TREATMENT OF LIVE CATTLE FROM CHICAGO TO LIVERPOOL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9262, 16 January 1889, Page 6

TREATMENT OF LIVE CATTLE FROM CHICAGO TO LIVERPOOL.

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir,—How differently they treat cattle in transporting them from Chicago to New York by rail, thence by vessel to Liverpool, to the shameful treatment they get in a short journey by rail here, as witnessed and described in to-day's Herald by Mr, E. P. Donnelly. However, as our late railway manager went through America previous to his appointment as Commissioner, it is to bo hoped his observant eye noticed the difference, and will soon give practical proof of the same. I copy the following from a New York paper :— Agitation of the question of abuse to the animals in transit led to the obtaining of a very great many patents for improvements in cars built for the transportation of live stock, and this was followed by decided improvements in all the stock cars in use, as well as by greater care in tho handling of the animals en route. This improvement in common stock cars takes various forms. They have been considerably enlarged, hav- .Viah provided with patent springs, and • ventilation has been greatly improved. If the cattle are permitted to rest wmile in transit from Chicago, and to eat and drink while resting, the ordinary car in use to-day is practically as good as any patented improvement that has been offered. _ Under the improved system of transportation and greater care in handling, the cattle now arriving at the seaboard are neither badly bruised, nor are they so frightened aud feverish as w&"

the case years ago, and it is difficult to see how the meat could well be put on the market in better condition than is possible by the present system. In the trans-Atlantio transportation similar improvements have been made. Low rates of freight, and a surplus of cheap steam tonnage have combined to bring quite a number of commodious steamers into the cattle-carrying business, and with their excellent accommodation and comparatively short trips, they are enabled to land cattle at English ports with very little loss and in first-rate order.

• Now, Sir, if our new Railway Commismissioners will only give this boon to our farmers they will prove, after all, the right men in the right places.—l am, &c«, T. B. Hill. 150, Queen-street, Auckland, January 15th, 1889.