Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1878-04-26
Sorting Swine.

We find an extended account in the
Drorer's Journal of the modus opeyuu-
d. OF sorting hogs in the Chicago mar
ket from which we make the following
extract
TO begin with, then, we will suppose
a case where the buyer for a packing
house engaged exclusively in putting up
English meats buys one, two, three or
four car loads of hogs of a commission
salesman, on the conditions that they
are to be sorted" to suit the require
ments of the house for which the pur-
chase is made; a feature of the deal
that is understood by the seller pro-
posing and the buyer agreeing to select
his grade from the drove in the manner
known as the usual light hog sort, "
unless in cases where special conditions
are agreed on by both seller and buyer.
To facilitate this sorting" there are
several sorting pens, peculiarly called
mills" established in close proximity
to each scale, and it is here in these
mills" hat the really important
branch of the hog business Of the stock
yards is carried out, for it is surely here
that good or bad, prime or inferior hogs
are ground out" by the man who does
the grinding business in the capacity
of hog sorter." The privileges and
scope of this latter Office, when miscon-
strued or not thoroughly understood by
the incumbent, very often lead to a good
deal of kicking" On the salesman's
part at the severity OIL "closeness y
of the sort" and in like name the
unreasonable demands of the salesman
sometimes take the the form of a mild
OF determined attempt, as the case may
be, to bulldoze" the "%sorter, which
not frequently leads to an exhibition of
temper of the most warlike nature, un-
til the disputed matter is finally settled
by the buyer, who usually suggests a
compromise as the most amicable course
This is the serious side of the sorting
business, but it has also its comical side
when viewed with a quiet desire to see
it in all its phases, and although it has
sometimes to be accredited with some
of the most stormy scenes that occur in
the Stock Yards, it also furnishes in
stances where genuine humor comes in
to play as one of the readiest auxillar-
les of trade. The "sorter's" pole is gen
orally about six feet long and about as
stout as a billiard cue at the the thick
end and is used much after the style of
that instrument in the hands of a bill
HARDEST. The antics, the posing and the
igure-cutting of some parties while in
the mill sorting hogs very forcibly re-
minds one of the posturing of a French
dancing master, though the chief actor
in the business may be ignorant of the
fact. There is something irresistibly
ludicrous in the sight of a man posing,
setting and "bracing himself up" with
billiard cue in hand to 'carom" off the
dexterity, while he accompanies the
action with a wild exclamation of by
one or 'in one," just as the quality of
the hog warrants him in "hollerin." In
this connection we have been creditably
Informed that certain parties in the hog
trade on the yards always carry a lump
of chalk in their pockets to rub on the
point of the sorting pole, so as to en-
sure a better grip on the hogs "snoot'
when putting them through the mill
We cannot vouch for the correctness
of this statement, but it would not sur
prise us in the least to see chalk come
into general use in the trade, if sorting
is to progress with any degree of com
parison with the other arts and sciences.
A rather good story is told of a we'll
known commission man in the yards
who does a good deal of sorting" him
self preliminary to offering his hogs for
sale. Being at church one Sunday af-
ter a heavy weeks work, Morpheus
claimed him for a short fight through
dreamland before the service was half
through, and here it may be said that
our doughty commission man was not
unwilling to make the trip. He sped
away on the wings Of sleep and COM
menced to dream of the mill and all
its exciting associations, when suddenly
a sharp rap on the elbow, from a "jing-
ling box in the hands of the collector
at the o%ffertory, brought him to his feet,
though not to his waking senses and
he shouted at the top of his voice: in
two and by the York hog much to the
amusement and surprise of the startled
congregation.
As the construction of a sorting pen"
may not be familiar to the general pub
lie, it may not be out of place here to
say that it is a long, narrow alley with
a small catch" pen adjoining it into
which is caught the hog rejected by the
"sorter;' those he selects being allowed
to go by the catch" pen-hence the
meaning of the words constantly used
in sorting, "by one" and in one
A good "sorter' is supposed to be
able to tell at a rapid glance as the hogs
approach the catch" pen, which one to
put in and which one to let by, and it is
right at this iuncture that the pole is
used to head or punch the rejected hog
into the catch pen, the gate of which
is held in readiness by the commission
man or his assistant.
From what is here briefly described
it will be observed that the principal Of
you pay your money and have your
choice" rules to a great extent if not
altogether, the hog trade of the Union
Stock Yards, and that the principal is
a fair one and has proved satisfactory
to all concerned, may be inferred from
the gigantic proportions to which the
trade has GROWN at this pOint