The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-01-03

| Meat VIII De cheaper
| if there should be fight,
which is by no means unlikely.
| At the same time the fact is becoming
daily more apparent that the men who set
up the abattoirs at Baden were no vision
aries. and that they had certain well-defned
| objecrs which will not stop short of fulfill
ment If lavish outlay of capital can pre-
vent it.
Expressed in the simplest terms. the war
is 10 the knife, not for sheep and cattle
alone, but for the extinction Of Butcher
/ town.
Charles w. Welby. manager and principal
salesman for the South San Francisco Land
Improvement Company. which owns the
Baden abattoirs and the large refrigsrating
| depot at Sixth and Townsend streets. was
interviewed yesterday by CALL reporter.
| He said:
''If there is any fight, so far as we are
| concerned, 1t is with the Job bers in certain
markets in San Francisco.
! 1.-THE " ay Ia which the wholesale butcher
| business has been conducted is such that
| there has always been a middleman or
| jobber between the regular who lesale and
| the regular retail butchers in San Fran
| cisco. 1t is the jobbers we are after.
"As one result OF the present state Of
things the people do not receive as goo d
meat for their money as they might do if
| there were no mid dlemen.
ITO begin with the middlemen or jobbers
sell to the hotels and restaurants at low
| figure; lower than the ret all butcher can
afford to do. The private trade and priva to
customers always have to pay full prices
| The wholesale and retail butchers both suf-
tn 60, 3, NJ . N ,oAh
Let me give you some figures by way Of
| Illustration.
"The jobber comes into the slaughter
house and prices ten cattle. Seven of these
cattle are worth, say Az cents pound, but
there are three more worth 5h cents a
pound. being q better and smaller kind.
The jobber will say, Give me those three
cattle at the same rate az cents poundj
| and will take the ten They finally Sc
| cure the bargain and then go to a regular
customer of the slaughtermen and sell hi m
| the entire lot for cents pound. making a
clean " cent pound on the entire purchase
| without any risk or trouble or work what
| ever.
"There Is no pretenss til at there Is any
| thing the matter with the meat in our GEN.
| trail depot at Sixth and Townsend. IL comes
!
| Baden, and is sweet and clean. But the
| jobber is afraid the new concern is going to
| hurt him; that he is going to lose this easy
| haif-cent a pound.
He is afraid, too, that the country
| ranchers and cattle-raisers will discover
| that they don't get AS much for their beasts
| as they ought to receive because Of the cut
| rendered necessary by the Intervention of
the iobber between the wholesale and retail
| butchers.
'The talk about refrigerator beef not
| being equal to saughter-house beef is all
| non sense. 1t is better, ii anything, than
| Butchertown beef. We have already re-
| ceived quite number of orders from hotels
| abd restaurants in the city which have
hitherto been using slaughter-house beef.
| More than this, we are beginning to get or
ders from outside towns. and we propose in
few days to make shipments in refrigera-
| tOr-cars to large towns in The south OF the
| State.
Something has been said about this
whole affair being a real estate proposition
to force purchase of certain land In the
| southern part of the city and county of San
| francisco; that we have bought land cheap
and are seeking TO sell Ii at a high profit
because plant has been established there.
'We don't ask any OF the Butchertown
people to buy an acre OF the land. We did
not establish our plant for that purpose. As
a matter Of fact the plant was offered to the
Butchertown people at 60 cents on the
dollar.
1.-THE company he's come here to stay. 1t
| does not want to iDjure anybody. We are
going TO sell beef. and can afford to sell il
at lower prices than the Butchertown people,
simply because we waste none OF the offal.
''les, we are going to send car of prime
ribs and lolns down TO Los Angeles. and we
intend to get the retail trade. 1t has been
reported that we had sent out circulars
Offering to supply restaurants and hotels,
but this Is absolutely false.
"The orders are to sell 10 retail butchers
and protect them. We have received orders
from hotels and restaurants. but we are
waiting the action of the retailers in hope
that they will recognize that our aim is TO
| do business with them on the square basis
OF weekly payments. All the retailers who
have patronized us thus far are pleased with
our custom. We give weekly credit and no
more. We have no idea of doing anything
to njure the retailers. Our aim is to pro-
tect them.
"One reason why we insist on the weekly
| payment system is that it is best for the
honest retailer and best for the consumer.
| The price of good beet is not likely to come
down. 1t is low down now. But there are
| lots Of retail butchers who are buying cow
beef and old beef in Chinatown as low as
| 2h cents pound. We are not competing
for that trade.
Every one admits that and says the sooner
the better. But it is not true that we are
seeking to make the Butchel to wn people
buy us out at our own price"
A California Market butcher, who In
| sisted on the suppression Of his name, gave
| his views on the whole III after as follows:
"The objection among the retail butchers
to the Baden stockyards and abattoirs and
| the whole concern is that the thing may be
| merely ultimately paving the way for q
trust 10 drive them out OF business. The
Baden company can supply ribs and loinS
at the present time at prices with which the
retailers cannot hope to compete.
Take Armour, for instance, in Chicago.
He can sell his ribs and loins. sell hoofs and
horns. can sell all his rough meat. and make
| profits out OF the waste that render 1t hope.
less for ordinary slaughter men and retail
| ers to sell against him.
| "Arply the principle to Bu,chertown and
Baden. 1t Is not surprising that local BUTCH
ers who buy beef from local firms IN Butch
ertown should be very slow in supporting
an enterprise coming from abroad and
threatening their own market.
| 1.-The butchers are down on this Baden
enterprise; that is fact. Every one of
them knows that Armour controls the
butcher business Of the Central States aud
they are convinced that he wants to control
California and thu Pacific States also
"If Armour and his people want to con-
| troll the California trade they can break
every butcher in the State inside OF MONTH
There is no mistake about that. They
| cOulu EUTCe tutfu I'LL Out. Dut are the peO-
pie of California going to stand by and see
| it done?
"There is no better beef sold In the world
than in San Francisco. Why, one butcher
In this market, wh0-to be sure-charges
high price for his beef. feeds his own cat
tie over the other side of the bay. kills them
there and brings them over every day.
There is no refrigerator beef that can COM
pare with his.
There are butchers working around this
market who have been down to the abattoirs
at Baden and have come back to say that
the tendency of the system there is to reduce
wages from SO or 81 to So day, and that
old hands are being supplanted by men
willing to work for 81 a day. and also that
men are working in the Sixth and Townsend