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Show THE CHICAGO STOCK YARDS The Union Stock yards in Chicago handle so much stock that when one saunters about the yards, It seems as though all the farmers in the country had decided to ship all their stock to Chicago at the same time, and that it all arrived on the day you were there. Established In 1SG5, these yards have grown to be the largest in America, Amer-ica, if not in the world. The great bulk of our live stock, especially hogs, is raised In the slates between the Allegheny and the Rocky mountains. Railroad construction was converging toward and expanding from the city at the southern end of Lake Michigan. Chicago, therefore, was the logical location lo-cation for America's greatest live stock mart. Naturally, the production of live stock has increased many fold during the last 57 years. This fact, plus the scope of the territory from which these yards draw patronage, accounts for the condition mentioned In the first paragraph, and the staggering figures which follow. These yards today contain about 10,000 pens and cover an area of about 320 acres. In 1803, 613 cattle, 17,764 hogs, and 1,433 sheep were received. The average aver-age number of head of stock handled dally during a recent five-year period 'was: Cattle, 10.93C; calves, 2,338; hogs, 2G.753 ; sheep, 14.S05; horses, 212; a total of 53,044 head or 930 cars every 24 hours an average of 39 cars per hour, day and night. The receipts of stock vary widely between seasons and because of market mar-ket fluctuations. The largest receipts recorded on any one day, according to recently compiled statistics, were: Cattle, 49,128, on November 10, 1008; calves,- 0.320, on March 25, 1920; hogs, 00.904, on November 29, 191 S; sheep, 71,792, on October 10, 1911; horses, 3,228, on January 11, 1904. The greatest aggregate value of all stock received during any one year was la 19IS when this total reached the .vV.ouiMling figure of $904, 715,357, an average of .?2.4T8,G72 week (lays and Sunday, too, throughout the year During that year, 3.7S9.922 cattle, C57.707 calves, 8,014, 190 hogs, 4,029,-730 4,029,-730 sheep, and 87,820 horses were re-i re-i ceivcl an average of 3,273 bead of , live stock every hour, day and night, ; for Die entire year. |