l^HiRTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IV l6i 



the downstrain, if any, may not be a serious consideration in a single 

 car, but in a run of 2,000 cars they might well be so. The same things 

 apply in like manner to the re-weighing on the railroad scales, which 

 is done under the same conditions. 



Again, the entire train is pulled over the scale at the rate of about 

 three cars per minute, and by mechanical operation each car registers 

 its own weight. It frequently happens, however, that the automatic de- 

 vice gets out of order and gives erratic results, without the knowledge 

 of the operator, notwithstanding the care exercised to keep it in perfect 

 working order. Such instances of incorrect weights have made neces- 

 sary a refunding system, which consists of a settlement with the ship- 

 per on his hoof or sale weight, less an allowance for fill. To get these 

 differences adjusted by all concerned, necessitates a delay in final settle- 

 ment that at times approaches that indefinite period called the "limit." 



The most important matter connected with the weighing system at 

 Chicago is the delay which it occasions in the delivery of the animals. 

 The records show that something like 80 per cent of all live stock is 

 received at the yards between 12 o'clock midnight and 8 o'clock in the 

 morning. It has been estimated that if the weighing on track scales 

 could be discontinued, there would be a saving in time of from two to 

 four hours in the delivery of the stock to the unloading chutes. You 

 shippers all know the value of a good run to market, but it must be 

 trying to lose this advantage through delays after arrival. My observa- 

 tion has been -that animals need all the time they can get from daylight 

 to 8 o'clock in order to rest and fill. Records I have made will, I be- 

 lieve, bear me out in the statement that stock fill best during this period 

 under normal conditions. 



The fill at market is a valuable asset to the shipper. A pound of 

 fill at market is as valuable as a pound of meat put on in the feed lot. 

 It brings just as much money. For example a loss of ten pounds of fill 

 per head in a load of twenty-five cattle that sell for, say, 8 cents, means 

 $20. That sum will not pay the freight in most instances, but it will 

 pay a good part of it. 



It is obvious, therefore, that delays at market may prove expensive, 

 not only with cattle but with hogs, especially in hot weather after they 

 have been kept cool in transit, as can be done by frequent showering. 

 If they encounter delays, the loss through smothering might easily he 

 serious. 



In this connection it might be of interest to know that 27,703 dead 

 hogs, valued at $481,062.60, were taken out of the cars at the Chicago 

 market in 1912. It is estimated that ten per cent of the dead hogs re- 

 ceived at Chicago are loaded dead at point of origin. Assuming this 

 estimate to be accurate, and deducting it from the total sum, it leaves 

 $432,956.34 as representing the value of the smothered hogs received 

 at Chicago during the past year. These figures do not take into account 

 pigs averaging about fifty pounds. 



There are other details that have a bearing on the system of weigh- 

 ing now in use in Chicago, but those that have been presented appear 

 to be the more important. It may be remarked in this connection that 

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