>
Mark Heiden writes-
> Those must have been some memorable summers! How big would a hide
> be? I realize this would vary according to animal, but would a hide
> be removed in one piece or cut into parts as needed? Could one
> person move a hide, or would this be a team effort? Lastly, how
> high could you pile these things? I imagine that at some point the
> hides would be so deep that no one would go into the boxcar to add
> more.
The hides were almost exclusively from white faced Hereford cattle.
The hides were skillfully removed in one piece during the butchering
process, and then shoved through a hole in the floor into the hide
room which was just below. If I recall, they landed on a large table
where they were quickly spread out hair-side down to be scraped free
of all fat. They were then carried into another room where they would
be piled flat one on top of the other, with copious layers of salt
shoveled on top of each hide to await shipment. Although the salt
kept these fresh green untanned hides from rotting, it did not
prevent them from smelling to high heaven, and the body-fluid brine
smelled even worse. The plant that I worked in would have produced
about 700 hides per day.
Although I spent many a hot stinking afternoon shoveling out the cars
of loose salt for the hides (also old single sheathed RI beaters), I
never was assigned to load the adjacent hide cars (considered to the
worst job in the plant), so only observed that operation at a safe
distance (far enough away to not get invited to "help"). As far as I
recall, the hides were simply laid in flat one on top of each other,
salt being added as needed. How high they were stacked? I do not
recall. These cars went directly to leather tanneries, primarily in
New England.
Probably more than you might want to know!
Denny
--
Denny S. Anspach, MD
Sacramento
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