Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 April 1920 — TRAIN OF 36 LOADS OF CATTLE [ARTICLE]

TRAIN OF 36 LOADS OF CATTLE

Shipped Out From Rensselaer Last Sunday Evening. A special train of 36 cars of fat cattle was shipped from Rensselaer Sunday evening for the Chicago stockyards, the largest number of cattle that were ever shipped from > Jasper county at one time in its history. —— k The owners and their helpers practically all day long, 7* through the rain much of the time, getting the cattle in and loading them into the cars. The continued i rains had made the stock pens at the Monon tracks a sea of mud and water, and the handling of the 60v or more head of cattle was not a pleasant task by any means. The railroad strike had delayed many feeders from shipping out last week and the week previous, and the shortage of feed and its high price, together with the collapse of the strike and the removal of the embargo on cattle by the railroad was the reason for so many shipping at this time. Also the exhaustion ot livestock in the Chicago stockyards as a result of the embargoes, had brought the price up considerably and all wanted to get in on the early market. v J. J. Lawler headed the list of Sunday’s shippers with 15 carloads; George Daugherty, 2 carloads; William Folger, 1; W. W. Sage, 1; George McElfresh, 1; Fred Waymire, 3; Elmer Jacks, 1; Hallagan Bros., 3; Mrs. J. M. Wasson, 2; Frank Donnelly, 2; Fred Anderson, 2; Orvil Crisler, 1. The train reached the stockyards at 8:30 Monday morning, and the market dropped $1 per hundred as soon as they got In. Several of the owners went up to see their cattle sell. Later —Some of these cattle were sold at 12%c to 13c, and some of the best as well as some of the cheaper grades were not sold Monday. Twenty-one thousand head reached the stockyards Monday and 7,000 head were left over from Saturday’s receipts. The embargo has not been raised, The Democrat is informed, and this special train was taken through by the Monon and into the yards as an accommodation, on representations made by Agent Beam that many feeders here were out of ensilage and were suffering a loss by shrinkage from the fact that feed could not be obtained. Ordinarllly cattle cars are handled by the switchmen into the yards, but the special crew in charge of this train took the cattle on into the yards.