Omaha daily bee., 1902-09-28
Handling Hogs
CONTINUED from Page Five,

tie more for their drovps see visions Of
angry shippers and big kicks that make
them wish they had never seen a hog.
Most shippers, however, realize that a
salesman cannot always hit the market
just right and are satisfied IL, taking one
day with another, their hogs sell on the
average.
The tricks that are played by the buy
crs and sellers are numerous beyond COM
p~utation, but one that is sometimes worked
successfully is especially amusing. As
mentioned above, the buyers and sellers
in the morning congregate around the
shantics and while, to the uninitiated, it
would appear that there was nothing going
on, nevertheless every salesman is try
ing TO read the minds Of the buyers and
get some clue as to whether the demand
is to be brisk or whether there are more
hogs in sight than are needed. II a sales
man decides that packers are going to be
bearish he sells at his first opportunity,
but IL he looks for a strong finish he holds
out to the last. II 1t happens that a buyer
has a big order and is afraid that he will
get caught short he may send out his as
sistant with orders to buy everything in
sight at a certain price, while he himself
engages the crowd in conversation. 1t
only takes a few minutes to buy 500 or 1 900
hogs and when that is done the way the
other buyers will jump into the market
and rush for cover is certainly amusing.
In the meantime. however. the sellers have
caught onto the situation and are asking
5 or perhaps 10 cents more per hundred
pounds than they were a few minutes be-
fore. The amount they put on is gov
erned by what they think they can get
and not by sympathy for the buyers. The
danger Of asking too much Is that the
! fever NAV suheida and that tho oIo.o iii
lot be so good. A good salesman has to
use his judgment constantly and be up on
his toes, as the saying is. from start to
finish.
The market, Of course, is not always brisk
and the morning is sometimes well ad-
Vanced before much trading Is done. When
receipts are heavy buyers are sure of get
ting their orders filled, and then 1t is sim
ply a case of freeze-out IL the packers hap
pen to feel particularly bearish. Other
things besides the local demand come in to
influence the market, For example, the
fluctuations on the Chicago market are
closely watched and both commission men
and packers receive frequent messages. If
the Chicago market breaks and the COM
mission man receives the message first he
sells out at what he is bid in a hurry, but
II the buyer gets the message first he goes
S@Nh 80 49, H'A anu oN'Ao ~ o'NblhlhE "
the break in Chicago. A difference OF a
minute will often save or lose a shipper a
considerable sum. Another thing which in
fuences the market is the condition of pro
visions. When the provision market ad-
vances hogs usually respond, and when il
goes down buyers use that to bear the mar
ket.
The most noticeable feature Of the entire
market is the confidence which buyers and
sellers have In each others integrity. Hogs
at present prices run into money at a rapid
rate, but in spite of that fact there is no
written statement between buyers and SELL
ers as to the basis on which the transac-
tion is made. A man may sell twenty-five
loads in one string, with nothing but a
verbal understanding as to the price. AL
though over 1000, 900 hogs arc sold that way
every year, representing many millions Of
dollars, there is practically never a dispute
as to what price was agreed upon.
Before the hogs are turned over to the
packers the government takes a hand. The
hogs are weighed upon stock scales which
are large enough to hold a carload at a
time. The stock yards company does the
weighing, as IL is a disinterested party,
or, in other words, act as arbitrator
between the buyers and sellers and thus
does away with any possibility of either side
uetrauulhg on weights BEFORE the hoBs go
onto the scales they are inspected by a
United States inspector. II he finds any
hogs showing the effects of disease he calls
in the government veterinarian, who looks
them over, and II they are diseased he con-
dennis them, places a tag on them and they
are then shot and sold to rendering com
panies, where they are made into grease
and soap. The hogs are again inspected
when they come off from the scales by an
Inspector appointed by the commission men,
by a representative OF the packer who
bought the hogs and also by a representa-
tive of the commission man who sold them.
All the inspectors look not only for sick
hogs, but also for pregnant sows and for
stays. If the SOW is not too far advanced
a dock of forty pounds is made and she is
allowed to pass. II, however, she is too far
advanced she is held in the yards and is