Daily Republican., 1883-10-17
CURING MEATS.
A VISIT TO A LARGE MEAT Ey
TABLI6HAENT IN PHILA.
DELPHlA.


TABLI6HAENT IN PHILA.
DELPAiA.
Many and various plans have bee
. tried, especially of late years, to pr,
}: serve animal and vegetable food for
q considerable period Of time, but Del
4 haps the oldest, and certainly the be.
/ for the former, Is by the use of salt an,
o smoke. The peculiar property whic
salt possesses of preserving animal foo
= from decomposition Is of tile creates
|. Importance 10 all civilized nations, an,
0 to persons In country districts, or Of
} shipboard in particular.
1t has ong been known that the smok
Of burning wood also has the power {,
preserve animal food from putrifaction
but 1t is only of late years that chemis
, try has made plain the rational of tn,
process. A certain degree of salt is al
most always employed, but not as mucl
a. when no smoke is used Smoke from
burning wood contains an acid vapol
that chemistry has shown IL conn posed
OF pyroligneous acid, and observation
has proved that 1t is the same az acetit
acid, which constitutes the active
principle in vinegar. This last has
been found by experience to be one OF
the best prescrvative agents known, and
one that has been used from time i'm.
memorial The curing of meat some
years ago was, AZ a general thing, done
IN crude manner, and almost every
family had some method of their own
for preparing 1t for home consumption.
Great improvements have, however,
been made, and n"w the greater quaint.
ty of cured meat used In the cities is
prepared In large manufactures of this
country. With view of inspecting the
interior, and witnessing the modus op-
erandi, a reporter, a few days since, be-
ing In Philadelphia, visited the large
establishment Of John Bowers Il Broth
er at Twenty.fourth and Brown streets.
he was received In a courteous man
ner, and upon staring his object one of
the firm detailed a man to escort him
around the establishment. The first
place visited was the killing pen, stu
ated In an upper floor, and to which the
hogs are driven up an inclined plane.
This place will hold from 75 to 100 ami
mails, and the work ofdispatching them
IL performed In the most expeditions
manner. They are first knocked down,
and then immediately stuck, and the
blood flows into trOughs which conduct
it rom the place.
They are then passed down to the
scaiding tank, and from there to the
scrapeis, who remove every hair and
brislle The next operation is TO swing
them up and remove the entrails, after
which they are weighed and
the weight of each hog care
fully noted. The head Is then taken
on, and the carcass split in two, after
which it is passed TO the cooling depart
ment The facilities of the firm are 80
perfect, that it is no unusual thing to
slaughter, scrape and open sixty hogs
hn hour, or one u minute.
After becoming thoroughly cold they |
are cut up, and the hams salted, then
Placed in pinkel in large hogsheads,
and after remaining sufficient time
taken out, washed and dried, and then
placed IN the smoke house. There are
iour OF these houses, and each will hold
from LOO to | 800 hams.
The smoke is produced from hickory
wood, and the arrangements are sucn
that the iire Is underneath the smoke
house, which 1t passes through drawn
by current Of air, and is thoroughly
cooled before it cones in contact with
the meat Every part of the hog is
utilized, and 10 was an interesting study
to note the different processes through
which it passes in being converted INTO
food.
There is one room that il devoted TO
the manufacture OF sausage, In which
are Two large machines driven by steam
for cutting the meat. One OF these
cutters was in operation at the Centen.
MAI. There Is also u mixer in this
room that is used tor Incorporating the
with the meat, which, after
being thoroughly mixed, is placed In
libs and TAX II to another room where
t Is put in the skins, and is ready for
he market
In another room number of men
we're employed in making lard, which
$ rendered in Il large steam pan that
viii hold hundreds of pounds, after ,
which it is strained, placed in tin cans .
Nd set in cold water until it hardens.
The firm also have a slaughter house for Z
reeves, rs they cure and dry large ;
Quantities of beef =
The machinery IL run by 15-horse ,
'ower engine, and they also have a q,
team circular saw for preparing the
wood for the smoke hous y. There are !
hree ice houses on the premises, with
capacity OF one thousand tons None n
'ut the very best hogs and steers are q
purchased, and the productions of Bow
r ~ Brother have IA world wide repu.
alton. Every piece OF smoked meat
raving their establishment is branded
With the name of the firm before being
ack.d in tlerces for sale.
Although the season has not fully
they are already killing
bout three hundred hogs, aud num-
er of steers each week, and employ a Q
trge force Of the best workmen TO be d
Everything about the estaD. |
shmeDt is kept clean, and it seemed o
hat IT many firms in Philadelphia CON il
umed the same amount of water, the v
upply would ere long have to be in
reased AS most of the sales are made
nring the summer season, the firm
ave immense vaults for storing their v
leat, one of which, constructed under G
side street, will hold 700 tierces of II
ans. They ship to all parts of this b
Ountry and their productions are well q
nd favorably known in Europe. II
Moro Butlerlsms.
4