USA > Missouri > Jackson County > Kansas City > Kansas City, Missouri : its history and its people 1808-1908 > Part 38
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57
This table gives the receipts of live stock at the Kansas City stock yards for 1907:
Horses and
Month
Cattle
Calves
Sheep
Mules
Cars
January
217,632
16,921
Hogs 263,348
145,595
9,747
13,499
February
154,469
8,298
254,252
156,262
7,312
10,815
March
158,402
7,152
218,103
158,906
8,029
10,504
April
179,938
9,129
254,574
130,137
5,675
11,612
May
135,588
6,651
361,841
118,321
4,188
10,862
June
157,136
17,275
312,626
113,896
3,271
10,997
July
215,104
35,702
259,422
85,832
3,301
13,006
August
246,707
38,023
169,805
88,638
4,564
12,986
September
316,311
49,256
150,526
184,319
6,843
15,859
October
296,001
52,164
196,252
201,175
5,515
15,477
November
162,991
29,713
208,139
118,791
1,626
9,871
December
144,015
15,682
274,887
80,276
2,270
9,918
Total
2,384,294
285,966 2,923,777 1,582,148
62,341
145,406
These figures do not include receipts at private packing yards, amounting to 964 cattle, 1,604 calves, 552,000 hogs and 765 sheep.
-
LIVE STOCK EXCHANGE BUILDING.
489
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
The names of the former presidents of the Kansas City Stock Yards company are given below: James F. Joy, Detroit, Mich., 1871-73; James M. Walker, Chicago, Ill., 1873-75; Charles Francis Adams, Boston, Mass., 1875- 1902; Charles F. Morse, 1902 and serving in 1908. General managers: George H. Nettleton, Kansas City, 1871-79; Charles F. Morse, Kansas City, 1879-1902; Eugene Rust, Kansas City, 1902 and serving in 1908.
The live stock traffic at Kansas City is handled by seventy-five commis- sion firms, members of the Kansas City Live Stock exchange. The associa- tion was organized April 6, 1886, to establish and maintain a commercial exchange, not for pecuniary gain or profit, but to protect and promote all interests concerned in the purchase and sale of live stock at the Kansas City market; to promote and foster uniformity in the customs and usages at the market; to inculcate and enforce high moral principles in the transaction of business; to inspire confidence in the methods and integrity of its mem- bers; to provide facilities for the orderly and prompt conduct of business ; to aid in the speedy and equitable adjustment of disputes, and, generally, to promote the welfare of the Kansas City market.
The association in 1908 had 284 members, live stock commission men, order buyers, stock raisers, representatives of railways, farmers, bankers, and other classes of business men whose interests were, more or less, centered at the market. During the twenty-two years of its existence the members have sold $2,176,835,896.00 worth of live stock. Of this amount returns were made to the various owners with a loss of only one ten-thousandth of one per cent-a wonderful showing for this gigantic business. There were 2,403,189 cars of live stock disposed of, which running in one train would reach a distance of 19,225 miles, and which, going at the rate of twenty miles an hour, would require one month and ten days to pass a given point. Since its incipiency 1,417 different persons have been members of the organization, and of this number twenty-one were expelled as being unworthy of further connection with an organization having a high standard of business morals and integrity.
R. P. Woodbury has been secretary of the Kansas City Live Stock ex- change since it was organized in 1886. The names of the former presidents of the exchange follow: C. F. Morse, 1886-88; K. B. Armour, 1888-89; H. P. Child, 1889-91; Frank Cooper, 1891-93; J. H. Waite, 1893-94; J. C. McCoy, 1894-95; J. N. Payne, 1895-96; J. R. Stoller, 1896-97; J. C. McCoy, 1897-98; W. S. Hannah, 1898-00; G. M. Walden, 1900-03; C. G. Bridge- ford, 1903-05; F. G. Robinson, 1905-07; J. C. Swift, 1907-09.
The large supply of cheap cattle afforded by the range of the West early attracted the attention of the packers to the advantages of this locality. E. W. Pattison, of Indianapolis, Ind., made the experiment in Junction City,
490
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
Kas., in 1867 and was pleased with the result. He found, however, that Kansas City would afford him better facilities, and in 1868, with J. W. L. Slavens and William Eperson, built the first packing plant in Kansas City. In the first year of their operations they slaughtered about 4,200 cattle, the first beef packing done in the city.
