New-York tribune., 1905-03-04

industry mileage is a very liberal one apnroxi-
mate computations indicating net of from
"a per cent to about II per Reckoning On the
oasis OF dressed beef transported however thia
pront would add little to the cost of such beef 70
the consumer, the net profit from the mileage OF
private cars being computed a more than four
cents a hundred pounds of beef or, say g cents a
head Of cattle. The report continues:
The statement already made that the six large
8 ner @ s.a qghtsred In 1903 only about
indicates clearly the existence Of active com5etI
Ion T6 9g osheT concerns at least In many places.
!2rge number Of small slaughterng establishments
centres. the proportion controlled by the six cong
panies mentioned is much greater.
CONTROL OF TRADE IN BIG CITIES.
For instance. the six principal concerns slaughter
nearly IS per cent Of all the cattle killed in the eight
leading Western packing centres, namely. Chicago.
Kansas City, South Omaha East St Louis South
st. Joseph. Fort Worth Sioux City and South 81
Paul In the same way they control a large per
centage Of the trade in beef in manv large cittes
particularly in the East. In New-York they fur
hsh about 70 per cent in Boston. more than IS per
cent; in rAiladelpha about 60 per cent; in Pitts
ourg more than SO per cent; in Providence more
than 50 per cent in Baltimore about so per cent and
IN number Of other important cities their propor-
uoo ranges from 50 30 per cent of the total beef
supplied. In smaller cities and towns in most sec
uons OF the country. the other hand and even
IN large cities in sections their operations ara
relatively much less important
TOT instance, such cities Buffalo Cleveland
cincinnati and Indianapolis obtain only from 10 70
10 per cent Of their total beef supply from these
SIX companies. In the Southern States the large
packers mentioned generally suppIv less than baIs
He total beef consumed the larger cities and in
ule smaller cities and towns OF this section the
PtOPOrIon Is generally less than one-fourth. The
SIX companies mentioned are almost the only con-
Germs conducting operations over an extended area
s-aUshperlng cattle in the great Western markets
@i4o transporting the product eastward for con-
uInt'lloh Except for the beef supplied by them,
nearly al is slaughtered by local concerns.
Ii order TO make certain OF the accuracy Of ths
results the Bureau Of Corporations adopted a
oouo4e method Of ascertaining the profits II first
compiled from the detailed records Of packing COM
psnles exact figures Of the quantities costs and
sa4es OF cattle and all products derived from them
ana from these elements computed the profit Of
each OF the packers separately and of all together
ms computation was confined TO the Armour
SWlrt and SchWarzschild & Sulzberger companies
1hen the figures thus Independently reached were
compared directly with the bookkeeping profits
shown by the financial statements of the compa-
MES Following is the result Of the computation
made by the agents Of the bureau from the de-
tailed statistics mentioned
PROFIT ONLY so CENTS A HEAD.
During the year from July 1902 to June. 1903,
these packers slaughtered. at the selected plants
esf eaSfe vas y 1oSz pounds and the astga1 average
uon al the packing plants averaged 81 80 per head,
beef derived from these cattle was equal to 55sS
per cent Of the I've weight, or 60s pounds per head
s{,, per h9R9dlFsdyEsg6S " sss Per head Ths
nnsao neao making the total proceeds sol S per head
ms showed an average profit OF 80 cents per head,
or Ii cents per hundredwe4ght Of dressed beef
For the year from July 1903, to June 1901 the
computation covered 2oi3,e58 cattle. The average
M 5 aaa snS Sd 5as es oG5 fS
5otaL COST ,incudlns kiillpg etc being $4s 1s The
e head. The average dressed weight being G2s
pounds The net value OF by-products was 80 Is a
preceding year. The total proceeds Of the beef
OF g cents a head equal to 125 oants a hIInared
weight Of dressed beef.
On account Of certain i1nperfections in the de-
tailed records from which the above computations
were made, IT to bo expected that they
would show precisely the same results as the book
keeping accounts Of the companies for the de-
partments concerned It was found that for the
year from July. 19O3 June, 1904 the bookkeeping
profit Of The three companies named, for the same
plants as were covered by the detailed computa-
tons in each somewhat exceeded the COM
puted profits. The greatest difference 30 cents
e head The true weighted average of the book
keeping profits Of the three companies for the
twelve months named 80 cents head, or II
cents higher than the computed profit.
In addition TO the average profits just indicated
are the further profits arising from elaboration
OF by-products beyond the first marketable stage
ana from car mileage, Whnch, as already stated
may together add not more than So cents a head
TO the average profit of 80 cents just given The
additional profit derived from celebrating minor
by-products is and above their value as raw
material which Is already included in the profits
Of TIE beef business
PRIVATE CAR LINE EARNINGS LARGE.
The great packing ESTABLISH shnlents have nurner-
Gus auxiliary departments. some of which vir-
tually distinct industries, not strictly belonging
10 the packing business. The profit on private
refrigerator is that derived from the mileage
paid by the railroads. which. roughly speaking.
averages slightly than three-fourths Of q
cent mile for mile travelled by refrigerator
cars. whether loaded or empty. The average dis
tance TO which beef is transported from the pack
ing house before consumption does exceed 500
miles. The gross mileage received by the owner
Of the refrigerator would therefore be roughly
81 round trip
Estimating that car Of dressed beef weighs
not less than 10000 pounds the gross mileage re-
ceipts would not exceed six cents hundred pounds
OF beef OF these gross mileage receipts fully
third is absorbed in the OF maintaining equip
ment, including allowance for depreciation thus
leaving not more than four cents per hundred
pounds OF dressed beef as the net return derived
from the ownership OF private cars handling that
product. This is equivalent about twenty-five
cents head OF cattle
The statistics Of margins between prices Of cat
lie and prices Of beef since 1888 are shown on
basis Of the live Of all cattle at four plants
in different packing centres compared with the
average price Of beef sold by a leading packer in
nine important cities On this point the report
says:
Januery lsss to June 1so4 . was S2s2: the lowest
and the highest margin was in the last haIT ~
1902 namely 50 %. The margin in the last haIf OF
lS02. instead Of being exceptionally high was be-
irgr