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 meeting 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 inspected, 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 hundred 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 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 janitors, 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 addition 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 employed 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 appointment, 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 postoffice back to the Levee, between Main and Walnut streets. At the expiration 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 |