330 Report on the American and Canadian Meat Trade. 
the buildings, and thence into pens which open directly upon 
the shambles. The door of a pen is opened, a hooked rope from 
one of the many huge pulleys above is hitched around both hind 
legs of a steer, and before the animal has time to realise the 
sensation of being hung up by the heels, a knife has pierced his 
throat, and the blood gushes forth, — he never does realise it, in 
iact. Instantly a number of men attack the carcass, each of 
whom knows his appointed work. In a very short space of time 
the hide and offal are removed, and the carcass — after hanging 
an hour or two in the open, during which the steam and animal 
heat escape — is moved away along the iron railways suspended 
from the beams overhead. In these shambles an ox is killed 
and dressed, on an average, in three minutes, during the whole 
of the working hours. After the carcass has ceased to steam, 
and its natural heat has to a great extent passed away, it is at 
once conveyed to the shore refrigerating-rooms, and quickly 
reduced to a temperature of 40° ; the various overhead tracks 
lead to the cooling-rooms, of which there are six, three on 
each side of the building, and the carcasses are moved, without 
any lifting, directly into these rooms. Here they remain 48 to 
50 hours generally, or until they are wanted for shipment. 
It is very important that the meat should be well prepared on 
shore before being shipped, that is, well cooled before any decay 
whatever has set in. In hot weather, especially, the well-being 
of the meat after shipment, and especially after its arrival in 
England, depends to a very great extent on the care with which 
it has been prepared on shore. The shippers now fully com- 
prehend the importance of this stage of the process. 
The shore ice-box is a huge double-walled room, placed in 
the story above the cooling-rooms, and capable of holding more 
than a hundred tons of ice. It has no openings, save one in the 
top through which the ice is let down, and the necessary open- 
ings for the circulation of the air which is driven among the 
blocks of ice. The circulation of the air, through the ice first 
and then through the meat below, is kept up by a powerful fan 
which is driven by steam-power. This fan forces air in at 
the top, and the current, descending, passes through the ice, 
thence through the openings at the base of the ice-room sides, 
forward down the inside of the meat-room walls, from whence 
it emerges near the floor, and directly under the meat. Mean- 
while the fan draws the hot air from the top of the cooling-rooms T 
constantly replacing it with cold air forced in below. After 
the meat is thoroughly cooled it is cut into quarters, sewn up 
in strong canvas bags, and sent aboard the steamers. There 
are several export slaughter-houses in New York besides the one 
I have described. That one belongs to T. C. Eastman and Co. 
