Making Flour from Pigskin 



A de-hairing machine leaves the skin so free from 

 dirt that the "cracklings" can be used for bread 



By Lloyd E. Darling 



IN Chicago a certain factory makes a 

 business of putting out what are called 

 i "hog de-hairing" machines. The func- 

 tion of these devices is to clean up a hog 

 after the slaughter — thereby supplanting 

 an old-fashioned process which made use 

 of knives that scraped hogs razor- fashion. 

 Porkers used to emerge from this latter 

 process looking like an old-time Yankee — 

 that is, reasonably smooth-shaven as to 

 face, but exhibiting a sizable beard under 

 their chins that the mechanically-wielded 

 knives hadn't been able to reach. For the 

 same reason the under side of their legs was 

 left unshaved. 



With the newer kind of machine, how- 

 ever, the pigs emerge thoroughly cleaned 

 up — so immaculate in fact that they are 

 referred to in the pork-packing profession 

 as "polished." This is accomplished by 

 thoroughly scalding the hogs in the usual 

 fashion, and then running them through a 

 machine which is nothing more nor less 

 than a battery of "beaters." The beaters 

 are built up of thick canvas or rubber 

 belting bent in the form of 

 loops and studded with an- 

 gular metal pieces which do 

 the actual work of "polish- 

 ing" a hog. These loops 

 are attached to steel shaft- 

 ing which is revolved at a 

 rapid rate by means of suit- 

 able chains and gearing. 



A hog about to be polished 

 is made to run the gauntlet of a i 

 whole row of these rapidly- 

 revolving shafts, armored as 

 they are with their steel-studded | 

 loops of belting. He is spanked, i 

 and batted, and massaged, and 

 rolled over and over by the 

 flying loops. They remove his 

 whole outer skin or "scarf" at 

 the same time that the hair de- 

 parts. Luckily he is dead or he 

 might seriously, object to such 

 treatment. Some of the loops 

 revolve up and down and the Th , , . . 

 others laterally, thus causing its battery" of 

 the hog in his moving around which polish 



Coming direct from the scalding tub the 

 hogs are now ready for the final polishing 



to be struck from all angles so that every 

 portion of his anatomy is reached. There is 

 no Yankee beard effect left when these 

 machines get through with him. His own 

 mother wouldn't know him, as the saying 

 goes, he is so much changed in color and 

 general state of cleanliness. 



The machines are built in a variety of 

 forms, through some of which the hogs go 

 vertically, through others horizon- 

 tally. The machines work with 

 great rapidity as compared with 

 old knife-scraping forms. 

 Some of them have a capac- 

 ity of one thoroughly cleaned 

 hog per second. 



These hog-cleaning ma- 

 chines have been installed 

 now in practically all of the 

 commercial packing plants of 

 the country. The fact that 

 they so thoroughly clean the 

 porkers is far-reaching in its 

 effect, especially from the 

 consumers' point of view. 



machine with 

 "beaters" 

 up the hogs 



of the beaters; 

 showing how they 

 are attached to 

 the central shafting 



