Worcester daily spy., 1872-12-02

the Union stock yard company, started in
the fall of 1864, and first opening the yards
about the first of January, 1866. The yards are
situated about i've miles from the centre of the
city, and contain an area of S45 acres. The
grounds are laid out with convenient streets
and alleys, many of which are paved with
the Nicholson pavement, and the whole arrange
ment is much the same as that of well regu-
lated city. Within the grounds and under the
same general management are large and
handsome brick hotel, a commodious bank and
exchange building, and good restaurant. The
bank is practically a clearing house, where the
buyer and seller may deposit their money, and
where the commission dealer is enabled TO
promptly transmit the proceeds of his sales to
his principal in the country.
One bundled and thirty acres of the yards are
covered with pens of various sizes, capable of
containing from one to twenty car loads of
stock The cattle pens are all open; those for
the sheep and hogs are covered. The pens are
all floored with plank, and have a total capacity
for holding twenty-iour thousand cattle, one
hundred thousand hogs, fifty thousand sheep,
and three thousand horses Perfect drainage is
sewers running under all the pens. To obtain a
sufficient supply of water two artesian wells
have been made; one 1892 feet, and the other
1870 feet in depth. The flow of water from
the latter is SIX hundred thousand gallons per
day at the surface, but in carrying itself to the
tanks, forty-five feet from the ground, it loses
force, and discharges but four hundred and
6tty thousand gallons at that point,
Nine of the principal railroads ceuter here,
for which the company has built over twenty
five miles of side tracks. Each road has also a
platform one thousand feet long, provided with
shutes leading directly into the alleys and pens
assigned TO each. The train to be loaded or un-
loaded being drawn alongside the platform, the
gates of the shutes are opened SO as to form an
enclosed avenue from the cars to the pens. While
standing on one of these platforms train of
twenty-five loaded ears came up, and within
i've minutes the small army of men and boys
in attendance had thrown back twenty-siX gates,
opened the car doors, and driven eight hun
dred hogs, one hundred head of cattle, and four
hundred sheep into their respective pens. The
gates were closed, the cars started off, and
while another tain was coming up the animals
were driven into pens beyond to make room Tor
fresh arrivals.
The selling of stock at the stock yards is con
Quoted almost entirely by live stock commission
firms. The largest of these firms did a business
Of about 81 100000 monthly in 1871. A few
statistics may not be uninteresting, which, to
sether with some of the facts already stated
were kindly furnished by MIR. E. Griffths of the
| Give Stock Reporter:
Head.
| Total receipts of beef cattle for the year
1Sfl Ot,ouOO
Total shipments NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 401 9z7
Total receipts OF live hogs tor the year 1850 0Sa
Total shipments. 2oo
Total receipts of sheep, ..........,..... 315O53
Total shipments. l30USl
| Comment is unnecessary. The business is
immense already. What 1t will become when
the vast prairies are all under cultivation our
| IMAGINATION can hardly picture, R.