The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1906-06-08
KINGS OF MEAT
PACKING INDUSTRY
AND HOW THEY MADE THEIR
MILLIONS.

The recent development in the
meat packing industries and the hor-
rible disclosures made of the condi-
lions in the factories in Chicago have
created a profound impression all over
the country, and have aroused the
president and the congress to a sense
of their duty to the American people.
The commission appointed by the pres
ident to visit Chicago and investigate
the plants found full justification for
all the things that have been written,
and even so ardent a supporter as
Speaker Cannon, we are told in the
New York Times, the man whom the
packers relied upon to stall all mimi
cal legislation, has been turned into
one of the most radical and rampant
advocates of the bill, and will use all
the monumental power of the speak
ership to rush it through. This was
accomplished by the simple method of
turning Charles P. Neill loose on Can
non and letting him set forth the hor-
rors of the meat industry as he saw
them.
What The Commission Found.
Though no memoranda were made
the New York Times is in a position
to say that the findings of the pres
ident's commissioners are in sub
stance as follows: They say that
lard is manufactured from hogs which
die of cholera; that the meat inspec-
tors are incompetent and overworked;
that sanitary conditions prevailing at
| the packing house are revolving; that
the packers use preservatives, and
that meat is sold to Americans which
is deemed unfit for expectation to
Europe. The commissions remedy
for all this is publicity.
The commission investigated the
plants of Armour & Co., Nelson Nor
ris & Co., Swift & Co., Schwartzchild
& Sulbefger, the Hammond company
the Cudahy company, the Standard
Strengthening company and numerous
other concerns of more or less impor-
lance.
Who They are And How They Made 1t.
So conservative a paper as the Phil
adelphia Inquirer prints the follow
ing:
The Armour plant-One of the most
widely known in the business, estab
lished by Philip d. Armour, who be-
gan business life as a cattle dealer
and by hard work and remarkable
physical endurance built up what
really was the pioneer in the packing
industry At the time of his death !
he was estimated to be worth from
s5O,0O0,OO0 to S7O,000OO0, but his es-
tate was appraised at $15,000,OOO. |
There is no doubt, however, but that
the elder Armour accumulated $780, |
900, 900 in the business now conducted |
by his son, ]. o. Armour
The Swift plant-founded by Gus !
tavus Swift, a down-east butcher and |
breeder. He and his youngest broth
err, E. c.. Swift, in 1874, improved on
the Morris frozen meat scheme. They |
then went into the business of killing
and selling rapidly accumulated great
fortunes. All the members of the |
firm were indicted by federal grand I
fa, int mi
acy in restraint of trade with Nelson
Morris & Co. The fortune of the
Swifts are estimated at between $40,-
OOO. 900 and $5O,O00,0OO.
The Nelson Morris plant-establish
ed by Nelson Norris, who was drover
when he arrived in Chicago. He hired
out to cattle buyers and took care of
their droves His first stroke of bus
mess was the buying of broken down
and diseased cattle. This laid the
of his fortune. He became 4
associated with the Armours, Swifts
and Allertons, but afterward carried
on an Independent business until he
went into the beef trust with his form
er associates. The wealth of the Nor
rises is estimted at $30,O00.000.
Continuing that paper says: From
unfit material many of their millions
were earned.
From "Potted Chicken" made of I'M {
fit veal without a shred of chicken {
100000
From lard rendered from diseased
hogs and adulterated with 20 per cent. I
Of cottonseed oil-$5, 100000. |
From Canned Roast Beef" made of
lyed udders of cows, and from pot
ed ham and deviledham" made from
outlets of beef ground up with potato '
,kins-S20, 100000 S
From Skinned Hams" made of the |