Evening capital., 1899-11-14
ANNAPOLIS. MD. TUESDAY. NOVEMBER IA lsee
KANSAS CITY LIGHTS.
THE ARMOUR KING
COMPANY.
The Gateway of The Western Farmer And
Stock Grower : How The Killing


Everybody has heard of the great Ar
mour Company's packing houses. and
everybody cas- something in the course
of year that has passed through either
the Armour's plant at Chicago or the
one at Kansas City. To 60 through one
of these plants is sight one never for
gets.
The Armour Packing Company plant
in Kansas City is situated partly in Mis-
souri, and partly in Kansas. and there is
reason for crossing the lire of these two
States, as we shall see later. The ground
acreage coyeIed by the buildings, and
used for other purposes. is 80 acres. The
foor acreage in the buildings is 90 acres.
and that of the cold air rooms 80 acres
The storage capacity is 7oo. 900 900
pounds. The Armour Beef House OF
Kansas City is the largest in the world.
being seven stories high, with storage
capacity Of $1,000 dressed cattle and
covering an area of 900 by 500 feet.
There are 1900 employees at the Ar
mour Packing Company, who clear the
building at the midday hour in FIVE min
utes. II is sight worth seeing to witness
this army of workers-men. women and
children, pour forth from the main en-
trance at the noon hour to get their
luncheon 1t reminds one Of a volcano
belching forth humanity.
The dis ribution oi the products OF the
Armour Com. any extends to every coun-
try in the world. In the various depart
m,nts OF The company's plant almost
every trade, art and science is employed.
In the lard packing room are tin cans,
ba rels and hogsheads filled with lard,
thousands OF which are packed daily and
shipped TO all parts OF the world. All
the Tin cans and pals used for packing
are made on the premises. There are
IA ice machines here, producing a re-
frigeration equal to the melting of 1880
tons OF ice every "a hours. There are
engines that run the ice plant and pump
the air into 80 acres of cold storage.
These engines were made by the Frick
Company. of Waynesboro. Pa.
All refuse is drawn off into tanks, and
the grease refuse is shipped to the Ar
mour Company at Chicago for soap max
ing, as no soap is made at the Kansas
City plant. Cleanliness is a dominant
characteristic throughout the plant, and
the tidiness OF all the departments is re-
marked by the visitors. The "Silver
Churn" Butterine rooms are as clean as
the kitchen and pantry Of model house
keeper. The butterine capacity is loo,-
600 pounds daily. We spoke of the
plant being across the line oil the states
OF Kansas and Missouri. BY an act of
legislature butterine is not allowed to be
manufactured in the State of Missouri.
This department is therefore across on
| the Kansas side OF the plant. In the but
terine department large number OF men
and women are employed in moulding,
rolling and wrapping in paraflne paper
and linen, the prints and rolls OF butter
inc, which are packed and shipped, and
which the unwary cannot tell from the
genuine article, all wool and a yard wide.
The da ly killing capacity OF the Ar
mour Packing Company in Kansas City
is something startling, but the following
| figures aie correct, and he who doubts
may come here and see for himself with
what dispatch the hog, the COW. the
sheep forfeits his life to sustain mans.
The killing is quicker than lightning and
like it, the striking never occurs twice in
the same place. There are 1900 hogs,
4, 900 cattle and s 900 sheep killed here
daily. When we say killed, we also
mean cleaned, dressed and sent into the
reirigerating room. We saw hogs going
into the refrigeraiing room in ten min
utes after we had seen those same hogs
alive. Everything is done with neatness
and dispatch, and every man has some
particular part in the work OF the great
machinery in this plant.
The cattle are herded in large shed,
all unmindful of their fate. They are lift
ed up chute. door raises and they enter
their death trap, a small box-like apart
ment, which, as they enter, they are
dealt stunning blow between the eyes
by men welding sledge hammer.
The men employed for this work are
skilled in the art OF killing these animals,
and seldom miss the aim. In most cases
death is instantaneous. but when it is
not, the animal is shot. Like human be-
| ings some die harder than others. but to
the average animal death comes quickly.
There are two cows in each pen and six
pens on each side, making twelve in all.
Every time the cattle are run in the men,
two of whom do the killing, kill an aver
age car load of cattle, and an average
car load is a.. Immediately after the
killing the animals roll out, are attached
by the hind legs to an iron hook, lifted
| TO the cog overhead and carried to one
Of the largest rooms in the building,
where hundreds of men are at work TAX
ing off the hides, heads and cleaning the
cattle yet warm in their life's blood. In
| this room one actually "wades in blood
to use the extravagant expression of the
renowned Teddy" Here skilled labor
ers are employed. One man takes the
head off quicker than you can wink.
He knows just where to stick the knife.
and is so accustomed to the work, he
can take cows S head off with his eyes
shut. The heads are split, the brains
taken out and the head ground for fer
tilizer. Nothing in this world is wasted.
Everything is utilized. and just here We
have one Of the most forcible illustra-
| tons of this truth. The hons are
mounted and used for various things,
useful and ornamental; the skins are
tanned and sold for leather; the hair is
| for plaster mixing. and the intestints for
sausage and pudding. Nothing is wasted,
even the blood of the hogs is used for
purifying a certain kind Of sugar, and
| the best blood is caught in watts and sold.
Another set OF men take of the legs at
the firsi joint, and this is also done with
extraordinary dispatch. From the time
a COW is killed. until il is skinned. clean
ed. halved and hung ready to be sent
Il = L. r.. = Il