Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-02-06

took place, the Inauguration OF the
mammoth killing establishment oper
ated by the Texas Continental Mea'
Company of Fort Worth and Victoria
In order that our readers might W
fully advised of the occurrence the
GAZETTE reporter visited the works
and passed some hours in obtaining
the information given herein.
THE HISTORY OF REFRIGERATED
BEEF.
shortly after the war by a special ar
rangement with the Michigan Central
and New York Central railroads, Mr.
Hammond of Detroit commenced
running refrigerator cars with bee
from Chicago to Boston. The cars
used were cumbersome and expensive
and were called derisively "ice-cream
freezers." Still by great attention to
the business the meat got through
safely and was sold by Hammond him.
self in Boston, rs none of the dressed
beef merchants would touch it.
The elite of Boston, strange to say,
were the first to take to the "Chicago
beef,n as 1t was called, having found
out that the journey gave the beet
age, flavor and thus tenderness.
Hammond pegged away and his bust
ness increased and lie had monop-
oly, no one, however, fearing him, as
the live stock rings and stock yard
companies sneered Mt his enterprise
and ridiculed the idea of its ever SUI
perseding live stock traffic. In 1877
| Hammond was shipping about four
cars per day out of Chicago, the rail-
roads watching him closely and OPP
posed TO the extension of his bust
ness. At this time the
Grand Trunk railroad of Canada
having opened through route from
Chicago TO Boston and New England,
applied to the Trunk Line pool for
division of the live stock traffic. The
pool refused to grant this railroad any.
thing worth speaking of, and they set
about forming dressed beef line, and
Swift Bros of Fall River were selected
to work it up. These gentlemen agreed
for u certain rate to furnish so many
dead cattle day, and went at work,
and Captain Higgs, the present presi-
dent of the Texas Continental Meat
company, pulled in his refrigerator cars
the first beef Swift Rros. ever shipped.
Gradually and perceptibly the bust
ness of this firm grew and
IT WAS SPREAD ALL OVER NEW
ENGLAND,
until from two cars per day in 1877, il
now has reached to the enormous
amount of fifteen hundred dressed cat
tie per day, their beef penetrating
every hamlet and city in New Eng
land and some of the Middle states.
From this has sprung all the
dressed beef business out of Chicago by
Hammond, Armour IL Swift, until to-
day it is estimated that three thousand
cattle per day are slaughtered in Chi
cago tor shipment east.
THE TBXAs DRESSED BEEF BUSINESS.
In 1881 Captain Higgs, who had
from the time mentioned,wl en- he COM
menced to pull beef for swift Brothers
been manager of of several fast freight
lines, DESTROYS oi.branching out more
extensively in the handling of perish
able freight in the refrigerator cars.
applied TO Mr.. Gould for the right to
put an extensive refrigerator line
on mis- system of railroads, urging..that
the roads by establishing slaughter
houses at different points in Texas
could control the live stock traffic for
|
cattle, viz: dead in refrigerator cars.
Mr.. Gould took kindly to the propo-
sition and furnished half amillion dol
lars, which Capt. Higgs and his broth
er David NJ. Higgs put, into cars. and
called the line the American Reiriper-
tor Transit Co. 1t was always the in
tention rs Capt, Higgs thought of Mr.
Gould to allow the idea of cattle
| Slnllyh tprinw IN ha nar,;nJ
but for private and, possibly,
good reasons, Capt. Higgs found
out that the line was not to be
a Idressed beef line. This was a great
blow to the captains plans and turn
ing over the American line to his
brother David he came to Texas back
ed by certain wealthy gentlemen, an
endeavored to enlist another railroad
in the matter. He struggled along for
months until fortune threw him in the
way of
COL. TOM PIERCE, PRESIDENT CALVES
TON, HARRISBURG ~ SAN ANTONIO
| RAILROAD.
The great merchant and railroad
man who possibly knows more of
Texas to-day than any ten men Iis.
tened with kindness and attention to
Capt. Higgs, made him welcome and
promised him assistance. Ii took
however, some months to arrange
the preliminaries of a contract with
Col. Il. w Pierce, as he proposed to
build the foundations firm and let the
business grow in strength. Ii would
be only justice to this noble hearted
railroad man, II. w. Pierce, to saw that
but for him dressed beef would never
nave gone out of Texas, and we should
give him the place of honor in this great
work. After receiving his contract
Capt. Higgs sought for place to start.
and strange to say, though he visited
many so'called enterprising Texas ci-
ties he never met with encouragement
or aid and 1t was left to the
RICH LITTLE CITY OF VICTORIA
on the far-away Guadalupe river. To
listen TO him and investigate. A public
meeting was held in Victoria in the
fall of lSS2, and committee composed
OF Leo N. Lin, G.. A. Lin, John Nj.
Mathis and j. A. McFaddin was chosen
to visit the North and travel with
Capt. Higgs and investigate his claims
MS an expert In the business aud the
methods he proposed in CARRYING ont
the dressed beef handling. They, the
committee, returned to Victoria after
many weeks, their trip being extend
ed 70 Boston, and reported that they
had found the representations of Can't.
liiggs correct and advised that a con-
pany be formed. Another public
meeting was held at the court house
IN Victoria in November 1882, and the
TEXAS CONTINENTAL MEAT COMPANY
was organized. The first name written