The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-10-05
MODERN METHODS USED ID PREPARE MEATSFORMARKE AT LOCAL PLANT
Visit to Birmingham Packing Co.'s Plant Is Revelation. Transformation From Live
 Animal to Product Ready
 for Market Is Explained
By HENRY B. GRAY. JR.

By HENRY B. GRAY, JH. Most people eat either beef or pork I one form or another; some eat both
 n nearly every known form. But mighty ew people ever stop to think of all that as been done to the particular steer or |. .g that supplied that piece of meat be- ween the time it left the farm and the nfe they bought it at the market. And n even smaller number have ever seen ne of them going through the particu- | IT process that makes the purchase pos .ble, which is probably just as well. 5me features of it might destroy their | we for beef or pork, for the time being i t least.
 | But that isn't the purpose of this story. 1 ather is it to give to the people of Bir- ,neham a definite idea of what one 1ncern in the city is doing to make their calls more tasty and at the same time l encourage among the farmers of this | ate the raising of hogs and cattle on | lrge scale 1 have no hesitation in say | ,g that there are very few people in 1 irmingham, speaking comparatively, 1 ho know that there is a plant here that ot only purchases hundreds of cattle and 1 ogs but which also slaughters them and epares them for the market, that sells Biruin g ham and all over the, country | iousands of pounds of beef, pork, saul | lge. hams, lard and other packing plant roducts every day in the week; con- 1 srn that owns it's refrigerating cars that | arry these products to markets in New 1 ork, Philadelphia and other eastern | oints. I refer to the Birmingham Pack le company whose plant is located in | .orth Birmingham.
 ! VISIT TO PLANT
 1 A visit to the plant would be worth 1 lfyone's time; it would give him an ldea ! f just what care is exercised in prepar- | lg meats for his table, of the precau- l ons taken by the concern and the gov- l rnment to see that he secures only the l est and purest meats; he would learn 1 he amount of labor, mostly hand, that IS 1 ecessary in the process; and the size l nd complexity of the plant, indicative l the capital invested, would help him l nderstand that there are few other l "a sons for the high cost of meats than l ne fact that a so-called meat trust 1 <ists. Incidentally the Birmingham l .acking company is not part of the | rust.
 1 The handling of cattle and hogs differs l I detail, though in both cases they start ! ith a live animal and finish with the | roduct as you find it in the markets. | cts go to the beef department first, ot because that is our fayorite meat, ut because you come to that part Of the l ,tablishment first. In this room you ill find about dozen men, all wearing hte aprons, in most of whose hands is | long knife. Suspended from the ceil- 1 1g is an iron track that winds cir | .uitous path about the room, on one end ! which hang 25 or 90 chains attached wheels. Near these, upon platform, another man similarly dressed, but | ho has a sledge hammer instead Of a 1 ,nife The stage. is now set for the play
 BEEF DEPARTMENT
 1 A door opens and a steer is driven I'D an incline under the man with inc | hammer The hammer falls aud
 ;trikes the steer between the eyes, with ] he result that it rolls down a chute | n the direction of the hanging chains. l Here it is suspended by the right hind l leg and started on journey along the | rail that ends in the refrigeraling room Every person it passes does something. The first man thrusts a knife into the cows throat to let cut all the blood; the next removes the
 head and turns it over to the govern ment inspector. who makes certain | that the animal was in no way dis l sased In turn hoofs. entrails and hide are removed and the remaining part l ehoroughly washed and cleaned before | going into the refrigerator I. The op-
 erations are swift but epmplte. From | start to finish little time elapses, hardly five minutes. and these dozen men can kill and dress 150 head ot 1 attle a day From the first blow of the hammer the work is continu-
 ous and as fast as a man finishes his
 ,peration on the first steer another iS
 ready and waiting.
 At the same time it is remarkably
 orderly and clean. Little blood is seen
 every care is taken that nothing in | sanitary is done. Three government inspectors are in the plant at all times
 and not a piece of meat. beef or pork
 goes into the refrigerating rooms be-
 fore they have put their stamp on It.
 If anything at all suspicious is seen l on any animal 1t is sidetracked to an l inspecting rooS1. where the inspectors hold an autopsy and decide whether oI
 not it should be condemned.
 HOG DEPARTMENT
 Hog killing sand dressing is little ] different. The live hog is hung UT by his hind legs and stuck with g knife while, still living. As soon as
 the blood has drained out it Is
 drorf5ed into cauldron of steamine
 water. from which it is lifted into 3 machine that beats and scrapes off al
 the hair and the noofs. From this
 point the procedure is much the same
 as in the beef department; each mar
 in the room does his particular jot and in short order the dressed hog is
 in the chilling room. each par stamped with government stamp. l Speaking generally, a steer furnishe only beef; a pig. the other hand produces articles that go under many different names-pork. ham, bacon
 sausage and lard The Birmingham
 Packing company supplies all of these As soon as the whole hog is chilled it goes to a cutting room. where it is Ldivided into different parts, to b,
 properly cured for bacon. hams ant the other products, The belly furnishe, bacon and there are all the necessar, facilities for curing it. The hams arr smoked And cured right in the pian and carefully wrapped while still 1T 1 the smoke room to make them skip per proof" the skipper being sYnal flv that lights on them and causes impurities.
 Every article that comes out of tn, plant, in fact. is properly wrapped ant hacked to insure it reaching the pur. chaser in perfect condition. Wherever operations are performed on differen floors there is a gravity system of han ding the various parts so that little la
 bor is involved and no time lost. Moth | ing is overlooked in the entire plant tha increases efficiency. and there is no los motion. Working at capacity it is capa
 ble of killing and dressing more than 12O hogs a day those in addition to the 15 cattle meIit'rnAa above