Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-10-25

their labor peculiarly effective. During
the great strike ut the packing houses a
low years ago outside men, highly recon-
mended as skilled butchers. were en-
ployed. but were found to be vastly inferior
10 the regular operators.
In THESE mammoth establishments divis-
ion OF labor IS the rule and the great secret
OF success. Every man and boy has Il par
tlcular duty to perform, which blends har-
moniously with that OF others. and accom- :
pushes. In the aggregate. great results
Cleanliness is the watchword, and every
thing is done us neatly as the nature OF the
business permits. In this respect the
Strengthening at the Stock Yards surpasses
that OF smaller institutions. which lack the
mechanical appliances and the highly
trained labor. thorough examination Of
any one OF the packing houses will convince
the most fastidious that tho long rows Of
beef. pork and mutton in tho huse cooling
rooms are, literally speaking, Good enough
to eat"
The nlodus opera1adi in the different es-
adjustments being essentially the same. a
description of one will suffice for all. That
of Armour u Co. is the most extensive,
and some figures as to the magnitude of
their business may not be uninteresting
an idea OF the extent of the packing inter-
ests at Chicago.
Their buildings cover 40 acres, and con-
tain 1875 acres of floorage. There are 30
dcfeS ol cuIll-rOOHl ana cOlu Storage area,
with Il storage capacity of 100000 tons of
dressed meat. III 1883 they killed 1.140,O0U
hogs, 561, 200 cattle. and 164.54O sheep, and
sold s5S. 100000 worth OF products. 10 ac-
complish this and prepare the various
products for market. Il force of men and
boys. varying from 5O00 in tho summer 10
G,OO0 in the winter were employed.
The packing firms buy the stock they
slaughter in the yards in the same way as
Others and employ for that purpose q large
number of men, who must DO excellent
judges of the kind OF animals they are pur-
chasing. These buyers command large
salaries. Cattle. sheep. and hogs are each
purchased by a different set of men.
At the packing houses there are extensive
pens for stock, from which they are removed
as required to the interior of the buildings.
At Almour's the cattle pens, which are ele-
waited somewhat above the ground. are
filled from time to time in the following
rather novel manner: A large, tine-looking
steer, who has been specially trained for the
service, leaves q little shed, where he stands
during the day. and approaches the large
inclosure into which cattle have been driv-
en- from the yards to the eastward. At the
proper moment the gate is thrown open
and IL number of the cattle permitted to
pass out into the open space. All created
things seem to have a sort OF conf
and when the animal which the guile
OF desisyning man has transformed in
to confidence steer" or "steerer,"
walks away toward the incline leading to
what is to them the gate of death. his con-
hesitatinglv follow him. At the critical
he turns aside and retraces his
steps to his shed. while the others pass on
to their doom. Much the same system is
used in the case of sheep. a fine specimen
called Pet" being used us the decoy. It is
difficult to stand prosperity or properly ap-
preciate ones advantages. Occasionally
the confidence steer becomes indolent and
neglects his business. When he no longer
performs his work in satisfactory manner.
he shares the same fate allotted to neg
lectful human employes-his head is cut
off," and that in literal sense. One day
he is forced through the gate from which
he has SO often turned away. and shares
the fate to which he has led so many thou
sands OF his kind. while his successor in
office proceeds to take possession Of the
shed.
After the cattle reach the elevated pens