Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 December 1891 — KILLING HOGS. [ARTICLE]

KILLING HOGS.

QUICK WORK AT THE CHICAGO STOCK YAJRDS. How the Animals are Slaughtered, Cleaned and Cnt up by Machine and Hand —Utilizing the Internal Organs. The hogs, as they arrive in Chicago, by train from all sections, are kept in the extensive yards and sheds adjacent to the buildings until they are wanted for slaughtering, which may be a days or but a few hours. While they remain here, however, they are always well fed and watered, and they are selected for killing according to tho various markets, their ages generally being from six to eighteen mouths, and the average weight being from 150 to 200 pounds. Each lot of animals, us they are taken from the pens, is duly weighed on standard scales, after which they are driven over what is styled the ‘ ‘ Bridge of Sighs” into an upper story of the building where the work commences, about a score being inclosed together in a catching pen. Then to one hind leg is attached a short piece of chain, having a ring at its opposite end, and into this ring the operutor passes a hook on tho end of a chain lowered from a roller overhead, the luttcr chain being steadily wound up by power. As tho head of the animal is raised, another hook, suspended from a wheel, is fixed into the ring, and this wheel runs on a rail onward through several largo rooms, always at an incline, down which the unitnul is carried by his own gravity. As ho is swung over the wall of tho catching pen, the butcher, with one thrust of u sharp, short knife, always reaches to tho heart, insuring almost instant death, there being no squealing and but very little muscular twitching after the thrust. The blood flows through an inclined grade into a receptacle below, and of itself is an article of considerable value, utilizod for several important purposes. Passing on beyond the butcher, the animals are unhooked and plunged into a vat of steam-heated water, where nine or ten are immersed together, and where they are kept for about three minutes, that the hair may be readily scraped off. From the farther end of the vat, every few seconds, a curved, rake-like gridiron, attached to a cable, lifts a steaming hog out on a table, along which passes an endless chain, to which the hog, hooked by tho nose, is attached, to bo drawn through a scraping machine. The accurately working spring scrapers of tho mucliino are mounted on cylinders placed at such angles as will allow the blades to most effectually reach every portion of the animal, and in about ten seconds tho hog emerges denuded of its hair. This work was done by hand somo years ago, but the machine, which saves tho labor of ten men, was invented and put in operation by one of tho engineers of the firm in consequence of a strike of tho scrapers, who did not iinagino that machinery could be made which would perform their branch of tho work.

The animal passes from the machine to baud scrapers, where any slight oversight is made good, after which follows a thorough washing by means of jets at the ends of rubber lioso suspended over tho table, to be directed as required for removing any adhering hair, dirt, or scum, perfect order and cleanliness being a- marked feature of every detail. Next follows an inspection, after which tho animal’s throat is cut entirely across, so that tho head haugs by but a slight connection, and the body is suspended by the hind logs from a trolley, and thus passed over tho table where tho disembowelling is performed. The leaf lard is removed at a following table, and further ulong tho heads are removed and the tongues taken out, the last operation being tho splitting, before the carcass is run into the cooling room, the timotakou to catch tho hog, slaughter, cleanse, dress, and deliver him in the cooling chamber being ordinarily only from ten to fifteen minutes. Each portion of the internal organs is carefully separated, cleansed, and set aside for use, tho lungs, heart and liver going to the sausago department, and tho intestines, stripped of fat, cleansed and scalded, following to form the casings. Many kinds of sausages are made, among which are “ liver,” “ blood,” and pork, “Frankfurter” and “Bologna,” while the soft parts of the hoads are made into, head cheese or brawn. The mincing of the sausage moat, which also includes trimmings from tho sides and hams, is effected by stoam driven mincers operating in large vats. From hogs in good condition it is estimated that as much as forty pounds of lard is obtained on an averago from each animal. The fat- and other refuse is placed in tanks heated by worms from steam boilers, and after molting is drained off in different grades, the first quality being made only from the leaf and trimmings. Some of the bristles uro used for brushos, and others go to the cobblers, but the great bulk of the huir is mixed with horse hair for stuffing cushions and similar purposes. Tho blood is largely used for inuking albumen for photographic uses, as well as in sugar refining and for a fertilizer, tho crushed bones and other refuso also forming a very valuable fertilizer, although many other uses are likewise found for the boues. After the carcass has been thoroughly cooled, in rooms which are always kept at a temperature below 40° F., it is run along, still on the labor-saving rails, to tho cutting-up department, where it is taken down and sepurated into two sides, and then a workman with a powerful chopper cuts off tho ham, shoulder, and underlying ribs if necessary, separating tho feet to be cauned, pickled, or passed into the lard tanks. It is wonderful to what accuracy these workmen attain, never inuuling the moat, and always cutting to a hair's breadth just where tho separating cuts for tho different parts arc required.—[Scientific American.