The Washington critic., 1886-02-27
THE DRESSED BEEF TRADE
How Prices WIN Bc Affected by the
Proposed Advance in Freights.

Proposed Advance In Freights.
The proposed advance In frcights on
dressed beef from Chicago to the East,
which will go into effect on March on all
the trunk line railroads, will advance the
retail price OF meat In Washington to such
an extent that a good loin steak will cost
about thirty cents q pound In the future,
and beefsteak will be luxury to the mid
die class aud totally out OF the reach Of the
laboring man.
Hearing of this advance In price, which
would SO materially affect the citizens of
Washington, Critic reporter called on
MIR. Bert Scannell, the local manager for
Armour Il Co., one of the largest dressed
beef dealers in the world, to find out some
thing about IL. Mr.. Scanncll was found at
his refrigator and said; "iou see, when
Swift tS Armour decided to ship their
dressed beef into Washington some years
ago, meat was then selling at twelve cents
pound, Wholesale now, all these
figures are wholesale rates-and 1t was a
mighty poor quality of beef at that Our
competition has steadily brought the price
down, until now you can buy for seven
and a-hnlf TO eight cents q pound, beef,
which for excellence of quality, is uu.
rivalled I'm the world.n
on dressed beef, and how will It affect the
retail price ~
SIN this way The freight ou live steer
shipped to New York is 35 cents hundred;
the freight on n dressed beef will be G5
cents, the railroad claiming that 35 cents
gross weight equals G5 cents net. Let's
figure that out aud see: The freight on
10000 pounds OF live cattle at 35 cents
hundred equals $40; live cattle yield an
average OF 81 per cent. dressed beef; 81 per
cent. OF 10000 equals 22,s0O pounds; $40
freight on ~, 500 pounds net product gives
rate OF 6l cents per hundred pounds to
Washington; but the hides talow, hoofs,
heads aud offal were also brought through
with the net beef for $l40 The live.cattle
man has landed them In the East free. The
dressed.beef shipper slaughters at Chicago
and forwards his net product of 22,sO0
pounds to Washington at 65 cents per hun
dred, equal to $l4s20 freight, and still has
the hides, tallow hoofs, heads and offal,
which must 20 East, and upon which he
must pay full tariff of 30 cents per hun
dred So you can readily see 1t is dis
elimination against the dressed beef man,
which Will eventually drive us out of the
markei.n
"But why do the trunk lines make this
discrimination in favor of the livestock
mem" because every one OF the trunk
lines has heavy interests in all the stock
yards through which these cattle pass, aud
control the principal abattoirs. As soon as
we are driven out of the market by the ac-
tion of the railroad companies, the price Of
beef viii advance to the old rates aud you
won't get the excellent quality of beef for
which Washington has heretofore been
noted. Look at this meat In the refrigera-
tor, bere," he said, pointing to some mag
niRcent quarters Of fresh beef hanging on
hooks, "the flavor and tenderness of it can
not be excelled by any meat In the world.
The cattle from which that came were
killed In Chicago and the beef shipped in
refrigerator car direct to Washington.
We do not send our cattle In crowded
stock-cars, to be laid over in stock yards,
half starved, half frozen and maybe diseased
by the time they reach their destination"
'ls there large trade in dressed beef in
this citygn
"Ycs, there is. The trade in dressed beef
amounts TO between $4,000 and 100000 a
month In this city That sounds big but 1t
is fact. 1t requires about fifty men to
handle the business. It's larger business
than people have an idea Of and II we are
driven out of here the people will miss us,
and think they will miss us so badly as to
bring to the notice of Congress this dis
crimination by the railroad companies. All
this Is the work OF one man, Mr.. Fink, the
commissioner of the trunk line pool. lie
is given authority by the railroads In the
pool to fix rates, and the companies stand
| by his decision. So you see that one man
In New York city virtually has the right to
control the price of beefsteak in Washing