FARMERS' REGISTER— THE PORK BUSINESS AT CINCINNATI. 551 



40 or 50 in number, where the hop;s oi" each own- 

 er are put by tliemselves preparatory to the nias- 

 pacrc. About 40 men are employed in each 

 house, and eacli has his separate and allotted du- 

 ty to pcrlbrm, and receive on an average about 

 i§125 per day. Each house has two scalding 

 tubs, one at each end, so tJiat the work of 'death 

 and destruction ' goes on double in each building. 

 At each end of the house is a small pen, into 

 Avhich they crowd 40 or 50 hogs, or as many as 

 can ))ossibly be got in — then walks in on their 

 backs, the dark and bloody executioner, holding 

 in his hand a large sledge hammer, with which 

 he ' deals death ' To the unoffending victims — alter 

 which they are dragged inside the house, a knife 

 passed into the throat, and after bleeding a few 

 .seconds, thrown into a ketde of hot water, from 

 thence to a block, where the bristles are scraped 

 olfwith iron scrapers, made exjjressly for the pur- 

 pose — then strung up by their hind leet and dress- 

 ed — thence removed to another room, where they 

 remain 'to cool' until moraing, and then taken on 

 Avagons to the packing houses. It is but a little 

 ove^ one mmuiefromVie time the executioner en- 

 ters the pea and knorks the hog down, till he is 

 t.^^^,,^ ajj and dressed. The bleeding, scalding, 

 scraping, stringing up, and inside dressing, is all 

 accomplished in about a minute. This will be 

 thought marvellous, but it is no more strange than 

 true. I have frequently witnessed with astonish- 

 ment the operation. At one of Mr. Coleman's 

 skiughter-liouses, he has a man that opens, re- 

 moves the ofi'al, and completes tlie dressing of 

 three hogs in uminvte — to this man (who is a sort 

 of king among the hog-killers) he pays two dol- 

 lars and fifty cents per day. 



They can slaughter at each of the houses, and 

 have them completely dressed and strung up, 

 (preparatory to removal in the morning to the 

 packing houses,) six hundred and fifty in a day, 

 which is altogether, at this one establishment, 

 Iwenty-six hundred — and this done from day light 

 in the morning till dark, say at this time, about 

 eleven hours, allowing thirty minutes for dinner. 

 Mr. Coleman informed me, that he has already 

 killed this fall between 50 and 60 thousand, and 

 has been at work but three or four weeks ; the 

 only pay he receives is the otial, consisting of 

 rough fat, soap grease and bristles ; this is gene- 

 rally worth, nett 20 to 25 cents each hog. It is 

 supposed he cleared at this business last season 

 (and the season lasts but about three months) 

 some 15 or 20,000 dollars. The whole number of 

 hogs killed last year, in the city and vicinity, is as- 

 certained to be a little rising one hundred and 

 twenty-three thousand. Deer Creek is a stream 

 running into the Ohio river on the eastern suburb 

 of the city ; about half a mile up this stream, 

 these slaughter-houses of Mr. Coleman are situ- 

 ated, and during the whole ' hog season,' this 

 stream, from the houses to the river, is running 

 blood, and generally goes by the name of ' bloody 

 river.' 



Others are engaged in the slaughtering busi- 

 ness, but not on so large a scale as Mr. Coleman, 

 who is, what Yankees call, a 'smart' man. 



From the slaughter hous>'s, the hogs are con- 

 vej'ed in large wagons, that hold from 25 to 40, to 

 the various packing houses, which are situated in 

 almost every part of the city, and there weighed, 

 cut up, packed, &c. The purchasers pay for 



them as per the weight, afterbeing dressed. These 

 packinghouses are upon the most extensive scale. 

 The capital employed every year in the 'hog bu- 

 siness,' is immense, probably about two millions of 

 dollars. One of the most extensive packing 

 houses in the city, is owned and conducted by 

 Miller & Lee; their building is of brick, three 

 stories high, 120 feet long, 60 wide, with out-build- 

 ings, sheds, &c. that cover for aught I know, an 

 acre of ground. Tliese men, who are very enter- 

 prizing, have a high reputation lor the unilbrm 

 excellence of their pork, as also ibr their superior 

 hams; their ^sugar-hams'' are said to be as good 

 as any cured in any part of the union. There are 

 other 'pork houses' equally large, and on as ex- 

 tensive scale. At one of these they can pack and 

 have ready for shipment two hundred and fifty 

 barrels of pork in one day, and I am informed, 

 upon a pinch, three /m/idretZ 6arreZs could be turned 

 out, and that Avith thirty men in about fourteen or 

 fifteen hours. It is, indeed, astonishing, the rapi- 

 dity with which they put a hog out of sight, when 

 they once get fair hold ol" him. As at the slaugh- 

 ter houses, a perfect system is kept up, every man 

 has his allotted duty to perform, and there is con- 

 sequently no interference with each other ; every 

 thing goes on • like clock work ;' when the hogs 

 are received, they are first weighed, by the weigh- 

 er, then passed to the "blocking men," who place 

 them on the several blocks, (two are generally 

 used) when they are received by the '" cu«crs," 

 and are very quickly despatched ; the various 

 qualities separated and thrown into their respective 

 places. One man weighs Ibr the barrels, (200 

 pounds,) and throws the meat into the " saltbox,'^ 

 from which the ^^ packer'''' receives it, and when 

 the barrel is packed is turned over to the '-cooper," 

 who heads it ; it is then bored, filled with a strong 

 brine, plugged, branded, and ready Ibr shipment. 

 Fifty pounds of Turks Island, or other coarse salt, 

 is allowed to each barrel of pork. 



The lard is cut into small pieces before going 

 into the kettles ; the leaf lard goes into one kettle, 

 and the rough lard into another ; there are gene- 

 rally eight or ten men employed in the lard depart- 

 ment, when an average of two hundred kegs, or 

 about nine thousand pounds are turned out daily. 



A larsre quantity of " bulk meat," is generally 

 produced, this is from small hogs, too light for 

 prime pork. The hams are smoked and general- 

 ly canvassed before shipping. They are, how- 

 ever, very unlike a lot of Kentucky canvassed 

 hams, sold a lew years since at Port Gibson, 

 which on examination, after the seller had gone, 

 were found to be of wood, instead of " hogmeat." 

 Better hams cannot be procured than those 

 smoked in Cincinnati. The hams cured by Mil- 

 ler & Lee, W. Harishorne, W. M. Walker, Wil- 

 liam Irwin, and in fact, by all our " pork makers," 

 can rarely be equalled in quality. Technical names 

 are used in pork houses as AveJl as in most branch- 

 es of business. The following are a tew of them : 

 blockers up — cutters — briners — kettle tenders — 

 choppers — lard trimmers — harn trimmers — bulkers 

 — lard drawers — packers — coopers — weighers — &c. 

 I am informed, the largest quantity of pork 

 packed last j-ear, by one house, was Burdsell and 

 Davis, for the Messrs. Winchesters of Boston, 

 the number of barrels being between five and 

 6000. No one establishment will pack as much 

 this \-ear. Many of our mcrchantfs are engaged 



