PREPARING AMERICAN BEEF FOR THE BRITISH MARKET.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1686, 26 April 1883, Page 4

PREPARING A M ERICA N BEEF FOR THE BRITISH MARKET.

That the business of the Chicago stock yauls ia annually increasing — and that at mi astonishing late — is shown by the report of last year's tiansactious, which gives the receipt ot cattle for the year as 1.10,000 head over and above those ot ISSO. The heart of the stock yaid is the K\ohange Building, in which many of the large dealers have offices, and whcio nearly all business is transacted. During the attcrnoon, the purchases of the moming at c (diven into pens connected with the abattoirs, wheie they arc fed, watciod, and allowed to rest. This is done in oulor to quiet them, and cool them thoroughly before killing. When it it. decided that they have attained the proper temperature and composure, they nrediiven, a few at a time, up a gently inclined plane that loads into a narrow passage. Fiom this passage small pens, each intended for the accommodation of but a single animal, open by doors that aic of the same .size as the passage. Having entered one of these tiaps, of which the door has closed behind hnu, tlio steer must stand motionless, as he has no loom in which to mo\e in any direction. The cattle are ' handled ' into these pens by men stationed on a platform above them, and provided with long saplings armed with blunt spikes. These, however, arc but little used, the aim of the men being to coax rather than todiivc the cattle to their fate, that they may litcially meet it with as much eooiness as possible. When the pens arc filled, a quiet man armed with a long slender iron spear, of which the head is bioad, bright, and keen-edged as a ia/01, walks delibeiately along the platform above the pens. He stops over each one, glances down tlnough an opening at his feet, thrusts his spear thiough the same opening, using so little force that the motion is merely an easy dip of the weapon, withdiaws it, and moves along. The tin nst of the .spear it. followed so mslantly by the fall of the animal that unices the delivery of the blow has been noted and its purpose understood it is almost impossible to realize that a bullock has been thus easily and quickly killed. The quiet man with the spear is an cv Union soldier, and is known as 'Jack the eavaliy-man.' His present business is to lull fiom 4000 to 0000 bullocks every week, and at the same time to accomplish the killing as quickly and with as little pain to the animal as possible. If the annual is struck by the .spear on the line between the eai s, the spinal coul is severed, and he diops dead without knowing the cause of his sudden demi-e. In the building beyond these pen", entering which has pro\ ed so fatal to tl.c steels, are sixty or seventy 'beds,' as the floor spaces directly in front of the pen doois ate designated, which at c feci upulously clean but very wet. Afi one of the pen doois is liiiscd, .i dead .steer is seen in the little enclosure. A chain is slipped over his horns, a steam dii\ en windlass icvolves, and heisdiiiggcd iiom the pen to the bed. lleie he is immediately set upon by a gang of butcheis, one ot whom performs Ins allotted task and no inoie. One stalwart fellow stiikes the dead animal a couple ol blow s m the forehead with a sledge-hammer ; another lops otl his hind legs, and makes a few l.ipul passes with his eiuu'd knife; otheis aic at woik upon the foie legs and liond ; and when each has completed the woi k allotted to him, he passes on to another bullock, and another specialist takes his place. A minute later, and the carcase, transtoimed into two sides of beef, has been washed, di led, and hung upon wheeled hooks that run upon «i railway pendant fiom the coiling, along which it is tiundlcd along towaids the /iist cooling-room. In this hist eoolmg-i oom the temperatiue is between -iOdegs. and •jOdegs., and here the sides lemam until all animal heat has left them, when, tlioiouglily chilled, they are moved on into the cold and darkness of the stoi age looms, the tcmpeiatuie of which is not allowed to lise above 40 (1cl;s , and the air of which is perfectly diy, no tiaccs of moistuic exhibiting tlu'ms( l\(s oven upon the walls. Their stoiagc capacity is .~>oo beeves. The apaitments in which the meat intended foi foicign .shipment is stoicdappaientlv. contain the choicest beef. Of tliis meat eacli qnaiter is cased in an envelope of clean stiong muslin, by woikmen clad in surpiisingly white gaim^nts that icieh nearly to their heels. When icady, the quartos are lolled on to a poition of the track which is connected 'with a, paii of scales, the weight is quickly noted, and the masses ot meat ai e shoiildeied bv the men in white, and borne to the refiigeialor car that occupies a tiark but a low steps distant. The lefngeratoi e.u is not opened until its destination is l eached, when it is unloaded, it possible, at night. The ice ej lindeis at eacli end of the car are replenished three or tour times dining the trip fiom Chicago to New Yoik, moie than a ton of biokcn ice being lequiied for eacli lepleuishing. After this has been di->posud of, the lem.iinder of the bullock is by no means valueless. The horns and hoofs go to the comb and button makers, the •switches.,' oi long-haired ends of the tail, to the hair-curleis for niattiesses, and the hide i>, diopped into the great celhn ot the building, where it is salted until feiilheiently cured to go to the Pennsylvania tanneues. All lefuse lemaiiiing, even the blood, is immediately utilized m the adjoining fertiliser factory. The moment one lot ot carcases have been lemoved fiom the 'beds' they are cleaned with Maim water and 'squillcrees,'or lubber mops, and made leady for new ai iiv alb. The order and l'e^ulant} ot the establishment aic lemaikable. E\peiiments have shown that beef thus killed and handled can be kept peifectly sound and good for a month, or even inoie;and men who have been in the business for years believe that before long the abattoiis will move westward until the}' reach the immediate vicinity of the great ranges in Montana and New Mexico. According to the report of the Chicago stock vauls for the last year, their cattle lcccipts weio l,J!)8,.">.")0 head, exclusive of calves. The laigest number of cattle received in one day were 11,063 head, and for one month 171,0-43 head. — Htnpci'i Wichly.

Transparencies for purlour windows aro made of thin muslin, upon which free designs aie either painted in water-colours or embroideied in long Htitch.

Tjth Qui:i:v and tjii: Kstatk of AuruchLDu:. — The Queen lms for many years leased Abei gcldiu from Mr H. M. Gordon, and the Castle has almost every autumn been placed at the disposal of the Prince and Ptinccssof Wales. The term will .shortly expire, and the property will come into the market, when it it expected that Her Majesty will become the purchaser of the Castle and estate. Abergeldie is 'on the march' both to Balmoral and Biikhall, The estate extends south beyond Loeknagar to the Dim Loch, which foims 'the march' with Glenmuick forest, the propeity of Mr Mackenzie of Kintiil. Loch Muick, is one of the most beautiful lakes in the Highlands, and which affords capital trout-fishing in the summer.

A New Potato. — A marvellous potato has been introduced into France by M. Ohrond, a naval aurjreon, who discovered it in a f-<jndy island at the mouth of the Rio do la Plata. According to Le Fcrmtcv, it will give two ci ops every year in a faiily warm climate, which practically would amount ton permanent crop. M. Blanchard has experimented with it at Brest, and has found ifc capable of amelioration, tbo insult of careful attention being a "potato about the size of a hen'.s egg ; and M. Lankier, cf the Musoum of Natural History at Paii*, having: analyzed the Ohrond potato, has found it to cont-iht entirely of starch, very compact, and therefore of great weight relatively to its size. It is found, also, to be healthy and able to witlibtand a little frost, and mature very quickly, as it can be taken up about two monthl after placing.