Thomas J. Bigger, formerly of Belfast, Ireland, came to Kansas City in 1868 and began packing hogs for the Irish and English markets, the first enterprise of this sort started in the city after the war. Previous to the war, about 1858, M. Dively and a few others had packed a few hogs, and in 1859 J. L. Mitchener opened a packing house on the east levee, but his business was ruined by the war. Mr. Bigger built a small storehouse on St. Louis avenue in West Kansas City in 1868, for storing meat, the slaughtering being done for him by Pattison & Slavens. J. W. L. Slavens sold his interest in the packing house of Pattison & Slavens to Dr. F. B. Nofsinger in 1869, and formed the co-partnership known as Ferguson, Slavens & Co., by whom was built the packing house occupied later by the Morrison Packing company.
Plankinton & Armours came to Kansas City in 1870. The first year the firm rented the packing house of Pattison & Nofsinger, but in the fol- lowing year built its own plant Plankinton & Armours already had two large houses, one in Milwaukee and one in Chicago. The firm began at once to build up a great packing business. John Plankinton retired from the firm of Plankinton & Armours in 1885 and the celebrated corporation of the Armour Brothers Packing company was organized. The Armour plant in Kansas City has been enlarged at various times until now (1908) it is one of the largest slaughter houses in the world.
In the summer of 1880 Jacob Dold & Sons, one of the largest packing firms in Buffalo, New York, came to Kansas City and purchased the packing house of Nofsinger & Co. The firm began business in the fall of 1880. The new venture was a success from the beginning, and the Kansas City branch soon outstripped the parent establishment in the quality of its productions. The leading spirit of the concern here was J. C. Dold, under whose manage- ment an immense business was developed. The extensive beef and pork packing and lard refining firm of Fowler Brothers, with packing houses in Liverpool, New York and Chicago, began operations in Kansas City in 1881. Early in 1884 George Fowler purchased his brother's interest in the estab- lishment here, and conducted it alone until January 1, 1886, when his son, George A., became a partner under the firm name of George Fowler & Son.
The Morrison Packing company, a branch of the Cincinnati firm of James Morrison & Co., established in 1845, began operations in Kansas City in 1884, as successors to Slavens & Oburn. The Kansas City Packing com-
TRADING PIT IN BOARD OF TRADE.
493
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
pany was established in 1884, and the Allcut Packing company in 1885. The Kingan Packing company established a plant in Kansas City in 1888.
Later came the packing firms of Swift & Co., Cudahy & Co., Nelson Morris & Co., Schwarzchild & Sulzberger, Ruddy Brothers, American Dressed Beef & Provision company and others. Eight large packing plants are in operation in Kansas City in 1908. The number of animals slaughtered in Kansas City in 1907 was 5,250,624.
The packing houses in Kansas City have been built with a view of meet- ing all requirements of the meat trade. The capacity of the packing plants and slaughtering establishments here is such that it would be possible to slaughter daily 15,600 cattle, 26,500 hogs and 16,700 sheep. For several years the packing plants in Kansas City have been able to handle the bulk, or more than two-thirds, of all the live stock marketed in Kansas City.
It was with remarkable foresight that the pioneer packers came into the "western country" in the early '70s to build their packing houses on the banks of the Kaw and Missouri rivers at Kansas City. They desired to have close communication with the people who were producing live stock. At least, they realized that greater things could be done by conducting their packing operations at the point nearest the base of supply.
CHAPTER XXII.
FEDERAL DEPARTMENT IN KANSAS CITY.
The United States government had about 1,500 employees under civil service in Kansas City in 1908. For their services they were paid an average of about $127,000 a month. A wide variety of duties are performed by those who are in the Kansas City service of Uncle Sam. The government has floors to be scrubbed, elevators to be run, meat and food products to be inspectes, customs duties and revenues to be collected, weather reports to be made and mail to be collected and distributed.
About three-fourths of the civil service employees in Kansas City were connected with the postoffice department. In 1908 there were 230 letter carriers and substitute letter carriers, and about 400 postal clerks. Six hun- dred railway postal clerks had headquarters in Kansas City and were paid here. The pay roll of the letter carriers was $16,000 a month; the clerks, $24,000 a month, and the railway mail clerks, $50,000 a month. The bureau of animal industry gave employment to 200 men in Kansas City. Of this number 185 were meat inspectors The others were assigned to the
494
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
quarantine station at the stock yards and the meat inspection laboratory. The pay roll of the bureau was $18,000 a month.
