A RANCHMAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 



curred in 1886 or 1887, but it did not come into 

 widespread use as to butter, eggs, clieese, poultry and 

 fruit until after 1890. It will be seen how far-reach- 

 ing the refrigerator car was in advance of mechanical 

 refrigeration in establishing a market for both fresh 

 beef and pork in at least all the medium-sized and 

 large cities. 



The years 1870 to 1880 marked the period of 

 great change from the uncertain to the certain, from 

 "salt junk" to fresh meat distribution, and gave the 

 real swing not only to the western packing industry 

 but to a conception of better cattle on the ranges. 



The Armour family were farmers. The old fam- 

 ily plow, dating back to pre-revolutionary times, is 

 still to be seen at the Chicago stockyards. The gen- 

 eration of packers, consisting of five brothers, be- 

 came great captains of industry. Philip D. Armour 

 founded Armour & Co., and brought all of his broth- 

 ers directly or indirectly into the business. In 1869 

 he sent the oldest brother, Simeon B. Armour, to 

 take charge of the Kansas City packing venture, and 

 later another brother, A. W. Armour, to head the 

 banking firm of Armour Bros, in Kansas City, after- 

 wards merged into the Midland National Bank. A. 

 W. Armour never became a packer, but his sons 

 Kirkland B. Armour and Chas. W. Armour went 

 into the business as boys. A. W. Armour brought to 

 the great Kansas City banking house the instincts of 

 the trained country banker, with its cordial intima- 



[21] 



