The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-04-05
DIR. HATCHER
inst. JOE.
Eminent Minister Writes TO-
The Tlmes.Dlspatch.
IMoSTlNTERESTlN LETTER E + |:
"A Description of5the Prosperous and
HustIing Missouri CltY----IWAiorkk II 8
the Vast Packing Establish.
ments Witnessed. 8
By Rev, w. u. Hatcher, D. D.

lN (By key, Nv
AZ The Times Dispatch has loyalty To-
lowed me to this olty and rendered q
daily report as to tho movement OF
events In the Old Dominion. feol that,
common gratitude exnots from mo some
recognition Of this Kindness. It may EN-
;phnsize my need Of news from Virginia,
and also clip the plume Of Virginia
conceit for me to say that during the
ten days Of my stay In this town 7 have
scanned the columns Of the several local
papers with as.panstaking eye, and yet
during the entire time I have never seen
the name OF Virginia mentioned.
% or course, Virglninns will beishockez
rather than Inundated by tho fact that
her descendants apparently fail to, hold
her Iii grateful remembrance. but wfel,
T recall how little I knew Of this brisk
and audaclous city, and mark the rush,
and enterprise Of Its population cannot
be censoriousS even In the face Of the
fnot that st. Joseph has apparently for
gotten Virginia. NJ I.
81 ST. JOSEPH DESCRIBED.
st. Joseph has things which are we'll
suited to interest tho Virginia people.
n Uo City 10, lIlo lllIu III pOpNIdllOu LILO
State Of Missouri. 1t has something over
one hundred thousand inhabitants, being
a fraction larger than Richmond, but It
has spread ltself--a Western character
5istic-over at least twice as much terri
tory as Richmond and Manchester to-
gether occupy. 1t is evidently passing
from tho ruggedness and transiency Of
a rapidly built town Into tho dignity.
beauty and permanency Of a city.
& It stands on tho Missouri River and
those who have Il desire to see Kansas
without getting mixed up with that once
signally ,lnoved country, have only to
como to St. Joseph, look over the river
and there Ia Kansas. is said that st.
Joseph was for a long time the outpost
of civilization and the gateway, to the
greater West. Here the adventurous and
restless people of the East came in great
numbers and gazed with mingled desper-
alton and hope into the unmapped and
5untraveled regions beyond, and after
picking up n scant equipment plunged
%head-long into the wilds to find a for
tune or grave. except In cases whore
they died without either. Even to this
day st. Joe seems to be the place. which
in the minds Of many, marks at once
the portal and the market OF the real
West XII 5,5
She cannot cope In all respects with
her rival. Kansas City, which Is about
sixty miles southwark on the Missouri
border But + have looked upon whole-
sale houses hero, which are said to do
from five to eight million dollars OF
Wholesale business every year, and st.
Joseph Is becoming a market tor the I'VE
stock Of q largo part OF the 8M1ddlo west
LIVE STOCK TRADE.
1t is only within few years that the
1.-Two stock trade OF this city has taken,
z,,,,, foryo 5o1 ,la -DronOrtiOnS and the
growth seems really Just to have begun.
It will give the readers some idea Of the
extent Of the packing business IN thls
CITY. If It is remembered that during the
year 1902 tho receipts Of stock at ~.
Joseph were as follows: Cattle, 6l7,4ls
hogs. !, Go7 754; sheep, 661,954, and horses
and mules, 20,l27. Excepting the horses
n nd m,1les the bulk Of this stock Is killed
and Dut UP by the packing houses here.
nut small portions Of 1t are purchased
Nv Kansas City and other markets. The
horses and mules are mainly Tor inc
foreign trade, mainlYs for South Africa
The packing establAhments IN TINS CITY
arc regarded as among the 'lnest m ~ -.
country; the Stock Exchange being an
exccedinEly handsome building. and It is
said that In point OF equipment and adap-
tation It surpasses by far any in the
country. G.4 ti4E KY 5
Il was my trying experience to be con-
Quoted through one Of these vast death7'
compelling, blood-spurting, mnl-odorous,
interminablc Instructive and thoroughly
managed packing establishments Ihey
mex everything from a pigeon to a.
steer. and the organization OF the work Is
so complete that 1t is but mn easy pas
sage for the bird or beast from the pens.
by way of Its death to tho refrigerator
car which Is to take It forth to minis-3
ter to tho carnlverous eXactlons Of the,
remorseless man. @
SIXTY ACRES IN EXTENT.
AS went to the buildlngfI passed by
tho hog-pen. which was said to DO about;
sixty acres In extent. we'll supplied with
fore doomed swine, whose dismal squeals
and wretched grunts seemed pl ophetio OF
their Impending doom. There WAS 4 a
melancholy strain in their ceaseless roars
Of discomfort,
Some Of the readers do not know
perhaps. that tho killing of the cattle
In tho beef department Is done BY q
sort Of an enlarged hammer fastened on
an elongated handle, and used by q stall
wArt youth, mighty In muscle quick IN
action and unfaling In aim. Tho cattle
are betrayed into n long planked passage
by tho reluctant craft of an educated
steer which Is unfairly called Judas Un-
der his leadership the fat and cheerful
victims string UP into this passage and
are divided off by self-adjustng doors
into compartments, If they re reluot-
ant to enter this lane Of death. they ara
piled with an electric goad. which settles
all mutinies and hastens them along the
fatal way. At tho side OF this lane there
! Is a somewhat elevated bench on which
the executioner moves back and forth,
dc comes to a compartment In which
perhaps are three fat good-natured. un-
suspicious steers, and they look up to
him In friendly way as to a protector,
| but suddenly the deadly weapon circles
through tho air, and lands In the center
of tho skull of one OF the victims. Tho
instantaneous effect Is tho paralysis OF
death, and In three seconds after d.oYyr
comes the crashing hammer again. and
down goes another victim. This continues
until all In that compartment are Killed,
being at the rate of about one In every
three seconds. When they are all down
Ia side door flies up and the nuyering
monsters roll out into the dressing de-
partment In thirty seconds the death
CULVER Is over.
WORK OF PREPARATION.
In a very little while those animals, al
ready dead, are caught up and swung In
to the air by their hind feet. One mar
comes along, opens the heart. and ou
/ comes torrent of blood; another be-