Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 176, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 August 1918 — Army Makes Record Meat Purchase. [ARTICLE]

Army Makes Record Meat Purchase.

Chicago.—The largest single order Sor bacon and canned meats In the ilstory of the world —99,560.000 pounds of bacon and 134.000.000 pounds of canned meat—has just been placed by the Quartermaster’s Department, U. S. A„ for the American Army overseas. Louis F. Swift, tn commenting on this today, said will take the bacon from approximately 1.900.* 000 hogs, and if other work were dropped to produce it. would be equivalent to the total bacon production of the- five largest Chicago packers for nearly five weeks. However, six months will elapse before deli very is to be completed. Mr. Swift said: “At the current prices on the day. lasi week, when the purchase was made, the packers would pay the live stock producers about $80,000,000 for the necessary hogs and over $50,000,000 for about 900.000 cattle required. The cattle will cost us twice as much, and the hogs two and one-half times as much as in the pre-war period. The whole order will be made up before the iflrst of the year, despite, the fact that, even before this purchase, one-fourth of the packers’ facilities have been devoted to filling milltary demands. In order to get out the canned goods the packers will find it necessary to employ night and day shifts of canners. Notwithstanding the fact that the products are being rushed forward thus hurriedly, not a single complaint has been received on mentis delivered to the armies abroad. The five packers are now killing about 360.000 hogs weekly to keep abreast of martial and domestic needs.”