, 1879-03-09
DISEASED. CATTLE.
Confessional Slop"Feeders in the
West Fattening Cattle for
the East.
rhe East St. Louis Supply--~Kept in
FILTHY Pens. and Fed on Dis
tillery-Rsfuse.
uora Cattle at Blissville, L. L, to Be Killed
English Blooaed Stock
Quarantined.

. forrrs1ondencs St,o TorE Herot[
g. 1or1s. March o.-It has been known for
=. t;me that slop~fel and diseased cattle were
s.;o,ed from this point to the Eastern markets
e .s there disposed Of as good conditioned Texas
s4n,r This evil has been steadily growing un-
s sn.t has assumed SO startling magnitude that
sn,v nrou1pt and strong measures will enable
<se authorities to put stop to it. Your corre-
srondent visited the stock-yards at East ST.
Inn,s With the view OF ascertaining, If possible,
~ orient of this evil and the number Of cattle
~, hare been held orer at this point to fattcn
~ the Eastern market, but owingto the shrewd-
a.s of buyers the feeding OF slops is not carried
~ IN the wards, the owners having found from
s-ncrience that it materially affects their sales
sonseoueptly new class has sprung up
s.i1ad professional feeders, who carry
~ their work more successfully and
M s,nds detection, ship the cattle OF to
ont-of-the-way places, rcship them to
tns stock~yards after putting them through the
fa1,enipg process, and send them East In mixed
,ots xith through shipments, thus preventing
,rpn fair estimate OF the number Of sEop-fed
<to.k that is in this way thrown on the Eastern
m,rkcts. Beer elops and That is called s'chop -
f.,d;pc yas carried on to large extent right in
u. stmk-yar1s until owners found that it dam-
.ged their sales.
now IT Is DONE.
as soop as lot Of Tcxan cattle are brought
Into the yards the best appearing and most sala~
Msue quickly disposed Of and shipped oil With
y txenty-four or iorty-eight hours, but the
bt.uby cattle that the East receives in this way
h,ye 8 terrible Offset in what follows. After
tie yard is pretty well cleared then comes the
p1ofessfonal feeder and buys up all the poor and
diseased cattle and tho odds and ends Of unsala-
Bic stock, getting great bargains, as the owners
11e glad to get Aen OIL Aeas hanos ~ any
price.
WHERE IT IS DONE.
At su expense Of much time and labor your
correspondent at last fesreted out the location
oT these feeding quarters aud discovered that
the business is carried on to large extent at
Greeuyille, Vincennes, and even up Us far as
Peoria. Wishing to satisfy himself OF the cons
vas carried on, he took an early train yesterday
and visited the sbeds OF one 4. 81. Mcneil, lorar-
"a q, Creeuyiale, Bond County. some forty miles
uorthof st. Louis The condition aud surround
u!ss OF tie cattle there found was enough to
breed disease, eyen il tfer we're fed on whole
III.
there VAS an average of 1J0 cattle crowded into
nsrrox stslls with no SPACE to move about in,
hrastbtna fhe SANG air ever aud over again, as
no means for ventilation we're provided, anti
t.th reigncd supreme. Long troughs run the
full length OF the speds, and present
foors and sides OF the Vall--slimy, steam
inc. and actually rottiug; these troughs
are flied tyice day with beer-slops and chop
feed. which the cattle learp alter tine to de-
yo,1r rayenously. as no corn or hay is given
fhcn durjnv The whole tatrenins process, wlicl,
general!y lasts from TWO to three months
FRESH ARRIVALS.
While vonr correspondents WIS looking through
the shci7s small herd arrived thar were easily
recornjzed Ms Texas cattIe. They we're thin und
NOR aud gnDeared weak, either from starvation
Or disease, and unable to carry without totttr-
inp the weight of their enormous f,orns. They
we're separated and driven into vacant shed,
nd each assigned stall, after which the feed
hx PROCESS comucnced". a 1naniiky al beer
dips and bran mixed was emptieu into the
COMMON trough from barrels. Although they
had not undoubtedly been fed for forty-ei
hours, ant from insufficient food while in tran
sit, presented d haifstarved appearance, they
merely shifted at the vile mixture and utterly
refused to touch it, some ct them lying down us
soon IS they were driven into the stalls, to be
quickly prodded up with the long poles IN the
are penned up in this way several days before
they will touch food at all, but as soon as they
do commence to feed on It 1t Is surprising how
rapidly they 1atten up and the healthy appear
ance they present. Ille are Kept IN these close
SHELLS "uele uo pure ast can tgaEn LIEU 5o1 !"
hrsaa;n a na;.nn "n6 fe ~ noth;n hf sis-
t;err -efnsa an1 hear elone mil tl,er nrcsent
= hes,,h,. a,d % 1a+ annearance xThen 1hcv - are "a.
sh,eaaa q -N. 80 e,,;e "rd +,<ar. sG,S f-an,
tsa sto.s>va~s7s as fresh and HEALTHY Teyan tat-
t1o 1n;Sa5 ~, ,,;,h nnra f3dn shin1nonts frnn
Ts1,as and r. Ct,tora1a
>">7 'AAAN o0'o--o
uSoous1koLf o'ssAs6O'
:. In this way there are daily showed On the
aastern ia MARKET IRON e90 to l,go neaa o. cattle
tat are undoubtedly diseased, So intefmlxcd =
to separate them after they reach the East.
This is very easy to do at this end, there being
no Veterinary surgeon at the yards, and no
effort is made before shipping to separate and
examine even what are known to be mixed lots,
aud, as consequence, it is safe to say that all
aye more or less diseased by the lime they reach
Aew York.
1nIs nefarious proceeding is not confined to
upeountry buyers, but is also practiced by the
a1lsesaole-iooklng lot OF cattle win tue lnten-
Non ol hoiulnSs them oyer IN tne East o. LOUIS
1atus !or the purpose or slop-1atteuing, out
xhen they ind that burers are becoming too
aoafp to oe imposed on in this manner they as
Aen tnen to the out-of-toWn teeders, and make
eome ainieable arrangement Whereby it Will be
covered up when the cattle are returned to the
ssrns that they have been stlll-led.
THE DAILY SUPPLY.
There are to-dar in the -storlz-vords ohout IN
head Of stock that from ali appearance are half