The custodian of the Federal building had a force of thirty-five men and women, most of them negroes. They include the charwomen, the jani- tors, the firemen, the engineers, the watchmen and the elevator operators. The custodian's force cost the government $1,850 a month. The collector of internal revenues had an office force of eight persons. Seven men in addi- tion worked in the warehouses and the rectifying houses. The pay roll for this force was $3,310 a month. The surveyor of customs employed fifteen men at a cost of $1,900 a month. Six of the surveyor's men worked in the federal assay office, where samples of the ores imported into this country are tested, so as to fix their duty. The weather observer had five men em- ployed in his office. The federal pure food laboratory gave employment to several chemists and inspectors. Several pension examiners had headquarters here. The secret service bureau varied in number according to the business on hand.
The first United States postoffice in Kansas City was established in 1845. William M. Chick was the first postmaster, but dying soon after his appoint- ment, he was succeeded by his son, W. H. Chick. In the beginning the mails necessarily were small, and came but once a week by the way of Westport. Most of the time until 1860, the postoffice was situated on the Levee, as that was then the business center of the town. When the Levee was abandoned to shipping and warehouses, and the retail trade and hotels, and shops of all sorts moved back from the river, the postoffice followed for the convenience of the residents. The first office was kept by W. M. Chick in his warehouse at the southeast corner of Main street and the Levee. Later the postoffice was kept in the store of Silas Armstrong, a few doors east of the former place.
W. H. Chick was succeeded by Daniel Edgerton, who moved the office to the northwest corner of Main and Fourth streets, on the hill. It was kept there until Samuel Greer was appointed postmaster. He moved the post- office back to the Levee, between Main and Walnut streets. At the expira- tion of his term of office, Greer, who kept a small country store, moved his stock of goods to Osawatomie, Kansas, where his store was plundered in one of the border raids. J. C. Ransom was the next postmaster. The postoffice still was situated on the Levee, between Main and Walnut streets. The "postoffice" then was a small case of pigeonholes about three feet square.
George W. Stebbins was postmaster from 1858 to 1860. His office was on the Levee, east of Walnut street, and was an improvement over that of his predecessors, being fitted up with a few glass boxes and drawers. He was followed in office by R. T. Van Horn, who moved the postoffice to the east side of Main street between Third and Fourth streets. Frank Foster
inn
OLD FEDERAL BUILDING.
-
-
497
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
was the assistant in charge. A small book store and news stand was kept in the same room by Matthew Foster.
No mail routes terminated in Kansas City previous to 1858. A tri- weekly mail left Westport for Fort Scott, Kansas, by way of Olathe, Paola, Osawatomie and Mound City, and also there was a line of tri-weekly stages between Westport and Fort Scott. Passengers taking the Fort Scott route were compelled to hire a private conveyance or go on foot from Kansas City to Westport to reach the stage leaving there for southern Kansas. The Santa Fe mail route terminated at Independence. Mail directed to Kansas City that came over the Santa Fe route was sent up the river on a mail boat. Only certain boats carried mail, and frequently long delays occurred. Often it would be several days before a letter arriving at Independence from New Mexico for Kansas City would reach here. Kansas City was very much ham- pered at that time in its communication with the outside world, but founda- tions were being laid for more and better mail facilities, which in a short time were established.
A stage line was established from Kansas City to Cameron, Missouri, in 1858, by Preston Roberts. The Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad had been completed to that point. Roberts also established a stage line to Lawrence, Kansas, and both of these stages carried mail. Soon afterward all mail routes ending at Westport were extended to Kansas City. The trade of southern Kansas had become an important factor in the commerce of Kansas City. A stream of immigration landing from the boats that arrived here: daily induced the veteran stage man, J. L. Sanderson, to establish a daily line of stages, that carried mail, from this city to Fort Scott.
Stephen H. Haslett was appointed postmaster in May, 1861, by President Lincoln, but political excitement was so great at that time and so many ob- jections were being made by the Confederates against government officials appointed by Mr. Lincoln that he did not accept the office. Frank Foster was appointed June 4, 1861. He moved the postoffice to the east side of Main street, between Third and Fourth streets, and had it equipped in regular postoffice style. In 1867 President Johnson appointed A. H. Hallowell, who was succeeded by H. B. Branch, in 1868. Foster again was appointed in 1869. The postoffice was kept on the east side of Main street near Missouri avenue. From that location the postoffice was removed to the southwest corner of Main and Delaware streets. Foster was succeeded by John S. Harris, early in 1872, and the postoffice was removed to the northwest corner of Seventh and Main streets. President Grant appointed Theodore S. Case postmaster in March, 1873, and he was reappointed by President Hayes and President Arthur. Case held office until after the expiration of his fourth term in No- vember, 1885. In his third term the postoffice was moved to the northwest
498
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
corner of Sixth and Walnut streets and finally, in 1884, to the Federal build- ing at the southwest corner of Ninth and Walnut streets.
