Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-27
A HOG A MINUTE.
The Death Rate at the Great Fort
Worth Packery.
The Beginning of Operations Yesterday
Observation-Disclosures OF People
Witness 1t.
Everything in Perfect Working Order-Tbe
Biggest Thing In the 'outhwest-Ihe
Hog Market

The bog packing business made Pitts
burg great, it made Cincinnati famous
the world over, It gave Chicago prestige
over all other American cities, it has
been great factor in the growth and
development OF St. Louis, Kansas City
and Omaha.
The signs of the time indicate that
Fort Worth, Tex. is next in line TO be
the beneficiary of the great industry.
For yesterday afternoon the North
Side packery began active and perma-
nent operations, observed. commented
upon and admired by hundreds of Fort
Worth.AsaffH who, delighted to know
IA ~ Ratest and greatest acquisition
s7osFOrt Worth would begin work , were
on hand 10 see.
Superintendent George NJ Barnum
was everywhere to see that the machin-
cry, so elaborate and extensive, was in
smooth running order, and it wis not
until after 3 O'Clock that the killers,
scrapers. cleaners and cutters were at
their posts ready to take care of ali the
porkers that came their way.
The slaughter room is on the sixth
story of the souihernnOst building.
The live hogs are driven up long aud
steep driveway until they get into a
small room. They never 20 out alive.
First the hog is caught by the leg, an
easy operation in such q small room. a
chain attached to pulley is attached to
"a hind leg. and before the victim is
aware he is yanked up head downward,
screaming aud struggling. The pulley
is attached TO Il grove, aud III jffy the
porker is run along TO where the stirker,
with Il sharp knife, stands awaiting him.
The practiced hand shoves the knife
straight to the heart, and when it is
withdrawn the blood CUISINES out IN II
torrent. Only a moment does the stuck
hog wr!the. A vat of boiling
water IL beneath. and by the
sim pie jerk of lever the carcass is loos-
tned from the pulley aud drops INTO the
vat, there to remain only long enough to
have the hair saturated with the seething
water which is kept hot by means of
pipes connecting directly with the boil
els. The carcass Is lifted from the vat
by means of II rack also operated by ma
chinery. Your porker ID then lying on
table on each side Of which stands a
darkey ready 10 scrape the hair of, an
operation performed in less time than ii
takes TO tell it. the implement used be-
ing cup-shaped article, not sharp but
sufficiently 80 to perform its functions.
The table being smooth the carcass is
pushed along q few feet into the hands of
other men, who by swift slash of the
knife cuts the neck around so the head
hangs only by slim piece of flesh, and
30 all the blood in the carcass runs out.
The hog is then fastened hv each OF Its
hind legs to hooks which run on
u long rail high above the head of
person standing on the floor. On stands
ranged along the rail are men prepared
to put the hog through Its various pro-
cessps. The first man cuts down the
front and jerks out the entrails, which
are thrown to another man, who strips
them of all useful fat substance. On
runs the hog to the lard man, who with
swift and practiced stroke jerks out the
leaf lard aud throws it into a vat near
by, where ii is cleansed. On runs the
hog to an Their man, who, BY the appli-
cation of hose AMI scraping knife, thor
oughly cleans the carcass, which hardly
stops for the process, but PUSHES out to
where u man with u couple of strokes of
an immense cleaver. separates the car
cass into halves; nor stops the
Douy therr, Uut pTocetus W
where man cuts off the
head, which I'D to this time has been
clingng by a slender piece of flesh. This
man lays the head GU q table and cuts
out the tongue. The hog is ready for
II is conveyed, a distance of 200 feet, in
the next building by means of the same
raIl on which i. left the scaiding watts.
The process requires less time to oper-
ate than 1t does 10 describe.
One hundred and sixty hogs were
made into pork and hung nicely in the
drying room in 145 minutes yesterday
afternoon.
More than a hog a minute.
See?
To-day 500 or 600 hogs will be killed.
On Monday and on every day thereafter
1000 head will be killed.
"Tell the people, said John r.
Hoxle, 'sthat We will be in the market
GU and after Monday next for 1000 hogs
per day, of every kind, and We will pay
the highest cash price for them.
''What quality are the hogs you have
got so far in Texas?' asked the re-
porter.
''If you will notice the quotations
from the Northern markets you will see
they can t average alongside our stock.
III GUARANTEES the six worst hogs we
killed to-day will average up with what
are on the Chicago markets.
''What about the slaughter OF beef at
this plant?''
'Don't get excited about that. We
will be in the procession. For the last
two weeks we have been engaged doub-
ling our capacity for killing beef. We
are having 1000 boxes for shipping
made
'where is your market for all these
goods?''
"Our market is all oyer this country.
We have orders In now from every place
Of Importance in Texas, and great
many from outside the state.
"This will he great thing for the
farmer and hog RAISER, suggested the
reporter.
~ should say Il would. And we
want them to know about 1t. We want
them to come and see what We have. On
Friday, December s. We are going to
give Farmers Alliance barbecue at the
stockyards and packery. and We want
fery member Of that body and every
one else who can, to be present. look
over the plant, make inquiries, learn all