The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1919-07-19

learn will be well worth the trouble
of making the trip. The plant is a
credit as we'll as valuable asset to
Moscow, to Latah county and the
Panhandle of Idaho.
To the average man or woman of
Moscow who is accustomed to buying
meat at the Cold Storage Market of
Hagan & Cushing, that seems pretty
big affair, for it is one of the largest
and best arranged retail meat markets
in the Inland Empiree. But the plant
is the smallest part of the big firms
business. The great packing plant
just west Of town, is so large that one
could easily spend day there and
not tire of seeing the great work that
/ is goin on and the number of men en-
ployed, the splendid equipment and
the extent of the big plant in general.
The writer visited the plant recently
and spent quarter of a day there
and that was not long enough to go
through it thoroughly. The yards are
extensive and well arranged. A long
side track takes cars to the plafft to
unload stock or be loaded with packing
house products. Just now the side
track is being used by the city for
hauling its sewer pipe, sand, gravel
and cement to the sewer extension and
it is safe to say that the use of this
side track saves the city $1,000 in
drayage for the side track runs almost
to the center of the sewer work. The
sewer extension runs right in front
of the largest building of the plant
and directly through the big barn.
When the writer visited the plant
carload of gravel and a carload of
sewer pipe stood on the side track
partly unloaded, the material being
used for the sewer.
But it was of the packing plant, not
the sewer, we wished to tell. A force
of men were killing a lot of cattle, 81
head bought near Genesee, and al
though it was only o'clock, 25 head
had been killed and hung in the cool
ing room that morning. The plant
has capacity of so cattle and 200
hogs per day. In another cooling
room were 150 hogs that had been
killed the previous day and they were
cooled. The hogs hang in
the cooling room 48 hours before being
cut up and made into hams, bacon,
and lard. Hogs are worth
from 20 to 21 cents per pound live
weight, and $50 hogs means lot of
money as does 32 head of cattle, for
those being killed when the writer
was at the plant, had averaged about
500 per head.
Employees Eighteen Men
The plant employees 18 men now and
during the rush season the number is
larger. This means 18 families, 18
homes, added to Moscow by this plant
alone, and the pay roll to these men
to snug sum every month.
It is nearly all spent in Moscow, for
The men make their homes here and
are citizens of the town. After the
sewer is extended so that people can
i've in that end of town, it is likely
hat a number of new homes will be
3uilt close to the packing plant for
he employees. The newly organized
building and loan association will
.ome in handy there.
A Fortune in Pork
After being cut up into the proper
hapes, the hams, bacon and shoulders
re put down in pickle. Great watts,
ach holding 1900 pounds of pork are
lsed for this. In the cool rooms
where these watts are kept the tenn
ratpure is maintained at a low
egree, but not freezing These
ooms contain 300 of the big vats.
ust multiply 1900 pounds by 300
nd multiply that by 35 cents 4
ound, the average value of the
ickled pork, and you get some idea
f the amount of money tied up in {
ork. 1t takes 80 days to get hams,
aeon and shoulders ready for the
larket, but lard can be sold the next {
ay after it is made and much of it {
J sold within few days after being
lade for there is a shortage of lard
Lard is now retailing i
AZ cents pound, but you don't $
ct a pound for AZ cents. A five t
ound standard lard bucket contains I
bout A ID pounds of lard. The q
,arcity of lard is due to the demand +
Or small hams and shoulders and L
ght bacon. Consequently hogs
eighing 200 pounds are the favor
e with packers and bring two cents a
pound more than the hog weighing a
20 pounds. But the big hams sell Y
n from two to five cents pound