CHAPTER I.MODERN PACKING HOUSES.

Introduction and Growth — Concentration — Early Methods — Yankee Ingenuity — Chicago Yards — Movement Westward — Economic Factors — Saving By-Products — Pioneer’s Troubles — Using Box Cars — Using Refrigerator Cars — Chilling Rooms — Mechanical Refrigeration — Freezing Meats — Overseas Shipments.

—Few industries in the United States have shown such rapid growth as has the packing house business. The modern packing house, as it exists today, may be said to be less than forty years old since its inception. One naturally inquires the causes which led to the growth of this industry to its present proportions in so short a time, ranking practically fifth in importance among the industries of the United States. The main factor which has been instrumental in the consummation of this immense growth isconcentration—coupled with—conservation.

—Concentration permits the manipulation of by-products, creating useful and valuable materials saleable in themselves and tending to reduce the commercial cost of the edible portion of the animal. Conservation in the saving of all parts of the animal to their best uses.

—Before the modern packing house was established the method in vogue was to either ship by car or drive live stock to the point of consumption, where it was slaughtered and put on the market in a crude and expensive way compared with the methods of to-day. In the evolution of the business the first step toward making the modern packing house was the concentration of live stock at a few markets where it was offered for sale. Prior to that time it would havebeen impossible for any one point to obtain sufficient stock to much more than supply its local demands, and surely not enough to supply a modern establishment.

—In the United States during the early days of the live stock market, buyers purchased their supplies where they best could, and shipped them alive to the places where the animals were to be consumed. At this point “Yankee” ingenuity interceded and devised the opposite plan, viz: that of shipping the live stock to a few central points and there changing it to dressed meats, which were shipped to the consuming markets. The development of this plan inaugurated a new line of business now recognized as one of the most important of modern industries—central stock yards and packing house centers.

FIG. 1.—LIVE STOCK GOING TO SCALE, UNION STOCK YARDS, CHICAGO.

—One of the first and largest of these central live stock depots to be established was the Union Stock Yards, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A., where are located the largest slaughter houses.Viewsof these great yards areshown.Fig. 1shows one of the places where live stock is passed to the scales and weighed prior to delivery to the purchaser;Fig. 2, a view of the live stock pens and an alleyway on a busy day;Fig. 3, a view of a pen containing choice yearling cattle, andFig. 4, one containing a bunch of choice Polled-Angus cattle. These views are typical of many markets now established throughout the United States and where the business is conducted upon a parallel basis.

FIG. 2.—A BUSY ALLEY, UNION STOCK YARDS, CHICAGO.

—Many factors and conditions contributed to the possibility of the modern packing plant. The feature of slaughtering the cattle near to the point of growth lessened the shrinkage and abuse of the animal and its resulting food product. There are many of the conditions that might be gone into in detail but which are now of no consequence. However, among the conditions that made the business possible was the fact that on the vast plains of the west, innumerable cattle were being raised at a minimum cost,with but little local sale, whereas in the thickly settled east, in the manufacturing districts, a ready market was found for the beef.

FIG. 3.—PEN CONTAINING CHOICE YEARLING CATTLE.

—Economic conditions make the raising of live stock, in juxtaposition to the production of grain, a fixed fact. And apparently the nearer to the source of supply the animal is slaughtered the less deterioration in the product, animal and meat considered together. The packing business of this country would practically be impossible in older countries that are thickly settled, as the cost of raising live stock would be actually about the same in all parts, and the cost of shipping from one point to another would only add to the original cost. With the lower cost of raising the animal on low value land, the eastern farmer with his high priced land was unable to compete, hence the practice of raising live stock in the west and consuming it in the east; and the concentration of live stock at the large markets, with the improved devices, has made the business a possibility, andthe money and energy expended in adopting the best methods has caused its growth to its present magnitude.

FIG. 4.—PEN CONTAINING CHOICE POLLED-ANGUS CATTLE.

