The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1884-07-04
The Modern Slaughter House.

Let us now see what becomes of the
cattle as they pass into the hands of
the butcher This term is also some
what of :. misnomer when applied
20 the present system of dressing beef,
but we will let it stand, for the want of
q more ineligible designation. There
are two distinct departments in the
large establishments of the daF, viz,
the shipping and the g canning
Into the former come the choice corn
fed animals from the great cereal dis
tricts Of what can hardly now be called
the ''far West, Z as well as the best
. grass" cattle which have had the
run Of the summer ranges. The latter
receives most Of the 'through
Texans the old cows, and the
"scrubs" and "culls' from the bet
ter lots. The process of slaughtering
each is substantially the same up to q
certain point where the inferior quaIity
passes from the killing to the canning
house.
As we come within the gate we reach
first the outer Enclosure or pen, where
may be gathered one hundred head of
choice shippers" They come in
quietly and without excitement, and,
in q few minutes, perhaps, one
third of them are driven into
narrow alley-way adjoining the
single pens, where each one is in
few minutes to meet his death. This
part of the yard is boarded up with
heavy plank about six or seven feet
high, aud open at the top, along which
we. walk on single plank running from
end to end. AS an animal is wanted,
slide door opens, and he passes into the
pen nearest him. Here he stands, I'M
conscious of the fate that awaits him,
and that his executioner is at that mo-
ment loading the fatal weapon above
his head. A few seconds later and a
mild-looking man with short carbine
in his hand drops the muzzle to point
in the center of the forehead, just be-
low the horns, and pulls the trigger.
The steer falls without a struggle or
groan, and he passes on to the next,
taking the life of half a dozen in a
couple Of minutes, more or less. The
door at the other end of the pen is
raised, a hooking chain passed around
the neck, and the animal is drawn out
upon a broad platform about fourteen
feet wide, at the bottom of which runs
a shallow trough to catch the blood.
Suspended by the hind-feet the stick
ing knife completes the bleeding pro-
cess, and then two men step forward
and disconnect the head. Four follow,
stripping down the hide-two others, in
the meanwhile, taking off the feet.
Saving the breast and haunch bones is
the next operation, and then the carcass
is hoisted preparatory to taking out the
inWards. This accomplished, a number
are detailed to do the trimming, clean
ing and turning to account every scrap
and particle connected with the animal,
SO shat nothing is wasted, down to the
horns and hoofs. While these several
operations are in progress the carcass
has been moving along a distance of
some two hundred feet, being attached
to q track overhead. The men at work
maintain their relative positions as one
after another of the carcasses come be-
fore them, and in the brief space Of four
teen minutes from the time of the fatal
shot the animal is hung up, ''drawn and
quartered,' and then left to cool in tho
chill-room for forty-eight hours prepar-
atory to shipping. Twenty different
processes take place in the course of the
fourteen minutes aforesaid, and ninety
men are engaged in it. The average
weight of this class Of cattle, as brought
into the slaughter house, is 1850 pounds,
and during the summer season five hum
dred head are killed daily in the nine
hours allotted to the work. - GeorQe
Ponaeroy Reese, IN Harper's Magazine.