The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1919-02-24
American Packers Fed AL
lies by Organizing on a
War Footing to Ship
Meats
Swift & Co. Issue 1919 Year
Book Telling of the Gigantic
Task Undertaken to Win
War

A new idea OF the great part played
by America in feeding the allied
forcs in Europe is given in the 1919
Year Book of Swift & Company,
which has just been issued.
In 1918 these products shipped
abroad totaled 5oO359,769 pounds
more than three times the amount
shipped in 1914, the first year of the
war. The pork product shipments
totaled 16ol ,454,529 pounds as against
| o21 .o13029 in 19l4-on increase OF 50
per cent.
During the year ending November
l, 1918, Swift & Company alons ship
ped 760,0O000O pounds of meat and
meat products to the American army
and nevy at home and abroad and to
1.-THE allied notions for their armies
and civilian populations. The Year
Book says: "This amounts to about
250O0 carloads of meat, which would
make single train 200 miles long"
Same of the difficulties encounter
ed in shipping are shown in the fol-
lowing:
"The meat for Europe has gone in
fleets of vessels under convoy, and
the Food Administration has often
been unable to know very far in ad-
vance when cargo space would be
available. For this reason Swift &
Company has frequently been noti-
fled that certain number of mil
lions of pounds would be wanted at
certain port within a few days.
Swift & Company has often had ship
ments on the way to the seaboard
within a few hours after the orders
have been received, and believes that
it has met with signal success in the
filling of such orders.
"The packing industry was able to
adapt itself to wartime demands per-
haps more quickly than any other in
dustry: If this industry had not or
ganized on large scale along nation
al, and even international lines. it
would never have been able to an
swer all demands as promptly as it
has. War demands have, of course,
caused many changes in methods and
have made it necessary for us to in
crease our facilities in many respects
For example, when the United
States entered the war, there devel..
oped demand for canned bacon for
shipment to our soldiers overseas
Swift & Company Immediately took
over semi-completed soap factory
and within thirty days had installed
the necessary machinery and was fill
ing Government contracts. More
than million pounds of bacon have
often been canned in this factory.
This means that our soldiers have
been getting fine, cured, smoked ba.
con, whereas the Allies have been de-
naanding only salt, unsmoked bacon,
which does not have to be canned.
Another example showing the CO.
operation that we have offered the
Government was when the Govern
ment found it necessary to have large
quantities of butter, which it had
bought for overseas shipment, put in.
to cans. Swift & Company alone
among the big butter handlers of the
country, was willing to install the
necessary equipment, and in the
course of three weeks, under the most
unfavorable circumstances, began
canning butter for the Government.
Up to the time this Year Book goes
to press, we have put up some three
million pounds Of butter owned by
the Government AMI also two million
pounds which we have gathered for
the Government, making a total of
five million pounds of butter that
have been put up in tins"