Early in the administration of Theodore S. Case as postmaster, in July, 1873, the free delivery service was established in Kansas City with eight regular letter carriers and two substitutes. The early carriers wore no uni- forms. The only mark to distinguish them from other men on the streets was a small brass plate with a number, fastened to their hats. And the carriers at first had no little boxes to open, because there were none. All letters except those mailed at the postoffice were delivered direct to the "postmen."
A bill authorizing the construction of a Federal building in Kansas City to cost $200,000 was passed in Congress, March 8, 1878. The measure was introduced by Congressman B. J. Franklin of Kansas City. He also secured the passage of a bill authorizing the holding of United States courts in Kan- sas City. The site for the old postoffice building was purchased in April, 1879, for $8,500 from Mrs. M. D. Hughes, James Kinnaird and Thomas H. Swope. The building was completed in 1884, at a cost of $325,000.
These are the names of Kansas City's postmasters with dates of their appointment: William M. Chick, 1845; W. H. Chick, 1845; Daniel Edger- ton, 1850; Samuel Greer, 1854; Joseph C. Ransom, 1857; George W. Stebbins, 1858; R. T. Van Horn, 1860; Stephen H. Haslett, 1861, served 30 days; Frank Foster, 1861; A. HI. Hallowell, 1867; H. B. Branch, 1868; Frank Foster, 1869; John S. Harris, 1872; Theodore S. Case, 1873; George M. Shelley, 1885; Judge R. S. Adkins, 1888; Dr. F. B. Nofsinger, 1890; Homer Reed, 1894; S. F. Scott, 1898; J. H. Harris, 1902 and serving in 1908.
The gross receipts for 1873, the year the free delivery service was es- tablished, amounted to $39,768; the gross receipts for 1908 were $1,839,- 594.44. In 1873 an average of 35,000 pieces of mail were delivered in a month; the average number of pieces of mail delivered in a month in 1908 was 7,200,000.
The wonderful increase in the volume of business at the postoffice indi- cates a corresponding increase in the commerce of the city. The postoffice gives a reliable record of the pressure of business. The great influx of im- migration west and southwest, and the city's geographical position as a natural distributing point, has given the postoffice more than ordinary importance.
The site for the present Federal building, Grand avenue and McGee, Eighth and Ninth streets, was purchased December 10, 1891. The ground was broken in the spring of 1893. There was a lapse of about five years from the time the site was purchased until the work on the building proper, began, owing to congressional inaction and lack of appropriations. The work on the building was begun in June, 1896. The building was opened for busi-
NEW FEDERAL BUILDING.
501
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
ness, June 28, 1900. The building with the later additions cost the gov- ernment about one and one-half million dollars. In addition to the main office, the postoffice in Kansas City maintained in 1908, eight sub-stations- "A," "B," "C," "D," "E," "F," Westport and Sheffield.
Kansas City became a port of entry in 1882. R. C. Crowell was the first surveyor of the port. The names of the other surveyors of the port with the date of their appointment: M. Ross Guffin, January, 1890; Scott Harrison, November, 1893; Milton Welsh, August, 1894; W. L. Kessinger, June, 1898; C. W. Clarke, March, 1906.
The collections at the customs house in Kansas City for 1907 amounted to $582,203.56. The value of the merchandise cleared was $2,404,617.56. This is not the total value of the importations, because some of the importers have agents who clear their merchandise at the seaports.
The second largest government assay office in the United States is situated in Kansas City under the direction of the surveyor of the port. The largest government assay office in the United States is in New York city. The assay office in Kansas City issued 7,200 certificates of assay in 1907. Most of the samples tested were of ore shipped into the United States from Mexico. The supplies and equipment of the assay office in Kansas City cost the government $10,954.
