Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1900-11-24

refrigerator cars. Eacn OF tncse SNis " -"
hold about 1000 birds IL packed closely
in barrels. so that at least 1000 cars are
required for Transporting turkeys to their
destination. II placed end to end, line
Of these cars would be over twelve miles
long. Figurativcly. therefore, solid
phalanx of turkey twelve miles long. hve
feet wide and six feet high PUSHES along
in search of hungry diners. Nearly MS
many men as there are turkeys are re-
CURED 10 handle this immense amount or
poultry, and the cubic contents OF the
mass IL very nearly foot to each bird.
or. more accurately, 1,NO.SOO feet. III
piled together In the same proportion,
these turkeys would make column eight
times as high as the Washington monu-
mcnt. and pyramid made Of them would
look we'll beside the ancient piles OF
Egypt. They would probably weigh up.
ward Of l5,OO0,OOO pounds.
TO kill few million turkeys and ship
them a thousand miles TO market Is no
light task. and the Old-fashioncd methods
Of handling and marketing have had to
give way to newer and more elaborate
arrangements.
The great majority Of the turkeys con-
sumcd by the American people are pick
cd up on the poultry farms by buyers
who give their whole time to this work.
They are gathered ut the nearest stations
and shipped In carload lots to the poultry
factory which the buyer represents. The
use of the word factory In connection
with poultry Is apt to convey a peculiar
idea, but In this case II refers only to
n shed-like structure, half open on the
sides, III which the birds are prepared for
market.
The birds are stored In big shed from
which narrow passageway, just wide
| enough TO admit them In single file, leads
to the factory proper. A driver stationed
among the birds keeps steady line
travelling along this chute and prevents
them from becoming wcdged In by crowd.
Ing. At the end Of the passage, where
II opens into the factory, stands a man
who holds In one hand sharp knife that
looks like n diminutive ice pick. As each
bird marches through 1t Is seized by this
man. who quickly dispatches 1t by a
single blow on the head. He throws the
dead birds In heap at his side. and
thence they are carted away to the
scalding room. From the scalding tanks
the birds travel on to another room,
| where ueIt uuuus uuu pteuty VI Sosu tuu'
ming water thoroughly cleanse them
! Next they are laid out on long blocks OF
| ice until thoroughly cooled, when they
are packed with Ice In barrels; the bar,
rels are covered with ordinary bagging
and as soon as weighed are ready for
shipping.
Though this Is the ordinary proceeding
the turkeys which travel to quick mar
kets are sometimes dry picked and dc
not pass through the scalding tanks al
all. Under this treatment they will kecr
longer, without icing, than when they
have been sca!dcd.
From the factory the dressed turkeys
are shipped in refrigerator ears TO Their
destination in the big cities. Some idea
of the extent of the trade In dressed pou
try may be gained from the statement
that for the eight or ten weeks Of the
holiday season the receipts In New York
City alone run as high as 3O, cases pei
week. Each case or barrel contains
about 900 pounds, so that this means
something like G,OO0,000 pounds of poul
try per week. When one comes to mul
tinly this by the number of big cities, hi
realizes how capacious Is the American
man for such delicacies as these.