The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1906-07-12
Thru PackingtOWn.

IHru FdCMnylOWn.
Paper Read Before the Cha,tauQua Circle.
"HE packing house which l will
attempt to describe in this
paper is one of the largest
pork-packing plants in the
Union Stock Yards; aud in some re-
spects it is like this prison. 1t is sur
rounded bya high, board fence, and
there are special policemen stationed
at the gates. During working hours
any employee may pass out at the
gate, but be will not be allowed to re-
enter without special permit, and no
intoxicated person will be allowed in
side the enclosure at any time.
Visitors are ushered thru thevarious
departments by policeman, and if.
there are no ladies in the party, the
first place he takes you is to the shack
ling pens on the killing floor. Here
Two men are employed shackling the
hogs A shsckle consists of chain
about foot long, with bracelet OF,
one end and hook or clamp on the
other. After the shackie is placed on
the hind leg of porker he is hoisted
up by steam derrick, and hooked on
to what is called the sticking bar
This bar slopes towards the scalding
vat, and as the pig slides down this
toboggan, man, who is called the
sticker, plunges knife into it's throat.
There are generally two stickers en-
ployed and you can imagine how fast
they work when as many as one thou
sand hogs are killed in an hour.
The porker drops from this sticking
bar into the scalding vat. Here five or
six men, including the boss scalder, are
employed; and when a pig is thor
oughIy scslded, hook is placed in its
upper jaw and it Is then hauled up
thru a scraping machine. After it
leaves this machine it passes on down
bench where one man cuts its head
off while another cuts a slit in its hind
legs, into which is placed gambrel
stick with pulley in the center. 1t is
then hoisted to sliding rail and
passes to the cutters. From the gut
tiers it passes into the hands of the
"barbers," where it gets shower bath
and is cleanly shaved. From the
BARRIERS it goes to the hanging-up floor
where man who is called the marker
slits it down the back with knife
Other men, armed with huge cleavers
follow in the wake of the marker and
chop it into halves. From the hang
ing-up floor it passes into the chilling
room where it remains for at least
twelve hours.
After the hogs are chilled, or rather
frozen, they are loaded on trucks and
hauled into the cutting-up room
where they are converted into hams
shoulders, side meat, and spare ribs
The scraps from the cutting-up room
are conveyed in trucks to depart
ment where only girls are employed
This room is presided over by lady
foreman. and each girl is armed with
a butcherknife and steel. Their worl
consists in separating the lean meal
from the fat. The lean meat goes tt
the sausage room, and the fat il
tanked and rendered into lard. These
tanks are upright boilers, and wher
they are filed, the manhole or lid il
adjusted and then the steam is turned
on.
Now, it is into one of these tanks
that Mr.. Sinclair says an employee fel
and was converted into butterine; bu1
on being asked where he got the story
this lightweight muck raker says il
was told to him by woman, who go'
it from another woman whose husband
got it from saloonkeeper. Now, tht
truth of the matter is, that it would bt
Impossible for even common house
fly to fall into one of those tanks
Just think of boiling lard in an oper
tankl Why, two-thirds of the steam
would be wasted, and the packers ART
not wasting any steam, or for tina
matter, anything else.