The morning call., 1892-07-03

you please tell US. madam, If veal doesn't
come from the ox?" No" interrupted the
other. ''It comes from the dear little lambs,
don't IT,"
The woman stared an instant from one 20
the other, and then:
Nav" she said. "VeaPs calves. shust
like YOU two fools"
So now we know what veal is, although. Of
course, everybody knew before, except the
young ladies and gentlemen studying the
sciences In our colleges. But where does
our veal come from? We only see il hang
ing tempiingly displayed in the markets.
or brought out fer inspection from the
huge refrieeTaJors by the market ian when
we intimate our desire for "a kidney roast" )"
Il never occurs TO US TO wonder how they
reach the market.
1t might be well, though, II II did some
times occur 10 Us TO wonder where our
meat comes from and whether II is subjected
before being killed TO treatment calculated
10 improve or inlure il for our use. y OF
that we could by inspection select more
carefully and reject that which has been
killed in a fevered or excited state, or sub
jected to conditions that render the meat
uDwholesome. Specialists on the subject
tell US that animals may have been so w0T-
Tied and frightened before killing as TO ren-
der their meat absolutely poisonous to
human beings, without its undergoing any
change perceptible without micrOsco ical
examination. We might, however, by TAX
ing thought Cause methods to be adopted By
which ali agitation of animals intended for
food could lie avoided for at least IS hours
before death.
How are they now subjected to any such
serious agitation? Let US consider:
Imagine yourself on board coast steamer
bound from Southern California to San
Francisco. These steamers carry freight as
we'll as passengers-liying freight as well as
the inanimate sort. a principal freight sta
tlOn on tie coast is Port Hartford, shipping
point for the town of San Luis 0blspo.
Here the steamer usually lies all day long,
and it 10 here that, IN Imagination, you step
aboard her The burning sun beats down
On tie broad pier and its shadowy ware
house. the carloads Of sacked grain, piles
Of hides and wool and mysterious boxes.
This Is great wheat-shpping center, and
the process by which the grain Is loaded
Is fearful and wonderful to Eastern eyes,
accustomed to the sight of grain
in bulk, loaded and unloaded ''in 10 time"
by means OF elevators, handled as though
by reasonable. advanced human beings, not
by the primitive methods that pTimeval saw
ages would adopt. The grain from Port
Hartford and elsewhere in California is
shipped in sacks, leaky sacks. for the most
part, the leakage loss falling upon the sh ip-
per. They are labori0usly piled, one by
one, upon fatcars and hauled to the steam
er's side lab0Tiously picked up, one by one,
abd sent down a wooden chute into the
hold, there to be laboriously stacked, one
BY one. 1t takes time. but every day is full
OF time, and the grower and shipper pay
for the sacking, the hauling, tile handling
and the leakage: also, like Jones, ''he pays
tie freight" Wonder If the old German
woman wouldn't consider him just the least
little bit vealy, too?
But about the calves.
All day long, as the steamer has swung
beside the great wharf, you have heard, un-
less you have stopped your ears and re-
fused to listen, a melancholy sound as Of
mourning and wailng, calling of feeble
voices Tor m-a-a, m-a-a, m-a-a. Presently
you begin to realize what il means. At
quite distance from the pier, along the
edge Of the bill-shadowed bay, is a corral,
and the noise you have heard from morn to
dewy eve is the moaning Of little, distressed
calves there imprisoned.
They are driven in in the early morning
from the broad pastures, where they have
eaten their fill and kicked up happy heels
IN frOliesOme freedom during their short
lives. Driven into this corral aud kept there
all day, longing for food. for freedom, for
water, and, wretched babies that they are,
they stand calling ma-a, ma-a, ma-a, hour
after hour.
Presently the cattle-cars are run down the
track from corral 70 steamer. Into these
the little creatures are driven, and for
economy of space and time packed tightly
as they can stand, and brought down TO the
steamers side.
The passengers crowd to the rail above
and below. throng gathers on the wharf
this Is fun, and worth the watching.
Maybe you hadn't known that calves are
very ferocious beasts You just begin 20
suspect 1t. They must be, else why the
ominous preparations now making as IL to
ward off an attacking army? Tie deck
hands fly around briskly making ready; the
male swears eloquently; tile men drag up a
heavy fenced gangplank on wheels and
mt uf e.
gather. Then begins the task Of getting the
dangerous creatures down to the steamer 5
lower deck. The crew arm themselves with
pieces OF plank and boards and broken
sticks; the bOatswain has a splendid
weap0n-a long split piece Of new wood
sharp-s -splintered at the end-a goad to start
an elephant. Two brave men take their
lives In their hands. open the door Of a car
and, crawling up by the stats inside, hang
Ing by their hands. drive the creatures out.
The others line the gangway, ready to beat
and punch the forthcoming herd
But 1t does not forthcome. The llttlC
beasts, huddled together, already frightened
and hurt, are not eager to brave fresh dam
gers. But time passes, the vessel must be
loaded, and the men inside the cars know
their business. They begin to kick and
stamp on the beads and backs of the ami
mails below. The method used seems K
work somewhat on the principle of the by.
draulic ram; Kick and stamp anywhere
anu tBtJ VIII EOlut Out WHbI6 LD6y can.
And they do. Backward, sidewise, heaG
foremost jammed together, crushed dowr
on to their knees, the crowding creatures
rush TO the gaDgway, and every man as thel
pass him aims a blow at their defenselesi
backs, or punches adroitly in some tenderel
spot, with such yelling, stamping and clap.
ping OF hands as they deem best TO hastel
the herds advance. There is no attempt a
guidance or direction, no leading out ol
one calf for the others to follow. The door
is open and the calves are kicked.
They must learn to put two AM
two together. The last beating they ha,
was tC make them enter the car 1t take
them some time to catch on 20 the idea tina
this one is 10 force them to leave IL. Then
too, they see their companions running tha
deadly gantlet outside. and panic-strickel
they rush back and a blockade occurs. Tn
car door has to 1e shat while those on tn
gangplsnK are disposed of. So 1t goes on
nntcry and threatening gestures, pain ant