
been rash enough to have supposed 1t posi-
BILE that at anE future period Of our history,
the Common Council would so tar interfere
with the vested rights OF those public bene-
factors, our packers, as to prohibit them
from using Ckicsgo River as a conmon
eewcr?
But the extraordinary Development Of ths
Northwest has worked miracles in many
things, and this is ore OF them It has Teyo-
lutionized the entire trade and commerce Of
the countT-aad made Chicago what It now
is-tbe greatest grain, lumber and prorision
market, and the largest 6eJ and pork packing
point in tie United States, OF indeed In the
wor1dl The rise and progress OF the grain
t1ade Of Chicago was indeed remarkable; but
the rapidlty with which the Provision trnde
has advanced, is, If possible, more wonder
ful still. To traverse the river and It's
branches, and see the numerous piles Of brick
and etone devoted entirely to this bu.iness-
to find Immense packing establishments
some of them coating upxards of s8o. coo.
erected within two or three years-to yis,t
these when In full operation. and see the m,
n{ditv with which rom fs cnndeneca far shin,
ment to the four ouaaters of the c1ohe-to
20 still further to the five or e,r etock vard.
of our city all crowded, tn excess with hayes
and swfne-aud then to see .he miles of c,rs
all loaded with live stock. coming daily into
the CITY from thu M;st,.s,nn, ave- FINN f.,
west Of It, from the banks Of the Missouri
this IL Whit must be done before the min.
lt,ated can form true idea of t}e ,napn,tuda
and frnortance of thi. tr,de Hut tbia +. mn
all There IL the 1mnan.a arnov NJ +a.7n.
dravs and wnpona daily eno.1ed IN carrv,,g
the proauct from depot to denot-.he loaaed
TRIMS that daily lesye for tts sea-board-ths
fleet Of propellcrs loaded to tho guards-alr
swelling the capital invested in the Proyision
Trade to IN almost incalculsb1s sum.
But when VIC take Into consideration the
Crcat fact that not one acre in ten in the
country tributary to Chicago is under cultl-
vation-that In even the most popu1ons dis
t1icts, tie country is, as compared with the
East, sparsely sett1ed-what prophetic mind
can foretell the gigantic proportions which
this trade will hare assumed ten years hence
OF course, Chicago Is not the oaly point
that VIII have an iacsease In trade; but Its
central position as receiving and re'distrih.
usng poiat cannot fal to give It IN oll future
time pre'emincnce. With lines Of railroads
tapping the territory west, south and north
Of us, aid redlsttibufing lines leading to the
seaboard from as tari north as Montreal
and south as far as Baltimore, besides the wa.
ter communication through the lakes, rivers
and canals leading to the sans points-~hat
city IN the United States stande any chanca to
rival It:
HISTORY OF TIE PROVISION TRADE.
As Ver5 little is known Of the history Of
the provision trade In this city, ne hare, By
dint OF digging into some Of the records Ct
the past In the Offices Of the pioneers Of the
trade succeeded In collecting few facts which
canro: tnil to prove interesting to our read:
eIa-
The Oldest record ne can,trace Of the PRO-
vision trade is Furnished Us By our fellow cit.
tzen, A1chlbold Clybourne, ESQ, Fho built a
slaughter house here in 1897, for the purpose
Of supplying the United States troops then
stationed at Fort Dearborn, and also the few
inhabitants living here at that time. This vas
the frs: slaughter house eFer built in Chica-
50. But very little packing, however, was
do1e here till the fall Of 1888, us there was no
export demand, md but very little wanted IN