The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-02
BLOOD DRINKERS OF NEW YORK.
Strange Sights seen I'm the Slaughter
Houses
From the New York Recorder.

I
men and women can be seen making their
way to the slaughter house of the United
| Dressed Beef Company. on First avenue
! and Forty-fourth street. Their purpose
is to drink the hot blood as it surges from
the freshly killed bullock Among the
/ company are sickly looking men and deli
cate women, upon whose wan face the
stamp of consumption is plainly marked.
Ihere IS little about them to suggest the
( idea OF blOOd-thirstiness and vet no heart
! ever painted more terFently after the wa
ter brook or no drunkard longed more for
| MS cups, than these blood drinkers for
their daily pOtatiOns.
/ To person in perfect health. who has
never tasted the hot blood of a bullock,
the very thought of drinking it is revolt
ing:
Il would rather die than drink that
blood, l said to a young woman who was
drinking from cup the warm fluid fresh
" taken from the throat OF a slaugh-
tered steer.
Life is sweet" was the reply land
You would do anything to preserve il.
When l came here first / tainted at the
sight of the blood, but now I like it, and
L bless IL, because IL is making me well
ana strong. l was given up to uie of con-
sumption by my physician ana all my
friends, but i was determined to get well.
| had heard of several people being cured
by drinking bullocks blood and / began
drinking 1t six months. ago. I was al that
tlrle ike living skeleton. with my face
/ /
nifty pounds more than when / began this
blood drinking, and do l look like con-
sumptive?'
She certainly did not. on the contrary.
! the girl showed every indication of per
feet health.
Inquiry proved that hers was but one
case in hundreds where invalids have been
/ cured of lung and throat troubles by the
/ daily drinking of bullocks' blood
All those | saw on the morning l visited
| the slaughter house were enthusiastic
hn xgn MI fxr7za Il ~ los
! of the blood medicine.
DR.. ]. II, Forster, the physician appoint
ed by the government to inspect the cattle
OF the United Dressed Beef Company, al
/ though not an advocate of blood drink
ing, cited many instances in which paral-
! ysis had been cured by wrapping the
| body in the paunch of a steer.
! This is one story, as 1t was told to me-:
"A young man who had been for many
years a helpless paralytic was brought
| here one day by his father, who requested
the privilege of wrapping the body of his
son in the rumen, which is the first of the
four stomachs of the OK. This request was
granted, and every day this process was
repeated. As soon as an animal was kill
ed and the stomach removed it was split
! open and the stomach wrapped like a
blanket round the body of the invalid
In order to be near the slaughter house
| the father of the young man took a room
! Just across the avenue, and every morn
ysare RI here
wrapped him in the rumen of a freshly
| killed bullock.
After few months the paralytic be-
| gan to move his hands, then his arms, and
| at the end of a year he could walk Now
he is entirely recovered and in perfect
| health"
| l noticed that some sprinkled a little
salt into the blood before they drank il,
| saying IL made the taste like that Of
warm milk. Most of the men went into
| the room where the animals were killed
| and caught the blood as it flowed in a
| big stream from the throat of the bull
! locks but the women waited outside and
| spared themselves this revolving sight,
| having the blood brought them in cups.
1t is wonderful place, this great beef
| depot, and to those who ever give a
| thought to the various processes through
I which beef has to go before it is ready
| for the table IL is full of interest.
The drinking of bullock's blood to re-
store the invalid to health is all very
/ well, but to the great army of beef buy
| ers and beef eaters this is merely an in
| cident. To them the questions of where
\ our beef comes from and where 1t is kill
| ed and made ready for the market are
! of far greater import
The best beef brought to the New York
| market is known as Illinois beef. The
! cattle are fed on the prairies of Illinois,
! Indiana and other intermediate western
! states. When ready for market they are
| driven into the Chicago stock yards. Those
! intended for New York are put in cars
| and brought to Jersey City, where the
cars are loaded on big floats, which go
| round the point of the island, up the East
| river, to the dock OF the Dressed Beef
! Company, where they are driven out of the
cars into the stalls under the building;
| Here for three days they are well fed
| and watered. At the end of that time
every animal has undergone a thorough
| health, and all those found to be in per-
| feet condition are labeled with a white
| tag; those found to be sick or in poor
condition having pellow label tied to
them and taken away. This is the daily
| work of DR.. Forster, and as these stalls
hold 1000 head of cattle he has no easy
! task.
When the animals are ready for slaugh-
| tering they are driven up a runaway to the
| upper floor of the building, just at the
| entrance to the slaughter room. Here each
bullock or steer is caught about the hind
| feet by a slip moose and quickly drawn up
| to the ceiling, round which trolley sys-
| tenn is built. One after the other these
animals are hoisted and then let down at
once, until they lay in the proper posi-
| ton. Then comes the work of dispatch
| ing Them One man pours some water
over the throat of the PROSTATE animal
| to soften the hair, then in a second an
| other takes a broad fat-bladed knife,
| sharp as razor, and draws it across the
animals throat, severing all the arteries.
At once the slaughtered beast is drawn
up to the ceiling, and. after a few jerk
lngs or the legs and slight quivering
| When life is extinct, the body is let
| down, the head is severed, the feet are cut
| tire length of the under part of the body,
and the hide cut off to the back. An incis-
! ion is then made, and another inspector
| thrusts his hand into the chest cavity of
! the animal to examine the condition of the
| lungs If they are found to adhere to the
ribs, the animal is run off on the trolley
! and condemned: if it is all right, it is
| cleaned, and then run along the trolley.
! the hide removed, and for five hours the
| carcass hangs in this room till the animal
! heat is entirely removed Then the body
is split lengthwise, and each half is run
along on this wonderful system of trof-
| leys to a chilling room, where, after re-
naming for two days. they are kept at a
uniform temperature until taken away by
| the dealers who buy them
| This manner of killing beef by cutting
| the threats and not stunning the animal
| by a blow is kosher and while once II
was only done for the Jewish trade. in
has been generally adopted by all slaugh-
ter houses in this country.
Every knife used has to be thoroughly
! examined by a man who does nothing else
| One may not SILVER Or finch at seeing a
| steer dispatched, but when this man runs
! his finger along the edge of one of these
knives it makes the cold chills run down
| ones back
| The beef of steers is the only beef sold
! in the good markets and the only beef fit
to eat Bull and COW beef is used for
/ bologna sausages
/ AS soon as the hides are taken off they
| are laid out fiat on the floor and covered
u