Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-10-13

AS a sample of Il dairy" within the
limits of the city of Chicago. we repro
duce the following from Il daily paper
Of Chicago:
Near the foot of North Robey street,
half block from the river and about
a block and a half south of Clybourn
avenue, is a dairy" for pure country
milk" which is filthy beyond ordinary
comparison, and emits a bOQuet of min
gled stenches that it would require q
chemist to disintegrate and label The
keeper of this dairy is Il man named
Ryan. His farm" is a low, riczety
sled about 100 feet long and 200 feet
wide, and there he pastures in vinegar
Stops from seventy-tive to eighty COWS.
He had over seventy COWS there yes
terday.
One can smell this dairy before Robey
street is reached, and when getting off
! the ClybouIn avenue car at the inter-
section there is no need of asking QueS-
tons us to its location, especially when
the wind, as yesterday, blew from it's
direction. If the wind had been blow
ing the opposite way it might be
claimed that the odor came from a
section of prairie on the north filed
with goats. And it was not the odor
from COWS that fed on new mown hay,
clover and goldenrod.
This tumble-dOwn shed is situated in
what is still Il morass, the ground all
around it being filled up and higtiher.
| When Il heavy rain falls Ryan's farm
is overtiowed and his COWS are probably
glad of it, for they can get u drop Of
water to drink.
| The COWS are arranged lengthWiSe
along each side of the shed, with their
heads separated by a small passageWay
IN front of each row of cattle is mar
row trough into which the vinegar swin
is poured. This is their food, though d
farmer who was stirring up the sWin
with u long pole said they also got some
hay. But where the hay could be placed
before them, except in the sWill trOughs,
was Il mystery. There was no room
elsewhere for it. and there was no sign
inside of the shed that any had recently
been fed to the animals.
The cows We're arranged side by side,
with their heads closely tied to upright
posts with short pieces of rope SO
closely packed were they that it seemed
| impossible any one of them could lie
down without being trampled upon by
! the others. But the man with the pole
WHO was stirring up the swin prepare
atOry to letting it flow into the feeding
TOughs, said they had plenty of room
to lie down if they wanted to. A glance
along the double rows Of COWS, how
ever, did not show that any Of them
We're lying down or resting. 10 stand
ing up they manifested Il sense of clean
illness to which their keepers seemed in
different, for the floors on which they
stood were unutterably filthy and with
out any bedding.
On the south side of the shed, that
next to the river, there are no open
ings, and consequently no way for the
wind to freely enter and at times par
tally clear the structure of its aCcmtu-
lated OdOrs. On the north side Of tho
shed there is one small and another
larger opening, and on the west end .
door leading to q room which looks as
if it was used for the milk delivery
Office. Around it hung an aroma like
that of a rendering establishment.
The sWill that feeds these milk cows
comes from a vinegar factory on North
avenue, the man in charge said. 1t is
brought there in barrels, mixed with hot
water, and is dumped into a tank from
which, after being stirred up it is allow
ed to flow through an opening into the
troughs. The COWS, the attendant said,
did not like the swill at first, but they
soon got used to it. Hunger makes
stomachs of all kinds bear many unpal-
atable things. The dairy has been run
ming for about two years, and the man
in charge said the product of their milk
ing was many cans each day. The milk
is sold throughout the city, as well as
in the IeighborhOod.