—Another important feature adding to the growth of this industry, is the saving effected by utilizing the by-products. When animals were killed promiscuously throughout the country this was impossible, for a man killing a few at some local point could not save the by-products, consequently they were lost. Neither could the small killer afford the necessary appliances with which to turn the material out economically and compete with business on a large scale, any more than the ancient cobbler sitting at his bench, could afford the labor-saving machines and devices which are seen in modern shoe factories. The general health of the public has been served by having their meats properly inspected and delivered in a much better condition than they could be at the time when the animal was killed and the meat consumed without it being properly chilled. That the meat is delivered to the consumer in a more palatable condition than it was formerly is generally conceded by all. Foreigners who visit this country are invariably impressed with the superior meatswith which they are served, due to the process in chilling, and the age at the time of consumption.

The by-products which are saved in modern plants, which, under the older methods were almost entirely lost, have a good value. Heads and feet, for example, which were ordinarily thrown away, are to-day made up into various products, all of which have a value. The blood, fats and refuse, are turned into commercial commodities, and the saving of these different parts creates a profit in the business, a profit heretofore lost. Further details on this subject will be given in the chapters treating on by-products.

—When the pioneers of the business first broached the idea of killing cattle in Chicago and selling the dressed beef in the east it was considered wholly impracticable, and the people who started the business were looked upon as a “little queer.” There were many bitter experiences, in the way of financial losses before it was accomplished. Shipping perishable products long distances caused the loss of many thousands of dollars before the proper methods were discovered, but the beginners felt they were working along the right lines. Obstacles were overcome and to-day meats are delivered in eastern markets in a far better and a more healthful condition than they were ever offered to the public under the old methods from local abattoirs.

—In the early days of the concentrated cattle markets, fresh meat products were only shipped during the winter months and in a common or what is now known as a “box” car, as differentiated from a “refrigerator” car.

—The next step was the use of ice in the car and from this to the “refrigerator” car. This type of car with the improved dispatch service offered by the railways, made the business of shipping freshly dressed beef to any part of the country feasible.

—Notably and most essential was the development of a chilling department in which the slaughtered animal could be properly chilled. This is now a matter of such common occurrence that but little consideration is given the subject. However, in the days when ice was used, and before the introduction of mechanical refrigeration it was a matter of large consequence.

—Mechanical refrigeration, and this alone, has made it possible to properly cool meats for shipment to remote points as fresh meats, or to properly prepare them for curing, and to preserve them after curing beyond a comparatively limited time. Mechanical refrigeration made possible the equipping of ships for the transportation of meats under refrigeration from any point to any market on the globe.

—The freezing of meats such as beef and poultry, and holding them to a desirable season has rapidly become an important factor in packing house work. Not only beef, poultry, butter and other food products are accumulated, but pork cuts, such as hams, shoulders, bellies, etc., are frozen and carried indefinitely or until it appears desirable to thaw and cure them.

—A contributing feature to the development of the packing house business, was the overseas shipment of meats. In the early part of the decade 1900-1910 a very large business in fresh beef was conducted between the United States and England. At the outset it was considered an impossibility, but by the most careful and detailed attention and the utilization of modern methods, it was found possible to kill cattle or sheep in the hottest months of the year at interior points in the United States, ship the meats in refrigerator cars to the seaboard, transfer into refrigerated rooms on the steamers and thence to England, the meat being sometimes four or five weeks en route from the abattoir where the animal was killed, to the place where the meat finally reached the consumer. Even though the English authorities gave it the most critical examination, it was found in proper state for consumption. In the same manner vast quantities of meat is finding its way from South America to the European markets, most of it shipped “chilled,” not frozen. For a time the United States furnished the largest part of the fresh meat consumed in England. It is true that for many years we have supplied foreign markets with cured and canned meats, but the fresh meat trade in England is a business developed within a comparatively few years and it grew to magnitude. However, owing to our growth, increasing homedemands, and the changed economic conditions, this business dwindled in the last decade so that on beef it was practically gone, except that during the European war owing to prevailing conditions, it was revived for a time at least. The pre-eminence of the United States pork products, however, is everywhere recognized and until new corn producing lands are developed and utilized, the corn and the pig supply for the world will be that part of the United States west of the Alleghany mountains and east of the Rocky mountains.

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