Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1883-05-08
REFRIGERATOR BEu.
Something About the Chicago Dressed
Beef Business.


The far west beyond the Mississippi rive,
Is the great grazing ground of the continent
There lie thousands of acres of land covered
with the most luxuriant and nutritious grass
es, and as yet unoccupied by the settler
Over sections of these gigantic pastures, in
fexas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas
and others of these States, roam immense
heads of cattle, the raising and sustenance O,
which costs their owners a comparativelv
small sum, for these grazing lands are either
owned by the government, the pasturage
being free to all, or were purchased by
the ranchmen and cattle owners at a
very inconsid-rable cost per acre. On
these grazing lands by reason of the abun
dance and nutritious quality of the grasses.
cattle grow and fatten with remarkable rapid
lily, while the beef is of superior excellence
which is seldom found in beef produced fur
Their East In the East is an extensive conn
try densely populated. In the New England
and Middle States are great cities, thriving
commercial and manufacturing centres. teem-
ing with population. The inhabitants cannot
live on bread alone. They must have meat
Eastern pastures have failed or did not fur
nish an adequate supply of beef Here then.
in the East was the market for the surplus of
| Western beef.
But the great drawback was the cost and
difficulty of transportation. While the
beef could be produced at comparative
ly trifing expense, by the time it
had arrived at eastern markets the freight
bills had well nigh eaten up the profits. If
| the transportation could be brought down t,
sufficiently low figure, the expectation of
beef from the West to the East could be
made profitable both to the producer and the
consumer. There was a demand for some
cheaper way OF transportation. The out
growth Of this requirement was what is
known as the Chicago dressed beef bust
ness" In other words the conveying of Chi
cago dressed beef from that city to the East,
in refrigerator cars. Since the inception of
the business. some five years ago, it has
grown with great swiftness until it has now
reached enormous proportions. The old way
tent was to transport the cattle alive by rail-
But this method pos 5esses many disadvanta yes
over the refrigerator plan. Notably in the
cost. To begin with, while but from IL to
| 20 head of live cattle can be carried
! on one car from % to 80 of the dressed car
cases can be taken in a refrigerator car.
Furthermore the law requires that the cattle
trains shall be stopped at stated intervals on
the passage, and the cattle watered, fed and
rested. This takes much valuable time.
Again, the animals necessarily lose flesh and
endure great sufferings, crowded together as
they must be in the narrow cars. The refrig-
orator system entirely 0bviates these disad-
vantages. The beef on being dressed in Chi
cago is Immediately suspended in gigantic
refrigerator to cool. Into this refrigerator
run several lines of railroad tracks, and the
meat as soon as cooled is with very little
effort loaded into the refrigerator cars.
These cars resemble ordinary box freight cars
but are double boarded, containing some nom
| conducting material between the boarding.
| From the ceiling on the inside of the car is
suspended an iron track on which run trucks
and hooks. From each one of these hooks is
suspended a quarter of beef. At either end
of the car are placed upright cylinders and at
, stated times along the line of the road these
are charged with preparation of ice and salt
which maintains a very low temperature in the
car. After the beef is loaded at the Chicago
refrigerator the cars are sealed up, not being
opened until after reaching their destination,
and are made up into "beef trains, so called
because they consist wholly of refrigerator
cars loaded with beef. They travel con-
sderably faster than the ordinary ''freights.
| occupying about week in running from
Chicago to New England points. After
reaching certain distributing center the
train is broken up aud the cars despatched
BY freight trains to their several destinations.
Ii was found, however, in warm weather,
that some appliance must be provided for
preserving. the meat after its arrival at the
! city where wanted, as no refrigerator or any
other similar continuance existed large
enough to contain carload of this
product and keep it sound during
the time which would be required for
the sale and distributing of so large an
amount of beef From this want emanated
the refrigerator building located at the foot
of Rhines Hill, on Water street, in this city,
and the property of the Augusta Refrigerator
Co. also like buildings in Portland, Lewis
ton and other cities out of the State. For
several wears large amount of the Chica-
go dressed beef has been used by dealers in
towns on the kennebec river, being for the
most par, obtained from the Portland refrg-
orator, a quarter at a time, by freight As
there were diff culties in procuring
| the beef in this manner, it became evident
to the members of the Augusta Refrigerator
Co. that refrigerator building would event
ually be erected in some city in the kennebee
valley. and that such an enterprise would be
a profitable undertaking. As result, they
determined to erect a refrigerator and enter
into the Chic ago dressed beef business Work
on the building was commenced about the
last of February. large and expert force