The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1889-01-24
FROM HOOP TO CAN.
The Lightning Process Of Turning Ami.
mails Into Solid Food.
Mr.. Libby said to me:

Mr.. Libby said to me:
"fhe timekeeper has just beer
down giving it to me for putting You
up stairs. He said: It's a shame to
put that young lady up there in all
that grease. Give her nicer work
Who is sheP l told him was Just
obeying orders and knew nothing
about you. Come on now, and ri
show you the whole process OF max.
ing COW into a can OF corned beef"
We passed down into the slaughter
houses. saw some high stalls and a
man with msllet passing from one
to another. There was that dull.
sickening thud, gate was lifted, a
steer ierked up by the hind legs and
its throat cut. Then it was pulled
clear up out Of sight to bleed and be
drawn. The next time it appeared
the hoofs and head had been taken
off ready to skin. At least dozen
men waited their turn for an animal
to come down on the endless chain.
hanging still by the hind legs. The
hide was removed. The next men
split the backbone and the two halves
were passed on to be washed and
wiped.
After this process the two halves
swung into chute and down an in
cline plane to the cutting room.
Here the first man made cut be-
tween the fourth and fifth ribs:
another followed with saw and sep.
arated the fore from the hind quarter.
The hind quarters went on to the
cooling rooms to be shipped for
dressed beef, while the fore quarters
were thrown on the cutting blocks.
Passing from one cutter to another,
every man making a certain cut, the
whole piece was cut up, stripped of
the bones aud sent to the curing
rooms to be made into corned beef.
The assortment is wonderful
every part is utilized. The bones 90
TO the fertilizer; the shank bones to a
factory for making knife handles,
etc., the suet and fat into tallow; the
hoofs to glue factory; kidneys,
hearts, etc., are canned into minced
scallops or sold to local dealers;
tongues are disposed of in the same
way, and the oxtails are cooked into
soup.
After curing, the corned beef in
large pieces is shipped in barrels, the
smaller pieces being cooked and
canned by the packers.
The hind quarters of beef. after be-
ing cooled, are shipped in refrigerator
cars to all parts of the country. One
department contains supplies for the
local trade, the best beeves being
dressed in halves and bought by retail
butchers.
Down in the basement immense en-
gines run night and day, also an ice
engine by which any cold tempera.
ture is maintained in the cooling
rooms. Going into these. the ther-
mometer was found to stand below
freezing point. Hundreds of barrels
of meat lay in the store rooms ready
to ship. Twelve hundred cattle are
handled every day and converted into
marketable form.
In the tin shop all the cans are
made in a dozen sizes and shapes. A
pattern shears cuts out can at one
clip; another cuts and stamps and
turns the edges Of the top and bot
tom. A third machine grasps the
strip in its iron embrace and seams it,
while man feeds the machine and
soldiers the seams. The tops and
bottoms are fitted on, the round cans
fed to a revolving soldering machine,
which drops them when soldered, and
the square ones are soldered by hand.
Scrap-tin is cut up into caps by an
other mechanical arrangement; and
the useless scraps are sold. the tin
melted off to be used over again.
After labelling, the cans are packed
in boxes and the nails driven in with
machine that fasteDs whole row at
one blow. It is all machinery-ma.
chinery; the use for merely mechani-
cal men is dying out constantly, and
a new race with intelligence enough
to guide the mechanism Of machinery
is taking their place.
One OF these days there will be
brainy man or woman (why noU?
who will make patent labeler and
varnisher. Then supercilious, we'll
dressed young woman, who would
scorn the position of typewriter, will
stand and feed a machine that turns
out blue topped cans with all the
wriggling yellow lines put straight,
and all the consultations Of yellow
stars performing their prescribed
orbits.-Letter in Chicago Tribune.