The meat inspectors at the packing plants are employed by agents of the Department of Agriculture of the national government. Their respective places for work are assigned them by representatives of this department. Under the new law each packer is required to furnish adequate office room for inspectors in his plant. The inspectors have free access to any part or department of the packing plants at any time, day or night. They make to the chief of the local bureau, a daily report of any irregularity. He, in turn, reports to the Secretary of Agriculture at Washington. The Depart- ment of Agriculture may at any time cause inspectors to be changed from one packing plant to another.
The new law requires the inspectors to examine carefully all parts of every carcass. If a packer, a slaughterhouse owner, or even a butcher, who sends meat into another state, fails to see that every clause of this law is enforced he is subject to a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for two years, or to both fine and imprisonment. The law goes even further. It imposes this same penalty of a $10,000 fine and two years' imprisonment on every person, common carrier or corporation that carries or attempts to carry uninspected meat from one state into another or to any foreign coun- try. Each establishment at which inspectors are stationed is given a number. Tags bearing this number are attached to each article inspected. Meat may in this way be traced and any irregularity will be found out and the offender
502
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
punished. Retail butchers who have been exempt from inspection are given numbers by which their products may be known.
It is the duty of the government meat inspectors to require all trucks, trays, chutes, platforms, racks and tables and all knives, saws, cleavers and other tools and all machinery used in handling meat, and all things with which meat may come in contact, to be cleansed daily after working hours. Aprons or other outer clothing of employees who handle meat which comes in contact with such clothing, shall be of material which is easily cleansed and they shall be cleansed daily.
All animals to be slaughtered must be inspected first before they may enter any establishment where inspection is maintained. An inspector must be present when the animal is killed The post-mortem examination must then begin. Each part of the animal must be examined separately. The inspection must be finished before the part is washed or trimmed. If any trace of any disease is found in the animal, at either inspection, it is con- demned.
All carcasses thought on inspection to be "tainted" must at once be re- moved to a compartment kept especially for this purpose, and there given a final examination. All carcasses found to be unfit for food are marked "U. S. Inspected and Condemned." They are taken to a special "condemned" room that is removed from any part of the plant where fresh meat is kept. This room must have cement floors and be securely locked. The keys are kept in the possession of the inspectors. No condemned carcasses are per- mitted to remain in the "condemned" rooms for more than twenty-four hours.
Condemned carcasses are placed in air-tight, scaled tanks where they are exposed to a sufficient pressure of steam and for a sufficient time to make them unfit for any edible product. It must be arranged so that the fumes or odors from these tanks shall not pervade compartments in which carcasses are dressed or edible products prepared. Seals of tanks containing condemned meats or the tankage of condemned meat may be broken only by an employee of the Department of Agriculture.
Meats inspected and passed for export are marked by the inspector "For Export." Export meat is kept in separate compartments from that for domestic trade. The law is very rigid in its demands that no dyes, chemicals or preservatives be used in the preparation of meats for home or for foreign trade. Common salt, sugar, wood smoke, vinegar, pure spices and pending further inquiry, saltpeter may be used. When the action of any inspector in condemning any carcass or part thereof is questioned, appeal may be made to the inspector in charge, and from his decision to the chief of the local bureau of animal industry or to the Secretary of Agriculture. His decison is final.
503
HISTORY OF KANSAS CITY
The Federal pure food laboratory in Kansas City is a place of mystery. Its operations are not known to the general public. The federal chemists whose duty it is to guard the pure food and drug act, work secretly. A corps of inspectors take samples of food and drug products to the laboratory for in- spection. The records in the laboratory are used as expert testimony in cases where there are prosecutions for violation of the law. Some of the inspectors are lawyers, others are physicians,-it is not known just who they are. All of them are sworn to secrecy.
None of the samples of food and drug products is confiscated; the in- spectors purchase them at the regular prices. In each case three samples are bought. One is used for analysis, one is kept on file at the local labora- tory and one is forwarded to the Secretary of Agriculture. As soon as the samples are bought they are sealed with an official seal. If by any chance the seals are broken before the samples reach the chemical laboratory, they are not tested.
This precaution is taken by the government to prevent any possibility of the samples being changed or tampered with. Sometimes when dealers are prosecuted for violating the pure food law, they try to confuse the jury by asserting that the samples analyzed by the government are not the, orig- inal ones taken from their stores. Tests made at the local laboratory are verified at Washington before prosecutions are recommended. All food and drug products, with the exception of meat and meat products, are subject to examination in the Federal building laboratory. The latter are tested at the, laboratory of the bureau of animal industry.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.