The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-06-28
BEEF, BLOOD, AND BONES.
Shoe and Leather Reporter,

BEEF, BLOOD, AND BONES.
Shoe and Leather Reporter,
Hammond, Ind, would not be mulch Of
a place without that great cattle slaugh'
tering establishment, the Hammond
Packing Company. The firm, on an
average, kill thousand head of cattle
per day, six days in the week. This
mighty procession of animals surges
forward, accompanied by the sound OF
the trampling hoofs, hoarse bellowings,
and tossing heads of the massive beasts
doomed to die for the nutrition of man
kind. The scene outside the paJking
house is, in one respect, instructive and
suggestive. shambling around in pens
outside the packing house, the uneasy
creatures are kept waiting for certain
barred gates to be opened and apparent
liberty regained. Beside these pens a
small streak of dense.looking liquid
trickles lazily to broad stream of water
in the distance. Between these cattle
and the muddy, stream stands ole huge
connecting link, and that is the great,
solid-looking slaughter or packing house.
The beasts march in at one end OF it, and
of all that mass of beef, blood and bonesj
nothing is thrown Away OF waited, except
that little muddy stream, which is the
geometrical difference between the
slaughter house and the cattle-the USE
less residue of.a great industry.
The Union Stock Yards Company, Of
Chicago, occupy 800 acres of land; the
Hammond Company owns go acres in and
around it's works.
Let us follow the different operations Of
killing and dressing under. the tutelage
Of 8. F. Foggy superintendent. Dinner
is over, lunch cans are placed aside;
brawny arms are barred, and cleaning
knives are hastily resharpened. Boys
with long poles go to the pens, open the
gates and drive the required number Of
steers to small Enclosures, right close to
the butcherings shop From this inclosure
they are driven along a narrow lane, just
wide enough for them to march in single
file.
Presently, doors divide the cattle into
small pens, and there they stand in
dumb state of visibly nervous apprehen-
sion. A strong, active young man climbs
up and walks on boards by the side of
the tops of these pens. He carries
long handled hammer, commonly known
as poleax. Stepping up to the first
pen, the imprisoned steer looks upward
with large, terrified, rolling eyes, as if
suddenly conscious of danger. Too late.
The vigorous arms skillfully swing, and
the next minute the hammer crashes on
the head of the beast between the eyes
and horns, stretching it senseless on the
ground with dull thud. On and on goes
the slaughterer, never halting or hesi.
tating, and the lane Of live stock, in re.
markably short time, is lane of stunned
carcasses, ready for skiuning and dressing.
The butchers assistants now open the
inside doors, and, attaching strong iron
chain to a hind leg, rapid machinery
drags the animals from the pens, which
are speedily reoccupied by other patches.
The skinning is wonderful example of
regular, we'll directed labor, each man
having his specially appointed work and
doing nothing else. First comes the
"sticker," who cuts the throat and collects
the blood in shallow, wide, circular pans.
Then follows the header" who skins the
head, next men who attack the front foot,
hind foot, belly SKIN, leg worker, men on
on sides pulling out the caul, men cutting
hams, chopping briskets, cleaning out
throat, man rubbing right hand side,
man on left hand side, man who catches
the film, backer, one who splits, emptying
cattle of nucleus of fronts, man to drop.
hide, splitter ofssDecks and trimmer of
inside, trimmer on outside, finishing up
with 6ge washers to carefully cleanse the
quivering beef with clean water, and pass
it to cool places ready to be moved to the
immense refrigerators, where it hangs for
48 hours before being loaded into the
ice. cooled freight cars. Thence it is
rushed to cities in America aud to
steamers, waiting to be conveyed across
the Atlantic.
Let US see, now, about the parts not
used as beef. Tho steer is hanging by a
leg to strong iron chain, and Tho hide
strippers are busy. 1t is the rule if>all
packing houses for special men to skin
special parts of the hides, and this is one
reason why packer hides are so strictly
alike in trim, and take of, and why the
tanners are usually willing to pay cent
per pound more for these hides than for
those taken off in country towns. The
hide, then, is thrown into the hide cellar,
cool, pleasant place in the Hammond
house, 250 feet wide by about 800 feet
long, with another in progress ofbuilding.
The first thing the cellar men do is to
sort the branded and unbranded green
hides into. separate piles, and it is
remarkable how expertly and rapidly this
is done by the old hands. Next comes
the sailing and packing away in piles.
Coarse Syracuse salt is used in preference
to all other kinds. 1t takes about three
weeks in summer and four weeks in
winter to thoroughly cure hides, although
when tanners are in hurry little less
time is given by mutual agreement and
by using necessary precautions. Hides
containing four grubs apd under, if satis-
factory in other respects, are classed as
No. rs. No. 2's have FIVE grubs and
| ovor and ara sold for ora cent per pound