The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-04-08

wv butcher IN one OF the largest con-
Germs Of the sort In tho world, ever,
Il at that tr1e--1Ss2 But all the big
packing companies were small then ms COM
pared with what they are now, and this par
ticular establishment was In its infancy.
had great ambitions IN those days. I was
determined TO become full fledged I" COW
skinner. at whatever cost, and by dint OF
hard work ana close attention to my duties
regardless Of seemingly insurnountnble OBJ.
stacles, not to mention my withdrawal from
the Can Ruslors' union, 1 finally succeeded.
But certainly had to work hard. I boz
came weary and heart slok. and It dnwncd
upon me that the COW sklnnng business was
not what II promised. Tho general supcrin-
tendent gave me an artistic folly, however,
and as was young and foolish then I boz
lleved everything they told me; and In time 1
became reconcied to my Job. My boss was
kind. considerate, and patient. and encour-
aged me In many ways. and 1t was not long
before was on q par>wlth my fellow skin
nerg.
Thus remained for about eight years.
After became acquainted with my work it.
was so easy It seemed like shame TO take
the money. fi.88
In 1900 tho general foreman told me thatI
was next on the list for foreman. I I'm
mediately began to see visions OF white shirts
and collars, as we'll us " hitc froclss. n Butt
felt that T was scarcely ca pabe OF filling the
Job, and told the nernl foreman so. i.
Horse Sense and Experience.
+; g You have horse sense and have had ex-
perience, and that will be all you need" he
said.
took the position and was rapidly promot-
al hao ipo In - for,y TIC hn
foreman OF the beef cutting floor. While
there an incident occurred worth recordings:
A certain dealer In ribs and loins purchased
twenty No. 8 ribs and tagged them with
cards bearing his name. Nearby was NUM-.
Der OF No. 9 Ribs. was ca lied away immedi-
ately after the sale was made. but soon re-
turned to give some orders as to the dlsposl-
ton OF those No. 3 ribs. when my attention
was attracted BY seeing tags on the No. 2
ribs. Knowing there was no sale for "twos.
Investigated, and found this business mans
tags on stun that he never bought. mme-
dlately- called up the nuperintcndenta and noti-
fed him OF my discovery. Had this business
man been successful in getting away With
those Nor ribs II would have meant a con. y
siderable loss to the, company, as the value
OF the "twos /" was about 9 cents more per
Mound than threes" The result was that
this interruptions business man was forever.
barred from purchasing any; anything from the
company again.
Z II remained in t his department about! q year
and a half, and worked faithfully early ana Z
late. MY salary was raised three times, ana
In 1903 ! was again promoted. becoming Az
sstant general foreman Of the killing oc-$
partment.
The work was hard and advancement SLOW
but was content as saw ahead OF me ne
the certainty OF eventual release from me
Strengthening department. which did not
Cot Another Promotion.
IN February. 1904, was promoted TO the
general foremanship Of the killing depart
ment, which included cattle. sheep. and hogs,
OF their East st. Louis plant. AS was down
there prior to my appointment knew "hal
I was UP against. accepted the appoint
ment with tho same cheerfulness with when
a criminal accepts his sentence when he ID
going to be hanged. went, determined 70
do or die, and came near doing the satter.
On arriving on the killing floor took IN
the situation at a glance. The nrst tn1ng
that met my observation was q tail, rangy
looking Missourian "try!ng = to skin out a
hind leg with a formidable looking table
knife. Approaching the foreman asked
him how he was = hooked up" He replied.
/" Tol' q ble." Getting into conversation
with him found his experience In a packing
house was limited. In answer TO the ques-
ton as to how much experience he had he
replied: 4" We'll, alnt much on beef, but
father and used to turn out from eighteen
TO twenty hogs a week during the fall down
In our neighborhood'
The butchers were mostly OF the boxcar
fraternity. It appeared to me that the
/" laborers ware afflicted with all the all
ments that man Is heir to. There was the
la me- the halt. the blind, and the dumb were
quite prominent also. And there were Q