El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-12-01

7 over is a section filled entirely with
sheep, where thousands OF roolIv
creatures are bleatinE and baafng.
and Just here at our feet is an army
/ OF tat porkers, some gruntiug con
tentedly and others squealing like
mad.
Notice the pens, Each has a trough
Ior water and another for food.
There are hundreds OF such troughss
and many miles Of drainage and water
from artesian wells driven 1900 feet
down into the ground. far below the
level OF Lake Michigan, and the food
is the best that can be procured
See the railroad tracks which ex-
1 tend out on each side. There are hun
dreds OF miles OF them in and about
the stockyards, and long trains come
in and 90 out every hour of the day.
bringing in new animals and CARRYING
away IN their refrigerator cars the
( beef and other packed products for
the mar kets or our country and for
transshipment to France.
Buying and Selling Millions of Cattle
There are high buildings RISING out
OF the labyrinth Of pens They form
the exchange where the stockmen
and packers come 20 buy and sell
these four footed citizens. These men
handle tens of millions Of hogs. cat
tie and sheep every year. The ami
mails in the pens are changed daily.
Those that we see moving about be
low US viii be dead by this time to-
morrow. and another horde viii have
taken their places The daily bust
ness Of the stockyards amounts to
more than l,900.0 600 and l am Told
that $4,000 hogs. 1000 sheep and 5000
calves have been handled here in %
hours.
I went through the city Of animals
in the morning when the selling was
a { its height The streets were filled
with cattle, hogs and sheep driven by
men from one place to another. Some
Of the drovers were on horseback and
some on foot. They yelled at the
beasts and cracked their great whips
The agents of the big packing houses
were moving about looking at the
stock, they seemed TO buy at a glance
and the sellers jOtted down the pur-
chases in their notebooks
When the selling hours are over the
animals are weighed and then driven
off TO be slaughtered. They are care
fully inspected at every stage in their
journey. AS soon as they leave the
cars they are examined Tor hOOf and
mouth disease The cattle are tested
for tuberculosis and tick, the hogs ex-
and the sheep for tick and scabies-
These inspections are made by repre-
sentarives Of the government. and all
suspected animals are tagged and sold
IL lower prices Great care IS taken
to prevent the spread OF any infection
and the pens are kept thoroughly
clean by an excellent system OF drain
age
One Blow on Head Kills.
I walked about through the pens
and watched them drive the cattle
up the inclined roadway 70 the upper
stories Of the slaughter house. where
the killing takes place As they come
UP they are iuclosed in a pen 4
platform runs around this and upon 1t
stands d bare armed man holding
long handled hammer. Only few
animals are let in at a time, but the
pen is so small that they are jammed
close together. The man strikes them
on the head. one by one. a single Sow
with his hammer killing then IN
stantly- As the cattle fall the floor
OF the pen drops q little. and they
roll out onto the cement pavement be
low, the floor sliding hack into place
for the slaughter Of othe~s-
Each OF the dead suinalE Sc nov
hooked by the hind legs 20 n pulley
and raised. head downward 90 a wheel
which runs on a track overhead In
this way Il is carried through the
other departments of the factory. As
il goes on past man after man each
does something - tit The carcass for
beef One butcher cuts the throat to
let out the blood which must be used
to make fertilizer: others clean the